First look at your costs: how much does each DVD blank and jewel box cost? How much does the ink you use to print on the face of the disc cost?
How long is the disc you’re duplicating and how does that translate into cost of electricity?
How much time will you be involved in creating the label and packaging the DVDs? What is your time worth to you per hour?
Finally, how much do you want to pay your business per hour? This is different from “how much do I pay myself per hour.” This is what you’re going to put back into the business to replace equipment down the road, to advertise, etc.
My discs, which I buy in bulk — 600 Fuji discs per case — cost $0.39 each; jewel cases — in bulk, 200 per case — cost $0.18 each; ink for my Bravo II disc printer, costs about $0.20 per disc. Add labor, overhead and something for business growth and I’m into each disc about $2.00 – $2.50.
So I have to charge $2.00 to $2.50 to break even. Anything more than that is pure profit.
Your friend can probably get his DVDs duplicated at Costco or Walmart for less than $1.00 each, so you’ll need to sell him on why your service is worth paying more than what he would pay there or at a local camera store. One of the easiest ways to do this is to print your client’s artwork on each disc, along with a nicely printed title. If his source disc already a label on it, scan it and use the scanned image for the artwork and titling on the copies. This is a real “wow” factor and justifies the additional charge.
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