Pricing and is oracle 751 necessary

[purpose and passion]

[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I opened a small shop a few months ago. I started cutting vinyl for various stuff last year. My biggest nightmare has been pricing.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I have a customer that wants to put vinyl lettering all over the body of his truck and I have no idea how to price that. I have a free trial of graphixCALC but I don't know what to put in for the height and width. Do I measure the area of the entire truck (to include waste) and enter that size? He basically wants the majority of the truck covered in lettering. Actually, he has two he wants done, and then another guy came in asking for pretty much the same thing. All this happened yesterday. I was kind of comfortable saying $10 sq. ft. (because I read it somewhere lol) but I also think I need to use cast vinyl, right? That is more expensive so doesn't seem it would fit into the "$10 sq. ft." idea. How do you guys charge for installation? GraphixCALC has a sliding scale according to sq. ft. that goes from $5 - $1.50, I know other charge by the hour. I need help! These guys want a quote [/FONT]

I appreciate any advise.

 

[TXFB.INS]

there are MANY threads in the "NEWBIE" section talking about this and how to calculate prices.
doing a search will give you some ideas

bottom line you have to make enough to pay your bills, feed your family, etc... and also be competitive to your competition.


for us at least design - product - installation are separate and calculated differently
design - time spent
product - material used
installation - time spent


vehicles should always be done with cast. however, I have seen and done vehicles with 651 and it still looks good years later.
THIS IS NOT SUGGESTED

 

[purpose and passion]

THANK YOU for your response. I needed that confirmation.

 

[Jillbeans]

First you need to figure out your shop rate (rent, electricity, insurance, etc etc)
SignCraft sends a three-tiered pricing guide with their magazine subscription, and it has a varying shop rate say if you are just starting out cutting stickers, or are a wrap installer, or do high-end custom handmade signs. My personal shop rate is $75/hr, and I charge $25/hr for installation.

I do not sell anything by the square foot. Say a guy comes in needing two pickup doors lettered. My usual rate in cut vinyl is $225 for just the two doors in one or maybe two colors of cut high-performance (751-951), simple punchy layout. I know the materials will cost me about $90, the layout will take me 25 minutes, then weed/mask/install probably about 2 hours tops. I can use the rest of the vinyl for other jobs, and usually try to talk them into an easy color. I sub out prints.

If I have to rebuild his crappy logo from poor artwork it's $75 an hour to clean and vectorise it for my own use. I charge $250 for painted doors, and I do a super kick-*** job on those. I prefer paint because it's more fun and the profit margin is higher. If I sell him a logo, he gets all the files on CD and I will letter his truck for $175 just to be nice ($195 painted)

I do NOTHING without a deposit. I document EVERYTHING with two-part proposals and invoices. In your case, I would probably figure out your materials (vinyl and transfer tape, maybe app fluid if you use it) and multiply by 3 in order to get a feel for the price. That is a lot of cutting and weeding etc plus dealing with the client.
Love....Jill

 

[Speedsterbeast]

Use only cast on vehicles.
Can't go wrong with 751.
If you're new to the game you may have to do a few layouts and designs to get an idea of material costs prior to quoting.
Also if you're new you won't be near as fast as your competition, so you may have to expect less profit per hour for now, plus more waste in mistakes.
The trick is figuring out what the job will truly cost you in time.
Things like:
-An indecisive client who wants the approval of everyone they know to like the design.
-How much time does the client spend talking when they call.
-How much travel time is involved if you're doing an on-site install.- Including measuring and perhaps a second trip back to repair a deficiency.
-How long will it really take you to cut out, weed, mask, and prepare the graphics...always more than you think.
For anything more than a set of boat registration numbers, I take an hour for "BS" To cover my time to quote, talk about the weather, type up the invoice, mail the invoice, post the info to my books, deposit the cheque, clean my shop floor etc etc.
If you are not careful you could find yourself making less than minimum wage when your starting out.

 

[Mike Paul]

.

Square foot pricing is for full wraps and banners (Design additional) not your everyday
trucks, vans, and small signs.

For those you charge by the job.


General rule of thumb for the beginners:


Basic set of doors 1 color $200. Name, city , phone, web
Matching tailgate $75

Nicer layout with shade or outline on main copy/business name apx. $300
Matching tailgate $150

Nice set of doors, full color/digital print with lam $400- $450
Matching tailgate $175 - $200

Line of services down bed 1 color $75-$100

Always cast film on vehicles unless its an old beater vehicle...


All fair pricing... If you don't ask you won't receive....
If the customer doesn't like it... oh well.

Don't forget to offer your logo design package/option up front...

 

[reQ]

Good quality material is a MUST not an OPTION. Garbage in - garbage out. If you want to do it right - get cast for vehicle decals, unless you producing bumper stickers or other cheap promo decals.

 

[AF]

there are MANY threads in the "NEWBIE" section talking about this and how to calculate prices.
doing a search will give you some ideas

bottom line you have to make enough to pay your bills, feed your family, etc... and also be competitive to your competition.


for us at least design - product - installation are separate and calculated differently
design - time spent
product - material used
installation - time spent


vehicles should always be done with cast. however, I have seen and done vehicles with 651 and it still looks good years later.
THIS IS NOT SUGGESTED

651 is thicker so may hold up better for a shorter term job that is subject to more abrasion or abuse. But I agree, 751 is the better choice nearly 100% of the time.

 

[JMPrinting]

I use all 751 for vehicle except the guy who wants it "cheap" I throw some 651 in and let him at it.

Other than shrinkage, is there are big downfall to 651? I would assume how easily it's removed.

 

[Jillbeans]

651 fades fast. Particularly the yellows.

 

[Z SIGNS]

You charge what it is worth

If you are just selling stickers or ink on sheets of vinyl and that's all you have to offer you will end up having to charge what your competition charges for the same kind of work.

On the other hand if you can create a masterpiece that's going to brand and make money for the business owner you can charge a lot more.

Problem is many in the sign business and many of their customers can't see the difference.
This is reason we have visual pollution especially in the areas that have a "signshop" on every corner.

If it's truck lettering you want to do.
Hone your skills in truck design and be better than the shop down the street and you can charge whatever you want
because you are better