Average Square foot pricing for vehicle wraps

[felisha27]

So I have had a few disappointments this year with not landing jobs due to pricing.
I was curious what the average price out there per square foot is for the wrap and install. I am curious to see where we fall in the pricing market.
All feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

felisha27, the BEST way to find your average is to call 3-4 shops in your area that do wraps and request a quote. Use a friend's phone, email, etc. so the shops can't figure out its you.

 

[HulkSmash]

felisha27, the BEST way to find your average is to call 3-4 shops in your area that do wraps and request a quote. Use a friend's phone, email, etc. so the shops can't figure out its you.

wow..

 

[Gino]

wow..

Double wow................

 

[Signsforwhile]

in for three....

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Quad wow

 

[Border]

Yea, call a bunch of shops and waste their time doing a fake price quote.

Make that 5 [sad] wows.

 

[TheSnowman]

If I ever found out I was getting pricing together for another shop, I'd ring their necks. +1 WOW.

 

[rjssigns]

Trying to be competitive with shops that will likely go out of business is not the way to do it. It also moves a custom product towards commoditization and diminished perception of value which is never good.

Hold your ground, do quality work and wait for the people that got stung by the lowballers come crawling.

 

[d fleming]

 

[HulkSmash]

If you try to price like your competition you'll most likely go out of business. I'd say find out what your overhead is, and how much you need to charge to turn your desired profit and charge that.

 

[SummitSignsandmore]

I'll take it... Really?? Octa-wow..

 

[sardocs]

That is surprising advice coming from an authorized Roland dealer. CS-SignSupply-TT, do you use you wifes cel phone to call the Mutoh guy when you are trying to figure out how much a new printer should go for?

 

[James Burke]

Here's a nona-wow.

I'd suggest attending a wrap school and really knuckling down on the business side of it so you can understand that a wrap is more than just applying vinyl.

Believe it or not, there are some companies that may be charging more...and still getting the jobs.

A lot has to do with your marketing and salesmanship...and understanding what your competition is (and is not) capable of.

I'm not sure of your business acumen, but if you're relatively new to the business, here are some majorly important vocabulary words for further study: Value Proposition, Competetive Advantage, SWOT


JB

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Finding the PRICING middle ground?

That is surprising advice coming from an authorized Roland dealer. CS-SignSupply-TT, do you use you wifes cel phone to call the Mutoh guy when you are trying to figure out how much a new printer should go for?

Right, wrong, or indifferent, y'all KNOW this process occurs on a daily basis. In fact, WALMART has a sign posted at each entrance putting the competition on notice for using electronic recording devices to note pricing...IT IS FORBIDDEN. Although the practice appears to be distasteful, the bottom line is knowing what your competition is charging, as well as their quality and policies. That way, you can position yourself in the middle.

 

[sardocs]

CS-SignSupply-TT Sorry, That's nonsense. When I get a call from a client who wants a price on a sign or project that I not sure how to price, I start figuring out all the steps in the process, add in time, overhead, profit,etc. If I sneakily phoned my competition to see what they want for the job, who's to say that they don't just phone the next guy, who calls you to waste your time also?

 

[d fleming]

Sorry pal, you just positioned yourself on the bottom.

 

[HulkSmash]

Hey, Original wraps who is now owned by 3M use to call me on a weekly basis pretending to be a customer to get my pricing.


yeah, i don't care what walmart does that's bad advice.

 

[Richard G]

Ask 3M they'll give you a price

 

[Gino]

With the way most stores guarantee price matching, I don't see the need to send someone on a wild-goose chase.

Most businesses such as Waly-Mart, and the others have regular people on payroll who walk around competition's stores getting this information. They don't call.... it's only published on advertised items, not customized like our signs or truck lettering jobs.

Suppose for a moment the OP called 4 shops and all of them were back-yard hacks and gave ridiculously low prices..... is the OP expected to drop below them or use their head and stay higher ??

Why not offer a good legitimate answer such as do your own math, put all your costs out there and see what YOU yourself needs to keep the doors open and go from there ??

Why base your cost of operation on shops not in your area or not doing the same line of work and really messing up your bottom line ??


Anyway, time will pass and most will forget you ever made this remark. You've given some great information in your stay here.... one bad one shouldn't make them put you into a a bad person's column or forced to wear a dunce's hat.

 

[ChiknNutz]

You need to know what YOU NEED to charge in order to stay profitable (based on overhead, materials costs and markup, time involved, etc.). Using someone else's variables is a good way to never know what YOU need. If you don't already know it, you should determine what you Standard Shop Rate is, then add in for materials + markup.

 

[Billct2]

http://articles.mplans.com/understand-your-competition/

second to last paragraph, it's a common suggestion for a start up business (or for adding a new product line).
The information gained through "secret shopping" shopping combined with the numbers used to arrive at your price point for a product can help determine whether it's a feasible market.

I haven't used this technique but that's not to say it's not useful or unethical.