Scrap4Hire?

[patchas]

Ok, I've had tons of friends tell me I should create a business for this scrapbooking stuff. They say people would pay for me to create layouts for them. But, I have no idea how to go about this. Those of you out there who do scrap4hire, what do you charge? Do you do individual pages or whole albums? How do you advertise? Is there really a market for this? Thanks for your input.

[sharpli]

I'm sure there is a market for it - but be careful. I have an online friend who did a wonderful album for her friend's son's graduation. They didn't have a clear agreement of what the cost would be (one said whatever the market charges; the other said the market was $25 per page) and both people were dismayed at the outcome. The professionally printed album was over 100 pages which was w-a-y more than the buyer expected.

[digimomdesigns]

There certainly is a market for S4H, it's just finding the right market that is difficult so that you can make money and be paid for your efforts. There is a good thread at DST that is dedicated to all the ins and outs of scrap-4-hire. What it boils down to, is it takes time to create a page and you'll need to charge accordingly which means you'll need to find people that are willing to pay good money to make it worth your while. I think reading through that thread will give you a good idea of whether or not it's something you would want to pursue.

[kimberkatt]

Thanks for the link Barbara!

I've always wondered how people did the S4H thing. $25 a page seems pretty expensive to me!! Is that really the going rate?? How do they get people to hire them, being so expensive??

My family has offered to "hire" me to do pages for their kids, and I wondered if I should do it or not?! But, I just assumed that you charge them for making the page (like $3-$5) and then give them the files to get them printed if they want. I'd make a terrible business owner! LOL! :p

[patchas]

Thanks Barbara, there is lots of good info over at DST on the subject.

[sharpli]

Yeah, $25 sounds steep - but what's your time worth? And how long does it take you to do a nice layout? I had my own DTP business in the 90's and charged $20 an hour then. What would the same service be today?

It's an interesting topic.

[janalyn]

Originally Posted by kimberkatt

Thanks for the link Barbara!

I've always wondered how people did the S4H thing. $25 a page seems pretty expensive to me!! Is that really the going rate?? How do they get people to hire them, being so expensive??

My family has offered to "hire" me to do pages for their kids, and I wondered if I should do it or not?! But, I just assumed that you charge them for making the page (like $3-$5) and then give them the files to get them printed if they want. I'd make a terrible business owner! LOL! :p

You have to consider how much time it takes to make that page. An hour?? So $3 - $5 an hour for your time. For many it would take several hours to make a page so you really would be working for nothing, especially if you were doing a whole album...

Opps, I didn't see Sharpli's post that says basically the same thing that I said LOL

[kimberkatt]

Yeah, I really didn't think about the time thing! It usually takes me about 1-2 hours a page, but that hour gets split between days sometimes if I only get a few minutes at the computer at a time! Two little ones REFUSE to let me play on the computer for more than 15 min at a time! That's why I LOVE naptime! LOL!

WOW! No wonder people do S4H! You can make a lot of $$!! Personally, I don't think I would enjoy this hobby as a business! When you start getting into deadlines & costs... it just wouldn't be FUN anymore! But, that's my own personal opinion! :p

And, I also scrap in spurts! Sometimes I have so many ideas and get a bunch of pages done, and other times I just can't seem to get myself going! It all depends on my mood!

[allwright1]

I agree Kimberly! In the 80's I made crochet dolls that looked kind of like Cabbage Patch Dolls and made quite a bit of money from them. I absolutely hated them! I loved the 1st one I made, the second one was ok... by the 3rd I was so sick of making them I almost gave up crochet and I still had lots to make! When I make something I do it for my enjoyment... if someone else enjoys it great... but I refuse to sell it... If I'm in a good mood I will give it to the admirer... but I won't sell. I craft for me and gifts. Working for someone else I have to live up to their expectations... do it the way they want... when they want it done... and I don't enjoy that! I scrap for love not for money!

[kimberkatt]

bumpity, bump, bump for Miss Carmen!!

[tammara]

The best way to do this is to specialize - new baby books and weddings are the best because people are willing to spend more for them. Make up a big kit, enough to do 20 more or less coordinating pages, and work up 19 quick pages and a really nice title page. You will make more money if you're selling the same work repeatedly (and you can sell the kits you designed on-line as well). If you're doing baby albums, you'll need a blue set and a pink set (but you can only design 5 or six of those each and then round the books out with pastel pages that would work for boys or girls). If you're doing weddings, have about 3 different styles to choose from.

Design with tags/textboxes so you can personalize each of the books you sell, and have an album printed so you will be able to show your clients exactly what they're buying before you touch a keyboard for them. Ritz Camera prints 20 page hardcover books in 8x10 and 12x12 formats for $20 and less; on-line places like Artcow.com and Lulu can be even cheaper. Decide what you're going to charge for your work and add in the printing costs, and quote the final cost of the individualized scrapbook up front.

You can offer to provide a custom-designed page for a special photo the client has, but have a fee for that service in mind and tell your client what the additional cost of custom work will be.

[kimberkatt]

Wow! Great ideas here Tammara!! Do you have your own S4H business?


I think this might be something I would dabble in when I'm not so time-constrained! Right now, I just don't have the time to do anything "extra" and I really would like to get my kids books done and get caught up on my pictures! :p