Gotta vent a bit...

[WYLDGFI]

Have a client....and I consider him a friend.
Calls me up and asks..." Is this the best price you can give me on the quote?" No problem....
Then goes on to ask "Is the ink costing you $2.85 per sq ft?" I know he is not trying to be slick and talk me down on anything here...I quoted XXX per sq ft on a rigid foamboard flatbed job for him to resell.
He makes me feel like hes picking apart my pricing and I must defend WHY I am charging him what I am for the job. I dont ask him why he charges me XY or Z for a screen print job or install job he might do for me!!! "how much do you pay your install guy per hour for the wrap youre putting on that van??!!" The price is what it is and its MY reasoning. Besides that...its below my normal pricing anyway....AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!

G'Nite....headed home to watch Rudolph and Grinch with my 2 YO daughter!!

 

[Alti-Plotter]

Maybe he is not a friend.

 

[john1]

Sorry to hear Bill, It happens to us all and best thing you can do is brush it off and move on to customers who don't haggle you.

I get sometimes people saying "All you gotta do is type it in and hit print and it's done" but those usually are the tire kickers.

You do great work and that is all that matters. Don't worry, Have a beer or drink of choice and relax.

 

[GypsyGraphics]

did you friend get all his equipment for free, has no overhead, no investment in time learning his trade, free utilities and do fairies come do all the work while he sleeps?

must be... otherwise, where does a business owner get off asking such a stupid question?

 

[CentralSigns]

That's the same kinda thing that happened to us last year. Customer was comparing us to Vista Prints. We went over some of the costs and how we had given him far more service, than he would ever get at Vista. He bought from Vista red on white backed banner.Can't read it from the site distance he wanted.

We had offered sample letters to look at best color and size, printed on scraps. In addition we had offered to take an in-store credit to purchase mountain climbing gear, and he would have paid half our quoted cost with his retail margins. So in the end he paid 40% less than we quoted and got a product that doesn't work. So that's like paying 10% more with the trade factor to get a poor product.

It's been a year now and we just finally did a bunch of work for him. So in the end, don't sweat it, they will come back to your quality product.

 

["Deposit Please"]

...thats what happens ..when a client is your friend.

 

[JoshLoring]

Same goes for wraps. I get it all the time. Life as we know it...

 

[gabagoo]

did you friend get all his equipment for free, has no overhead, no investment in time learning his trade, free utilities and do fairies come do all the work while he sleeps?

must be... otherwise, where does a business owner get off asking such a stupid question?

Gigi, make a cartoon for him to send to his friend!!!!

 

[WYLDGFI]

I have to admit the guy is a good friend of mine and he's just trying to get the work he can get. I help him when I can on pricing and he does the same for me when the need for installs and other stuff arises. Last nite just sent me over the edge with him though....hes done it one too many times. We'll have a talk about it tomorrow and things will be smoothed over.

 

[signswi]

Don't give him any of that information. There's one simple reason for your pricing: what the market will pay. You're giving him a discount, explain that anything lower and you won't be able to afford turning down full paying work for his stuff.

Case closed.

 

[BigfishDM]

Yeah if he is a close friend you guys should be able to hash this out I would imagine. What kind of fish is that in your signature?

 

[gnemmas]

May be just offer a 35% off your retail price. Saying:

I am selling this for $100, wholesale to you for $65 so you can make $35.

 

[royster13]

35%??? If that is all they can make, they better look for better suppliers....

 

[CanuckSigns]

We quoted a welded aluminum hanging sign for a customer once, he came back a few weeks later with a list of my costs for the materials (no idea how he got a hold of this) and told me he needed a better price because he knew how much I was "ripping him off".

 

[CanuckSigns]

I think I would physically throw someone out of shop if they had the nerve to do this!!

I hope you told him "great now you know what to buy...make it your damn self! And don't call me when you wreck it."

Some people I tell ya.

I told him that since he is now a competitor, I will be billing him for "consultation" at $300 an hour, starting immediately. Let left in a hurry

 

[signcrafters london]

At least your friends still try to let you clear a little. One of my good friends tries to be a sign broker every so often. He comes in all proud of himself telling me he sold some signs for me. Then he usually tells me what he sold them for and it's anywhere from 50-75% what I usually charge. And then he still expects commission.

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

A real friend would want - and expect - you to make money. On the other side of that, if I was buying something from a friend's shop that was... oh, I don't know, $200, and I found out the friend was profiting $125 of it, I would be disappointed in my friend. But again, if I found out they didn't make any profit, I wouldn't like that either.

Your friend might be on another message board right now talking about how his friend is charging him soooo much money when he knows for a fact how much the materials cost, and ripping him off. Hopefully someone will remind him that the price is more than just the cost of materials.

 

[WYLDGFI]

A real friend would want - and expect - you to make money. On the other side of that, if I was buying something from a friend's shop that was... oh, I don't know, $200, and I found out the friend was profiting $125 of it, I would be disappointed in my friend. But again, if I found out they didn't make any profit, I wouldn't like that either.

Thanks Bluefish....thats about what I would say.
Thanks for the words of advice...I appreciate it. We talked it out today and came up with a solution to the quoting problem so to speak. I made it known to him that my business is MY business. He has no right to know why I charge what I do except in the instance of price increases due to Vendor increases...etc.
So short of it is, in order to be competitive on the pricing he needed, I quoted on 1/2 in insight reveal for single sided printing of 4x8 boards. Dunno if will get job or not...but, either way...its smoothed over.

Bigfish....thats actually a 5lb Black Grouper caught down in the keys last year and then released.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

We quoted a welded aluminum hanging sign for a customer once, he came back a few weeks later with a list of my costs for the materials (no idea how he got a hold of this) and told me he needed a better price because he knew how much I was "ripping him off".

I had something similar to that happen few months ago on a cut vinyl job, told me he was ripping me off because he knew how much the vinyl and transfer tape cost and ended up telling me what I do was a worthless profession ... I ended up giving him a lesson in economics 101 as told to a 5 year old. ... tried interupting me multiple times, ended up telling him to be quiet and learn something ... he walked out before I can finish talking about the depreciative cost of equipment and how the break down affects production on a job to job basis as well as how experience and labor will be a major factor in the cost of an item. I did manage to not get angry and tell him to go eff himself though ... did tell him that if he thinks my work isn't worth the money he should go do without then. I mean ... you don't tell a plumber that is about to fix your poop clogged toilet that because he has no material cost that he's ripping you off for a service. You literally don't get s**t done.

As for your 'friend' if he wants to be that way with a business transaction ... tell him that material costs have changed and re-qoute him with a p.i.t.a. fee and standard rate.

 

[GP]

Don't sweat it Bill. Keep on doing what your doing.

Merry Christmas and thank you for another great year.

GP

 

[paulbaguio]

A bit of an OT, but this reminded me of a good friend from Highschool who PMed me to make him the biggest personalized print on the shirt of a currently famous cartoon character but he also said that I'll have to give him the friendliest price and he needs it ASAP! I did not bother to reply because for one, i maybe waisting my time defending the cost for just a single piece of shirt that even giving him the most reasonable price will sideline my other bigger projects. Sometimes we just have to make a stand and defend our business even if it is a dear friend.

 

[Bly]

Tell him if he pays your rent, insurance and wages for the week you'll do the job for nothing cos he's such a great friend.