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Newbie Getting Beat up!
- Thread starter redrubi
- Start date
Service Sign Co
New Member
I got so many rolls of odd-ball colors laying around it isn't even funny,copper,saddle brown,apple green etc. Why bother with 150' rolls? If you don't use it there is no savings. Cast vinyl has a shelf life, calendered is usually more friendly with shelf life & less wearing out of blades when it gets old
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Not if you fax them a copy of your seller's permit. You do have a seller's permit, don't you?
Buying 10 yard rolls and I'm hardly a kid. :Big Laugh
Like it was stated, cast has a shelf life and that is all I'm using as these are outdoor applications. However, I can get away with 24" width and less waste in some instances but not all.
Thats what I like about forums. Great advice and it makes one look at how they might approach things in a better and\or more efficient way.
Thanks for the input OldPaint.
Not hardly an oversaturation. Just an area nobody is targetting. I'm not out to take over the cut vinyl world, but I see a need for a cut vinyl product that is very much wanted in my geopraphic area. With this in mind, it's only good business sense to purchase quality material as inexpensive as possible to increase overall profit. For my market, it doesn't matter if I calculate material cost by running yard, square yard or square inches. Lowest Prices on Materials + Minimum Waste = Maximum Profit.
My wife gives me a hard time because part of my spreadsheet figures wasted material cost by overcuts, improper machine setup or using material wider than neccessary. She says something about me being so tight she can hear me squeek when I walk across the room.
Ted
Last edited:
Signsforwhile
New Member
where i buy my vinyl......... http://www.vectorgraphics.com/
Aardy54@54-Design
New Member
How's Glantz, Grimco, Wensco pricing compare to Fellers? Have you factored in a lead time that will allow you to "mail order" it and have it shipped? Compared the cost of material+shp to the cost of material+drive(gas/time)?
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
You're fretting over the wrong things. Agonizing over optimizing the cost and especially the use of materials will, at best, deliver micro if not nano differences in anything. If you're doing things right material cost should be in the grass of your pricing structure. If they're not, you're not pricing things properly. The amortization of your equipment and your time and overhead are orders of magnitude more important factors in pricing than some silly amount of vinyl.
In fact, I used to figure media needed as part of the price of the job then I just started expensing all of my media right along with paper towels and knife blades and lo I made the same amount of money with a far less convoluted pricing structure and far less time screwing around with it. Certainly I look for the best deals on media but I don't fret about it. Ever.
You put the media in the machine, you cut whatever you need to cut, you throw the scrap away. If you simply must figure cost of media then you should be figuring your cost on linear feet of media unrolled for a job, not area actually used. Once it's unrolled, it's part of the job.
weaselboogie
New Member
I'll agree to what bob stated.
My spreadsheet also figures cost/profit down to the square inch. That was my first one.
Since then I have bastardized it to real life scenarios. My expense is always figuring at worst case.
Now I can see what 'technically' it costs, but with the second version is more true to what is spent... "once it's unrolled, it's part of the job".
Its ok to be precise and 'tight', but give yourself some slack and make it realistic.
AND if no one is targetting this area, then your prices should be at a premium.
My spreadsheet also figures cost/profit down to the square inch. That was my first one.
Since then I have bastardized it to real life scenarios. My expense is always figuring at worst case.
Now I can see what 'technically' it costs, but with the second version is more true to what is spent... "once it's unrolled, it's part of the job".
Its ok to be precise and 'tight', but give yourself some slack and make it realistic.
AND if no one is targetting this area, then your prices should be at a premium.
river_rat
New Member
I agree with the unnecessary worry about miniscule differences in material cost .... the time, software and other overhead completely overpowers vinyl cost. Our main concern is how to set up a plot for as good a cut as we can, then forget about it .... high school art departments, church youth groups etc. are all glad to have scrap vinyl to use as a craft and teaching tool, and the PR you gain is worth a lot more than the cost of the scraps or cost of making plots even more efficient.