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Critique me! 100 Yard Sign order

rawjahprintshop

rawjahprintshop

New Member
Alright fellow sign101ers!

I have a customer whos also a friend that doesnt expect any deals or anything of the sort because we are both business owners, him much more successfull, but understands
what we go through day in and day out!!

So, the order goes as follows:

-100, yard signs, 18" x 24",
-100 Sign Stakes
-200 Artwork Plus Media Artwork plus Vinyl (2 sided

So here are the prices I got for him

18 x 24 Corrugated Plastic Signs..... 100 x $6.23+$623.00
10X15 Sign Stakes ...............................................................................$147.00
20 18"X24" Custom Artwork with thin Laminate/Labor ....... $394.00

I paid 316 for my product, the signs and stakes for pickup, no shipping

i charged him , $1,234.07
So that would technically put each Sign and Stake (bundle) at $12.34ea What are your guys' initial thoughts when you read this?

SO THE PROBLEM NOW....Custom, remember, a good friend, but will also check pricing etc, messaged me back and said:

"Call you in a bit, I have no idea but normally when I buy 100 its around $500."

I have a feeling he's using a vista print-type company that I have no chance of competing with...

Thank you all!!!!!!!
D




Thank you for any help in advance, trying to seal up this order!
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
There are so many variables, we have no idea what you are comparing. Flatbed printed, you're at about $1.40 ea for a double sided sign. Now add in the step stake.......... where are ya ??
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
You have 2 things with a friend. They want to feed you work or they want to take from you, it just depends on the person. Either way, they aren't gonna pay more than any other options they have which is 100% fair. The friend deal goes 2 ways, I pay this much, if you want it I will give you the work for that price but you're my friend so you can't charge me more than what I'm already paying. Best way to deal with these things is to ask them what they are paying and see if you can back into it. If you can't, be honest. Either way, nobody is gonna pay you more than other options for a cheap commodity, you're not a charity
 
FireSprint.com

FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
I'm a little confused. Are there 200 designs on 100 double sided signs? Are they variable data?

Working with friends is though, and it goes both ways. If you expect his loyalty, he should be able to exepct you give give him a friendship discount.

When my friends ask for stuff, I just offer to do it for free. The good friends go somewhere else and the great ones make you buy the beer.
 
H

hybriddesign

owner Hybrid Design
I'm confused too but here's what we do:
-we are a solvent only shop so we offer quick turnaround signs which are vinyl laminated to coro and then slower turn which we usually use Firesprint for and it's UV or screen printed.
-this pricing is only for campaign signs so 50+ of the exact same design
-for our quick turn signs we usually average around $7 per sign and that's full coverage on one side. We don't offer quick turnaround double sided signs
-we print on an Epson, laminate them and cut them on our Zund.
-we're in Hawaii so we pay a fortune for space ($2+ per sqft) and our materials are $$$$$ so keep that in mind

If you're at $12+ a sign single sided I'd say you're high but if you're a small shop and that's what you've got to charge than that's just what it is. If it's double sided vinyl on coro I think $12 isn't all that bad.

You're way higher than a UV or screen printed sign so you just need to make that distinction. If they want it fast and with you in house than it's one price. If they have time for you to farm it out or want to shop around they can probably find someone to buy from direct that's a little lower or if you're farming it out than you'd just add $2 or something to the trade printer price. It's up to them.
 
rawjahprintshop

rawjahprintshop

New Member
hybriddesign said:
I'm confused too but here's what we do:
-we are a solvent only shop so we offer quick turnaround signs which are vinyl laminated to coro and then slower turn which we usually use Firesprint for and it's UV or screen printed.
-this pricing is only for campaign signs so 50+ of the exact same design
-for our quick turn signs we usually average around $7 per sign and that's full coverage on one side. We don't offer quick turnaround double sided signs
-we print on an Epson, laminate them and cut them on our Zund.
-we're in Hawaii so we pay a fortune for space ($2+ per sqft) and our materials are $$$$$ so keep that in mind

If you're at $12+ a sign single sided I'd say you're high but if you're a small shop and that's what you've got to charge than that's just what it is. If it's double sided vinyl on coro I think $12 isn't all that bad.

You're way higher than a UV or screen printed sign so you just need to make that distinction. If they want it fast and with you in house than it's one price. If they have time for you to farm it out or want to shop around they can probably find someone to buy from direct that's a little lower or if you're farming it out than you'd just add $2 or something to the trade printer price. It's up to them.
Click to expand...
I'll start here first, but yes this is an 18 x 24 double-sided sign. I will be printing the vinyl and laminating it, then installing them onto the signs.

for the person above asking... it's 100 plastic signs total, but each yard sign has 2 sides. so 200 decals getting printed, then install onto the corrugated plastic.
as for the printer, I'm using a Roland SG2 Model... nothing fancy.

