Banner Pricing

[SameDay Signs]

You are communicating a message that your work has no value
That may be the type of business you want to run, but not me
.. no way... no how. We add value for our clients and that value comes at a fair price that just so happens to cover our cost of goods, overhead and profit.

I happen to offer my products at a fair price that comes with quality and value as well. Because I choose to not charge as much as you does not make me wrong. If anything it makes me fair. I'm sorry I dont believe in charging $7 a sq ft on banners, I'm sorry I don't want to charge ridiculous amounts for certain things. I have grown significantly in the past 3 years and have been in business for 7 so if I'm doing something wrong it is news to me.

The problem is not me who gets chewed out for being to cheap it is the people who have charged so much for so long that you've got customers that will not pay what you want anymore and the only logical thing for you to do is blame the guy whos less expensive. I charge FAIR, I charge accordingly for what im doing. If I was putting out junk I would sit and agree with you completely on being to cheap and saying you get what you pay for, but I'm not putting out junk. SO give it a rest lol

GO BUCKEYES!!!

 

[brycesteiner]

Same comment

It's funny I just had this conversation with a potential customer.

I told him I was charging $114 4x8'
I thought that was really a good price. I then told him if he did 3 or more I would take 10% off the total. He then said he is already getting them for $40.

Really a $1.25 per square foot?

This was for a ball association that wants sponsors and I said I would sponsor one. I still will sponsor one, but it will be our design and print and not just a business card scanned and blown up to 32 square feet.

Perhaps the Mercedes is worth more than the yugo.

 

[Gino]

You are communicating a message that your work has no value
That may be the type of business you want to run, but not me
.. no way... no how. We add value for our clients and that value comes at a fair price that just so happens to cover our cost of goods, overhead and profit.

I happen to offer my products at a fair price that comes with quality and value as well. Because I choose to not charge as much as you does not make me wrong. If anything it makes me fair. I'm sorry I dont believe in charging $7 a sq ft on banners, I'm sorry I don't want to charge ridiculous amounts for certain things. I have grown significantly in the past 3 years and have been in business for 7 so if I'm doing something wrong it is news to me.

The problem is not me who gets chewed out for being to cheap it is the people who have charged so much for so long that you've got customers that will not pay what you want anymore and the only logical thing for you to do is blame the guy whos less expensive. I charge FAIR, I charge accordingly for what im doing. If I was putting out junk I would sit and agree with you completely on being to cheap and saying you get what you pay for, but I'm not putting out junk. SO give it a rest lol

GO BUCKEYES!!!

If it ain't broke.... don't fix it. Besides, one man's trash is another man's cash.

If it's working for you, then your business model is doing well.

 

[Z SIGNS]

It's really a shame that a lot of sign work is just a commodity like sliced lunch meat sold by the pound.

If all you are selling is ink on banner material and that's all you have to offer good luck you will have to charge what the competition charges.

 

[Gino]

It's funny I just had this conversation with a potential customer.

I told him I was charging $114 4x8'
I thought that was really a good price. I then told him if he did 3 or more I would take 10% off the total. He then said he is already getting them for $40.

Really a $1.25 per square foot?

This was for a ball association that wants sponsors and I said I would sponsor one. I still will sponsor one, but it will be our design and print and not just a business card scanned and blown up to 32 square feet.

Perhaps the Mercedes is worth more than the yugo.

Be careful of this move !!

Let's use the scenario if you advertise at this park/facility and while you might produce a nice banner, let's suppose the other guy who is doing all the other work.... doesn't.

You will be associated with all that rotten looking work and get credit for something you want no part of. Think about it.

 

[reQ]

I understand when i outsource HUGE banners from India for 0.90 cents sq/ft with shipping included in the price.... they have different overhead, completely different material costs. But i just can't wrap my head around 1.00-1.90 in USA/Canada. Like wtf, seriously?
And saying that - You guys charged to much, an i am the smart & fair business owner, i don't hose my customers, is plain dumb. You just wait. 5-7 years from now, "NEW" sign makers will show up and they will charge 0.75 sq/ft retail and its exactly what they will say - your price of 1.75 was to high, but I AM FAIR NOW.

