catalogs

[woundedbear]

Hello Everyone, I was just thinking what it cost Guillow's to print the catalogs that come with every kit ? And how much could be saved if they didn't ? Just a thought, what do you think ?

[NcGunny]

Gave my younger brother a call. He works for a printing press company that does tons of oddball printings. The probably have a yearly contract and get "X" amount delivered yearly or twice a year. Chances are the printing company does the whole years amount in 1 run that is a fill in between jobs or they run it when the same type of paper is on a press and they dont want to change out the rolls. He said if they are paying over .20 a book they need to shop around. I figure the booklet is a boxer filler so oeople arent screaming about paying 40.00 for essentially 4.00 worth of material.

[WIDDOG]

I like the older style better then the newer ones.

[David Lewis]

I assume every item Guillow's puts in a kit is intended to return some profit, including the catalog. If it's bringing in more than it costs then eliminating it will not enable a price reduction.

The skill and talent of the commercial artist or graphic designer determines how beautiful the catalog turns out. Some model kit companies of the old days (e.g. Aurora and Monogram) hired the best available and spared no expense when it came to the design of plans, box art, and promotional and marketing materials.

[NcGunny]

Very true Dave, but I think the original post was about..If they dont include books,would the kits be cheaper? Most companies will quit with additional fluff in packages but keep the price the same. With the craft cutters becoming way cheap in price,everbody owns a scanner now,these niche companies have to step it up a notch now. Even loyal customers might scratch their heads at..I spend 400.00 a year on kits, a craft cutter is 250.00ish,i own a pc and scanner..etc You get the point.
I would like to see them offer short kits, plain packaging, plans,wood, etc.

[woundedbear]

Hay Ncgunny, are there laser cutters that can be had for say $300.00 ? I sent off for a company hand out, they were talking about what you would have to get started in the laser cutting biz. They said about $10,000.00 in startup money would get you off the ground, way too much for my blood. There's one more thing I wanted to know about Guillows, what would it cost to get your plans sent to you rolled up instead of folded up ?

[NcGunny]

Lol..they arent cheap and its one of those deals where you dont do a DIY. Maybe around 3-4K and you wont regret it. Hobby laser uses CO2 so thats a cost to consider. You want 40-50 watts and name brand optics on it, dont buy ebay,dont buy Chinese!! Make sure it comes from a US supplier,and again...No EBAY..No CHINESE you are guarenteed to regret it. You could call Guillows and see,but I bet their plans are all prefolded from printer. At the end of a printing press they can divert single page sheets to what is called a FORMER and it folds them so they come out already done. I just ordered a Sissix craft cutter to use now.

[NcGunny]

Bear,
My friend just bought a laser cutter from a company called Darkly Labs. It was a DIY build kit for under 2k, CO2 cooled and comes with open source software. The frame of the machine is made out of the plastic wood. He said it was a easy build considering an assembled unit was 3700ish from the same company. You have to run a vent like a dryer to the outside of the room. He never mentioned if it was one that took a water supply or.not.