Flatbed For Yard Sign Recommendations

[Copierguy]

I am looking for a low cost flatbed printer to print 18x24" yard signs. That is it. I am trying to avoid using my Roland VG-640 to print on vinyl, then applying the vinyl to the interplast material. Any recommendations for a low end starter machine?

 

[Gino]

Are you wanting to print to railroad stock, Cor-X, aluminum, steel, PVC or what ??

 

[Copierguy]

Interplast. (Corrugated Plastic). That seems to be what most yard signs are made of, but I am open to any recommended material to be competitive with online and screen printed signs.

Regarding the finished product: Many customers ask for single color lettering. In that situation I am trying to avoid cutting, weeding, taping, and applying cut vinyl. It ends up costing me more than just printing a solid sheet.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

You need to do a cost analysis to see how long it would take you to make a profit on printing to coroplast after purchasing a flatbed. The yard sign market is so flooded right now, especially with online suppliers getting in the game, that your margins on those jobs would be a concern to me that your return on investment might outlast the life of the printer... UNLESS you have the volume to push through it. If you're doing low volume, you'd be better to keep doing them the way you are than tie up capital in equipment. I've seen so many shops that add equipment for a small part of their business with no business plan to justify spending thousands of dollars and being able recoup it. If you can't make money doing yard signs with your current setup because the prices are so low in your area, refer them out to someone else and make up the revenue with other products and services that are more profitable. Just my $0.02. Good Luck

 

[Gino]

You will never be competitive with on-line companies doing this same thing. They sell the signs for less than what you can buy the Cor-X for. They can turn out literally 100s an hour in full color. You probably should sub these jobs out if you can't keep up using your current set up. You will need to branch out and do far more than just 18 x 24s, then you'll have a man-power problem. It's a never ending conundrum.

 

[henryz]

You got that right Gino, you should be able to get 18 x 24 d/f full color yard signs for around $3 bucks. You are probably better of buying them out and putting a decent mark up. Unless you are doing thousands of them or have a few extra bucks why not.

 

[Gino]

Some years ago, I had a guy come in and want to get between 2,500 and 3,500 pieces a week from me. No way on my current flatbed could I get even close to that, but then he said, the price. Zowie-wowie...... I shopped around, found the perfect machine that could get that many done a week and still use my other flatbed for normal work. Had everything figured out, beat his price and I still made a good buck. However, I needed upfront money and non-refundable at that. Suddenly, the guy was hard to get a hold of. I gave up on the idea and about 2 months later, he wanted to know if we could start off with about 20,000 pieces. Nope, I need the order and deposit of 80,000 to start anything. The whole thing fizzled out, but I still see his signs around. Not as many as he claimed there would be, but he hadda go back to his old supplier.

Get the work first, then go out and get equipment on their money, not yours.

 

[FireSprint.com]

The bottom is falling out of that market pretty quickly. There are plenty of places to get these printed and stay competitive.

If you insist on purchasing equipment though. You might have a look at an HP FB550