tarotlyn
Ok. Here's my thinking.
If the Jumbo and Regular size decks are great, and the smallest deck is not really so great, I wonder if it's worth the trouble of offering the smallest one. It's only a seven dollar difference and that's not so much. If you're trying to keep costs lower for buyers and planning to ship these yourself, you might be able to shave a dollar or two off the US domestic shipping, even including the cost of a dollar-store padded envelope. (The flat-rate box makes sense for something small and very heavy). At any rate, I would consider dropping the small-size option, to encourage people to buy the better ones rather than the false economy of a cheaper but less fun deck.
eta: thanks to moongypsy I've just deleted a long elaborate confusion
Debra, thank you...that makes sense about the smaller deck. Probably i should dropit from the list. But i will keep the regular size and the jumbo size.
And thank you for the idea of the dollar store padded envelopes as i didn't
even realize they had them. i will have to check the one and only local dollar store in town...LOL
Don't forget that i sill have to buy bubble wrap and bags for the decks, but won't be adding
those costs to the purchase because they are probably not too much anyway. Maybe the
dollar store has bubble wrap too.
Oh, and i will still offer the priority shipping as a lot of people prefer that. In many years
i have never had a problem with priority mail getting to me or from me.
Thank you for bringing up these things
Debra, Lyn said in the really long post--#603:
"3. There will be NO extra cards, because of printing costs (excepting the intro card and my thank you card)"
So, she is only including one Tower, and one Pinto.
It is a bit confusing and hard to keep up with all the different versions and final card decisions, etc.
Hugs and Blessings,
MG xxx
My sis, it is too bad i can't add the extra cards i wanted to, but one more card added inand the deck goes up almost 2 more dollars because of the way TGC only puts so many card on each sheet!
Been gone all day! But here am I and ready to share my thoughts....
I agree with Debra the small deck is not worth adding as an option, knowing that the quality will not be there. It will look like as if you had not done a good job, even though the real reason is that they were not meant to be downsized. People would be attracted by the price, but even if you warn them that the quality won't be as it should, and they say they are fine with it; you can be sure to have some of them complain in the end...
Thus, if I were you I would not offer the small size.
The Jumbo size might not be the one that will sell the most because of the price and size. If people buy the deck to read with it, there will be those who will find the cards awkward in their hands. For those who will buy it just for collection they might go for a Jumbo but how many of them that will make? Because even in the collectors there will be those who want a "traditional Tarot size"...
Personally, I think that the regular size is best because it is what a Tarot is supposed to be.
But my opinion comes only from what I know from friends, from the customer reviews I read about diverse Tarots, and my own preferences....
For the price, I think that $25 or $27 maximum for the regular size deck would be best; but again I have no clue about self-published Tarots. Today, I was at my local stores and I looked up the prices of the Tarots that were on display and the most expensive was $18.99, then if you buy a box set Book/Tarot it was $24.99. In that case people pay the tax but no shipping...Thus, it all depends on the kind of customers you will have.
Debra's idea about reducing the shipping cost by using a padded envelope is worth looking into it. It might bring the cost down, but I guess if you want to make sure you'll have to pack a deck and let the post office tell you what it would cost to ship it first class. But if the customer buys 2 decks that might weight too much and cost more...On that part I'm clueless really.
Hope my thoughts on the subject will be helpful, at least a bit...
LadyZelda, i hadn't thought about people not listening to my warning about thequality of the poker sized deck. That is something to consider! i will just take it out of the mix then...
which solves any future problems there.
RE: store prices for tarot decks
There is no way i can compete with those prices because there isn't an online 'print on demand' printer
that gives out low enough prices to self-publishers so that they can offer the prices you
see in the regular stores. i think i mentioned earlier that online printers charge so much more more per deck for printing.
i have a wholesale license set up with USGames INC, and what they sell me a deck
for 50% discount (their wholesale price) is about what i have to pay for my own decks at 'COST' from TGC.
So that probably means that they pay about 1/2 of what i pay for printing a single deck!
It cost way more to self-publish with small online printers. But if i go with a larger printer
they would want anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 up front and i am not going to do that.
i hate to say, but i have paid $50 + shipping for decks on AT that were self-published
and i don't even read with them, but i wanted the decks in my collection because they were 'self-published'
You just can't compare store prices with a self-published deck.
As far the shipping of 'two' decks...they both would fit perfectly into the small flat rate
priority box for right around $5... i will just have to go according to what people order
and how they want it shipped. But, truthfully, i do prefer to ship by priority. Gives the deck
less days to get lost in the mail...LOL
Thank you for your thoughts... all this helps me decide what to do.
Thank you, everyone!Lyn
i am still adding names to my thank you card...(trying to fit all the names on there! LOL)
...but almost done...but still need to work on that one revamp card i am doing...other than that,
all of the cards have now been edited.
YAY!!! i just now finished my 'Thank You! card...whew! it was really a job
