For those that have been in the trenches...

I have a deadbeat client that is going out of business. At this point he is offering me an imacon 949 to fulfill his debt/obligation to me. While it would be a fantastic toy for my own purposes, I can't justify a fast, pricey piece of machinery for that. As the real estate slowdown has effected my business as well I have time to kill and could have a fast scanner.

I am considering offering scanning services, primarily for medium and large format photographers. The price point would be significantly lower than drum scanning, probably somewhere in the $25-30 range for 4x5. While there are a few local artists I could work with, for the most part I would be trying to do mail-order work generated from a website. I am not trying to go high volume, just use this as a supplemental income stream.

I have several years print shop experience, have done way too much drum scanning, and don't even want to consider that as an alternative. This was all done when I was younger and used to work for other people. It was also during the 90's in SF when a lot of film was being shot.

I guess I don't have a good idea of the demand out there, or what kind of volume the various shops offering scanning services are doing. I am thinking if I can get my volume up to a level of 50-100 scans/month it would be worthwhile. Does this sound reasonable? Anyone else here offer such a service and find it to be successful/given up. Does this sound like a service anyone here would consider?

Thanks for thoughts