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How do you generally charge for a die cut or printed decal?

MikePro

New Member
charge whatever makes you $$$ or refer him elsewhere.
that 4" x 7" decal is going to burn 4" x the entire width of your material... not to mention the material wasted before it from loading and after it from feed/cut.... so lets call it 12". Lets say you have a 4' roll, you've now burned 4sq.ft of material for a tiny decal this guy is expecting to pay maybe $20, but for that much it is not even worth your time to setup, load, print, cut, laminate, cut, and hand it over. Which is why our shop minimum is $100.

On the other-hand, frats have lots of guys and lots of guys to come.... all potential demand for this decal.
Offer to make him 1 for $100 (shop minimum) or 36'ish (whatever fits well on your media) for $130.
he sells them to his brothers for $5 each, and makes $50 out of the deal, and you make $$$ at the same time.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
charge whatever makes you $$$ or refer him elsewhere.
that 4" x 7" decal is going to burn 4" x the entire width of your material... not to mention the material wasted before it from loading and after it from feed/cut.... so lets call it 12". Lets say you have a 4' roll, you've now burned 4sq.ft of material for a tiny decal this guy is expecting to pay maybe $20, but for that much it is not even worth your time to setup, load, print, cut, laminate, cut, and hand it over. Which is why our shop minimum is $100.

On the other-hand, frats have lots of guys and lots of guys to come.... all potential demand for this decal.
Offer to make him 1 for $100 (shop minimum) or 36'ish (whatever fits well on your media) for $130.
he sells them to his brothers for $5 each, and makes $50 out of the deal, and you make $$$ at the same time.


Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Ya gotta think quickly on your feet. Make it sound like a method you have going and they'll bite everytime. :thumb:
 

Dakotagrafx

New Member
seriously I would machine cut on a plotter - I can't see anyone paying for dies to be made for a small quantiy . . . . would be cost prohibitive :noway:

die cut is right up there with not knowing the difference between a clip and a magazine. makes me twitch every time I read it
 

VicoDrive

New Member
seriously I would machine cut on a plotter - I can't see anyone paying for dies to be made for a small quantiy . . . . would be cost prohibitive :noway:

die cut is right up there with not knowing the difference between a clip and a magazine. makes me twitch every time I read it

machine cut is what I was referring to. die cut is just easier to say I guess :)
 

tattoo.dan

New Member
Can't stand the use of die-cut either...just charge what it is worth..I am with a lot of the other guys...just judge if it is something you can make a quick buck on...if not, SHOP MINIMUM....
 

jdoug5170

New Member
Let me count the clients ... like the $20 singleton cut logo we did for a client in Pittsburgh back in 2004 who has since spent at least $5K a year for labels from us. Lots of others as well. And for each, we also probably handled a single small order for fifty we never saw again. No regrets here, still handle every customer like they're my most important job that day, and I try never to prejudge the potential of any client.

Fred, this is the most logical and realistic reply I've seen in a long time. Good Job! One never knows what is really available if one does not throw his worm in the water, Could be that pool as big fish in it! We work with the $10 a square foot rule as long as it is a simple job and charge accordingly with the "wasted" vinyl since the roll is X inches.

Doug
 

VicoDrive

New Member
Fred, this is the most logical and realistic reply I've seen in a long time. Good Job! One never knows what is really available if one does not throw his worm in the water, Could be that pool as big fish in it! We work with the $10 a square foot rule as long as it is a simple job and charge accordingly with the "wasted" vinyl since the roll is X inches.

Doug

I feel the same way, I try to help everyone because you dont know where it will lead. with these small jobs though, I really try to not make it a priority if I have other bigger jobs but I still want to do it. As I mentioned before, I try sing all the larger pieces of scrap just for this reason. had a thought I may look into tomorrow. I wonder if you can get half width rolls for moast materials. keep that for smaller jobs to reduce waste.
 

tattoo.dan

New Member
I feel the same way, I try to help everyone because you dont know where it will lead. with these small jobs though, I really try to not make it a priority if I have other bigger jobs but I still want to do it. As I mentioned before, I try sing all the larger pieces of scrap just for this reason. had a thought I may look into tomorrow. I wonder if you can get half width rolls for moast materials. keep that for smaller jobs to reduce waste.


How many of those smaller jobs will you have to sell to pay for all of those short rolls of most materials you are going to stock?
 

tattoo.dan

New Member
I feel the same way, I try to help everyone because you dont know where it will lead. with these small jobs though, I really try to not make it a priority if I have other bigger jobs but I still want to do it. As I mentioned before, I try sing all the larger pieces of scrap just for this reason. had a thought I may look into tomorrow. I wonder if you can get half width rolls for moast materials. keep that for smaller jobs to reduce waste.

I was referring to this post..sorry. I thought moast was most....
 

binki

New Member
We pretty much go by the square foot and have a minimum charge of around $100 for printed, less so for cut vinyl. It depends on the job. If you are doing greek letters then you probably need to register with the greek gods of fraternities and pay a royalty every quarter to them.

http://www.greeklicensing.com/default.asp
 

VicoDrive

New Member
We pretty much go by the square foot and have a minimum charge of around $100 for printed, less so for cut vinyl. It depends on the job. If you are doing greek letters then you probably need to register with the greek gods of fraternities and pay a royalty every quarter to them.

http://www.greeklicensing.com/default.asp

You actually have to get licensed to print greek letters?? Thats crazy! How is that any different from printing the english letters ABC? Never would have guessed the greek copyrighted their alphabet
 

binki

New Member
You actually have to get licensed to print greek letters?? Thats crazy! How is that any different from printing the english letters ABC? Never would have guessed the greek copyrighted their alphabet

The letters are not protected but the fraternities are and the combination of letters for each one is. Go figure.

If you decide to do it you may get a visit from the greek letter police. :Big Laugh
 
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