Signworks_WI
New Member
Now that we got the Sabre almost setup pricing now becomes the next hurdle. Any words of wisdom on where to start on pricing out a routed job?
Thanks in Advance!
Lisa
Thanks in Advance!
Lisa
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Pricing on Routed Jobs
- Thread starter Signworks_WI
- Start date
CheapVehicleWrap
New Member
Not for nothing, but shouldn't you have investigated this prior?
J Hill Designs
New Member
time/materials
if its 2d stuff (just letters shapes etc) i usually just sell it to myself at what gemini would charge for similar
if its 2d stuff (just letters shapes etc) i usually just sell it to myself at what gemini would charge for similar
SignManiac
New Member
I usually charge between $1,000 and $10,000 for most of my routed signs.
TwoNine
New Member
A fair table rate is 85-120. That's what all the shops I've ever been at has charged. Keep in mind you need for misting fluid, bit changes, bit wear (2-5% of bit cost) power for table AND VACUUM (biggest amp draw, I would think) and a percentage (usually 1%) of your MDF costs.
Plus - depending on your routing software (Gerber I imagine) - you can calculate total job run time. Beneficial for quoting.
Another tip - and I know I may catch hell for this one, but so be it....Steer clear of Gerber bits. They are A-W-F-U-L. (My experience) - Go with Belin....Only way to go for 90% of your stuff.
Past that and it goes right back into every other topic on here...How much for ____________.
Plus - depending on your routing software (Gerber I imagine) - you can calculate total job run time. Beneficial for quoting.
Another tip - and I know I may catch hell for this one, but so be it....Steer clear of Gerber bits. They are A-W-F-U-L. (My experience) - Go with Belin....Only way to go for 90% of your stuff.
Past that and it goes right back into every other topic on here...How much for ____________.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Based on Gerbers poor Run Time Calculator.... I do Estimated time + 30% at $6.50 a minute for Routing + Materials.
skyhigh
New Member
sounds about right.
grampa dan
New Member
Kinda silly logic
Pricing by the hour for router work is foolish. Estimating time and materials is ONLY a way to make sure of your costs - NOT to set the final price. The goal in our shop is not to increase our volume but rather do the most creative work possible for a good dollar. The rest I simply send away.
Let me show you why.
One guy cuts and carves stuff by hand and charges fifty bucks an hour to do his work. His reasoning is that his overhead is low and he can make decent money doing things this way. A typical carving/cutting job takes him eight hours meaning it is worth $400.
Then he buys an entry level router. It can do the work twice as fast. He's always made a living at $50 per hour so he keeps his rate the same. The logic sounds reasonable but the reality is his prices on the carving just dropped to HALF what they were before. If he charged the same rate of $50 the job and it takes two hours to produce now it costs $200. The only thing that changed was how fast he could do the job.
A guy down the street also buys a router, only he had deeper pockets or a larger line of credit and buys the latest and greatest and fastest machine on the planet. He can do work four times as fast as the original guy could by hand. He sees his neighbor charges $50 per hour and since he needs to be competitive (and probably needs to make those larger payments) keeps his hourly rate the same. That same project can now be cut in only two hours which means it goes out the door for a measly $100. He has to do a lot of volume to make a living.
Pricing your cutting time based on what you paid someone else to do it is also silly. You must have marked it up when you sold it or you weren't making money.
Investing in technology and the latest equipment should allow you to make MORE money - MUCH MORE or there is absolutely no reason in going there.
Most people I know who visit my shop fret when they see my router idle. It doesn't bother me at all. The machine is either doing something extremely creative and making me good money or it can sit in the corner silent. Just making it spin really only wears it out and makes noise needlessly. If my router runs one or two days a week (on average) I can make good money.
-grampa dan
Pricing by the hour for router work is foolish. Estimating time and materials is ONLY a way to make sure of your costs - NOT to set the final price. The goal in our shop is not to increase our volume but rather do the most creative work possible for a good dollar. The rest I simply send away.
Let me show you why.
One guy cuts and carves stuff by hand and charges fifty bucks an hour to do his work. His reasoning is that his overhead is low and he can make decent money doing things this way. A typical carving/cutting job takes him eight hours meaning it is worth $400.
