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Sometimes, the simple jobs are the hardest to price

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ToddM.

New Member
I always second guess my pricing on the simple stuff...I just received an email from a guy wanting a price for "No Parking" to go on a 4x8 sign...Just the vinyl, to apply himself...one color.

It will be 18" letters...using 12 ft of vinyl....How do you guys price this sort of thing? I think I usually end up under pricing, because it's such a quick job.

I know this should have been in the pricing forum, but I'm hoping for a few quick responses.

Thanks!
 
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ToddM.

New Member
Using the pricing chart from a sign company I used to work for, it would be exactly $55.08 plus tax...I never understood their pricing system on vinyl lettering, though, because it was based soley on letter height....As we all know, you can take 18" letters and squeeze them to fit a 60" space or stretch them to fit a 96" space...So that makes no sense.
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
ToddM. said:
It will be 18" letters...using 12 ft of vinyl...
Click to expand...


12 feet of WHAT vinyl? 20", 24" ...15" with a seam??

I like $5/sq. ft. as a base price to start thinking about a job... but you are right that any formula prices can have errors... like if your 12 ft is on a 24" roll, 24 sq. ft. ain't bad at $5/sq... but then some guy wants 100 words of pool rules in 1/2' copy... your machine is tied up longer... weeding takes longer... chance go way up of you losing or fouling up a letter & needing a re-cut... BUT the whole nightmare could be 8 sq. ft... so the formula wouldn't work... but the way I see it.. $5/ sq. ft. is a reasonable minimum when we pay over $1 for raw material, plus freight, purchase of a machine, software, keeping a shop open & phones on... learning to to a good job & doing it... $5/a square... take it fast or get out of here... no time wasted on that quote, nothing lost if someone else does it for $2 (well nothing lost by us anyway)
 
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ToddM.

New Member
Yep, it will be a 24" roll....That's usually all I keep, except 15" white for the car window decals.

iSign, you make a good point.

It's so easy to price a big sign, but these small jobs take a little bit of thinking, when you consider how much the weeding time can vary...I mean this is basically a 10 minute job, but a job half this size with smaller lettering can take much longer.
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
after freight, my raw materials are at least $30... the time ordering, the rent for warehousing the goods & the advertising to make myself available are the kinds of reasons a 200% markup is a basic retail concept... so now my raw materials are at least $60 now, even for the DIY sort who wants to cut his own letters...

...If I'm going to take an order, typeset a job, load material, cut weed tape invoice and deal with a client on this job... that extra $21 bucks for kwiksigns quote ain't gonna suit me.
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
For quick quotes like this I go through a three step process.

1. What materials will be needed to do the job? Grade of vinyl and square footage.

2. What difficulty level if the job and are there any extra factors that would increase my materials or labor?

3. Apply a predetermined price per square foot and add in any extra charges.

In this case, I would rank the job as simple with no extra costs and I would quote based on using what I feel is the appropriate class of material for the job. My rate would be $8 per square foot for a masked, ready-to-apply reading including a new squeegee and instruction if needed.

Based on what i understand you are using 12' of 24" material, therefore there 24 square feet of material being used. If it is only 12 square feet then the price would be half of what follows.

24 x 8 = $192.00
 
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Malkin

Malkin

New Member
ToddM. said:
Using the pricing chart from a sign company I used to work for, it would be exactly $55.08 plus tax...I never understood their pricing system on vinyl lettering, though, because it was based soley on letter height....As we all know, you can take 18" letters and squeeze them to fit a 60" space or stretch them to fit a 96" space...So that makes no sense.
Click to expand...


We use a system like this for these kinds of orders. All things considered, cost of material is not a big factor in vinyl letter prices, however I will factor in for extra material or PITA if I think it warranted.

I can't remember our price sheet off the top of my head for 18" copy, but it's probably around $12 ea./per color
 
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