Pricing.

[rhymeswithaura]

*sigh* I feel silly asking, but I'm a little unsure here...

Alright, I have a CD, but I am no longer so certain of what would be fair/reasonable to charge for it.

It has 9 tracks in a slimline case with a two panel insert, professional recording and professional inkjet printing/duplication on a CD-R. The length is about 38 minutes.

That's it. Just wondering if anyone had any comments/suggestions. This is all new to me and now I'm told I'm being far too nice by planning to charge $8. Could I justifiably up the price a buck or two?

[David Hooper]

I think $8 is fair. You could probably get $10.

Test it out at shows and see which one gets better response. You may be surprised.

[Cosmic]

Rhymes,

If you look at sites that sell music via download, a buck a song seems to be the norm. So, with the printing and box, $10 seems just fine.

Best,

CC

[dr.colossus]

it depends on wether your selling the c.d. to make money or to gain exposure.

rule one: cover your costs!!! there are more than you think!

in general indi albums sold at gigs go for half to two-thirds the cost of a commercial c.d.

you could charge $10 and you sell 20 copies. but on the same night perhaps charging $8 you could sell 25. either way you walk away with $200 (granted theres a little less creamin the second option), but you will have five more discs out there doing the selling for you...

personally i feel a little guilty selling c.d.'s i would be just as happy giving them away but the world doesn't work like that

[rhymeswithaura]

Originally Posted by dr.colossus

personally i feel a little guilty selling c.d.'s i would be just as happy giving them away but the world doesn't work like that

Yeah, I've been giving the ones I made with my computer away for free, but that era has come to an end as I don't have my own shop of slave monkeys to print cut and fold things. )

Thanks.

[David Hooper]

Originally Posted by rhymeswithaura

Yeah, I've been giving the ones I made with my computer away for free, but that era has come to an end as I don't have my own shop of slave monkeys to print cut and fold things. )

You've hit on something really important here.

When you give away something for free, people do think that. Folks put value in what they pay for (and what you ask money for), so not only will charging for a CD help you to make ends meet, it will also help to make people value your music.

[lykwydchykyn]

Personally I wouldn't charge more that $10 for a home-pressed CD. I don't see $8 as ridiculously low, it's probably about as low as I'd got for a full length CD (but 9 songs may not be full length, depending on how long your songs are).

The best thing to do is start at $10. If you feel people are being turned off by the price, drop it a dollar at a time.

[Massive Master]

Put a $10 sticker on it and cover it with one that says:

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL - ONLY $7.99!!!

People love a sale, you know...

[mharr552000]

I have a 6 song CD that I sell at our shows. I tell people that it is usually $7, but I'll let them have it for $5. They cost me about $2 in materials and less than 5 minutes to burn the CD, print the CD, print the insert, assemble the thing and "shrink wrap" it. I sell about 10 at each show.

[glynb]

Originally Posted by David Hooper

You've hit on something really important here.

When you give away something for free, people do think that. Folks put value in what they pay for (and what you ask money for), so not only will charging for a CD help you to make ends meet, it will also help to make people value your music.

I appreciate what you're saying. people value what they pay for and tend to take for granted what is given to them for free. However, if your music is a hobby, you have no ambitions to turn pro, you don't need to make money from music, but you want your music to be HEARD by as many people as possible, then surely there's something to be said for giving away as many copies to as many interested people as you can?

I worked out the other day that in the course of a year I must meet several hundred people in the course of a year through my job and social life. If i talk to them and they sound interested in what i do musicaly then I'd rather offer a free copy of my alkbum, rather than try to get $10 off them, like a hustler!

Like I said, my approach wouldn't work for those who have ambitions to make money, or even break even on the project, but it will hopefully mean that all my 1,000 CDs eventualy get 'out there' rather than take up space in my garage!

[David Hooper]

You are correct. People play for different reasons.

I think it's fine to give anything away as long as you're not planning on making money and are find with funding it yourself. Something a lot of people don't consider is the hobby/fun element.