Then he buys an entry level router. It can do the work twice as fast. He's always made a living at $50 per hour so he keeps his rate the same. The logic sounds reasonable but the reality is his prices on the carving just dropped to HALF what they were before. If he charged the same rate of $50 the job and it takes two hours to produce now it costs $200. The only thing that changed was how fast he could do the job.
A guy down the street also buys a router, only he had deeper pockets or a larger line of credit and buys the latest and greatest and fastest machine on the planet. He can do work four times as fast as the original guy could by hand. He sees his neighbor charges $50 per hour and since he needs to be competitive (and probably needs to make those larger payments) keeps his hourly rate the same. That same project can now be cut in only two hours which means it goes out the door for a measly $100. He has to do a lot of volume to make a living.
Pricing your cutting time based on what you paid someone else to do it is also silly. You must have marked it up when you sold it or you weren't making money.
Investing in technology and the latest equipment should allow you to make MORE money - MUCH MORE or there is absolutely no reason in going there.
Most people I know who visit my shop fret when they see my router idle. It doesn't bother me at all. The machine is either doing something extremely creative and making me good money or it can sit in the corner silent. Just making it spin really only wears it out and makes noise needlessly. If my router runs one or two days a week (on average) I can make good money.
-grampa dan
SignManiac
New Member
Dan's philosophy is exactly why I posted the prices I did. I see it exactly the same way. I don't even try to run my machine for anyone else but me. I'm getting top dollar for my creativity and when I do run my router, it's making a hell of a lot more money than $50-$100 an hour.
Techman
New Member
I did the old by the pound sales until I could get a fix on the actual costs to run the router. And to get up to speed on cutting with a robot. It ran a lot more then while I spent time setting up jobs and doing it by the hour and never felt like it was worth it at all.
I can say this,, the power costs are higher than we think. And the mistakes on material are fatal. That is there is no economical way to replace material that was cut away. So cutting out the wrong job on a $300 sheet of HDU is an eye opener.
So, I think its stupid to price the work by the pound, by the hour.
So, I set up a job to make parts of a job. It is priced according to value added and let the machine run with no thought on losing money. It runs a whole lot less now but makes whole lot more.
I 100% agree with Dan and Sign maniac.
We have thousands of dollars invested in these setups plus the hundreds of hours getting to know the software and setting up the work area. And the traveling to training camps to get competent with the tricks of the trade. Especially for the 3D work. No more glorified jigsaw here unless it is for fun.
The 3D work makes our stuff custom made.
I can say this,, the power costs are higher than we think. And the mistakes on material are fatal. That is there is no economical way to replace material that was cut away. So cutting out the wrong job on a $300 sheet of HDU is an eye opener.
So, I think its stupid to price the work by the pound, by the hour.
So, I set up a job to make parts of a job. It is priced according to value added and let the machine run with no thought on losing money. It runs a whole lot less now but makes whole lot more.
I 100% agree with Dan and Sign maniac.
We have thousands of dollars invested in these setups plus the hundreds of hours getting to know the software and setting up the work area. And the traveling to training camps to get competent with the tricks of the trade. Especially for the 3D work. No more glorified jigsaw here unless it is for fun.
The 3D work makes our stuff custom made.
UFB Fabrication
New Member
We cut a lot of material for other sign shops. We charge for everything. Set up, which includes fixing crap art file. Route time and table clean up. If it has bridges removing them. packaging and crating. If any special bits are needed. Also I wont cut warped or crap material. I almost never cut 3003 alum.
So what I am saying is just because it ran on the machine for a hour thats what you charge.
Our machine runs real close to 40 hours a week sometimes more. If I get my labor rate I would love to wear it out. I have wore out 1 spindle which I think was 4 or 5 thou. The multicam has had very few things break. I would love to have enough work to add 2 or 3 more !!! We are close to adding another.
So what I am saying is just because it ran on the machine for a hour thats what you charge.
Our machine runs real close to 40 hours a week sometimes more. If I get my labor rate I would love to wear it out. I have wore out 1 spindle which I think was 4 or 5 thou. The multicam has had very few things break. I would love to have enough work to add 2 or 3 more !!! We are close to adding another.