Profit made from handmade cards and wedding stationery?

I'm into handmaking birthday cards and am 110% interested in progressing further into my own business. I would like to know how much profit I should consider adding onto the cost of making the card? Also how many weddings do companies like this supply too?





All advice much appreiciated

Profit made from handmade cards and wedding stationery?
Simple answer, 15% margin minimum.





Merchants generally refer to the "Profit margin", or just "margin" on a sale. That is what they keep after all expenses are paid. Here is a hypothetical example: A book is sold for $10. The book cost the merchant $6, and the cost of the store, insurance, utilities, salary for employees, etc related to that one book is $2.75. So the net profit, what the merchant actually gets to keep, is $1.25, which is a 12.5% margin.





You should take the cost of your card stock and determine your cost for one card. Add in some realistic amount for your time (your "pay"), ink, pens, everything involved in making the card and also delivery costs. You might want to do this for a large number, perhaps 50 or 100 to keep the numbers from being very small. You also have to include some factor to account for spoilage and canceled orders.





Then, consider what someone would be willing to pay for a hand made card. And that is the crucial point.





Suppose your total cost for making one card is $2. You find that nobody wants to pay over $2.25 per card. You can price the cards higher but will not sell any. Will you be satisfied with $.25, or 11% margin?





Not worth it for one card, but this can be offset by requiring a minimum order. Printers typically do this. For example, $225 for 100 cards. That way, you will make $25 on each order.





All the above figures are, of course, examples. Personally I would be asking for more because this is an art and takes time. Anything handcrafted should command a premium price. If it takes you 8 hours to do 100 cards, will you be satisfied with the $25 for that work? Probably not.





So, various types of merchants realize different margins on their merchandise. My father ran a hardware store and told me once that if he made 15% at the end of the year he considered that good. I ran a store for several years. The audio equipment was generally priced between 45%-50% gross margin, before expenses, so it is a meaningless figure.





So, how much do you want to make in a year? How many cards do you think you can sell in a year, and what is the gross wholesale (your) cost of the cards and expenses. Add those together and divide by the total cards you expect to sell. Will they sell at that price?
Reply:To get your margin as profit, divide cost by percent. 25% margin: divide by .75. Cost: ₤.65 so: .65/.75 = ₤.86 retail. The difference: ₤.21 is 25% of the sale price thus your margin is 25%. Report Abuse

Reply:You and the rest of the world are doing this, I'm not trying to put you off as such, but be careful and do your research.





I know so many people who make cards so just check that your not already at saturation point in your area. Setting up costs are expensive if you don't use them.





I would add 35% to your costs. Don't forget you will need to declare money to the tax man, but can of set costs of business.
Reply:i'd start off small maybe at craft fairs or to friends and family. then maybe try a few local shops to see if the would sell a small handful of you cards etc if you real enjoy doing these cards etc start your profit off small and then slowly increase it to a healthy profit. this time next year you could be a millionaire good luck maybe even ebay or your own web site?