What would you charge?

[DVCBELLE]

Help!! I have been asked to do some invitation work for a company. I know the woman in charge of the event and we work on a charity together for which I always create our invitations on a budget. So she asked me to help her out. She had been planning on going to the local invitation "boutique" in town until we had a meeting the other night and she decided to ask for my help.

I am going to make her 25 invitations. I believe my cost will be around $30 in ink and paper. But I don't know what would be reasonable to charge her above that. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[semo233]

I would shop around at a few places near you to find out what they would charge. If you would be using the computer, there are several web sites that give quotes on printing also.

If you are lettering by hand, that is a different story.

 

[Justsyd2]

$30 in ink and paper sounds high for 25 invitations...you might want to check those figures. Your ink should get better mileage than that. You can get over 100 invitations from one ink cartridge. I know that blank invitations and envelopes cost around $5 for 25 at Micheals, so after you learn the actual cost of each invitation you should be able to figure your labor and profit (if you choose to make a profit since it's for a friend).

That's how I would charge, by dividing the actual ink and paper costs by 25, and then adding labor and profit.

 

[DVCBELLE]

She wants formal invitations - with several inserts. There is a set at Michael's I am going to buy and then customize.

If I were making them from scratch then I would be able to do them for much less but time is short and so the premade ones will work out just fine.

 

[brekin67]

I would charge $1 per card over my cost.

 

[wdwfan16]

Help!! I have been asked to do some invitation work for a company. I know the woman in charge of the event and we work on a charity together for which I always create our invitations on a budget. So she asked me to help her out. She had been planning on going to the local invitation "boutique" in town until we had a meeting the other night and she decided to ask for my help.

I am going to make her 25 invitations. I believe my cost will be around $30 in ink and paper. But I don't know what would be reasonable to charge her above that. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I would only charge what it cost me to make the invitations.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

How long do you estimate it will take you to produce the invitations. I do not think you should work for free since it is for a company. If the invites were for the charity, I would do it as a donation, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

I would figure out how long it will take and multiply by how much per hour you want to make, and then add in the materials cost. Or, you could quote her just a labor rate and tell her that she needs to provide materials.

 

[DVCBELLE]

Thanks for all the advice!

If these were personally for her then I would not charge her but it is for a large corporation and I know that she would never intend for me to do this as a favor.

 

[wdwfan16]

Thanks for all the advice!

If these were personally for her then I would not charge her but it is for a large corporation and I know that she would never intend for me to do this as a favor.

I thought the invitations were for the charity. For the company I would charge the going rate. Call around to find out what that is.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I thought the invitations were for the charity. For the company I would charge the going rate. Call around to find out what that is.

Sorry - I should have been more clear - I do the invites all the time for our charity and never charge but it was there that she saw my work and decided to hire me.

I am going to call some places today.

 

[NotUrsula]

Are you speaking of calligraphy, or do you mean art-style invitations that printed but are are 3-D and require construction?

Either way, I'd start at about $5 each and go up according to the intricacy of the work. I know that invitation "boxes" that are designed like wrapped gifts and contain goodies tend to run at least $20 each around here, not counting the cost of the special inserts.

PS: I found this company online (http://www.embellishsp.com/custom.htm), and if you look at their invitations page, the only ones that are priced are the DIY kits. Those are priced at $8.50 and $10.50 per invitation for a printed paper invitation that is slipcased in a fabric folder and tied with a satin ribbon that has a bead in the center of it. From that I'm guessing that the others on the page are priced starting at around $12 each, which would be in line with what I've seen personally for this kind of work.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I went and met with her today and she told me to put my bill in with the invitations when I delivered them. I decided to be honest and tell her I was struggling what I should charge. Her assistant is going to see what they usually pay for something like this and email me what they think is fair. Then as I was leaving - the woman I know gave me $200 advance for supplies!!!! I was in shock and told her that was too much but she insisted. I am printing everything on my computer but there is some personalization involved on the invites.

I hope they really like my work! It would be nice to do this on a regular basis with them!

 

[horseshowmom]

Having just been through a wedding, I know that nice invitations can be very expensive. I can't wait to hear what kind of price she offers you (considering she's already given you $200)!

Honestly, I was going to suggest that you charge $5 each (25 X $5 + $30 = $155), so you're already way ahead of what I thought!