Discussion Installed ACM Price Check

you are right down the road from me I think auburn opelika area you could charge more than I could here in my town I think your price is ok but in the future similiar installs and signage you might want to tack another $150 or so onto it

 

The price range in my area could be as low as $700 and as high as $1500. I'd be at $1350+tax. If they call around they will get lower, but I'm not starving for orders so it depends on how hungry you are.

 

Hahahaaa..... I thought that was an 'R' at first and thought that was an odd name.

I think it's too cheap, especially when renting equipment. The panel itself is at least 5 bills, plus time, equipment and profit. Y'all are cheap down there, like you mentioned. Is that thing laminated at that price ??

 

I personally don't think you should spend a minutes thought about what other shops are charging, if you can make your shop rate, material cost plus markup, rental cost plus markup, that's all that matter to me.
If what you need to make is too high and lose the job, that's not a product/service you need to focus on.
If you're lower and get the job, good, you're competitive on a product/service that is a profitable part of your business & you will end up getting more of them.

 

Too many shops try and be competitive and lowball the least profitable products of their business and
then make it up by "gouging" on the profitable projects.
Focus on the most profitable part, be as competitive as you can, get more of those projects & let you competition
have all the banner and coro jobs they want.

 

I'd push my warranty or at least expected lifetime hard if you are priced high. "How long did company x tell you your sign would look good? Did they tell you they were encapsulating the print within a UV protective film to maximize the lifetime of the colors?"
I know you're not asking about art input, but whey adding a border onto a radiused rectangle, do not just copy and paste the first radius and scale it down by 2 inches. You need to do an actual contour inward to keep the corner from looking like it was done by a 4 year old.
Sorry, just my biggest annoyance with other shops around town.

 

We talk about this all the time, trying to compete with the cheapest guy just to get the work is a race to the bottom. If at the end of the day you made the sign, installed it and then gave the customer $100 just to get the work something is wrong. What is your "nut" to keep the doors open, do your margins reflect that. Every shop is different.

 

This is not the job for you. You're in the business to make $$. At a very minimum you need to double your costs.

 

I would go out on a limb and say that would be a limited loss. Usually small businesses order a sign once and that's it. Barber shops, just to be honest, are usually strapped for cash and shop aggressively solely on price.

Most of the clients that repeatedly order stuff tend to be manufacturing facilities or large companies... not mom-and-pop shops.

Don't feel bad about not making money. If you can't make money on them on the first order, what makes you think you'll make money on future ones?

 

Yo.... greenlight. I tried to send you a PM, but you won't allow people to have access to do so. What gives ??

 

Heh. I thought it said Royal Klutz.