Banner Pricing

[Silvertip]

Hi Everyone!
Just wondering what those of you who print banners in house do for pricing. We have Estimate Software but for banners I just don't care for how it prices the banners out so I want to go to a standard price per square foot.
I usually get 13 oz scrim for around $100 to $120 for 54 x 40 yards. Banner tape $13, Grommets (Idk .20 cents each?) I print with a Roland Sp540V printer. Cartridges are about $70 each. Then there is labor.
We can order them for $1.49 sq ft up to $3.20 a sq. ft. just depends on the vendor.
I confess math isn't necessarily my strongest point so that's why I put it out here lol!
How do you all do it? Is there a formula for success on this one?
Thanks for time and input!
Barb

 

[J Hill Designs]

I usually base it off $10 per square foot, which includes design. if I 'know' design will be quick/easy I will drop it a tad.

 

[Silvertip]

Thanks

I am aware of all the variables that go into pricing. However on printed banners which essentially don't change I am trying to find a base price that I can use per square foot. One 4 x 8 printed banner should cost the same as the next 4 x 8 printed banner. Yes I am aware that some will use more ink depending on design than others. I just have never been able to come out with a price point that I feel is fair and I can make money. I know that I have priced myself out of some and then I lowered the prices and I think I gave some away and we have gone back and forth. I need to find a way to end the madness and come up with a price that I can live with and make money and customers don't go shopping elsewhere! Just wondering what others do that print banners in house!
Jill, $10 per square foot seems high for me but you have a price and I assume you arrived at it by math that worked for you. I am trying to get there! Thanks for the input!

 

[J Hill Designs]

 

[Silvertip]

Thanks again

I was actually looking for input here. I am attempting to do just that-I am trying to "find what I need" by asking my fellow sign shop owners for input. Of COURSE I am aware that I need to stop moving it around or I would not be putting it out there for feedback. Of COURSE, I am aware that the numbers that others used to come to their prices won't necessarily be mine but I thought maybe by asking that I would actually get a well thought out response not just stating the obvious back at me.
I am not trying to be snippy but I obviously have struggled some with this issue and if you are really not going to seriously try to help why respond?
I am out.

 

[grafixemporium]

You get $10 a square for banners Jhill?? Wow.

Market average around here is $3 to $6 a square plus design time. That's a huge markup. We (generously) factor about 25 cents a square for ink. We use 13oz Forward Banner from Grimco 54"x50yd is $100 and 60"x50yd is about 16 or 17 cents a square. So you should be well under 50 cents a square foot hard cost including banner tape and grommets. Your design cost, labor cost, equipment cost/maintenance along with other overhead costs are variables you have to figure out on your own. It would be wise to figure out your shop rate -- an average cost per hour to keep your doors open.

You can get the same banner printed wholesale for around $1 a square with shipping.

At the end of the day, your price has to be a combination of what the market will bear and what you need to cover all your costs and profit.

 

[Mosh]

I get $3.50 sq foot PLUS $10 for hem and grommets. Advanced art would be extra too, simple design/layout is included in price.
I try and keep 4x8's around $125, my most common size.

 

[Gino]

Sorry, I don't understand the OP's request ??

Let me get this straight. You know what all of your costs are, what your time will take and what profit you would enjoy, but you can't add these numbers up ?? That's not being weak in math..... that's being lazy.

Your numbers might add up to $2.65 a square... all the way up to $13.50 a square. You determine what you need in order to keep your doors open. If you can't do it for a simple banner, how do you do it when you figure out a sandblasted 2-sided sign..... or four trucks for the same plumber...... or 484 posters for a store opening ??

You need to figure out if you want help figuring out a pricing schedule or what you need to be under in order to make sales. Those are two entirely different questions.



Where do I need to be in order to make as much as I can without leaving any money on the table, but yet, beat out all my competition ?? That's what I think you're really asking. Believe me, there's no recipe for that one. It's very hard to run your business based on what your competition gets. They need what they need... and you the same idea.

​

 

[fresh]

we are between about $4.50 and $7.00 sq ft, and our minimum is $50. The lower end is usually for resale or VERY large orders.

 

[klingsdesigns]

$6.50 here.

 

[grafixemporium]

Gino: Where do I need to be in order to make as much as I can without leaving any money on the table, but yet, beat out all my competition ?? That's what I think you're really asking. Believe me, there's no recipe for that one. It's very hard to run your business based on what your competition gets. They need what they need... and you the same idea.

So true and a terrible way to try and run a business, constantly second guessing your pricing structure and modifying it to try and win customers. Your pricing needs to fit your business' needs while being competitive in the marketplace. Where you want to fall in the competitive range is entirely up to you. Do you want to be the low baller, mid range or most expensive guy around? You might want to take an honest look at your business and ask yourself what level of quality and service you are providing. Then you might want to actually get some pricing from your competitors and compare the quality of workmanship and service they offer. Take a look at how saturated the sign market is in your area? You know... supply and demand. There is soooo much that goes into a pricing strategy. I believe the worst thing you can do is charge this guy $5 while you charge that guy $10 for the exact same thing. Be confident, fair and consistent.

 

[DIGIXTRA]

So true and a terrible way to try and run a business, constantly second guessing your pricing structure and modifying it to try and win customers. Your pricing needs to fit your business' needs while being competitive in the marketplace. Where you want to fall in the competitive range is entirely up to you. Do you want to be the low baller, mid range or most expensive guy around? You might want to take an honest look at your business and ask yourself what level of quality and service you are providing. Then you might want to actually get some pricing from your competitors and compare the quality of workmanship and service they offer. Take a look at how saturated the sign market is in your area? You know... supply and demand. There is soooo much that goes into a pricing strategy. I believe the worst thing you can do is charge this guy $5 while you charge that guy $10 for the exact same thing. Be confident, fair and consistent.

