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Vinyl cutter for automotive parts business

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tamiya

New Member
Dave Drane said:
Great idea... and when you franchise it out could I please become your Australian agent?? :beer:wine-smi::wine-smi:
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Sounds like there's more $$ in Performance Auto Parts, that's where we should be opening our stores. :cool:

Tell ya what... you take North, I'll take South and we'll toss for Canberra! :thumb:
 
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paintpro21

New Member
I didn't know that buying a cutter is a life changing career. How can so many of you think that I'm trying to get into this business as a career. I'd be using this thing a couple time a week every week, for years to come, as needed, at our convenience.

It's hard for me to "accept your advice" when it's based on a flawed assumption.

Stop assuming I want to leave my industry to make stickers. I only need a few basic colors for this temporary use stuff. If I did anything more serious I'd pay to get it done as I'd want it printed. I already own illustrator cs2. the expense of this tool is very low in comparison to other business expenses.

It was my intention to go to local sign shops today and check pricing again. If 20 of those window banners starts to add up really fast then you bet I'm going to buy a machine. Even if it only looks like the equipment would pay itself off in 1-2 years I'd still consider it. The businesses that I've used for theses services have seemed very over priced. But that may be due to my local area and the few shops here. I'll try out the 3-4 that are in my local area.

Because this isn't a one time deal, like a customer getting vinyl put on their store window, there is a point where I would save if I did this in house instead of out sourcing the work to a shop. I just don't know what point those costs meet. So if you want to steer me away, I would need a good way of figuring out how much it costs to do the things I need. And those number would need to prove that I don't need this equipment. I trust numbers, and I'd be happy to use a shop or someone elses services if it proves to be cheaper. So far it just didn't seem that way.

I few people emailed me providing me useful advice. I appreciate it.



techman, if your in one industry it doesn't mean you can buy at wholesale in every other industry. You also can't buy an item wholesale and then use it for business use without paying sales tax unless it's a display item. You also don't buy one unit of equipment and call that wholesale. Most distributors have a minimum buy-in. I don't know what your business experience is, but you should know this.
 
OldPaint

OldPaint

New Member
It's hard for me to "accept your advice" when it's based on a flawed assumption.
WHOS FLAWED ASSUMPTION.....youres is the problem!!!!!

Stop assuming I want to leave my industry to make stickers. I only need a few basic colors for this temporary use stuff. If I did anything more serious I'd pay to get it done as I'd want it printed. I already own illustrator cs2. the expense of this tool is very low in comparison to other business expenses.
WOW CS2 your on the road TO FAILURE ALREADY!!!!


It was my intention to go to local sign shops today and check pricing again. If 20 of those window banners starts to add up really fast then you bet I'm going to buy a machine. Even if it only looks like the equipment would pay itself off in 1-2 years I'd still consider it. The businesses that I've used for theses services have seemed very over priced.
I THINK YOURE STUFF IS OVERPRICED......all you performace people think youre stuff is gold)))))))
see how this works????
AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE....why dont you just work with a sign shop.....and give the guy parts.....at a good discount
BUT YOU WANT TO MAKE ALL THE MONEY AND NOT PAY for what you need huh?????
 
Flame

Flame

New Member
Doesn't matter if you have Illustrator or not. Are you a designer? Are you an artist?

If not, then who cares if getting the material on is cheaper for you, you're losing a LOT by having stuff that looks like ****. I'm sorry, but in the picture you posted... that car is alright for a newbie with a cutter, but looks like complete crap to me. The car would literally look better with nothing on it, than what was put on.

Now, that might sound harsh, because it is. For a reason. This is a professional field, meaning it's not easy, and it takes a lifestyle and a certain flavor to do it right. Just like a lawyer, a doctor, a consultant etc. This is not just buying stuff and selling like retail.

My suggestion, similiar to OPs, find a local shop that'd barter with you. Heck, find ANY shop to barter with and apply the stuff yourself. I'd even do some swapping with you man. Just don't jump in, buy some equipment and try out a new business.... as you'll just end up frustrated and with a lot of poor looking cars.




Hope that helps.
 
TheSnowman

TheSnowman

New Member
Uh oh...wait till' OP reads post #24. And I think I'm w/ Dave when he said... "I thought yesterday it was every second day but now the average is one a day..." You can almost set your watch to it now days.
 
J

jdb

New Member
Hey paintpro, if you look on ebay you can pick up a brand new sticker cutter-outer machine for a few hundred bucks! That way when you find out things are'nt going to work out the way you thought there's not much loss. I bet there's a teeny bopper out there who would give you all your $ back at a chance for a sticker making machine.
 
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paintpro21

New Member
Most of this vinyl will be going onto cars like BMWs, corvettes, and porsches that are at the track for that weekend only. Because they are from all over and not coming to me for custom vinyl fitment, I have to come up with general and simple things to place on the car. They will be torn off and thrown away within a day or two 90% of the time.

