Okay, so here goes.

I'm in the process of starting a small letterpress business in Vaud. I'll be making a selection of gift cards and Christmas cards that can be customised as well as doing bespoke work. FYI, I have all of my ducks in a row, gorgeous paper supplier (the paper is gorgeous... as is the supplier ), a press, a polymer platemaker, an accountant (aka husband), a studio in our spare bedroom with a fabulous view and tons of light, a small business who will cut my gorgeous paper to size etc etc. I've a website going up in the next couple of weeks, an online presence, I'm about to print business cards and I've crunched the numbers. I'm not going into this halfheartedly.

I've been doing some market research locally asking people I meet how much they'd be willing to pay and I've canvassed most of the businesses that sell greeting cards in the area to see how much they charge.

But I'd like to get some more information...

So I have a couple of questions:

1. Is giving something exquisite and handmade important to you? Do you pay extra for the little touches? Or are you happy with what Hallmark provide?

2. Where do you currently buy your cards? Roughly how much do you pay for them? Do you feel you get good value?


Thanks in advance for your input

i'm a guy, so i don't buy cards or even remember things like birthdays.

but i think you might start by charging for around the same as a Hallmark. then you can see if the quality/handmade aspect is enough to compete against the convenience and distribution of 'normal' cards.

difficulty will be in getting people to know about and buy your product.

Good point
This is why I'm hitting the web and getting an online presence. I'll also be advertising in expat newsletters

Like Phil, I'm a chap who hasn't bought a card in yonks. I would seriously suggest targeting corporate customers as well as individuals - I am sure there would be a market for custom made quality card incorporating a companies logo or message, but you need to start taking orders for Christmas now.

Think about booking a stall at some local Christmas markets (they're not generally cheap though) and maybe at one of the Expat Expos.... Geneva is October 2nd.....

As for price... I find the locals will pay for something special and hand made, 10.00 SFr wouldn't be over the top, packs of 10 simpler ones could be cheaper of course.

Good luck, I'm sure you must be feeling pretty excited at this time, just remember there will be many dark days with no orders coming in where you will ask yourself why you ever started doing this.... but believe in your product and yourself and you will get there, and have a lot of fun at the same time!

(and be sure to post a link to your site when it's running.... and consider starting a Facebook page, it works very well for me)

1. yes, to me is important. I believe sometimes the only thing one sends to a friend, relative etc. is a greeting card. And that must be beautiful. No cheap and kitschy things. But that's me.
2. libraries, even Migros etc. between 7-15 chf.

I would pay extra. Its a card that is worth to keep not throw in the trash

For the kids Birthday announcements I wanted handcraft, original stuff....Now for the regular Birthday cards I go online (dutch website called www.greetz.com) which also sends the card for you worldwide. I don't send Christmas cards anymore.

If it was a kit, which you could make up with your own individualism, I would pay CHF 10,--

Hallmark rubbish is too expensive, & I cannot find French language cards in Bern.

Thank you for your fabulous input. I am feeling very excited
I'm frantically trying to get a Christmas collection online and ready for sale by the end of the month and already have a few small businesses interested in stocking them. Another business wants me to make some of their gift certificates and I'm expecting this sort of work to end up being my bread and butter.
I was told that Christmas markets need to be booked the year before in order to get in and so wasn't looking into that seriously until January when I hoped to book for next year, or have I been misinformed?
I'll definitely link here when I'm up and running Thanks again

Get your name down now for local Christmas markets for this year, there will always be cancellations and you might even get a discount for taking over a stall at short notice. And when I said corporate customers, I wasn't just meaning resellers, but companies who want custom made cards to give to their customers.....

Also, please don't rely too much on the expat community, it's the locals who will spend top money for quality, and there's a lot more of them!

i think this is a good direction. get the big hitters like xmas and gift certificates. maybe also wedding invitations and the like. maybe you can make a portfolio of stuff that you can demo when meeting customers and also show on the website.

