Buying scrap from competing shops. Is this ok?

[Techman]

Is he a mercenary competitor or a brother in the craft?

A brother or sister in the craft gets anything they need within reason. And likewise will get fair treatment back. Paying a fair amount for the material without trying to beat him down for just a little more means a lot toward building a life long relationship.

A mercenary gets nothing.

In a real world we have no competition other than ourselves. There are numerous shops all around us and we all have all the work we want. We can be friendly or we can be adversaries.

 

[TXFB.INS]

all they can say is no,

then you go to fellers and get the short run material there.



Or like Fred said there are enough people here willing to help and have them ship it to you

 

[klingsdesigns]

I just had a new business come in and buy some stuff off of me today. I think its good to get to know other owners and what not, as long as they dont start to steal your customers.

 

[Chriswagner92]

all they can say is no,

then you go to fellers and get the short run material there.



Or like Fred said there are enough people here willing to help and have them ship it to you

which is why I love this forum so much. If anybody comes in and says signs 101 I know I would drop everything and help you guys out with whatever I could.

Like I said, I wasn't sure if there was like some sort of unwritten rule about it and wanted opinions, which you guys delivered as always.

 

[rdmdarr]

Like some of the others have said, I have great contacts with some of the other sign shops in my area. Hell I play softball with one of them on Sundays. We have the same good ole boy network as well. If I am in a pinch and need something, a quick phone call and I can usually have it within 10 min. The same goes for them, I have a shear and a brake, and if they need something, come on down.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Or like Fred said there are enough people here willing to help and have them ship it to you

My point was to show that a large percentage of shops are interested in supply sharing and generally friendly interactions. I would recommend making local contacts out of convenience long before I would suggest getting into shipping small amounts of materials.

 

[g&eprinting]

Sounds like a very small amount of vinyl you'd need. I think it was already mentioned, but I would personally stop in, introduce myself and explain my predicament. Probably have a laugh over it and shouldn't be a problem and who knows, you might've just made a good friend. At the size it sounds like, I'd probably just give it to you for nothing, no questions asked..... or just a minimum of $5. to keep it honest.

Same here never know will you'll be on the other end needing something after hours. Better to have a new friend.

 

[thesignguy1986]

Absolutely, I had a guy a few years ago call from the town over about 20 minutes to be exact and need some vinyl and next thing you know he actually started bringing me a lot of printing to do and after a couple years he now works part time for me and no longer does the vinyl so it worked out great. Plus you never know when you just might need something and be in a jam.

 

[toucan_graphics]

I have dealt with several local shops for things like this. In my experience, it helps if you offer something in return.
For example I stopped in a local shop to get a scrap of vinyl and started the conversation by asking about digital printing. I don't have a printer at the moment, so I asked how much he would charge to print some decals because I have a customer who needs one or two decals here & there & is not cost effective to order from a wholesaler, pay shipping etc. & the customer usually wants faster than a 7 day turnaround. He quoted me a decent price and then I asked if he had a a couple feet of the vinyl I needed (I think it was matte black cast). He went in the back and came out with more than I needed & said he'd sell it to me for $3. I paid him, thanked him and a couple weeks later when my customer wanted those decals, he printed them for me.