Contour cut window graphics

[Pideas]

I print a lot of wide format prints but I don't do any contour cutting in-house because I don't own a contour cutter. Every now and then we get a contour cut job for a client. What's a good price per square for contour cut window graphics? This would be printed in full color.

 

[WB]

So what's "alot of wide format prints" mean to you. What's your market? do you do alot of contour cuts now? Let's assume that when we say contour cut we're talking about printed vinyl, I would think your going to have a very very hard time finding someone to ONLY cut printed vinyl that you supply. I personally wouldn't do it. I would have no problems printing and cutting your supplied files but there's no way I'd try to cut something you printed even if it was setup correctly for my machine, there's just to many variables.

I would suggest:

1. buying the proper cutter to go with your setup, if you have a decent printer then most manufactures make cutter and software that will not only get the job done but open up some new windows on what your able to produce.

2. Outsource the printing and cutting for these jobs, it's not worth the headache of you trying to perfectly match someones setup for contour cutting.

3. Put a faint outline on you prints and do it buy hand until you can justify buying a cutter.

just my thoughts.

Good luck

 

[ScheelsPR]

I think what the OP is going for is the ROI timeline if he were to invest in getting a plotter/cutter - it does specifically say they don't own one now so the question of being "do you do a lot of contour cuts now" isn't too relative here, maybe I'm wrong.

I don't know what your rate charge is, but I think you should figure out how many cuts you have been presented, the largest size - and potentially offer this as a flat rate add-on per general size or complexity. Maybe it's 15% more to do a complex cut contour vs. a 10% increase for a simple cut contour. Some might be added in already with your overhead cost and simply included up to a point (squares, rectangles, etc). If it's fleet graphics where you can gang up on a single run then figure out that it's a flat 10% for any cut. At either point of the spectrum, with window graphics your still going to have the finishing either by hand, trimmer, and transfer (unless your doing just sticker style graphics that don't need the transfer?) so this slight increase in your time with the graphics and not gouging the customer will make for repeat business. Does anyone order overpriced cheesecake that tastes the same as every other cheesecake at a restaurant? Not usually...

In my experience - vinyl plotters make a lot of business sense if you have the license for your RIP, the space, and the time to weed graphics/transfer tape them. If you are already at the gills with just wide format printing, it might not make much sense to put that much effort into something that puts your time into a job in jeopardy. Rarely would you find someone to just cut vinyl as mentioned earlier as the investment into the project is a bit conflict of interest unless you knew the other shop really well and they didn't have any of markup - but it's a competitive world out there and adding a service that you don't have is why they want to stay in business. Just my entrepreneurial thoughts on that.

 

[eahicks]

So I assume you are not a sign shop or in the sign business, because I have never stepped foot in to one that didn't have a plotter. As suggested, buy a plotter, if this is the line of work you wish to venture in to.

 

[Pideas]

Thanks for everyone's input. I should have been more a little more detailed.

Currently, I am not a sign shop but I print a lot of posters, adhesive vinyl, banners, and banner stands with my large format latex printer. However, i do not own a contour cutter and do not do it in house. I just don't get a lot of requests for this type of stuff so I have not invested in a contour cutter yet. For this particular job, i would source it out to a sign shop. They would print and contour cut for me. Since I don't do much contour cut window graphics, I just wanted to find out what a per square foot cost would be to charge. I could then add to the cost for complexity.

Thanks.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

For this particular job, i would source it out to a sign shop. They would print and contour cut for me. Since I don't do much contour cut window graphics, I just wanted to find out what a per square foot cost would be to charge. I could then add to the cost for complexity.

Find a shop that will do the job. Ask them their cost. Mark that up as per your standard on materials. That's what you charge. All of your pricing should be based off your costs. Not what other shops are charging. Different geographic locations will bring in different costs.

Personally, depending the size of the job, the client, the artwork, I will mark up cost of materials 2 to 3 times.

 

[ikarasu]

As others mentioned... You cant really quote on price because you're not doing it in house. You could quote the customer $20, then the sign shop could tell you "No, thats 10x more work than normal, we'll do it for $50", then you're SOL.

Get a sample file of what you plan on doing, send it to a few sign shops in your neighborhood and ask them how much they would charge, then double, or triple it for the customer.

You could ask how much they'd charge just to cut... But odds are they wont, unless they are really, really slow, and you have a good relationship with them.

You can buy a decent starting cutter for a few grand. Take the plunge and buy one... You may not get a lot of jobs with it right now, but start marketing it to people, and you never know what will happen. You'll also be able to sell just plain cut vinyl decals. A plotter is one of the main pieces every shop should have, it opens the doors to a lot of business.