print broker?
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- fredddddd
anyone ever used a print broker before? was it beneficial?
- gramme0
Yes. I work with two, one here and one in Atlanta. I wasn't keen on brokers until recently. A guy I'd worked with here in STL on many projects lost his job for on ridiculous grounds, so he became a freelance broker. I gave him some projects out of pity, but after a while it was nice. He understands what I'm looking for with each project, gathers bids, and all I have to do is review them and make a recommendation for my client.
Same with the Atlanta guys. Their specialty is direct mail, an area which is a bit of a black art to me.
But when it comes to things like stationery, I have relationships with a bunch of good printers and would rather work directly with those particular shops. So I guess it really depends on the job, and of course on the broker. There are a lot of lazy ones out there.
- fredddddd0
cool. I never knew print brokers existed until recent. I have a random project come up with something I have no idea about. this could be a good time.
- akrok0
heard about it but never used one.
- gramme0
A lot of them are sharks for sure. Kinda like photo reps. I can pass a couple referrals along for non-sharky brokers, if anyone wants to email me.
- d_rek0
I've worked with a few over the last few years. I work with one that is currently a real stand-out guy. Not only does he make sure we're getting the best quality for the value but he understand print production in and out and always goes the extra mile to make sure everything is up to spec and quality is exceptional. It's really great to work with him because i know when I hand a job off to him it's in good hands.
However, a few of the broker's i've worked with could give a shit less once the job has passed through their hands.
- KTD Communications out of Detroit, MI is an excellent broker.d_rek
- capn_ron0
I prefer acting as my own print broker. It allows me the chance to talk to each of my printers, and also allows me to upcharge the printing a bit for errors, or time spent dealing with the printer.
- i've gained great relationships with printers now that they help me out too and give me broker pricing.capn_ron
- fredddddd0
Whats a standard fee / cut? My client doesn't have a lot of money.
- gramme0
Someone is always getting paid a commission, whether it's an outside broker or a sales rep at the print shop. It varies from job to job, but usually if you work with a broker, very little or none of the commission goes to the in-house people, since the broker is doing most of the legwork (communicating with merchants and crunching numbers notwithstanding). Most or all of the commission goes to the broker.
About what capn says, I never saw the point in adding mark-up to print projects. Just estimate the time you'll spending working with brokers, printers, etc. and build that into your fee.
- I do the same.duckofrubber
- gramme, that may be fine for you, but i've been doing this the whole time and it works for me.capn_ron
- Hey, more power to you. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense from my perspective.gramme
- Pedrofski0
No matter what, a good print broker will always find you a better price than what you could dealing with printers on your own. That's sort of the point - they're experienced and very well connected. If not, then keep looking.
- yeah but finding a "good" print broker. good luck with that.akrokdesign
- Amicus0
Not sure what it is like elsewhere, but in Australia there seems to be a difference between a Print Broker and a Print Manager.
Brokers look for a good price. Managers seem to do a more thorough job of managing the entire process including press checks (if you don't have time etc.) and generally seem to have more knowledge about the best place to print the work, rather than just the cheapest.
Print Managers will also take the hassle out of multiple delivery drops and details like that. They are a little more expensive, but due to the high volumes of print they buy they wouldn't end up being much more expensive than you would source yourself.
- these days, i can see those two jobs go into one.akrokdesign
- gramme0
Interesting. Never heard of a printer manager over here in the US. Sounds like a print buyer, which is an agency position over here. The one print buyer I used to work with at an agency seemed superfluous. I can't imagine that's a thriving niche in the agency world these days.