"Oh Buddy, you are WAAAY off!"

[DO Grafx]

I recently had a customer ask me to remove my watermark from my proof so they can e-mail it to a "friend", I did not know e-mail didn't work with watermarks (ha ha).

I like your style!

 

[hatmanok]

If you can't make a profit, you might as well go fishing, at least you can feed your family!

 

[Circleville Signs]

Easy now, Dan. I was only teasin'. No need to strike up the dramatics...LOL.


Gary

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

guess i missed the teasing...when the only 'text' speak you commented on was the "U".

must have been one of those jokes where you had to be there......

 

[ProWraps]

try this on for size. client came into my shop told me he wanted a wrap on his cargo van. we designed it for him on the spot (took a few hours and we happily did it, i have no idea why). he said he wanted to show his wife and said i needed to email him the art. so i watermarked the hell out of it and sent it over.

never heard back. then he called and said our local competitor was going to beat our quote by $100 because he was already doing this guys embroidery. i said well ok, i did your art and would like to think it was worth the $100 but whatever.

flash forward to about 3 months later, we are driving home from a job in San Francisco, and guess who and what we pull up to on interstate 80?

that client, with our exact artwork. only we didnt do the wrap. our local competitor did. so he took our quote, and our artwork over to him, had him beat it, and use our artwork.

cest la vie. what you gonna do.

i have a client right now that i for some reason didnt like how the side of his van was installed. he was happy as a clam, it didnt look right to me.

i am buying him, his wife, 3 kids dinner while he drops the van off, and i reinstall the entire side that i have reprinted.

i will not compromise my ethics like these other shops that want to beg, borrow, steal and drop prices to end up eventually killing themselves. its stupidity and it WILL bite them in the end.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

cest la vie. what you gonna do.
.

first you bill him and see if he pays.

if he doesnt you take him to court.

 

[ProWraps]

yeah we could. instead we bought ourselves a very important bit of education. since then, we have bought A LOT MORE. heh. we sued someone once and won. and actually got paid. it was a mess. i hated it. every bit of it. wont do it again unless its for a huge amount.

 

[Master's Touch]

Actually Pro Wraps....when ya drop em and bend over, later yer gonna say, "I can't believe you screwed me?"

NEVER EVER EVER NEVER do art up front. Otherwise "Caveat artifex" "Let the Artist Beware"

 

[SeaWriter]

When you what to have fun with these types of inquiries, I have often used the phrase, “If you have to ask, you obviously can't afford it”. Boy, that that can get some reaction.

 

[mark in tx]

Google up "Acts of Gord" if you want some really funny stories of dealing with customers.

 

[Dot-Tone]

Quick question, and I'm not trying to offend anyone: If someone can make a decent profit that is decent to THEM, then whats the problem with charging $2.00 a square foot? I see people on here saying theyre charging $5 to $6 a sq ft. and getting it. Thats unheard of at most places around the Los Angeles metro area. I'm not charging the $2.00 a sq ft, but if people can make money doing that, why is everybody else crying about it and saying its "killing" their business?

We have a thing called (fair market value). Often considered the "average price". The majority of people have a certain amount of overhead that fall into a commonality between shops. Sure each will be different.

When someone is able to get all of the common cost down to an all time low overhead, …your saying that if this person (with little overhead) can get down to $2.00 per square foot and make money, then why not?

The reason "why not", is that the average is WAY HIGHER. So it would be less intelligent for that guy (with little overhead) to sell at $2.00 than at $4.00

He's already lower than most, and he would be making even MORE profit. So the question should be, ……WHY would he NOT sell higher?

What that guy is actually doing, is lowering the bar…FOR EVERYONE…including himself as he's crating even more competition…fighting for nickels.

 

[Master's Touch]

What he said. Spot on.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

Banners for $2/sf???!!!??? I dont' WHOLESALE that cheap, and we do a decent amount of wholesale business!!!!

