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Those blasted 18x24 Cor-x signs!

deegrafix

deegrafix

New Member
Does anyone else feel like they are losing new potential customers because of these cheap signs? I get a few calls a week about these, and after explaining that I don't have a cheap way to provide them for $2 or $5 each and giving my best price I get a polite "thank you" and never hear from the potential client again. I can almost hear them thinking, "Wow, if she wants THAT much for a little sign there's no point asking about the van or the windows....."

I'm thinking about saying, "I'm sorry, I only make those signs for established customers..." or something to that effect and ask them to run over all the ones they see that say "Buy this sign for $2"!

How do you handle the dreaded 18x24 cor-x question?

Dee
 
A

ATXsigns

New Member
I just give em the quantity/price list breakdown and hope for the best. I agree, it most often doesn't end well.
 
jiarby

jiarby

New Member
you have two choices really...

1. Job them out and give the best price you can. Realizing they they want the lowest price possible. Low to no margin job, but you don't lose a customer.

2. Start making them yourself. you still make a teensie margin, but you retain the customer for sure... and he may come back for magnets, banners, wraps, MDO, etc... PLUS he'll tell 10 friends.

Do you think you can make a profit selling a $2-3 sign??
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
I show them the Stouse price list. If its to expensive "thats the best I can do". We are not set up to do them, and I won't do them for less. My day is full of potentially more profitable jobs.
 
S

Service Sign Co

New Member
I ask them where they get them that cheap,so I can buy from their source . Those type are usually realtors, I don't have a lot of trouble getting 25 or 30 bucks each on the low quantity orders.
 
Si Allen

Si Allen

New Member
I say "Sure, did yo want 100 or 500 of those signs"?

When they say "Just 2 signs"...I just laugh, and tell them on one in his right mind would do 1 or 2 at that price. Those are bait and swith come ons, or for muliple hundred silk screened on color signs.
 
deegrafix

deegrafix

New Member
I get the whole pricing issue for the coroplast (cor-x) signs and chose a long time ago not to give them away for "free" in hopes of acquiring other profitable orders from the potential client. What worries me is these things are the opening conversations for so many calls and since they consider my price on them to be highway robbery, they may automatically think all my prices are way higher than the average. In most cases they only want between 5 or 20 of them but no doubt have a van or truck and storefront that I would be interested in.

Last year I did a couple windows for a new client. They liked them, thought the price was fair and talked about a new truck and trailer they were buying soon. They also bought 2 18x24 d/f cor-x for $30.00 each. A month ago I saw the new truck and trailer, already lettered. Turns out another sign company convinced them i ripped them off on the little signs. Jeez. They didn't seem like they were out to get the cheapest possible price, I didn't get that feeling at all and looked forward to doing business with them.

Danged if ya do and danged if ya don't! See what I'm saying?
 
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scarface

Guest
I had a great customer the other day get 15 12x18" and 5 18x24" coroplast signs. i told her what it was each and she didn't haggle one bit, she said here is half the money and call me when they are done.

I loved it, she then bought 3 magnetic signs as well.
 
cartoad

cartoad

New Member
18 x 24 coroplast sell for $25 s/s, emplyee talks to customer answers questions and gets order 15 minutes $15, talk to artist about job, artist spends 10 minutes to lay out talk, design and put on a proof sheet, $10 production guy cuts vinyl tapes and applies cleans up, $15, materials $3. Talk to customer, give him finished product. Lets see sold for $25, cost time and materials $43, yup, I want to make a lot of them!!! Maybe I should re evaluate my price structure!
 
S

scarface

Guest
to be honest, doing coroplast signs in cut vinyl is good money within a reasonable quantity. I mean the standard 2 wire stakes i use cost hardly nothing. I only offer them in 1 vinyl color with any color coroplast blank and customers usually love that I've seen anyway since that creates a 2 color sign with colored blanks you can get.

Having a great supplier for blanks is also a good key to making good money with them :)

Any that's multi-color I'll outsource if needed.
 
phototec

phototec

New Member
I got an order for 25 18x24 one color two sided yard signs, I bid $18 each, then looked in the back of my last sign magazine for a cheap silk screen printer, found one who printed the 25 signs including shipping for $137 ($5.48 ea).