I was reluctant to even put the word friend because i know how people get, but to begin with a post above, my friend wants to support me, a very small business... That's very nice of him, how he's asking about price because it's SO much more than what he's saying he paid in the past - I very highly doubt he would lie, he's a close friend, I just have a feeling he's going through one of the Huge companies like vista print like I mentioned before and just getting very low pricing... which we all know most of us cant compete with on a small standard sign and print shop.

im using glants anf sons

product pricing
100 plastics ..............$1.75ea
100 10x15 stakes .....$1.01ea
$316ish order total

vinyl - 18 x 24 (printer is only 30 wide so im stacking alot!)
so essentially 18 x 200 signs in length
Vinyl cost .... 0.31 sq ft
Laminate.......0.31 sq ft
ink ...................0.35 sq ft
 
rawjahprintshop

rawjahprintshop

New Member
FireSprint.com said:
I'm a little confused. Are there 200 designs on 100 double sided signs? Are they variable data?

Working with friends is though, and it goes both ways. If you expect his loyalty, he should be able to exepct you give give him a friendship discount.

When my friends ask for stuff, I just offer to do it for free. The good friends go somewhere else and the great ones make you buy the beer.
Click to expand...
1 design on all 100 signs that have 2 sides, for a total of 200 sign-sides :)
 
White Haus

White Haus

Not a Newbie
Couple of things:

-I wouldn't bother laminating coroplast signs, ever. If you're worried about gooey prints off your Roland, let them dry on a fan before mounting.

-Don't take this the wrong way, but running this order on 30" material, laminating, (I'm assuming mounting each print individually?) mounting, etc etc is probably the most inefficient way you could produce this order.

I don't quite have the brain power to run your numbers but whatever you come up with will be higher than any other shop/method.

Other (more efficient) ways to produce would be:

-54" printer, mount full sheets both sides, hand trim into singles
-Direct print to both sides, hand trim into singles
-Direct print to both sides, cut on flatbed cutter
-Or screenprint depending on colors etc.

I've been there, we used to run rolls and rolls of vinyl and mount to coroplast so I do understand where you're coming from. And I do hope that you can come to an agreement with your friend, but at the end of the day you can't realistically compete with any other option he has out there, especially if he's used to ordering them from Vistaprint.
 
Scotchbrite

Scotchbrite

No comment
Texas_Signmaker said:
Your method of production is the problem. Big companies can flatbed print those for alot less. You simply don't have the equipment to produce them at his price point so explain that.
Click to expand...
That's it right there. The OP's pricing is probably fair for his process, but there are less expensive ways to do it.
 
C

CanuckSigns

Active Member
Have you already made the signs for him? If not I would explain that you are not set up to print these efficiently where you can sell them for $5 each, thank him for thinking of you, give him examples of products you can be competitive with and move on.

If you have printed them, did he not ask for a quote? I agree your price is high, but with your equipment I can see why, you will have to work something out with him to keep him happy.

Always quote jobs for new clients, keeps everyone honest and upfront.
 
rawjahprintshop

rawjahprintshop

New Member
CanuckSigns said:
Have you already made the signs for him? If not I would explain that you are not set up to print these efficiently where you can sell them for $5 each, thank him for thinking of you, give him examples of products you can be competitive with and move on.

If you have printed them, did he not ask for a quote? I agree your price is high, but with your equipment I can see why, you will have to work something out with him to keep him happy.

Always quote jobs for new clients, keeps everyone honest and upfront
Click to expand...

Nope, I have not and thanks to you guys I was able to learn a lot and I will not be doing it for them. He totally understands and will be using the last person. He’s going to bring other stuff they need my way. Thanks a lot for the help everyone and once again that shows why this is such a great community.
 
G

garyroy

New Member
The link to the Ebay site for 100 signs might, might, make $100 after all is said and done.
If your desire is to make $100 for a day's work, and then take your rent expenses, electricity, insurance, and soft costs out of that hundred dollars,
you might want to look for a new profession. Doesn't sound like your setup to do that type of work.
Do you really even want to?? Go out and find some really profitable work.
You should be able to letter a door at a business and make $100 with about 5 sq ft of vinyl, not 600 sq ft of laminated vinyl applied to
corrugated plastic signs. You're running down a rabbit hole bro'.
 
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