A few thoughts:

You don't mention a cost for printing on the CD, yet you're paying for
inkjet printable DVDs. Ink can be costly if you're counting digits to
the right of the decimal... ;)

Many authoring or copy programs will offer to do another copy with a
button on the screen after it finishes the first. Keep the mouse on it,
use a second machine, and swap disks and click. No real effort - just
background processing and it's free. In a few days it's done.

"Hire a high school kid". Those kind of dollars might excite one...

Lease a copier instead of buying.

Encode the pics so they fit on a CD instead, print in 4x6 fine, but
higher sizes are a bit fuzzy. You provide the 'enlargement' service.
They get snapshots and TV/PC viewing and scrapbook prints. Cost per
disk, per copy, and time needed go way down. Additional revenue
potential. Only publish the best 100 or so...

If you can't limit the pics, fill a CD and put the rest on a web site
for download. Not everyone will want all the not-so-good pics.

Consider this an investment and use some of the $1000 profit. That may
be a bit much for this anyway, once you minus the cost of educating you
to say $7.50 next time. ;)  If you do a good job you could get referral
business, and the less profit the more you are a 'nice guy' anyway. 1 or
2 weddings or such and you won't even think about a few hundred less
profit on this one.

Use the school's computer lab if they have one, argue the low price
assumed they'd offer it, and use 30 machines at once.

Check with the school or it's purchasing folks for contract rates the
school system may have and have it done under their umbrella.

Offer the copy service an ad on the disk, discretely done, in exchange
for your low rate.


OK, one of these should work!

-Skip



Russell McMahon wrote:
> I would provide a DVDR containing a completed product which I wanted 
> copies of.
> This could eg be copied by a bulk DVD copier.
>
> I am aware that my hopes are unreasonable.
> It's not vastly important in this case but it sets a precedent for 
> future similar tasks.
>
> Multiply all prices by 0.75 to get $US
> Prices include local GST tax of 12.5%
>
> Media cost for a DVD-R in a 'wedding cake' 100 pack is $NZ0.54 for 
> Imation brand white inkjet printable.
> Paper sleeves add 2.5 cents more.
>
> Cost of copying to DVD-R in 300 volume has been quoted at $NZ2.36 each
> Difference per copy is about $1.80 or for 300 is over $500.
>
> These are photos for a school ball for which I'll be taking the 
> photos.
> This is not my day job :-)
> Photography is an obsess... er hobby and it is nice for it 
> occasionally to make some money to keep my wife happy with my 
> purchases - and I also like it to be self funding.
> Most things I take photos of don't pay anything for the privilege.
> It's also nice to be paid something for something which one might 
> happily do for free, depending on time and other priorities.
> The time spent per $ earned is less important than the absolute $ 
> earned.
> In this case my aim is to clear $1,000 after all expenses taxes etc 
> and in return give all students a DVD of most of the photos.
> By any normal standards that's a small sum for the work which will be 
> involved, firstly in taking the photos and then in preparing a DVD.
>
> We're working on a school website 'pre-viewing and right of veto' 
> arrangement prior to the DVD being made to satisfy local privacy 
> concerns.
> That adds some extra work.
> Overall this gives the students a far far far better deal than 
> previously - they can each print unlimited photos of their choice at 
> photo site rates.
>
> They are adding the cost of the DVD to the ball ticket cost.
> The cost is fixed and 'rather low'.
> I need to minimise production cost to make my desired net profit.
> So ...
>
> I will also be offering inkjet printed A4 prints at say $5 for those 
> who are interested.
> With CIS ink and cheap but good paper that's mostly profit (plus 
> labour plus printer amortisation plus ...)
>
> So. OK.
> Cough.
> The DVD return to me is $NZ5.
> $4.55 after GST :-(
> 300 sales takes $3.33 of that for my target $1000.
> That leaves $1.22 for ALL other expenses (not counting profit from 
> prints).
> Less than $1.22 would be highly desirable.
> Sales may be as high as 350. And may not.
>
> I could have said $7.50 / DVD and we'd be home by now, but I didn't, 
> and ... .
> Next time.
>
> I'd be happy to do it on a couple of PCs here over a week if I can 
> find a suitably trained monkey to swap disks. (Any other suitably 
> trained animal that would work for peanuts would do).
>
>
>
>         Russell
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>   

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