Hey I am pretty new to Channel letter signs and only have 2 real competitors in my area. I have heard many many insane prices from people that they were charged as there is basically a monopoly in our area. I don't want to operate in poor form but I partially delved into this aspect so my small town and small businesses don't always have to cough up a years earnings for a sign. Today I was completely thrown for a loop. I recently bid a job where the owner had received quotes from 2 other shops and $3000 was the best quote he got for 16" green front-lit channel letters saying "PUB". We underbid and got the job. So today I bid on another job with (15) 12" Channel Letters and a 9" x 60" rounded corner rectangle can below. I WAY overbid. The same company that charged $3000 for PUB bid $2750 for all this signage??? Shy of forcing all my customers to fish bids, reveal them to me and then see if I can save them money what is a good fair way to price channel letters? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Channel letter quoting
- Thread starter signlords
- Start date
CanuckSigns
Active Member
So let me get this right, you admit that you have no idea about channel letters, but you decide to go in half cocked and undercut the established shops who actually know what they are doing.
you are the definition of sign wh0re, a bottom feeder who lives on others scraps and leftovers. I give you 6 months before you either go out of business or drive the cost of signs in your area so far down you may as well be out of business
just my $0.02
Lol I scanned the noob section oh this forum for a while before posting and gathered there are a lot of high horse purple here who jump to conclusions. I know a lot about channel letters I am simply admitting I do not know if there is an industry accepted standard for pricing per sq inch or etc. Because the shops in my area with 10+ years experience don't have any rhyme or reason to their pricing that I can tell and I don't want to be the idiot who under sells himself or the market. Everybody had to start somewhere and sometime and gather information. That's the point of community forums.
CanuckSigns
Active Member
there is a reason channel letters are expensive, there is a lot that goes into them, plus they have to be safe and conform to local electrical requirements.
the idea of seeing someone else's quote and underbidding it without knowing what goes into pricing the product drives me nuts, there was a shop in town that did that all the time "go get 3 quotes and I'll beat the lowest one" was his idea of quoting a job, after we found out he was doing this we had some fun, $1 each for coroplast yard signs with the step stake, banners for $0.25 square foot etc. but he stupidly kept up the practise until he moved away.
you remind me of him.
the idea of seeing someone else's quote and underbidding it without knowing what goes into pricing the product drives me nuts, there was a shop in town that did that all the time "go get 3 quotes and I'll beat the lowest one" was his idea of quoting a job, after we found out he was doing this we had some fun, $1 each for coroplast yard signs with the step stake, banners for $0.25 square foot etc. but he stupidly kept up the practise until he moved away.
you remind me of him.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Done this several times with people who gather bids and then beats them.
In fact, there was huge mall in my area some time ago. The new mall manager told every tenat, he must see the bids first, before they did anything. We had been doing this mall for over 10 years and had many happy and satisfied customers. Suddenly, we weren't getting the jobs. Found out we would lose them by so little, it didn't make sense. Set up a sting. Started quoting much too low. Still lost them. Well, one job came along for maybe $3,900. I bid $390.00. Lost it, but the mall manager later told me I could no longer bid in this mall. Found out, he was getting a kickback and reported his @ss. He not only lost his job, they found him one night all beat up and practically left for dead. He survived, but he's not the same anymore. Last time I saw him, he couldn't even hold a conversation.
Craig Sjoquist
New Member
You are in the Central Florida area considered the mouth of the wolf, it will not matter how high or low you bid you will lose the bid, best I can say.
Best way is to find your good profit margin in bidding such as the pub sign 3 letters X height & type, mounted X height, with X amount of hassle, = X amount
Start there raise or lower to what you think fair & be happy as long as you are making good profit.
As ya may have realized Central Florida is highly transit, people & businesses move in & out faster then anywhere which is sorta good for the sign shops & bad also.
Bidding any job you will find several more shops most likely did also & really it is whom does the customer trust to do the job how they want at a price they think is fair.