I agree that car is not very impressive. But I'm not going to pay hundreds of dollars per vehicle and then do that 5-10 times per car. If I can convince people with a new gt3 rs to keep the vinyl on there for a year I'll get it done by a shop.

without seeing the car these things are being put on, you can't take full advantage of the surface anyway. It's all a compromise. I'm not doing any major design work with this thing, just turning out pre-designed company logos and names. I don't want to be a professional at this, I'm not claiming I am, or ever will be.

The barriers to enty for this business are low. So I'm sorry if kids keep trying to open mini vinyl shops every day. I've had local people like that cut vinyl before. that's really all I need for 99% of the appliations I'll be doing.

When I want a well done vehicle I WILL turn to a professional and have it made. for this budget last minute stuff that may need to be done at 3am before an event, I can't afford to wait on a shop. Worst thing, none of the shops in my area are open past 5pm and they're closed on weekends, which complicates things further as these events and the preperation for them consume my time outside of regular hours.

you should be happy to know there will be one more used cutter for sale out there in the future, if I find this to be so overwhelmingly difficult that I lack the skill to cut and weed simple text
 
Cadmn

Cadmn

New Member
PaintPro so now what vinyl do you use ?your so hot on your ability to save a few bucks. you've made your decision on buying a cutter thingy now comes the cost factor of your bright Idea & to think we haven't heard it all before & we know Nothing about Our business as far as cost, seems very arrogant on your part making you a typical newb on here that won't listen to truth. So why did you ask ?
 
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ChiknNutz

New Member
I hate to admit it, but I can see this guy's point based on the very specific situation he has.

However, PaintPro...if these are all essentially the same....maybe just different numbers only to be used for a weekend, why not simply have a pile of 'em made by someone (here or local to you)? This would give you an economy of scale and leave you to do what you do. Would something like that work or do you need more customized applications?
 
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paintpro21

New Member
GraphiXtreme said:
I hate to admit it, but I can see this guy's point based on the very specific situation he has.

However, PaintPro...if these are all essentially the same....maybe just different numbers only to be used for a weekend, why not simply have a pile of 'em made by someone (here or local to you)? This would give you an economy of scale and leave you to do what you do. Would something like that work or do you need more customized applications?
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I was really considering this, and that is what I discussed with the shops. With the changes were going through I'm worried about being stuck with useless names or fonts that are out of date or unrelated to the business. I'm dealing with a $50k website development that uses a new sales technique for volume purchasing that is currently not supported by any other vendors. It has the possibility of shooting off into many different directions from there and I want to be able to adapt right away. The URL alone may change again, if you know what I mean.

I found a graphtec ce5000-60 at a local vendor and they are selling it for $1295. i only need black, white and silver vinyl the application tape and a few hand tools. I can survive just fine with the software it comes with as I'm doing nothing but writting out words or simple logos. I may not be supporting a local sign maker, but hardware and supply stores need business too right?
 
ghetto_cowboy

ghetto_cowboy

New Member
hey paintpro when ya drive by AutoZone do ya get all pissed off and yell "stupid n00bs!" out the window because they wanna work on their own car instead of taking it to you?
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
Most distributors have a minimum buy-in. I don't know what your business experience is, but you should know this.
Click to expand...

You certainly do not need to talk DOWN to me. I've been in business most of my adult life.

And, You ARE sadly mistaken. Like I and a few others said, Find a vinyl jockey and make a deal. I used to do lots of this type of stuff for more than a few car shops all the time. All it took was a little trust. A couple of them were charge full price, a couple others wholesale. The wholesale customers got that because I knew they would not go buy their own machine just to get it cheaper. Like I said. All it takes is a little trust.

One place tried to do the I can do it cheaper deal himself. I watched as this person tried to make it work. He spent more time making 5 bux an hour than he did making 26 bux an hour at his real job... finally after a number of months he called to sell me his junk.

I been there done it. So has a number of others been there and done done that with a bad of ships too. Most of us observed this more times than not.
 
graphixtogo

graphixtogo

New Member
paintpro - hang in there... I do believe that the situation you have is an exception to what is normally seen from the "new guys" around here. Like you said, you are needing a certain number of decals that are all custom and you are needing them mainly on weekends. I know that if I had a customer that came to me with your situation, I would not like the idea of having to crank out a bunch of custom decals late on a Friday afternoon to be ready for your weekend events. That would get old really quick.

I think the deal you found on the Graphtec is a good one (I like Graphtec myself) and it doesn't sound like the cost of the machine and materials you need are gonna drive you out of business. And the Graphtec will have a decent resale value should you need to unload it later... :wink: just kidding!

Another way to look at it... it sounds like after getting prices from your local sign shops, the cost would be prohibitive and therefore you wouldn't be ordering from them. So to me it sounds like they aren't losing a sale anyway.

Now, just make sure you don't change your mind and decide to become a full-fledged, bona-fide, Performance Auto Parts and Sign Shop! :wink:
 
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