Deck Pricing

Alta said:

Self-published artists can charge more for later decks when they get a 'fan base'.
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There is a bit of a disconnect between price and costs in artistic ventures.

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Let's say the per unit cost, including collaterals and bonuses, is $22.00, delivered to you. You spent a year perfecting your art. Your run is 300 units. Do you charge $50 or $300? The disconnect in art for sale is more a matter of scale; the difference in per unit cost of many thousands of copies and the limited edition market of hundreds or fewer.

Many costs must be recovered when issuing and considering the pricing for a limited edition. Unit cost is not calculated by totaling expenses and dividing by the edition's run. No, you charge what you believe the market will tolerate and what you believe your product is worth. You must attenuate that figure based on your capital's elasticity or your tolerance for recovering expenses. and your best guess at how much your buzz will contribute to selling out the run.

I disagree that the qualification for advanced pricing is establishment. As a creative who freelances, I never accept a reduced rate on the promise of more work later with the same client. I get paid what I charge because I'm worth it.

You are probably worth it, too.

Charge what you must. Just don't sell yourself short.

all the best luck.

My own perspective as a 'deck creator' is this: the work is a labor of love. We have the privilege of helping to construct an alchemical tool that we hope will prove to be both useful and popular. If we are in this business because we're trying to make money, or make some kind of public splash, then we are doing it for the wrong reasons. Tarot is much too important for that.

It's important to make your deck available, of course. People are very interested in it, both as a tool and as art, so of course you want it 'out there'. And you need to assign a price that covers its cost of production and distribution.

Most mass-market decks these days seem to hover around $15 to $20 (I'm thinking of Llewellyn and the usual stuff you see in chain bookstores.). Most self-produced decks, if they're printed in significant numbers, say 1000 units or more, seem to go for around $30. If I read your question right, this seems like the right neighborhood for your pricing. (Pricing it at 5 to 6 times the cost of printing is just being greedy, in my view.)

Will you make money on it, or lose money? Depends on what kind of product you decide you want to see! What sort of deck will you want to be associated with? I would hope that you'd make a physical product that will last a considerable time, and not fall apart immediately in the sun or rain. If it turns out to be a broadly useful deck, it will have a 'long tail', as they say in merchandising -- instead of being a quick flash in the pan, you'll be selling the same deck 40 years from now, because people will be telling others about what a great deck it is. I hope you come out ahead!

Cedar Wolf said:

I'm self-publishing, and having it and the rather hefty companion book printed by professionals. If you're a buyer or collector, what sort of price do you consider mid-range, and/or the highest you're willing to go? For deck alone, and deck-and-book combo? Do you make different considerations for indie versus mass-produced decks?

If you're a creator, how did you decide what to charge for it? . . . it would be nice to have enough come in to fund reprints (if I should be so lucky) and the like.

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Cedar Wolf said:

I should add that I'm doing my best to make this a high quality publication. Good printing, card stock, and so on. It's important to me -- I hate cheap shit.

Does that make a difference to you when you buy a deck? Will you pay more for card stock you like?

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These are all great questions - I'm glad you asked them and am looking forward to all the replies you get!

wooden-eye said:

I self published in May this year. I sell the deck for $30 Aud. I have found this fine and not off putting to buyers. I have quite high shipping from Aus. My margins are acceptable, but yes it is a labour of love.
I chose to invest more in the cardstock and matte lam finish and I have not regretted it. I so hate to read that folk are upset about quality, when so much work goes into the deck, I was not prepared to let this happen. This forum is master class in dos and donts for Tarot creators.

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I love your answer - very good point about the card stock. I have an urge to create a deck and would also cringe if people regretted buying a deck just because of inferior card stock. So much work goes into creating art, that would really hurt everyone!

rota said:

Pricing it at 5 to 6 times the cost of printing is just being greedy, in my view.

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Yeah, it sounds crazy to me. Regarding creative ventures, I had a small video production business for a while. When I was starting out, I was advised to use a formula to charge clients 133% of my costs (renting equipment, hiring actors, feeding crew, etc.). So I would recoup my total investment and make a third of it in profit. That was a number of years ago and so low because I was a total beginner (actually still a student). With experience, I could charge more. Now, because I currently work in retail, I know that the markup is generally 2.3 to 2.5 times what is paid wholesale for an item, or 233% to 250%. So, a retailer gets double what they paid wholesale, plus another third to half of that. Hopefully that covers their costs to stay in business (rent, electric bills, salaries) and provide at least some profit. I would ask for that kind of markup when I get back into video production.

So, it's important to keep track of your costs - and that includes your materials and the value of your time spent working on it!