Thank you and pricing
Thanks to everyone who responded on our behalf. Like I said before, we love hearing nice things about Tom?s work and I enjoy the nice customer service comments. Although criticism is welcomed ? it?s not especially enjoyed. But it is clear from everyone?s comments that our pricing structure needs correction.
Also thank you Stephen for your gracious response and for adamantly bringing the problem to our attention in the first place - like I said, not pleasant to hear, but we did hear you.
Tom comes from a commercial art world where projects are one-off. One customer ? one print ? one check. Quite frankly, we had no idea what we were getting into when agreeing to do the RV commissioned work. We were quickly overwhelmed by the administration of the project and realized we had drastically underestimated the ?handling? in the ?shipping and handling? charges. So, being na?ve, we increased the handling charges to be more realistic. What can I say ? that didn?t go very well.
Recommended pricing, in the art world, for a 24x36 giclee print is between $350 - $850. We weren?t trying to make a killing and we felt if we kept the price way low, more people would be able to enjoy the print and we would be okay with higher volume. Tom way under-estimated the time each illustration would take and the volume hasn?t been forthcoming. But Tom really loves what he is doing, and we?re both enjoying working with all of you - so he?s still at it.
Tom and I will focus on our cost structure after he gets the -7 and -7A slider illustrations released and shipped. The new cost structure will necessarily result in a price increase on all prints for all models, to more realistically cover the time it takes to produce an illustration and the administration and handling in a small shop like ours. The shipping charges will no longer include ?handling? and will be lowered to include only a flat postage fee and packaging. In the event the overall price (print plus shipping) ends up increasing, we will honor current pricing for any orders received prior to the new pricing being announced.
Tom and I both truly enjoy working with the RV community and regret that our pricing structure was at the center of such a riff. We look forward to an on-going relationship with all of you and hope to be able to embark on another RV project once the -7 series project and a few custom orders are completed. Although still not enough orders for a project, the 9 series is picking up momentum and the -6's have some interest as well.
To Stephen ? if you want to return your print, please send us an email at
[email protected] and we will give you instructions for returning it and receiving a refund.
Nina