Then add those costs in and post them.
You always do that. You give us part of the pricing picture and then when someone questions it, you cover yourself and say, "I didn't include, design, consulting time, etc..."
Just calling something a "commodity good" doesn't negate the fact that it is advertising that has a value into and of itself. That is a big part of the problem in this industry. Some of us can't seem to keep track of or determine what is a commodity good and what is actual a sign worthy of applying some advertising value to.
To me, the actual media we print on, the ink, laminate, etc.. are "commodity goods" What we do with them and then deliver to our clients are "added value" advertising, marketing and promotional products.
Fair enough. Custom graphic design starts with a meeting where we discuss the clients needs. then I quote the design project, which is based on time, expenses and deliverables. My minimum is $25 for a quick layout that takes a couple minutes to $???. If the client is purchasing all rights, then I consider the market and price accordingly. Individual single-use rights are explicitly stated and is priced lower (still covering my time, expenses, deliverables, and profit).
I wasn't there, but this project looks like it would have needed an accurate set of measurements, a set of "idea sketches", a refined design subject to approval, and a set of deliverables (depending on the rights sold). If the client only wanted the stickers, I would have reserved the rights and the only deliverables would have been the stickers. In most cases, I can convince the client to buy all rights, which, in this case would have just about doubled the price of the design. My price estimate for the design would likely have been in the neighborhood of $255.00, and all rights would be $510.00. That would have added $12.75 per sticker to my sticker price (all rights) to the original order, or $38.85 each (I don't price this way, but for this example I broke it down). I would do a repeat order for $26.10 each (price adjusted for quantity, but let's assume he wanted 40 more). If the client did not want to purchase all rights, this first order would have broken down to $32.48 each. The client would have to pay me for additional rights if he wanted to use somebody else for repeat orders or anything else.
My estimate would have looked something like this:
Design (limited rights): $255.00
Design (all rights): $510.00
40 stickers per specs: $1044.00
Installation: $16.25/truck ($325.00) plus drive time (estimated separately depending on where I need to go and how many trips).
If the client had the time, he might find a less expensive source. That's fine, I still charge the client for the design work, and give the client a comprehensive set of deliverables and use rights (source files, jpgs, purchased images).
I agree with others that driving around finding the trucks will be costly. My travel rate is same as my shop rate plus $1/mile. If the client was in town, I probably wouldn't charge for travel time unless I had to do them a few at a time.