. .

 

[bigsign]

Pricing

We charge $3.00 sq. foot and $10 for art work.

 

[SameDay Signs]

$3 a sq ft with you providing artwork or $4 a sq ft if we design. Anything complicating we charge additional for artwork. We hem and grommet them all as well

 

[Z SIGNS]

A race to the bottom is not a good formula for success.
Trying to compete against the sign mills and make money is not possible.

 

[Sign Works]

When the local yahoos started charging 1.79 PSF I pretty much threw in the towel on banners. When I do them it's generally 5.00-8.00 PSF depending on varibles, cut vinyl or digital print, tape hem or sewn, expected life expectency - one day use or is it gonna be up for 10 years (ya they do it). I like that 10.00 PSF, nice round number.

 

[grafixemporium]

@ BigSign and Same Day Sign... You charge $10 for art and $1 a square for art respectively? How is that fair to you at all? Do you have any employees? What are you paying them per hour? If not, do you take a salary yourself? Surely $1 a square or a flat $10 doesn't begin to cover your labor expense plus profit. Why bother doing a job if you are doing it to break even or possibly lose money?

We charge $80/hour for artwork with a 1/2 hour minimum for typesetting simple designs.

 

[bob]

I usually base it off $10 per square foot, which includes design. if I 'know' design will be quick/easy I will drop it a tad.

So then, a 12"x12" banner would be $10.00? A 4'x8' effort would be $320.00?

The former is ridiculously low and the latter is insanely high. If you're going to price stuff, especially banners, by integrating all of the various factors into a square foot price, you cannot simply have some stated per ft^2 rate. It just doesn't work. There's nothing wrong with integrating into a unit of are price, in fact it makes a lot more sense than most of the inane methods trotted out from time to time in these waters. But if you're going to do so then you really should consider an algorithm similar to the form...

rate = k1+k2/(k3*area) where k1, k2, and k2 are constants. Using what is fundamentally a quotient for your rate dictates that the larger the work the less per unit of area. Up to some asymptote. You can diddle the constants to affect this asymptote as well as the slope of the curve.

I use something like that which reduces down to:

price per unit of area=(max-min+min*area)/area

where min is the absolute minimum per ft^2 for which I'll print regardless of volume and max is what I would charge for a single 12"x12" [i.e. 1 ft^2] banner.

 

[visual800]

I seel mine for bout $5=$6 sqft depending on the customer. Of course Im not being fair cause all of mine are printed online from signs2print

 

[SameDay Signs]

@ BigSign and Same Day Sign... You charge $10 for art and $1 a square for art respectively? How is that fair to you at all? Do you have any employees? What are you paying them per hour? If not, do you take a salary yourself? Surely $1 a square or a flat $10 doesn't begin to cover your labor expense plus profit. Why bother doing a job if you are doing it to break even or possibly lose money?

We charge $80/hour for artwork with a 1/2 hour minimum for typesetting simple designs.

I'm really not shorting myself. With my pricing I stay competitive in my region. The area I'm in is tough and loaded with cheap a**es. I've worked my tail off to own every piece of equipment and so on so I have very little overhead which allows me to pay myself well and at the same time keep my pricing down. As I've said in the past I'd love to charge $80/hr for artwork but in my area its not likely. When you have designers that are top notch selling for $20-$40 an hour where I'm from it makes things very difficult. Though I'll get the "you can't let someone else dictate your price" if you want to get the business you have to atleast be competitive and at my pricing that makes me competitive. We have a shop that charges less then us for banners and though they rake in tons of orders they make very little on them and have a high over head. Another competitor actually charges $6 a sq ft plus artwork and hes struggling to make it where we are at and in all honesty he puts out a good product. That puts my $4 a sq ft with artwork included well priced and very doable. I guess my point being if I do a 4x8 banner and it takes me 20 minutes i've made $32 in artwork and that is equivalent to $96 an hour in artwork.

 

[gnatt66]

$6-8 per square no hem just grommets (obv if its outdoor i don't give them that option) $5-10 bucks for powertape.

basic layout included, real design $$

 

[grafixemporium]

I'm really not shorting myself. With my pricing I stay competitive in my region. The area I'm in is tough and loaded with cheap a**es. I've worked my tail off to own every piece of equipment and so on so I have very little overhead which allows me to pay myself well and at the same time keep my pricing down. As I've said in the past I'd love to charge $80/hr for artwork but in my area its not likely. When you have designers that are top notch selling for $20-$40 an hour where I'm from it makes things very difficult. Though I'll get the "you can't let someone else dictate your price" if you want to get the business you have to atleast be competitive and at my pricing that makes me competitive. We have a shop that charges less then us for banners and though they rake in tons of orders they make very little on them and have a high over head. Another competitor actually charges $6 a sq ft plus artwork and hes struggling to make it where we are at and in all honesty he puts out a good product. That puts my $4 a sq ft with artwork included well priced and very doable. I guess my point being if I do a 4x8 banner and it takes me 20 minutes i've made $32 in artwork and that is equivalent to $96 an hour in artwork.

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.

 

[reQ]

$5 sq/ft (not including any design work) minimum order is $45

P.S. Don't understand why people charge less than 2 bucks for retail customers....

 

[rjssigns]

$5 sq/ft (not including any design work) minimum order is $45

P.S. Don't understand why people charge less than 2 bucks for retail customers....

This^^^


Hmmmm...have you been peeking at our notes?:Big Laugh

 

[HDvinyl]

I keep my price high at $4.20/