As part of the TypePad service, it provides you stats on who has visited your blog and how they got there. Often, hits come via Google searches for reprographic or construction terms and TypePad shows you what people have looked for. (I actually get an unprecedented number of hits from people looking at the photo that I took of the new bridge over the Hoover Dam).
Today, one of the Google searches that someone did was this, and I quote:
"reprographics places are charging outrageous prices for cd"
This is the first of it's kind that I've ever had, and in case this person comes back looking for the answer, here's what I would say in response to your query.
I still hold the belief that the media does not define the value. If you look at this argument from any other industry's viewpoint, you will see that one should not define how much something should cost by whether or not you could physically do it using supplies you found at Office Depot.
The simplest example I can think of is software developers like Microsoft or Apple. The hard costs for them to burn the latest OS to a CD and package it up for sale is probably $10.00 per package, if that. Do you, as a consumer of their goods, truly believe that you should only pay $10.00 for the value of what they're providing you? If you buy a new bestselling book, is the value of that book somehow limited by the cost per pound of the paper and ink they printed it on? Why are those any different from reprographers charging you a cost to have a perfectly organized, easily accessible format to access drawings?
You should really be complaining about the Architects. Think about it. If they get 4% of a $5 million job ($200,000) as a fee, and produce 100 pages of drawings for you, they are charging you $2,000 per page!!! Larceny!!!
Additionally, you used to pay hundreds of dollars for a set of drawings in paper, and I would venture to say that the true cost of that paper wasn't that much. Why did you feel it was okay to pay hundreds of dollars, for the same information, in paper format? What made it more real for you? Weren't we still organizing and making the information consumable for you? Are you any better served by receiving AutoCAD files straight from the Architect?
I get what it looks like. I get that it looks like we're trying to rob you for something that you could burn right now on your computer. However, I will say that there is a lot more going on to produce that pretty and perfect CD than you realize. Reprographers are not charging that much money because they want to. They do it because they have to.
Jared Willis
Just to play the other side of this argument... Microsoft and Apple wrote and developed the code that is on the CD/DVD. The consumer is paying for the license of the code not the media. Interestingly if you purchase the product for download or in the box you pay the same price. Again the value is the data not the media.
So the problem with the argument for the reprographer is we are just putting the valuable data onto a CD/DVD for someone the value is still in their data. Apple and Microsoft outsource this packaging process as well and pay as little as possible for it.
Reprographers have to find ways of generating revenue that add real value not just add additional cost. You can get 25 CD's duplicated online for $1.45 a disk and have them next day. The same hold true for data put on paper. The value is in the data not in the media it is on.
Time for reprographers to figure out how to create real value for their customers. Data distribution has become very cheap and that is the current business of the reprographer.
Posted by: Trevor Hansen | April 28, 2010 at 07:50 AM
Wow, where to being.
Trevor I agree with you, except data distribution isn't our focus. Unless you are $0.035 per sq ft on prints then you are all about data.
We are sell time and information
You have 2 camps on the other side of that CD remark. One doesn't yet make the connection to the value of the information on the disc and only see the tangible which is an over priced plastic disc. When they understand that it is the information on the disc they are paying for then the tangible begins to morph into intangible. To complete the process that information needs to be guaranteed to be true and accurate. It is managing that information that is the key.
The 2nd group is just plain cheap and doesn't care. They may understand and see the value, they just don't want to pay for it. Charge the next guy more for it.
Data distribution in itself is really meaningless. It is how that data is captured and turned into priceless information.
How many project do you have online that are hosted on some other competing system? To us it doesn't matter we sell data to them. They pick and choose the data they feel they need and the post it. 10 times out of 9 ( yes that is correct) they buy the minimum and miss something and then give out mis-information. We become the first and last stop for all acurate information. If you did not get it from our system, you don't have the correct information. I actually had 2 clients experience this morning 3 days before their bids are due.
How much do you think those CD's are worth them now?
Think about this, do your clients want to save money or become more profitable.
Posted by: Kyle Batsford | April 28, 2010 at 07:52 PM