We are not talking about your radio here . The first thing you need to decide is what kind of return you would like from this business. You can adjust your pricing as you see fit, but for those of you in flea markets and festivals, consider the story below.

In the early 90's my first name software business was one of the only ones around and I enjoyed this benefit for some time. Well, you can't keep a great thing a secret for too long and it wasn't very long before my competition showed up. I started seeing customers walking around with similar products, but they weren't mine. Customers would say to me, "Oh, I wish I would have seen you first because I like your art backgrounds better."

I closed my booth and took a walk to find my new competitor. I was astonished when I came upon his booth. I was not astonished by his display or his products. I was amazed by the crowd he was drawing as it was 5 times the amount of traffic I was generating. I could not figure out what was wrong

• Was it his location ?
• Was it me?
• Was it my display ?
• What ???? 
   

The answer was simple. It was his price. This Korean man was running circles around me. There was a sign on his display that said ;

Now, he was selling the name meanings certificate on cheap stationary so at least I had something to compete against him with.There was no way I was going to sell my nicer product line at such an inexpensive price.This would hinder the price I could charge for framed and specialty type products that he did not offer. At that time I would sell a single first name meaning certificate for $8.00. I decided to close my booth for that day and just watch this man operate. 

By the end of the day , I got it ! I understood. I must have seen around 200 people that day hand that man $2.00 each. That was just the amount of people, it did not account for the people who wanted two and three name first name meaning certificates because his price was so affordable (especially in a flea market). I got to thinking . . . he made well over $500.00 that day where a typical day for me was @ $200.00.

His secret was

He also understood that he was at a flea market and flea market customers are looking for bargains !

While I was holding out for the special customers at $8.00 each, he was collecting everyone else and doubling my income. That's when I knew I had to do something or I would be out of business in no time. I decided that
I too would carry some of the cheap stationary (as he did) BUT, I would also carry and heavily promote my nicer line of products and art backgrounds. While I enjoyed getting $8.00 for a single sheet of paper, I had to find a way to pump up the volume. 

The answer was a five dollar bill.

In my mind, everyone in that flea market had a five dollar bill. They may not have had eight dollars, but I was convinced that everyone had at least $5.00. I just had to find the way to get it out of their pockets and in to mine. So . . . I made the same signs as the Korean man

"Any Name . . . Just $2.00" AND IT WORKED !

 Soon, I had the same size crowds that he did . The difference was that I could sell some cheap stationary for $2.00, but once I had the customers attention, I could push the benefits and superior quality of my art backgrounds. I told customers that for $2.00 they could have the lesser quality product, but for just $5.00 they could have a truly unique piece of personalized art. Since I had their attention, I could also point out my beautiful frames and other accessory type products. I am not saying that this was magic but it was not long before I was selling 150 of these in one day and my numbers started jumping from $200.00 to $700.00 and above. 

The rest of the secret came from the oldest retail philosophy in the book . . . .

Here are a few ideas that work like a charm:

  Charge $5.00 for a single first name meaning certificate (Nothing Else)
The add on sale here comes from adding more names and more options.If the customer would like two first name meanings on one certificate, then you can charge an additional two dollars for the second name. This is easy to do and costs you virtually nothing but toner or ink.Now your $5.00 art background is now $7.00

 Add a dollar or two for the personal sentiment line.
Most everyone desires this feature. It's the customers chance to add their own personal touch to the gift.

We suggest that you only charge for this when they purchase the art background by itself, charging for this in a framed product is not necessary as your mark-up is already fantastic.

"It's your business,so if you find your customers don't seem to mind paying extra.

ADD ON THE SALE !

 Lamination

Another excellent way to add on sales is to offer laminating and laser foiling. You can purchase a nice no frills laminator at an office supply store for @ $99.00 or less.You don't have to buy one now, just keep it in mind for the future.A laminator pays itself off in more ways than one. 

Add on another $1- $3 for laminating the art background. It is very simple to do, takes about one minute and once again increases your sales. Laminating sheets cost @.25 cents each.

Laminating also enhances the look of the art background and brings out the colors beautifully.

 Laser Foil  
Laser Foil is a unique product that adds a shiny metallic colorful look to your printed art backgrounds.It is very inexpensive and easy to use.Basically, the foil sticks to where ever toner is.You simply place the foil over your text area (face up) and run through laminator or use a foiling wand. Let cool for a moment,peel back and its' ready to go. (* foil needs a temperature of 240 degrees )

 Cut The Hole (Sound funny ?? Well , listen to this.) 

There is a nifty little gadget available that allows you to cut a perfect circle (and many different size circles) out of your art backgrounds.This allows you to enhance your offerings even further by adding photographs to the personalized gifts. All you have to do is cut the hole. This is a HUGE profit maker !

Most of the time, your customers will have photos with them and can have you add the picture to the product. If they don't, it's alright. Simply cut the hole for them and explain that all they have to do is open the frame when they get home and tape the photo to the art background and it's finished. 

Bottom Line. . . you can charge from $1 to $3 to cut the hole.  

It takes about 5 seconds to cut the hole,and it cost you nothing.  

The cost of the hole cutter is @ $24.95 .You will have that paid for after cutting just 8-25 circles !

Another great way to add a dollar to the sale. Here is how you work it; We don't really believe the lottery number option looks so good on your nicer pieces of art work. However, certain pieces do.

We DO NOT display the lottery numbers but we offer them as add on's to the sale.

If you happen to be located in a lottery fever town then you will make money with this option.This feature is excellent especially if you travel with your business. Lotteries work different in many states and the amount of numbers it plays may vary. Simply find out what the numbers go up to for that particular state and adjust your software accordingly. Each name will in turn choose numbers from the selected variables. For folks that prefer a religious verse First Name Almanac Software offers this option in place of the lottery numbers. Again, if you wish, you can offer this extra for free or charge an add on price !

Let's assume you sold the art background by itself for $5.00- 

Take a look at what add on sales can do  for you.

As you can see this is an incredible mark up! You won't always get every add on, but you will do this type of thing very often.

You can enjoy these profit margins without adding a frame or any other type of accessory. While your at it, you might as well laminate other items too. People want loads of things laminated !

Set your own pricing and  . . . . .

 Add on the sales