How to Charge for Mockups with GraphicsFlow and Stay Competitive
15 March, 2022
Bottom Line Up Front: Printers periodically find themselves in a tight spot with customers when it comes to art mockups since it can turn into “free work.” Find out how GraphicsFlow enables you to build designs faster. And learn how you can use your design fee as a bargaining chip with customers since you’ll save time in the art creation process.
A design mockup is the starting point for most printed merch jobs, and it’s the place where shops get to truly express their creativity in what to deliver for their customers. But it can also be a slippery slope for a couple of reasons. Some customers look at the initial design as free work, putting printers in an awkward position if they don’t have an established mockup fee. Some customers may also bring a shop a design idea that’s low resolution and needs to be reworked, which costs the design department time.
With GraphicsFlow, you can build professional designs for your customers quicker thanks to the massive art library and speed up the approval process with the Art Approvals workspace. Suppose you choose to charge a fee for that initial design. There’s flexibility in pricing, thanks to GraphicsFlow helping you save on labor hours and overhead. All of these tools combine to give you the perfect solution for getting ahead of the busy Spring sports season.
To Charge or Not to Charge
How your business offsets the costs for an initial design can vary. Some of the most common ways to charge for the design include a standalone fee or adding it into the per-item pricing of an overall order cost.
Some shops don’t charge at all for initial designs, but consider this:
- GraphicsFlow gives you the tools to build a mockup faster and easier than you would from scratch. That means even if you charge a nominal fee for a mockup, your shop will still cover its costs. That’s because the art library in GraphicsFlow features more than 25,000 high-res, vector-based graphics that are easily editable.
- Designs are easily searchable in GraphicsFlow. With search filters, your team can pull together ideas for everything from team sports and schools to small businesses and seasonal holidays. And thanks to the GraphicsFlow Design Drop, every month, you’ll get a new set of designs to choose from, so you always have a fresh set of resources to build those mockups.
Easier for Customers
Along with the speed and efficiency, GraphicsFlow adds to the shop side of the design creation process; tools like Art Portal make it faster and easier for your customers during that initial design mockup phase.
Use Art Portal as your standalone website or embed it into an existing site to give your customers the same access your shop has to the massive art library of GraphicsFlow designs. They can search the catalog and send you design requests, simplifying the mockup phase. Instead of a customer sending you their own graphics that might have format or quality issues, you’ll be able to quickly build art mockups from high-quality vector graphics you’ve already got complete access to.
Combine the portal with GraphicsFlow’s Art Approval workspace, and you’ve got a powerful one-two punch that makes initial design builds smoother. After you’ve created the initial mockup, you can send it back to the customer via GraphicsFlow Art Approvals. This tool keeps all your messages organized with customers, so you can easily make changes and keep track of whether or not a job is ready to move to the printing phase.
A Bargaining Chip
If your shop wants to charge for design fees but still needs a way to stay competitive on pricing, GraphicsFlow gives you that flexibility. Since you’ll be saving overhead and time with tools like Art Portal and Art Approvals, you can charge for art services and stay negotiable on that fee if necessary. If you need to discount the order to win a customer, you can zero out these fees instead of cutting prices on products (which have actual costs) and losing margins.
With GraphicsFlow, you’ll have a solution that improves your design workflow and gives you a better solution for staying ahead of the competition in the custom branded merch world.
Industry Perspective
Since every business has its own approach to customer service and art fees, sometimes it’s helpful to get some perspective from other professionals in the field. If you want some insight from a few seasoned professionals, check out this recent discussion from Shirt Show featuring co-hosts Andy Rudman of Shirt Kong, Dylan Gilligan of Upstate Merch and guest Brett Bowden from Printed Threads. The trio talks about their varied approaches on charging for design.
NOTE: There are a couple moments of strong language near the beginning of the clip.
Ready to grow your shop’s competitive edge with Art Portal and GraphicsFlow? Contact a Client Advisor today for a personalized 15-minute tour. Fifteen minutes can change your business.
Not ready? Test drive the Art Portal and submit a sample design. See for yourself the potential of Art Portal for your business.
