how to charge? by hour or by m²

[ColorCrest]

Ikarasu - sorry buddy but that just ain't so. People new in the business charge by the sq.ft. because they have no idea what they are doing. Once you have some experience under your belt it becomes much easier to estimate time on a job and prepare an appropriate estimate.

Who the hell competes in "speed wraps." That doesn't sound like fun to me, sort of like seeing how fast one can poke a sharp stick one's eye. I prefer to fish and drink beer for fun. But, whatever. If you got a guy that can wrap a vehicle in an hour, just charge $1500.00 or so an hour.

After a while you get a feel for what a wrap job is worth (and what your market will hold) and you learn to charge accordingly. If you can't deliver the goods, well, better start boning up or choose another line of work (or just hire that "wrap-an-hour" guy).

I think you've misunderstood Ikarasu's post. Yes, some of the best in the industry compete in speed-wraps at their trade shows much like firemen drag dead weight or climb ladders or lumberjacks speed-saw through logs or any number of industries to their thing for fun or spectacle.

 

[kcollinsdesign]

I think you've misunderstood Ikarasu's post. Yes, some of the best in the industry compete in speed-wraps at their trade shows much like firemen drag dead weight or climb ladders or lumberjacks speed-saw through logs or any number of industries to their thing for fun or spectacle.

Ok. I get it. I don't get out much so I'm missing out on all the fun. Is there betting?

I remember belt sander racing at a Letterheads meet. I think competitive "waiting for paint to dry" would be more my speed.

 

[ikarasu]

Yes. I'm not saying to speed wrap a vehicle.. At all the wrap trade shows they have competitions. Avery, 3M, Etc throw them together - The person with the best wrap in the quickest time ends up getting something stupidly cheap like a roll of vinyl for free. They do it for fun... I wouldn't. But the same guy can put up a 10,000 SQFT wall wrap in the same amount of time as some people can do 2,000.


We also subcontract to a few different sign installers when we get busy. We have more work than we have installers... and training people to wrap vehicles or do wall wraps, and paying them all year round when we only get busy in summer isn't as cost effective as us partnering with other installers.

Each one charges by the SQFT - We wouldn't hire an installer that charges by the hour... For all we know he could take 10 hours to do a simple wall graphic. We also wouldn't pay them the same SQFT price to wrap a bumper, as we'd pay to vinyl a wall. Same with removals... No way in hell would we do a removal by the SQFT, for that we charge by the hour.

Theres too many variables to pick one over the other. You need to calculate Material cost and labor cost, and work out your own figure.

 

[equippaint]

Most installers who have been in the business for longer than a few years charge by the sqft, not by the hour. Of course they include difficulty in the sqft... We charge more for a bumper than we charge for half a vehicle.

Theres a guy I know who's been in the business for 20+ years, started doing wraps when 3m first introduced them. He actually instructs the 3M courses now. He can do stuff in a quarter of the time most others can.

He Competes in speed wraps...and can wrap most a vehicle in an hour and it looks better than most the hack jobs I see on the streets obviously real wraps he doesn't rush like that, but still.

He once told me if he charged by the hour instead of job.. He'd be undercutting competition by half.

It's the same for people who buy a flatbed. Just because I can print signs faster, and cheaper than someone with a roll to roll... I'm not going to drop my prices by half.

One in getting at is one method doesn't suit all. You need to see what works for you and your pace. If hourly is higher.... Charge hourly. If sqft is higher... Charge per sqft.

This is why dealers and body shops charge customers and pay their techs flat rate.

 

[klingsdesigns]

We charge by hourly rate an never had issues. I can see where if you do it really fast where it could undercut you though. I have been doing it long enough I estimate what the install time is and do it at that. Unless its a removal then I charge hourly and make sure i record the whole time so i dont undercut myself.