Also, purchased "H" frames from another vendor in the back on the same sign magazine for 69 cents each with FREE shipping, the 25 18x24 one color two sided yard signs cost me $154.25 total with frames. I charged the customer $450, leaving me a profit of $295.75. I emailed the artwork to the screen printer in Calif, on Monday, and had the signs delivered to me in TX on Saturday. The customer came to pick them up and was very happy, wants me to design and print a tail gate wrap and mag signs now.

I just don't know how they can make a screen and print the signs and ship them to me and make money, I made more profit than they charged for the materials, labor, and shipping.
 
S

Sign-Man Signs

Guest
We sell 18 x 24, single sided, one color vinyl, $10.00, 2 sided $13.00.
1- 18 x 24 Coroplast......my cost .75 cents
1- 18 x 24 Vinyl............my cost $1.00 dollar
I make $8.25 dollars on one sided.
I make $ 10.25 dollars on two sided.
I can and do live with the profits.
Been selling at that price for last 10 years. One of my best money makers and lead in items. By the way, we use a SpeedPress to apply all of our vinyl to these signs which is a zero cost for application.
 
AKWD

AKWD

New Member
Here's the real problem -- Are these customers you want? They want these signs for $2-$3 bucks. Its these same customers that will more likely than not want any other work at pennies above cost.

What I always do in a case like this, is I'll hook them up with someone I know who can meet the price they're looking for. 2 minutes talking and writing down a phone # for a customer will make them start with you the next time around, if they are looking for a true quality product, especially if they see your designs right on location when they are shopping.

I could see there being a point to selling signs at a deeply-cut price just to keep cash flow, but ultimately, if you bow to that price once, it will come back to haunt you when the economy recovers/booms again, you're swamped and you're known now as the low-baller.
 
animenick65

animenick65

New Member
18x24s can be priced very differently. If someone comes in and wants some cheap signs, well give em cheap signs! One color, extremely simple design. Dont worry about wrinkles or bubbles. Use it to fill in breaks in business here and there. Oh, and make sure they put 50% down and the rest upon pick up. Get em out the door and make some extra cash. Now if your slammed already, this may not be ideal.
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
I don't sell any single item for $10, it takes more than $10 of time just to take an order.
We sell a custom designed product. I have outsources for corex both screen and print, abd we do small quantities in house, but I have a minimum $.
I agree that we may lose potential customers because of the low prices some are doing these signs for. There was a time that it was common for a new contractor to come in for a set of mags and a few yard signs, then if and when he was succesful he be back for some real truck lettering and signs, some of those jobs are being lost to these other
sources and that hurts our business.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Sign-Man Signs said:
We sell 18 x 24, single sided, one color vinyl, $10.00, 2 sided $13.00.
1- 18 x 24 Coroplast......my cost .75 cents
1- 18 x 24 Vinyl............my cost $1.00 dollar
I make $8.25 dollars on one sided.
I make $ 10.25 dollars on two sided.
I can and do live with the profits.
Been selling at that price for last 10 years. One of my best money makers and lead in items. By the way, we use a SpeedPress to apply all of our vinyl to these signs which is a zero cost for application.
Click to expand...

How much time per sign? All of the time? Not merely applying vinyl but schlepping blanks, media, setting the job, wrangling your equipment, etc?

You're working for nothing.

For a one off I get $44 for a single side and $72.80 for two sides. Any design, any colors, cut, print, whatever it takes. The price is the same. Quantity discounts also apply on a curve, sliding down to 10 for $35.90/$58.22.

I despise doing more than one of anything and doing 10 copies is about my maximum limit of pain. Moreover I use only 5mm opaque UV-proof blanks, not 4mm trash.

I produce my share of these at those prices. If someone can get it someplace else for less, that's where they should go.
 
anotherdog

anotherdog

New Member
Seems a lot of people are charging based on just materials and not time.

The solution is clear, get a $100,000 UV flat bed and churn them out at cost until all the signmakers in your area are gone, then jack up your prices. (don't forget to turn out thousands of bandit signs saying "banner $1 per foot").

Nobody cares for quality and designs are there to be stolen.
 
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