Online wholesale Supergiants hardly wholesale at those prices.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

Quick question, and I'm not trying to offend anyone: If someone can make a decent profit that is decent to THEM, then whats the problem with charging $2.00 a square foot? I see people on here saying theyre charging $5 to $6 a sq ft. and getting it. Thats unheard of at most places around the Los Angeles metro area. I'm not charging the $2.00 a sq ft, but if people can make money doing that, why is everybody else crying about it and saying its "killing" their business?

Hmmm...I used to have a shop in San Bernardino...digital was $6.25 sft lowest. Rent in Cali is more than most of the country....minimum wages are higher than the rest of the country and fuel is higher than mostof the country. We weren't paying minimum wages...we were commuting 45 minutes...and we didn't work out of a garage crap hole. All those things considered...there's no way on God's green Earth ANY legitimate sign shop is making a "profit" charging $2 a sq.ft. for banners.
Maybe working out of a garage...using illegal immigrants at low wages and still having the printer run all day long to pay for itself at those rates...would work I guess.

 

[Monsterkidz]

Had a guy come in yesterday wanting graphics on his van. 5 digitally printed, contour cut logos,doors, side and rear lettering. We measured and gave him a quote. Dude flipped out that we had the nerve to charge him $150 for install. He went on to say he could get the job done for $400.00 installed. I'm just amazed that people will basically work for free.

 

[Techman]

the 4 P's
Pivot
Profile
Praise
PRompt.

Paly the game like a pro and turn about half these guys into a paying client.

 

[Techman]

THEM, then whats the problem with charging $2.00 a square foot?

Because the rules of running a business is profit. You goal is to lower your costs and raise the profits. You never lower your costs and lower the price. That's just plain not the way a business is supposed to be operated.

Sharing the profit with every one is simply socialism. We do not live in a socialist country. We are capitalists. That means we run a business for profit. We do not run a business to give away the profits.

That is the basic rule of it. Maximum profits for the risk you take.
If you do nto want to make maximum profits then you are not a business person. You are just buying a job.

 

[CentralSigns]

GIVE THIS SOME THOUGHT klmjff. 2 bucks might cover the material and time. But I need 8 bucks a square foot to put the printer in a warm building where I can do business. That way I can keep the vinyl dry as well. I tried to set things up in my Canadian igloo, but the printer creates too much heat and snow melts. Big mess, risky with water and electricity. The basement must obviously be where you work out of, cause with no overhead $2 is about right.

Think what the $2 is doing to the market your in. Think about how your actions could affect your profit in the future. Sure huge printing plants can charge these low prices cause they pay nothing for materials and crank tons of work daily. Many plants often buy materials direct from manufacturers. Few big plants survive over time. Remember the $2 product questions when you start a full shop and have a tough time getting it up. Oh ya, we usually get $10-15 a square foot.

 

[stickermonkey]

Yep. Just had a guy in for some RTA 3" black Helv. Med. lettering for his boat. He'll put it on himself. A dollar and a dime I told him, per letter. His whole job (both sides of a boat) comes to $17.60. I ring him up and he says, "kinda expensive, isn't it?"

Funny thing is, this guy is also a member of my country club. Has at least three "special interest" old classic cars. Had to build a special garage for them. He goes down to his other home in Palm Springs during the winters here.

But seventeen freakin' bucks is expensive? Compared to what?

Sheesh!!! Don't get me started.

I charge minimum $25.00 + taxes for that.

 

[infinitesign]

Last week a friend of mine who just recently became president of a local organization came by to price 50 double sided full color yard signs. My quote was $6 each and $1 for the wire stakes. The other shop in town bid $4 each including stakes and told my buddy if anyone else was cheaper they would match the price. He doesn't really want to use them but has to take the cheapest bid so I made him a new dummy quote for $2 a sign including stakes, he will try and make them match it. I may have lost the job but they will lose the war at those prices.

Mark

You can get about 25.00 each for a double sided corroplast yard sign here. Luckily some of my customers have not noticed that you can buy them on line for one dollar.