For Those Of You That Use Edible Images...
Business By saberger Updated 25 Oct 2009 , 8:07pm by CakeDiva73
For those of you that use EI's in your biz, how do you calculate your cost of ink into it? I have figured out how many images I get per sheet and how much each sheet is, but I am stumped in how to figure an amount for the ink. Obviously each picture is different and one might use a lot of red or black....but I don't do enough on a steady basis to be able to determine how many sheets I can print for each cartridge.
Has anyone figured this out?
TIA
Um, the icing sheet ALONE costs me $1 - not counting the ink. I do factor in the 'easiness' of the sheets but then the added overhead of the freaking expensive as all HECK ink (&sheets). When I created my flyers for holidays, I anticipating charging $3.25 for cookies made with EI as opposed to $2.95 for those using cheap (but time consuming handmade RI details.)
Most bakeries and grocery stores charge $5.00 per image. I don't mind paying that amount, but would not be willing to pay $10.00 for an image. A buck a sheet and four bucks for ink, machine and power useage is very reasonable. JMO!
For my epsom the cartridge says enough ink for up to 30 pages, the refill ink says can refill up to 4 times. So I figured how much the initial cartridge, plus the refill will print up to 150 sheets, figure the price plus shipping for that many sheets with the ink and divided it by 150 gives me my cost per sheet including the ink. I know it will vary like you said some pictures use more of a particular color than others but it gives you an average, so if your cost per sheet with ink and shipping is $2.60 and you can get 10 images on it for cookies your additional cost is .26cents per cookie.
I am not trying to argue but I think that ink usage claims need to be taken with a grain of salt. I don't believe you get as much as they say you do. I think you should factor in a certain percentage (maybe 20%) on variable consumption.
I also don't know what image you can get 10 of on a sheet. Mine are smaller (once the icing 'sheet' is taken into consideration) so instead of 8.5 x 11 they are actually only 7 ish x 10 ish, and if you have pre-fab 2 inch circles, even less - maybe 6? 8?
I would just hate to see you cutting yourself short, that's all. $5 is cheap, maybe $10 is kinda pricey (for my area), $8 is what the local supermarket sells them for.......but $2.60 INCLUDING s/h is pure madness.
If that is what you charge, I am selling my Epson on Ebay and ordering everything thru you from now on because you are somehow printing and shipping it for cheaper then I can....... just sayin' 
Just call around and check what the local prices are. In my area they run about $7.00 a sheet.
Good info everyone. Thank you! I calculated that each sheet costs me 85 cents. I get 9 images off of each sheets for most of my cookies that I use it for. So the rest of the $5 would go towards the ink and refill. It seems like I am on the right track then.
CakeDiva - I guess it really does depend where you are located and how much your sheets are. When I was ordering them online, I ended up paying $1.56 for each sheet. Then I found Sam's Club! Whoo-hoo!!
Just call around and check what the local prices are. In my area they run about $7.00 a sheet.
Wow i paid alot more than that from my grocery store ... it was well over $10 and it wasn't very clear at all.
I use edible sheets alot but never thought about the cost if ink. I buy cartridge blanks and fill them myself. The cost is much cheaper I have a resetter chip to reset the cartridge after I refill. If I sell a image it usually figured in to the cake total price.
I am not trying to argue but I think that ink usage claims need to be taken with a grain of salt. I don't believe you get as much as they say you do. I think you should factor in a certain percentage (maybe 20%) on variable consumption.
I also don't know what image you can get 10 of on a sheet. Mine are smaller (once the icing 'sheet' is taken into consideration) so instead of 8.5 x 11 they are actually only 7 ish x 10 ish, and if you have pre-fab 2 inch circles, even less - maybe 6? 8?
I would just hate to see you cutting yourself short, that's all. $5 is cheap, maybe $10 is kinda pricey (for my area), $8 is what the local supermarket sells them for.......but $2.60 INCLUDING s/h is pure madness.
If that is what you charge, I am selling my Epson on Ebay and ordering everything thru you from now on because you are somehow printing and shipping it for cheaper then I can....... just sayin'
op was asking how to figure her "cost" not what to charge. I gave the info on how I figured my actual cost. For cookies I can get quite a few ei's per page and yes it is 7 1/2 x 10. I made some 4x5 certificate cookies and only got 2 per sheet, the mini halloween eis that are in my gallery I was able to get 12 per sheet. Knowing my actual cost helps me figure out how much to charge.
My local supermarket or ice cream shop was charging $10 a sheet so I bought my own cannon, lot cheaper in the long run but I still charge $10 to my customers. Don't forget wear and tear on the printer
I'm sorry bbmom, I misread your post. I just looked at it and clearly see you were not referring to retail. 
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