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Market size for custom-made LED neon signs in the US?

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selfmadedude

New Member
Hello,

I recently joined a small shop that does custom handcrafted LED NEON signs in NYC.

Any idea of the market size for this sub-industry? I know that the general LED and Glass Neon markets are large but I can not quite get a grip on the potential market size for custom made LED neon signs.

Also, a lot of "traditional" sign dealers do not seem to be VERY interested (only slightly) in doing custom LED NEON signs?

Any advice/feedback/comments? Thank you in advance. I plan to learn a lot from you guys!!
 
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selfmadedude

New Member
I guess the lack of replies means that I validated my suspicion that the "custom LED neon sign" market is very very very small.

My guesstimate for just NYC was that it was only a $10MM market.
 
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damonCA21

New Member
Market size means nothing really unless you are going to get a guaranteed percentage of it. You can say its £1 billion, but if you are only getting $10K of those orders, then what does that mean?
Quoting market size is the sort of thing people who know nothing about business do in business plans to try and impress other people who know nothing about business
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
I can tell you down here in the south not a lot of call for them at all. Only see some OPEN CLOSED signs. I dont get asked to quote nor do I offer.
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
They're kinda cool on some levels, but not very marketable. My opinion is, whoever thought it would be a good idea to put "LED" and "neon" on the same label created a product association that made it a failure right out of the gate. It probably would have gained more traction if it wasn't for that, either you want LED's, or you want neon.

Another thing that hampered their use professionally is all the cheesy LED neon novelty lights flooding the market from China that fail about the 3rd time you turn them on, makes the technology as a whole seem somewhat of a joke. There is zero interest around here, we do neon service and repair, and have yet to have anyone even inquire about it.
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
There is definitely a market, but it's more of a consumer grade product as opposed to something a business would invest in. These things aren't very weather resistant, limited in size, and about a dime a dozen off amazon. You can even get them to custom make one for a very reasonable price. Like, $350 for a faux neon sign with 28 letters at 48" tall...

Funny enough, I just ordered a little neon sign as a gag gift for my old man, though he didn't appreciate it as much as I'd hoped, but I digress. This totally real (albeit baby sized) neon sign shipped to my shop via fedex/ups, and it arrived just fine:
IMG_6448.jpg

Ordered it tax exempt to use as a sample. The idea being I'd order another in faux neon, and have it handy for folks wanting neon, to be able to offer either a cheaper knock off or really drive home that they want the real thing. After some consideration, the sexy stripper lady is not a great sample to showcase for customers.
 
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selfmadedude

New Member
Thank you all for your awesome feedback and insight into your experiences.

I think I'm going to learn a lot from this chat forum in totality. What a great resource community!
 
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damonCA21

New Member
The other problem is that in general for signage, led lights look crap, particularly on large lettering as it doesn't give a good solid colour the same way neon does. Even with diffusing you still get spots of colour. LEDs by their design just aren't a good solution
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
They're just not there for commercial signage, maybe some day, but not yet.
I think the best use commercially would be more along the lines of accent lighting in hotel or business lobby, restaurants, clubs or bars, stores and such, which falls more into into the interior design world than the sign industry. As dense as the LED's need to be to look decent, it also hikes the price into a range where you can go with high end lighting options instead.
 
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damonCA21

New Member
DL Signs said:
They're just not there for commercial signage, maybe some day, but not yet.
I think the best use commercially would be more along the lines of accent lighting in hotel or business lobby, restaurants, clubs or bars, stores and such, which falls more into into the interior design world than the sign industry. As dense as the LED's need to be to look decent, it also hikes the price into a range where you can go with high end lighting options instead.
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Agreed, they tend to work well as strip lighting and under lighting sorts of things, but thats not sign related really
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
damonCA21 said:
but thats not sign related really
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He now, don't sell yourself short, there's good money in accent lighting. I recall installing several channel letter sets and LEDstripe at a few Freddy's, the LEDstripe always paid better, especially considering you could stand on the roof and not drag out a bucket truck.
 
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damonCA21

New Member
JBurton said:
He now, don't sell yourself short, there's good money in accent lighting. I recall installing several channel letter sets and LEDstripe at a few Freddy's, the LEDstripe always paid better, especially considering you could stand on the roof and not drag out a bucket truck.
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I agree they are an easy fit, but they arent the sort of product most people would to to a sign shop to buy. They are more likely to get it done by the shopfitters or electricians
 
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Aleena

New Member
damonCA21 said:
The other problem is that in general for signage, led lights look crap, particularly on large lettering as it doesn't give a good solid colour the same way neon does. Even with diffusing you still get spots of colour. LEDs by their design just aren't a good solution
Click to expand...

While traditional neon lights certainly have their aesthetic appeal, LED neon lights offer several advantages that make them a superior choice for signage. Firstly, LED neon lights are highly customizable, allowing for precise control over color, brightness, and effects, resulting in vibrant and eye-catching signage. Additionally, LED neon lights are more energy-efficient and durable compared to traditional neon, offering long-term cost savings and reliability. With advancements in LED technology, modern LED neon lights can closely mimic the look of traditional neon while offering greater flexibility and functionality.
 
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