Yeah, like Zeno says. If you make cd, doing 300 or 1000 is about the same price. Only vinyl doing 100, 200 or 500 is almost the same price. It's all about set up fee, preparation, etc. When big machines are rolling, the actual replication doesn't cost much. Even in CD replication, price between 200 and 300 might be.. 30$? One can ask why not then do "100 more" if it's covered by 3 copies sold? Well, line has to be drawn somewhere. And I would believe it is case of how much you think you sell, how many copies you can hold in storage for how long, etc.
I believe getting a discount from pressing plant, is absurd idea. Considering it seems to be nuisance for them to even do small editions. Why should they give discount to one who tries to do below the minimum runs? Nowadays the minimum run is priced nearly the same as 500 copies. Factories seem to urge you to take 500, but allow less. Some factories have all the additional surcharges applied when you do small edition.
Perhaps one should force sell 3 copies in one order :D Customer pays 1 LP but gets 3. Then give to his friends. For publisher it could be about the same cost, but perhaps expand range of listeners. Perhaps could be project worth to try!
Tape and CDR you can make small editions, but I think in those formats the profit margin is much better than on LP on any edition. I would rather complain about 10$ tape/cdr than 30$ LP.
I personally like to use local place as much as possible. I could use the standard factory covers and packaging. Sometimes it would be cheaper and perhaps more professional, but doesn't fit into my concept of what my labels are. In case of packaging such as Deathkey 2xLP or BizarreSSmania, I walk into smallfactory in Lahti. Start to check out samples of speciality cardboards they need to import. Place order for raw materials. I prepare files. Go to boss of factory, who goes to another business to 2nd guy to get films printed. Then he gives films to 3rd guy who prepares the screens and prints each copy with machine size of regular flat. Including owen what heats the color so it really stucks in cardboard. 4th guy operates the huge vintage pneumatic machine to fold & cut plastic, cardboard to shape. One by one. And I can monitor each step of project when it starts, to see it matches my idea how it should be. If there are 4 guys earning their salary on manually printing 250 covers, one can believe, it simply ain't cheap.
When I do my digital prints or offset prints, I have contract with local printer. Lisence to use their machinery and get billed for it. During c. decade I have learned many of the tricks of printing, preparing files, cutting, and whatever, so often I do it faster and better by myself, but could never afford to buy machines that costs more than house. Most of covers are designed, prepared, printed and then creased, folded and cut and hand assembled by yours truly. I believe they look just as I personally want. I don't aim for look like supermarket product, but something that gives impression of self made - but decent. I have build contacts and own tool arsenal over the years big enough to manage to do many thing in house and most things near by. Of course, creasing even CD inlay manually takes endless amount of time. When you got like 2000 covers to crease & fold & pack. But the choise has been mine to do so. There is old man operating print post production house just couple streets from where I live, so for future bigger runs, I may ask his assistance.
One could always think, lets everybody do everything in china and sell cheap. I rather keep prices ok'ish and support the local operations and independent methods and perhaps leave the mark of "hand made" even to something that's usually bulk industrial product.
To Vulpes:
I personally slightly wonder this CDR with LP thing. As I do the download slip. I personally release LP exclusively: to be listened. I don't want to promote idea, that LP is collectable format, and actual listening happens in some "more convenient" way on computer, cd player, ipod, etc. If that's the case, I would rather release album as LP/CD which allow customer to choose format he prefers from options that I personally as music listener use. I think there should be torrents that distribute files of FA releases people are free to use if they want to listen just the sounds. Also any bloggers are free to upload any new/old FA titles (please do good transfers!) online. Digital file users can take from there without feeling guilt.