For last 2 months i just see more and more of this bullcrap - "cool" sign makers dump prices and run industry into abyss.

Thank you very much!

 

[jsonpaul]

I charge $4.50/SQFT with simple design for birthdays and small events, but I charge more/upsell and charge design if client is business and color sensitive as this takes more time than your normal "happy birthday" or "welcome back" banners.

I normally move the size preferences towards:
- 2ft wide perfect for 27 inch roll (from a 54 inch split roll)
- 3ft wide perfect for 38 inch roll
- 4ft wide perfect for 50 inch roll
- 5ft wide perfect for 63 inch roll

This sizes allow me to produce and faster as we do not need to do cuts on the sides which we tell that it is a white boarder.

+$1/sqft for hemming

I always prefer to do the design that client submitted ones as this would give us a better handle in the resolution, color and quality of print that we produce. It is always a challenge whenever client submit a photo grab from facebook profile or screenshot from their tablet haha.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Damn you guys are high? On prices and in life. We get $4 sqft. And when I bid this price I miss about 40% of the bids. This is no design, print, trim, hem, grommet.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

I don't see how you could factor in design time to the sqft. price either. I could design a 12"x12" sticker and it might take me 4 hours because of the design. Or I could design a simple 12foot by 12foot banner and it could take me 10 minutes. So the 12x12 has to pay $144 for and the little logo that took half the day to do only pays $1?

 

[rjssigns]

Be careful of this move !!

Let's use the scenario if you advertise at this park/facility and while you might produce a nice banner, let's suppose the other guy who is doing all the other work.... doesn't.

You will be associated with all that rotten looking work and get credit for something you want no part of. Think about it.

Interesting take Gino. Guilt by association. From what I've seen in my area no one cares.

If everyone listened to any bad report whatsoever telling people to stay away from whatever there wouldn't be much left.

 

[TimToad]

My predecessor used to offer banners down around $4 per square foot and thought charging those prices would garner him all these "higher" paying jobs like trucks, permanent signs, etc. He even advertised heavily on discounted banners for youth sports leagues thinking, "Those kids dad's own construction companies, etc. that need higher priced signs and truck graphics"

In the long run, it mostly garnered him more cheap banner jobs and a base clientele that assumed EVERY type of sign should be that cheap.

So, after years of being saddled with giving away dozens and dozens of very time intensive banners, dealing with just as many difficult "soccer mom" personality driven orders, etc. to the various sports league every year, the erroneously coveted "higher priced" work from the kid's dads has never really materialized. We now find ourselves having to spend way too much time, re-educating these customers on why we just can't do a 3'x6' banner loaded with low res sponsor logos, special effects, ten kids names, coaches names, team name specially designed to fit their style, etc.. for $72.00

The moral of the story is, GET WHAT THE WORK IS TRULY WORTH, ALL FACTORS BEING DULY CONSIDERED. You don't know if someday you'll sell the business to another signmaker and force them into years of educational efforts with customers in order to start charging what the work is worth. You'll respect yourself more, your peers will not view you as "part of the problem" and they will feel like

It has worked out well for us because we're no longer only viewed as a low cost, high volume shop, but we're years away from that perception being completely put to rest. Our material costs are way down on about the same revenue as the old owners, simply because we're getting closer to what the work is really worth.

Back on topic, we have four or five shops to compete with and the pricing runs the gamut from the worst shop running perpetual "banner specials" at $4 per square and our primary competition thinking their work is worth closer to $10.00 per square.

We've run the numbers every which way including overhead costs, materials, ink usage, etc.. and are very comfortable and profitable in the $6.50-8.00 per square range including basic layouts with tape hems and grommets. Custom art or ultra heavy text are added at $75.00 per hour.

