How much is too much?

[Hannah Rose Dostine]

How much does everyone think is too much to pay for a zine? Eloise just shelved a zine that is being sold for $15. This is in Sticky, Melbourne.

Thoughts people?

[Billy Da Bunny]

Each and everything is different. I know, $1 used to be the 'average' price, but I think it's up to $2 now. I rarely pay more than $5. But if it's good enough, and UNIQUE enough, nothing is out of the question. That's what makes zines great, you can really add the extra personal touch. But in general, in the States at least, anything over $5 seems like a lot.

[Hannah Rose Dostine]

yeah, id agree. some zines we have hear can be just over $5 but you can tell where the extra dollars go because they're not your average paper and staples but nice hard cover and pro printing and such. i'm the same, usually not buying zines past the $5 mark. its what people like i guess is what it can come down to most of the time

[NicoleIntrovert]

$5 or $6 would be the maximum i'd pay for an actual zine (not a book). Though, even zines that are perfect bound like Stolen Sharpie #2 and Sick keep a super low price. ($6 and $5 respectively)

[Harley R. Pageot]

My distro's stocking a fanzine right now for $5 but it's fairly thick and comes with a CD so I feel I can justify it.

Otherwise, if it's more than $4, there better be a real good reason for that.

[Erica S.]

$15? Is it a photocopied zine or a book? I rarely even pay that much for books!

$5 is the most I'd pay, unless it was a booklike zine like SSR. Obviously it also depends on the size and thickness of the zine, I'd think $5 is too much for a thin quarter-sized zine, but it would be just right for a fat, text-heavy zine that might take days to read and absorb. In general, I think writers shouldn't be charging more for their zines than the printing and shipping price, and it's hard to see how any zine's production cost could even approach $15. Maybe if it was an art book or something, but I wouldn't call that a zine either.

[Hannah Rose Dostine]

yeah Harley i agree with you there, things like that that come with a cd and whatnot would definitely be worth the $5.
and Erica i also think zines shouldnt cost more than what's put into them, like you said printing and shipping costs. you make zines for the love of art and passion for whatever subject you write about, not for the profit, there is no profit, it's not about that.
This zine was one that had a fabric cover but wasnt heaps thick, about A5 sized, really couldnt have been more than 30 pages.

[Alex Wrekk]

I think it depends on who you audience is. If you create and art zine for book arts folks they are more likely to be up for paying for all the extra awesomeness. But, if you are geared toward the zine community then I think $5 is the high end.

I struggled with this with my last zine. but I figured that for $5 you get Brainscan 24, Brainscan 25 and an epilogue zine. So it is more like a gocco printed packet of 3 zine for $5.

[Dan 10things]

It all depends on the size, quality, type of binding, what's included, etc. I've bought zines that were $2 I thought I overpaid for because they turned out to be just a few pages and didn't have a lot of original content. And I've paid $15 for art/book art zines that are higher end with super high quality printing for good original photo reproduction, sometimes perfect bound, that I thought were fairly priced. I've always priced my zines out by roughly how much it cost me per zine to print plus postage and maybe a few cents profit.... but then given half of the print run away free anyway.

[sandy]

The line between mainstream and subculture here (in Aus) seems to blur a lot. Indie can sometimes feel feel like it's short for 'industry' now, so this one could well be a garden variety zine with an image-inflated price tag.

That said, I've paid $15 for a zine (Arabesque). It was beautiful and totally worth the money. :) Don't mind paying that much so long as it's worth it. If it's mad crazy quality and amazing design, I'd probably stop calling it a zine too.

[Hannah Rose Dostine]

yeah alex that answers the question right on. i reallly like your zine brainscan by the way :D

yeahhhh, agreed. if its worth the $15 then i have no problem with it, just i guess quantity and/or quality has to match up with the price which is usually determined by the postage and labour behind it and such.

[APFuchs]

Really depends on the quality and length, but for your standard photocopy zine, I'd probably cap off at about $5.

[lise]

If people will pay it.. i say go for it..