Questions re: Internet Cafe/Computer Shop Services, etc.

[blankpixels]

---

We're opening up our internet cafe in a few days and I hope current or past owners/employees of internet cafes/computer shops can answer these questions for me:

1) For printing, how much do you usually charge for the following per page?
- Black print -
- Color print - pure text only -
- Color print with minimal photo -
- Full page color print -
- Full page photo print -

2) How much per page should we charge for encoding/typing? Printing should be a separate charge, right?

3) Where can we get game posters here in Cebu for Special Forces, Rohan, Ragnarok, etc.?

4) Where can we buy prepaid cards for online games here in Cebu? How about for SMS load? Or is it better if we just use an online loading station?

5) Do you have customers who actually ask for receipts?

Those are my questions for now. I'll update them when I think of anything else. I really hope you guys can answer these queries for me.

Thanks in advance! I'll post an invite here when we've finalized our opening date.

[Dondon]

For 1 and 2. Specify your printer make and model sis, kay depende man gyud na sa gasto nimo sa cartridge. For example, imo blank cartridge can print up to 300 pages. Dayon imo palit 900 per blank cartridge, dapat imo charge for printing sa black (pure text) kay mulapas ug 900 after 300 pages. I know it's common sense ako lang gi stress out (no offense). Ikaw ra gyud ang makatubag ani bro, basta igo igo-a lang.

What we did was (price of cartridge)/(number of pages the cartridge can accumulate)+2 .. Ballpark bale if 900 ang cartridge then makaprint siya ug 300 pages. Charge ka 5 pesos per page, so naa ka profit of 600 per cartridge!

Suggest pud ko choose anang mga toner type na printer (ambot sakto ba ang tawag ana) over inkjet basta mas sulit bro mahal lang.

3. Sa among side naa man mag suroy2x bro manghatag ug posters basta naa ang game sa inyo units, sauna ra nuon to. Pero karon naa paman ko makit-an.

4. No idea. Nag online mi sauna, Loadcentral. Downside lang is dugay ang load sometimes and wa gyud ka'y control mao na magbagotbot ang customer usahay. Get the physical cards nalang bro, daghan mamaligya ana nga barato for wholesale. Mao na supplier sa mga loading stations.

5. YES. Esp those mga gisugo lang sa ilang mga boss. Mas maayo pahimo ka or print out your own receipts. Bisag 100 sheets lang gud payts na nah.

[blankpixels]

Thanks po sa reply. Di po ako bro btw hehehe.

I know the drill about how to calculate how much we need to charge so we can get maximum profit from printing. The reason I asked is because there's another PC shop here and they don't have any pricing posted when we were "spying" on them. So, I posted that question to know by how much other internet cafe owners are charging, hence the word "usually".

Thanks for the advice regarding LoadCentral as I was about to register with them as a retailer. We'll look for somewhere to buy na lang the actual cards siguro.

Yung Digital Martian or Load.com.ph? They're not reliable din? Hmmm... yun pa naman sana balak namin pero sige, we'll do it the old-fashioned way.

I hope someone can also give me their insights and advice on where to buy yung prepaid cards.

[Dondon]

Nasubukan ko na yung Digitalmartian for buying Level Up Games! load, kaso daming dapat gawin before ka makabili (in my case). So if ako yung tatanungin mo, no I won't recommend them. You're better off signing up with LC. If doing it the 'old-fashioned' way, then Loadcentral nalang, I think they've become stable naman. Panagsa raman kaayo madugay ang load, if puno lang ila queue or hinay ila server or basta any problems sa ila side. Mga 1/50 siguro ang chance na magkaproblema. So pag Loadcentral nalang!

Usual rates per page for pure text (black) page is 6-8 pesos.