• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

$2.88 for Coroplast Signs with wire stakes!

Clear Choice

Clear Choice

New Member
Sigh, I quoted a job of 500 political coroplast signs, 2 sides, red & blue on white, 18x24 with wire step-stakes. I thought I was low at $3.80 each.

My customer called me and said he had gotten a price of $2.88 and that included the wire stakes. I guess he wanted me to go lower or match that price...but I just told him it was a great price.

Should I drop him a quick note to thank him for the opportunity to bid and suggest he check and see if that price includes shipping and design or just let it drop??? I WOULD like to know if that is a local, e-bay or internet price.

What would you do?
Sue2
 
L

Locals Find!

New Member
Here is a 6 step solution to your problem

1. Raise your prices
2. Raise your prices
3. Raise your prices
4. Don't try and compete with lowballers
5. Don't be a lowballer
6. Repeat steps 1-3.
 
Charlie J

Charlie J

New Member
One of my customers was recently telling me about the bad experience they had with a cheapy coroplast company. The company got the colors wrong and messed up the layout.


My response, "You get what you pay for"
 
Craig Sjoquist

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
Adtechia LLC ... is very correct.

Here in Orlando they sell for $1.40 to $1.99 but are illegal so anybody can pull them up and people do, signs last no more then a week in most places, also county and city do their best to remove they claim fines etc. but does not believe it.

At those prices I'll be surprised they make $50 per 100, you want to work for $50 for how much time, lets see advertising for, selling, ordering, your cash risk, designing / layout, doing job, collecting, then start over for someone else that wants it that cheap.

This year more low priced Sign Shops will be folding, why ? because real businesses want real advertising signage they find that with real sign shops charging realistic prices, and they know that a profit has to be made in order to stay in business, and want to come back for more advertising that works.

I still paint signs by hand, and I get work because my signage looks and works likes advertisements, business people want that not just copy on a board.
 
Pat Whatley

Pat Whatley

New Member
Local retail $2.25 each, 500 double sided two color 18x24 with stakes.

www.bushsigns.com ... my friendly local retailer who is cheaper than any wholesaler I've found. Damn fine people, though, I sub out all my printing to them.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
We bid on some political signs at the last big primary. They let me bid as a favor. They got 140,000 for 70¢ and that included the stake. They would settle for 50,000 a week for three weeks.

Just laughed that one off. If I ain't gonna get paid, I'm gonna do something I like.

The guy lost. :covereyes:​
 
Pat Whatley

Pat Whatley

New Member
wrapswrapswraps said:
Yeah, but that Alaska.
Click to expand...

...or Alabama, it's all the same.


Don't get me wrong about the pricing. We sell printing for considerably more than the prices they show. Just about every shop in town now subs printing work out to them....if you can't beat them then find a way to use them.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
there are dozens of jobbers around that will do them for 99 cent each and drop ship them to your client. Charge 2.55 with a wire and make 150 bux with about 43 minutes of time in ordering them.
 
L

Locals Find!

New Member
Techman said:
there are dozens of jobbers around that will do them for 99 cent each and drop ship them to your client. Charge 2.55 with a wire and make 150 bux with about 43 minutes of time in ordering them.
Click to expand...

Just cause you can doesn't mean you should. Gas prices and food isn't going down so why should we lower our prices.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
Just cause you can doesn't mean you should. Gas prices and food isn't going down so why should we lower our prices.
Reply With Quote
Click to expand...

Don't give me any of that bullshyte about should or shouldn't. This is a specialty segment job that always goes cheapo.
You make a bid and they always come back with a lower price. Give them the deal or let it walk. That's your choice. For me I will job it out and make $150 - $200 for a few minutes of work all day every day. During political season I would make $600 PROFIT a day for a couple of weeks. We all know this quantity if yard signs will go cheapo. Its a fact of life. Anyone can get all uppity and turn work away. Work smart of don't work at all. That is the choice.
 
fmg

fmg

New Member
I had a customer in last week ordered 60 signs 2 sided with stake $20 Each.
Bucks in here for me thank you very much.Don't know why so many of you get beaten up on these with such a lowball crap price.
 
threads1

threads1

New Member
I just did 70, 1 sided w/ stake for 15 and change ea. Customer was thrilled with the price. I hope the low-ballers don't come near my area. Life is good right now.
 
Clear Choice

Clear Choice

New Member
Techman said:
there are dozens of jobbers around that will do them for 99 cent each and drop ship them to your client. Charge 2.55 with a wire and make 150 bux with about 43 minutes of time in ordering them.
Click to expand...
I'm not producing these 500 signs...I just found my best price
from a reliable source and marked them up. I didn't mark them
up a large amount because I knew the political arena is cheap.
BUT, I really did think I was too low. Shipping alone for the signs
is $170....the best I could find for the 30" stakes is .55 each.

If there is a job shop around here selling the signs for .99 I would
check them out...but this is small town America and I doubt there
is one nearby.

I have no problem making $300-400 (20%) for my time and knowledge...
as a small business I have to pay the rent and my employees.
If I can't make a reasonable profit on a job that costs me
$1,500-$2,000, why bother?

Maybe I'm wrong....is any profit better than none at all?
Or does that lead us down a path of lower and lower pricing
and struggling to make a decent living because we can't
mark-up the 40% or more we need to keep our business healthy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top