(Please excuse the silly page title. "Up Up yours" popped into my head when i first started planning this little experiment -- Up Up invitations, Your prices. I know it's a bit of a stretch. But it's funny.)
IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN MY SEPTEMBER 2011 EXPERIMENT, EITHER BY KEEPING THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT VALUE GOING OR BY NAMING YOUR OWN PRICE, I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU.
FOR NOW, THE EXPERIMENT HAS ENDED. I'LL LEAVE THE INFO UP BUT I HAVE REMOVED THE LINKS TO ACTUALLY NAME YOUR PRICE. I'M GOING TO TAKE OCTOBER TO FIGURE SOME THINGS OUT AND ANALYZE THE EXPERIMENT AND ALL, AT WHICH POINT I'LL DECIDE HOW BEST TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE VERSION OF THE NAME-YOUR-PRICE MODEL. BECAUSE DESPITE BUMPS ALONG THE WAY, I TOTALLY LOVED IT.
PLEASE STAY TUNED.
AND IF YOU HAVE IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO CONTINUE THIS PRICING MODEL IN A MORE SUSTAINABLE WAY (I.E. SOMETHING I CAN KEEP UP WITH FROM MONTH TO MONTH, AND WITHOUT GOING BROKE!) I'D LOVE IT IF YOU'D SHARE THEM. I'VE GOT SOME IDEAS OF MY OWN, OF COURSE, BUT I'M OPEN TO ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU'VE GOT.
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September 12, 2011 Note: I have had to make a few adjustments to the way this experiment will progress for the rest of September. While overall the response has been awesome and amazing and whatever adjectives you can think of that start with A and mean good, I've run into a situation that has made me realize that I need to be a bit clearer with my expectations and with the terms of this experiment. I'm okay with prices high and low but I'm not in this to give things away for free or to donate thousands of dollars worth of paper goods for your wedding and that's completely not the point of this and I thought I had made that clear but in case I hadn't, I'm trying to make it clearer now. Please do just read through the FAQs below to be sure you're operating under the appropriate assumptions about this project.
Now without further ado, the awesomeness that is my name-your-price experiment:
It's True. This month I'm asking you, my dear and wonderful customers, to name your own wedding stationery prices. Like for your real invitation orders.
As Meg Keene of A Practical Wedding said to me when I ran the idea by her, it's very Radiohead of me, right?
But really, it just seems like a good way for me to "meet" new people and to get those people to talk to me about things like value. Entrepreneurs and makers and artists spend an awful lot of time thinking about, talking about, stressing about pricing. And brides and grooms and people related to planning and paying for weddings do, too. And I'd really like it if we could talk about things like prices and value together.
And since talking about money is awkward, I decided that instead of talking right up front, I'll see what happens when you get to just act on your ideas about value.
The value of handmade. The value of good design. The value of making good choices with your wedding budget. The value of your time, and mine. The value of awesome.
And then after we're done and we know each other better and all, maybe THEN we can talk some about what you thought about the experiment. But only if you're comfortable with that.
I decided that it would be best to introduce myself and my experiment with a video. So here it goes.
(the song is "generator: second floor" by freelance whales)
How to Buy
It's actually super simple. You just click on "name your price" below and you go to Paypal. There, you enter your price and pay (via Paypal, bank account, or credit card -- all completely secure and never seen by me). After you pay you'll be redirected to a page where you can enter your info: which design you want, what pieces (invitation only? response cards, too?), what colors, and what wording. If you don't have all of that ready yet, you can always email it to me later.
Frequent & Potential Questions
Q: Can I order now even if i'm not ready with my wording yet?
A: Yes, but I'll need the wording by the end of September 2011. (Note: If you and I have already corresponded about an alternate arrangement, I'll stick to that.)
Q: How much do you usually charge?
A: In the spirit of the experiment I'm trying not to answer this question. Suffice it to say that I've had customers pay as little as $60 for invitations to a small wedding or as much as $1800 or more for invitations to big weddings with lots of paper needs. If you're looking for a ballpark, aim for somewhere in that one. Think about your event size. Think about your paper needs. Think about your overall budget and your budget for invitations.
Q: Do the invitations have to be for a wedding?
A: No. They can be for anything. Adapt the hell out of the wording; make 'em what you need.
Q: What if I need reply cards or accommodations cards or things like that?
A: Include them in your price and then provide me with the details after you checkout.
Q: Are there any extra fees built in?
A: When you check out you'll name your price and paypal will add $15 for shipping and -- if you are shipping to a New York State address only -- 8% NYS sales tax. Otherwise, there are no extra hidden fees. Your own-price invitations will come with the same things regular invitations come with: envelopes (including 5% extra envelopes), an extra invitation for framing or scrapbooking, digital proofs (PDF, via email), and up to two rounds of changes to the proof. Additional rounds of changes, which are seldom necessary, will incur the same additional fees as always: $40 per round.
Q: When will i receive my order?
A: I'm going to do my best to stick to my usual order turn-around times, and in fact I've enlisted extra help to accommodate the possible onslaught, but since I have no idea what kind of volume is going to come in this month, there may be some delays -- I will let you know right away at the time of ordering what kind of timing we're looking at. Obviously the earlier you order the sooner your stuff will arrive so it's in your interest to order as soon as you're ready.
Q: Can I still order a completely custom design from you during this month-long experiment?
A: Sure thing! You can name your own price for the design and for the printing. It might be best for us to talk before you name your price just so we can both get a good idea of what the process will be like.
Q: What will happen in October?
A: I have no idea! It depends a bit on how September goes. I'd love love love to continue this as a pricing model but I need to assess the experiment and see whether it worked for you, worked for me, etc. I'd really love your feedback on this whole thing, by the way -- good feedback, bad, even ugly.
Q: Can I decide to pay nothing for my invitations? To get them for free?
A: As Louise of The Thirty-Something Bride said in her post about the experiment, this is name your price and free isn't a price. These are real tangible goods you'll be getting, and real hours of my time. There are actual costs associated with wedding invitations, which I hope you'll take into consideration when you name your price. I do hope you'll remember that there's a person at the other end of this transaction. So far in more than 50 inquiries and transactions I've had to tell just one person that her price was not possible. If that happens, I reserve the right to start a dialog with you about how we can make this a mutually satisfying interaction or to process a full refund for you if that's what you'd prefer.
Q: Is this for real?
A: Yeah. it is. I'm a real graphic designer with a real invitation business. My invitations have been featured in BRIDES magazine and all around the web. You can read customer testimonials here on my website or on theknot.com and many other major wedding-industry sites (project wedding, wedding wire, theweddingchannel.com, etc.).
Q: What if i want to order more than one set of invitations?
A: It would be easiest if you would process two separate "name your price" orders to help me stay organized and sane. I'd appreciate it.
Q: What if i want to order other items (like calendars, posters, greeting cards, etc.)?
A: Unfortunately, anything in my regular web shop at upupcreative.com will have to be processed separately from your "name your price" order(s).
