>Look at it as an investment not an expense. While cutting costs and doing
>it yourself is
the beekeepers mantra - this is one area I would advocate getting
professional help.

Depends in my opinion on level of sales. For a small scale Farmers market
sales of a couple grand a season I would go with one of the beautiful labels
available on the market , write in the weight, and get a stamp made for your
name. If you want get a stamp with the weight of each of your products.
If you give up beekeeping other beeks will buy the remaining labels.

>After the initial design cost and printing plates,

This *is* a big expense as each plate needs produced and usually in the $
150 per plate range.

Example:
If you sell two sizes of bears, a 1lb. & 2 lb. jar and a couple other sizes
then plate cost might run $900 for six plates. (these are examples but about
what I paid).

Art design is usually extra and can be pricy as I found out with a specialty
label I had designed. My design ( I drew myself and was good enough to use) 
did not add much cost to my labels but having their artists do the whole 
design can run into hundreds of dollars.

One has to remember large label makers design labels for fortune 500 
companies and will design the hobby labels to the same standard for a 
similar fee!

> the cost per label is usually much lower
per label when printed by a printer and a several year supply is purchased
as compared
to buying office supply style blank labels and running through a computer
printer.

Only if you are going to be in the business for a long time *and* you will
not want to change your design before you recoup some of the investment
money.

> The
cost of the label stock and printer cartridge is much higher then the few
pennies a label
you pay from a printer.

Agreed but using labels from the bee supply houses is what most do and
simply apply a bee supply house local label. After all if not selling in
stores you are standing in front of the customer and they are more
interested in what you are saying about your product than a fancy label.

Labels help but when selling to family, co-workers ,neighbors and at farmers
markets  even very basic ( and cheap ) labels might work as well.

>This is one investment that keeps on giving you a return year after year
>after year.

True but you need to buy *in my opinion* 10,000 labels of a size to get the
best rate. One size I had to order 30,000 to get a decent rate. How many
years considering plate and artist charges would in take to even break even?

Each persons situation is different but let me share what pricing
professional labels will be like.

First talk will be of design help if fancy. You tell what you want and the 
charges start and will not stop until you approve the design.

second will be a discussion of plate charges. I would guess at least a 
hundred bucks from even a small printer.

third will explain that if you want the flowers on your label to be of many
colors each color after the basic included is an additional charge. Colors 
certainly add to the label charges.

fourth you will be given a choice of label size. Usually the label maker
will let you pick (example) six different sizes for your product. (the
reason being you will need to order a certain number of each size to get a
discount > Say 5000 of each for a decent price per label.

Tip:
Forget six different sizes and order plates in only a couple sizes ( or
cheaper only one for the smaller honey seller) Then you can combine your
order so a combination of your labels can make the say 5000 order figure for
a decent price break.

The last charge spoke of will be a $20-25 plate change fee. Which is the fee
the printer charges to change *your* plates each time a change is needed.

Now Brian's label place may have a different price structure but the above
should be close but were prices from awhile back.

Tip:
When I last reordered labels ( last spring) all sizes but two had jumped in
prices.

If you know you are going to be in business for at least a decade and need
the professional labels ( as Brain and I do) then I would buy 10 years worth
as not much higher than say five years worth.

Hope the above helps the discussion .

bob


Why
try and cut corners on what in the end is the image you portray to your
customer?

What experience have others had with labels ?

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned 
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html