Have we considered making a similar calendar and just putting in in PDF for members to download for free and print themselves? Nowadays many of us have these fancy color laser and inkjet printers and could print something nice and save $15 (+shipping).
Actually, I sold color printing products for a few years, and can confidently say that anyone using a home/office type inkjet printer will easily go through more than $15 in ink printing full page photos, and more if you print it on photo quality paper and choose to have the local office/copy shop bind it for you. which means you will spend more than the $15 and shipping costs on this calendar
Laser color printers are only a little more cost effective per print, when you consider the toner cost and wear on the drum. Each color laser print actually requires 4 impressions from the drum. This means the color laser copy requires a total of 55 impressions for the calendar. I forget what the average impression cost is, for a home office size printer, but you are still paying about $8 for the letter size photo paper, and $2 for binding, which means the home office laser printer user will still spend nearly $15 for a calendar that is smaller than the one published for us by Cafepress, and the home user can't print full-bleed, meaning edge to edge, because most home printers will not accept 9X11.5 inch paper, and then also don't have the equipment to neatly trim the printer product down to 8.5X11.
not even thinking about the problems with running color through the HOT fusing unit a FIFTH time to print the calendar on the reverse side. Color and double sided laser printing are not exactly friends.
commercially these things are done on presses, though who is to say CafePress wants to setup the press multiple times for a small job like this?
shhheeesh. and I own a laser printer (original retail was tooo much-good to have been in the business), which has sat in the garage for the last few years, because I haven't ordered the finishing unit, a $105 part..... Wear and tear items can eat you up on these things.
