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Paper Markups
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Paper Markups
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Overview
Setting up paper markups ought to be simple. Far too many printers forego markups entirely and think it's Ok to sell paper at cost. That being the case, why not settle on a single markup rate and be done with it? Absolutely - no reason not to. On second thought, better make it two rates. The best way to motivate buyers to select paper we have in stock is to reduce the markup on it. We definitely want to encourage that. Three rates then, one for in-stock paper, one for paper we have to order, and a third for blank second sheets. Ok, we're good. Let's run with it.
No, wait. We're bound to need smaller markups on large quantities to stay competitive. So twelve entry boxes to fill in. Still, simple enough, all things considered.
Except, and I don't mean to throw a wrench in it, shouldn't we also have custom markups for exceptional projects? "Make 'em up as you go" rates we can apply, like, whenever? Why, yes, we should. And in Morning Flight Passport and higher editions, we can.
I think you can see where this is going. Our simple train has left the station. Ditching general markups altogether and relying solely on custom markups for each individual item isn't such a brilliant idea either. Who'd want to update hundreds of paper records, one at a time, when it's time for a markup makeover? Proving once again that KISS (Keeping It Simple Stupid) and functionality don't always go hand in hand.
Setting General Markups
The markup rates you enter into the twelve boxes in My Store are what Morning Flight uses by default, based on the paper category and quantity. If you want to use a single rate across the board, just enter identical rates in all twelve boxes.
In the window below, the little triangle points to the quantity in use. Had the quantity been 10 cartons or more, the markup rate would have dropped to 20%.
Working with Custom Markups
Here is where it gets interesting. A little difficult to decipher maybe when you first encounter the buttons, but scratch the surface and you'll discover a mechanism that's still dead simple.
Worth noting is that custom markups are an option not only when you make a quote, but also when you set up or edit paper. You could, if you wanted to, give every paper item in every paper file a different markup rate. And then spend way too much time keeping track of it. Seriously - don't even think about it!
Take a peek at the four radio buttons. You'll note they've been graphically separated into two groups. The first button is dynamic, linked to the general markup rates set in My Store. The next three are static, totally independent, producing fixed markup rates not linked to anything. Not to quantity, not to category, not to My Store. When the markup says 10%, ten percent is what Morning Flight adds to the quote. Values range from 0% - 20%, 25% - 45%, and 50% - 90%, in five and ten point increments.
Let's revisit the first button. Here you can fine-tune the general markup rate coming in from My Store by left-clicking or right-clicking the black slider. Each click increases or lowers the markup by one percentage point. The effective rate will vary, depending on the quantity in use. In the example, when the slider is moved all the way down, the markup drops to 23% for the 1-carton bracket, to 20% for the 3-carton bracket, and to 18% for 10-carton quantities and above. With the slider set to mid-range, markups would be 25%, 22%, and 20%, just as you see in My Store.
To sum up, what the first button offers is a two-point adjustment, up or down, for each of the twelve markup fields in My Store. The adjustment works with quotes and paper file items, and is dependent on quantity and category. Because the button is linked to My Store, when you adjust a general markup rate there, the custom rate automatically adjusts with it.
The next three buttons serve up a flat, permanent markup rate, regardless of the quantity or the type of paper. What you see is what you get. Down to, and including, zero - no markup or profit of any kind. In which case, what you pay is what you get, too. Sometimes, not even. But you already knew that!
See also