I know some people LUV LUV LUV to give cards. LUV it. In fact my boss told me to go out and find a card for a new employee and for another employee who was leaving. I was surprised to find how difficult it was to find cards anywhere. The cards that I did find weren't very suitable for giving at work, either. I don't remember, what I paid, but I do remember they were expensive to my standard.

I don't think a card should be more than 5CHF. But I'm also a cheap skate. You could probably get away with 7.50 or 8CHF. Maybe even that is too low in Switzerland. I don't know. I personally don't buy them often enough to have a better idea.

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I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies. - Pietro Aretino

I love beautiful cards and the look of handmade ones. I especially like the ones that are decorated with beads, ribbons, folded paper, or the like. I am willing to pay more for cards of that sort, and I prefer them to be blank, or to have only a very simple sentiment in them (no gushy poems, etc.) in order that I can write my own message.

Here's my hangup, though: as much as I love the look of a hand-decorated card, I am always worried that such a card may have an added measure of depth that could cause it to get hung up in the posting machinery.

In terms of holiday cards, all the rage in the US (from where I only recently arrived) was high-quality photo Christmas cards. I would certainly expect to pay quite a bit for cards of this type, compared to a box of Hallmarks.

I've no input on card prices here since I have not yet bought any.

Best of luck on your new venture!

I'd pay around 10F for something special. Sometimes that's the price of very ordinary cards in bookshops, so I'm sure you'll do better. Also, I don't find anything "inspiring"; maybe I go to the wrong shops, but they are usually sooo boring. Globus has some nice ones, can't remember the price.

Good luck!

I make my own Christmas cards and calendars using my paintings/photos, but if I was buying I would definitely go for cards made by a craftsman/woman rather than the Hallmark or charity ones.

It may also depend on how many cards people are sending. In the UK, people seem to send dozens of Christmas cards to family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, the bloke they stand next to at the football and so on. I suppose if you are sending upwards of 50 cards each Christmas, you may not be able to afford the extra cost of going to an artisan.

I buy and send a lot of cards, mostly Hallmark/Shoebox, UK-made ones, Unicef or local charity ones for Christmas and some hand-crafted ones. Always have trouble finding nice ones--my regular place to buy them here is Globus--so cards is something I usually pick up whenever I go on a trip. As a result, I have a stockpile at home.

Gwen Frostic paper and cards are big where I am from in the US, but there are lots of similar presses. Some of the nicest cards I had were hand-printed ones I picked up on trips to various places. This is one thing I haven't been able to find very often here which I miss, and I would definitely well pay over department store price for it, provided it was a quality product.

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Hallmark? wha wha.... Um, no! :P (I mean I never buy them. I like the hand made stuff & buy mostly on Etsy).

My suggestion is to make little prints that can be framed & hang on the wall and invitations rather than cards, with cards as the sideline. I'm not sure people really send cards anymore, except as was mentioned about Xmas / New Year cards. You know Etsy already I'm sure.

Anyway, just my 2 pennies worth.

All the best!!

Personally, I prefer simple cards with simple messages which bring a lump to the throat and maybe a tear to the eye.
I have found there are not enough children's birthday cards or personalised cards eg mum, dad, husband, sister, the one I love etc.
Generally I spend 5 to 6 CHF's.

As an added note, the one group of cards where I always spend extra for something classy and understated is a condolence card. I don't want lots of fancy decoration, maybe just something simple that says 'With Sympathy' or 'Condolences' on the front, then room for me to write a personal tribute.

But in general, I find Swiss cards very expensive. Since a plain old card costs CHF4-, I'd very happily pay CHF6-7 for something nicer. At least it would look like I'd spent a mint, instead of spending a mint for something that looks really cheap. The Swiss have an eye (and a taste) for quality, so I suspect you won't have trouble shifting them if the quality is good enough.

Good luck with your new venture (and adventure!)

I ADORE letter press

If you branch into A3 prints I'd be very interested - of course the skill is in the creativity - there are some beaitiful letter press artworks around these days and screen prints

Friends of a friend have become VERY successful in the uk doing screen printing - I see Letter press prints being as popular

(sorry not had time to read all the thread if this has already been mentioned)