Discussion Pricing your print/jobs/installs >>MEGA Thread<<.

[Stacey K]

I was thinking the same thing. I print a drawing of the sign and start listing out the material and labor needed on the drawing. I've toyed with doing it on spreadsheets and the like, but I always end up coming back to pen and paper.

Do you all do a profit/loss on all of your jobs? If not, you should seriously consider it. I frequently refer back to ours, especially to figure out how much time might be needed for a particular project. Sometimes the jobs are similar enough I can just plug in updated material prices and have good, current pricing.

The only thing I have on a plug n' chug worksheet is bulk stickers. I was able to base the formulas for that spreadsheet on some profit/loss we had done for previous sticker orders. Having that information gave me a good idea of the labor hours needed for a given quantity as well as an idea of how much actual material was consumed for a given sticker size so that margins and drop were included.

Yes, I do a profit/loss on most jobs. I usually use my spreadsheet but Saturday I printed and laminated a cheat sheet of generic pricing and on the flip side, my cost for popular materials so I can estimate by hand "on the fly"

Having the spreadsheet allows me to enter in all those little costs in the end and I'm super glad I started going that because on some jobs I wasn't making what I should. It caused me to increase my pricing and so far it worked out good.

 

[Pauly]

I can't edit the first post, so here's the link.
This is the "lite" version.
It's a no frills calculator.

Print price calc V1 LITE

All it will do is price up what it costs you to print a job.
There's instructions inside.
I've disabled all the cells so you cannot accidently click and alter things you don't need to.


If you'd like features were you can have dropdowns for different print speeds, different printers, stock list etc. and i'll have a look into it.
Note: i am doing this in my free time, So lets be easy.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I was thinking the same thing. I print a drawing of the sign and start listing out the material and labor needed on the drawing. I've toyed with doing it on spreadsheets and the like, but I always end up coming back to pen and paper.

Do you all do a profit/loss on all of your jobs? If not, you should seriously consider it. I frequently refer back to ours, especially to figure out how much time might be needed for a particular project. Sometimes the jobs are similar enough I can just plug in updated material prices and have good, current pricing.

The only thing I have on a plug n' chug worksheet is bulk stickers. I was able to base the formulas for that spreadsheet on some profit/loss we had done for previous sticker orders. Having that information gave me a good idea of the labor hours needed for a given quantity as well as an idea of how much actual material was consumed for a given sticker size so that margins and drop were included.

We do it for every job. We have a spreadsheet to record the hours, materials, target margin, quoted price and actual margin. You can look at it day to day to figure out where you are at dollar wise and adjust accordingly.

 

[Z SIGNS]

If your making and selling bumper stickers or big bumper stickers a pricing spreadsheet has to be a great tool.
If your a custom sign maker/artist/fabricator/installer pricing is what your work is really worth.
I know a few people who would be insulted if someone told them a spreadsheet says your talents are worth x amount of $
What ever ya do just make sure there is money left over when the dust settles.

 

[John Miller]

Never check the on line big printers for printer costs, all their overhead costs vs your overhead costs are very different. Price a 4'x 8' banner at 365. do you want to match that price?
Forgetaboutit. They have a banner devoted printer that is probably wider than 8', you have to take the print vinyl out of your machine, put it away & load the roll of banner material.
Their banner is printed before your printer is loaded. You offer value, your client can discuss what they ultimately expect, tweak the input and get what they want.

 

[ColorCrest]

This is the "lite" version.
It's a no frills calculator.

I've put Pauly's calculator into a FileMaker database as an example. All the original formulas were used straightaway however I made minor cosmetic changes for display and workflow.

 

[Pauly]

I've put Pauly's calculator into a FileMaker database as an example. All the original formulas were used straightaway however I made minor cosmetic changes for display and workflow.

View attachment 158143

That's pretty neat.

Im not against file maker or anything, i've looked at it in the past.

I only chose excel due to 99% of people already using it or already paying for it with MS word.

 

[ColorCrest]

I only chose excel due to 99% of people already using it or already paying for it with MS word.

I recommend you and other Excel users check their MSOffice installs to see if MS Access database is already there or how they can get it. It may be free or very, very affordable at this time. I'd like to know what MS Office users find in that regard.

 

[Pauly]

I recommend you and other Excel users check their MSOffice installs to see if MS Access database is already there or how they can get it. It may be free or very, very affordable at this time. I'd like to know what MS Office users find in that regard.

I have access in office 365.
I never really knew what it did till this year to be honest.. And after playing with it, i think it would be real useful.

But i wont do any developments in access as i have no use.
Excel calc works for us as our database and system is in OPS now.

 

[netsol]

I recommend you and other Excel users check their MSOffice installs to see if MS Access database is already there or how they can get it. It may be free or very, very affordable at this time. I'd like to know what MS Office users find in that regard.

or, better yet, go back one generation, and look on ebay for the 2013 or 2016 ms access developer kit, with all the bells and whistles.
you will feel like a real software developer