 

[Mosh]

I keep my price high at $4.20/

I'm getting my price this high too.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

I keep my price high at $4.20/

Funny story. We were actually setting our banner prcing and ours is actually $4.20 sqft. When we made price it as 4.21 but the owner said lets make it 4.20 to keep it even. Sounds good to me.

 

[HDvinyl]

You were probably also the first to draw Calvin peeing.

 

[TimToad]

One of the conclusions I frequently come to after reading and participating in threads like this is that in addition to the "local" pricing differences and the variety of reasons that drive those differences, there is a contingent of signmakers out there, that place very little or no value in the intrinsic value of the advertising our signs produce.

To use an outdated, but still relevant example, your average Yellow Pages ad. Sure, the amount of paper and ink that goes into producing my quarter page display ad costs YP very little, but then why dopes the ad cost me $600 per month?

Its the well tested, enduring, demographically researched ROI that my YP representative can point to as he quantifies the intrinsic value of my ad to me that convinces me to renew it year after year.

Sure, I can pay myself or my help very little and rationalize it on my low overhead, or blame the competition or local economics and think I'm doing ok. But by doing that and ignoring the bigger picture in addition to building very little real value for my company, I shortchange myself and do not much more than create myself a run of the mill job but with my own signature on the checks.

Another conclusion I've drawn is that a few folks coming here could use a few lessons in respecting their elders. Most of us older members have been around the block a few times, try to offer advice built on experience and practicality yet our motives or answers are frequently challenged or misconstrued and then quite often, taken personally.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

No just peeing on himself. Calvins getting old so I thought he could use some incontinence issues.

 

[reQ]

Another conclusion I've drawn is that a few folks coming here could use a few lessons in respecting their elders.

Well... signmakers from basement know, that we are hosing our customers by completely overcharging them! We all have to donate our work and eat kraftdinner!

 

[TimToad]

Well... signmakers from basement know, that we are hosing our customers by completely overcharging them! We all have to donate our work and eat kraftdinner!

Sorry, I may be too dense to get the message you intended, or you are being overly obtuse on what exactly it is you're trying to say. Can you please spell it out for this geezer?

This whole thread has gone wacky IMO. We've got one poster proclaiming that he has low overhead, so is completely comfortable charging less than what even the huge wholesale printers charge and suggesting the rest of us are gouging people at anything over $4.00 per square foot.

I've worked in Chicago, Portland, Santa Fe and now Cali over the span of 35 years and I've never worked for, seen or heard of any brick and mortar shop that was known for being professional, ethical and that paid its help a living wage commensurate with experience charge under $5.00 per square foot RETAIL. Hell, I remember getting $6-8 per square back in the days of hand lettering on banners when you had to precoat the material with a clear primer to get OneShot to stick and dry right.

 

[reQ]

Sorry, I may be too dense to get the message you intended, or you are being overly obtuse on what exactly it is you're trying to say. Can you please spell it out for this geezer?

All i wanted to say, that there are more & more lowballers in the industry, whos so desperate to do the work, just to do the work. They dump prices in order to get it and drive whole industry downhill. And yes, it does **** me off. Frack them

 

[reQ]

And its not only sign industry... just had to go visit new restaurant that the owner is building right now. Bid was granted to lowest bid contractor for framing.... holy gosh... walls inside are in waves and its BAD. One side of the wall is started with 2x6, then it goes to 2x4 and then back to a 2x6 at the end.

And yes, i know that there are companies who do GOOD quality for for almost nothing, it just shows how they don't value themselves.

 

[brycesteiner]

To use an outdated, but still relevant example, your average Yellow Pages ad. Sure, the amount of paper and ink that goes into producing my quarter page display ad costs YP very little, but then why dopes the ad cost me $600 per month?

does anyone still use the Yellow Pages? I can't remember the last time I've used it. Our book is so thin now that it doesn't even last long in the restroom anymore.