How Much Does A Magalog Cost?

You’re probably not going to like my initial answer to this question, but… It depends.

The question is a fair one, but it’s like asking a home builder how much a house costs, or asking a car salesman how much a car costs… it depends.

It depends how big you want your house and how many features you want in it. It depends on the type of car that’s appropriate for you and your family and the features you want in it.

Same with magalog design. For that matter, it’s the same for magalog copywriting, printing, and mailing.

Just like a house or car, there’s a range that you can expect to pay for a magalog. The trouble I’ve found is that when I give a range, most people think their magalog project should be on the lower end of the range. That’s natural and I don’t blame anyone for thinking that way.

When I talk to people during my free project consultations, and have more information to get a sense of what’s involved, I will usually give a pretty good idea of how much the layout of their magalog will cost. But only after I’ve asked a lot of questions.

I can tell you, though, what’s involved in the pricing.

1. Page count – This is probably pretty obvious. The more pages, the more it costs. An average magalog is 16 pages. It can be more, it can be fewer.

2. Size – Magalogs come in various sizes. Your average magalog is about 8.5 x 11 inches, give-or-take. Slim Jims are narrower, tabloids are larger.

3. Complexity – Financial publications, in particular, tend to use tables and graphs that may need to be created from scratch. (Or recreated if the client has website graphs that aren’t print-quality.) The more complexity, the higher the cost.

4. Photo work – Sometimes photos (either stock photos or photos provided by the client) need some degree of prep work in Photoshop. Your designer should be able to explain what’s involved if that is an issue for your project.

5. Stock photo searches – If a large number of stock photos are needed, there may be a search fee. Searching for the right photos can be very time consuming.

6. The copy – Ideally, a designer will see the copy before quoting a price, although it seems to rarely happen that way. Most designers are hired before the copy is complete. That’s smart for the client because you need to book your designer ahead of time and not wait until the copy is done. But seeing the copy, even if it’s a rough draft, helps the designer zero in on a price because some copy (including sidebars and order forms) takes more time to layout than others.

OK… I know you would have preferred to see some specific prices here.

But as you can see from the list, it’s hard to give a good answer until these variables are known.

If you’re serious about a magalog – or any other marketing material for that matter – find a designer you trust and talk it over with him or her.

Obviously, I’d love to be that designer. That’s why I offer a free project consultation by phone to go over your needs and narrow down a price so you know what to expect. During that call you’ll also learn more about me. It’s important that, personality-wise, we’re a good fit for each other.