So really it is just a dart throw, just bid fair, do what ya say ya gonna do & don't be a snake, you will be fine.
Best way is to find your good profit margin in bidding such as the pub sign 3 letters X height & type, mounted X height, with X amount of hassle, = X amount
Start there raise or lower to what you think fair & be happy as long as you are making good profit.
As ya may have realized Central Florida is highly transit, people & businesses move in & out faster then anywhere which is sorta good for the sign shops & bad also.
Bidding any job you will find several more shops most likely did also & really it is whom does the customer trust to do the job how they want at a price they think is fair.
So really it is just a dart throw, just bid fair, do what ya say ya gonna do & don't be a snake, you will be fine.
Slim White
New Member
Wow, what a lot of vitriol.
Man, I'm always amazed at how hard core some of you folks are. Coming down on this guy like he slept with your mom, beating up the competition, generally taking your job way too seriously. You're making signs, folks. It's not art. It's not an important thing you're doing. It's a living, like any other job. Get a life.
Man, I'm always amazed at how hard core some of you folks are. Coming down on this guy like he slept with your mom, beating up the competition, generally taking your job way too seriously. You're making signs, folks. It's not art. It's not an important thing you're doing. It's a living, like any other job. Get a life.
skyhigh
New Member
I will assume you're only an employee and not the business owner.??
And fyi..... it is art, ya doof.
LOL
J Hill Designs
New Member
I doubt you are making them, so...
get the job quoted from a wholesaler
mark it up (2x)
add install
add permitting etc
if you get the job, great
if not, move on.
get the job quoted from a wholesaler
mark it up (2x)
add install
add permitting etc
if you get the job, great
if not, move on.
reQ
New Member
Thats pretty much what i do. I always tell customers that channel letters are expensive and they understand... well most of the time lol
reQ
New Member
Taking our jobs to seriously...? Its only signs, not art? Not an important thing we are doing? Its like any other job?
Well, thats probably not very nice thing to say, but how about you go f yourself? Don't like when scrubs like you come to our house to simply insult us.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
This is a test. I just wanted to see this in writing again, before someone deletes it. This is one of the best comebacks I've seen in a long time. While it's not my cup-a-tea way of thinking, it takes balls to say this on a sign forum. Just makes ya wonder what this industry is coming to ?? Flatbed operator, like that takes more knowledge to make than a bologna sandwich, huh ??
Slim White
New Member
You folks are simply making my point for me.
MikePro
New Member
pretty big chip on your shoulder for a button-pusher.
enjoy the 9-5, bud.
back to the OP, however, without all of the actual details to compare pricing between your two referenced projects, we can only assume b.s. on behalf of your client.
besides the fact, that, sq.ft'age is NOT the only factor that drives the price of a sign.... that same power supply for 16inch "PUB" letters could also be used for 12inch "The Pub Next-to The Pub PUB" letters. the same permit could be used for both. relatively the same install time. etc. etc.
there is a "general sign contractor's pricing-guide" available to you for reference. Its a good starting-point, but should ultimately be up to YOU to determine the value of your project.
if you get underbid, then so-be-it... "cheapest bid" clients are the most demanding/annoying anyways. let the tire-kickers run to the guy operating out of his garage/pickup truck, and then come to you for a REAL sign a couple years from now.
No one wants to work for free and/or go so sub-standard that you eventually work yourself into a lawsuit.
CanuckSigns
Active Member
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you sign the back of your paycheque, not the front.
Marlene
New Member
a few questions. are you making the channel letters? either way are your channel letters UL listed? are they LED? I am not new to channel letters and know that cheap materials and cheap LED are available but would never use them. are you? usually when it comes to good, high quality signs of an kind, the prices shop to shop don't vary that much. when they do nine times out of ten it is because of the quality or lack of it. how much did you bid for the channel letter PUB sign? how did it compare to what the other shop was offering?