Can you still be competitive doing that? I'd think the shipping would kill you! I can get my 3M IJ180 with3M 8518 lam countour cut for as low as $3 sq. ft. They roll it up in tubes and ship it to me. That's a recognized, easy to sell and warranted brand name with only one way shipping. I can't buy ink and vinyl that cheap, let alone pay for the printer, the space to keep it, and the people to run it.
Have you ever even tried or actually priced it out? I can do it for about $1/sqft less in house and have 100% control over quality, re-prints etc. If you don't like to do ANY of the work then why are you even in the trade? The sign business is a bit unique in that you can see what you make and it is very rewarding compared to many other jobs. Whats left to feel good about when you sub out the design to some foreigner on Fiverr, order the sign from some production mill in another state and pay some kid to go put it up? A few bucks in your pocket? Why not just go get a job if the only thing that motivates you is a dollar bill?
I have priced it out. Currently IJ180 with 8518 lam costs me $2.30 sq.ft. Once I add storage and handling costs and waste, I am over $3. So there is no way I can do it for $1.00 sq.ft. (even more obvious once you factor in the cost of the printer and laminator, the cost to have a shop to keep it in, the payroll for the operators, and the ink).
I don't get any special pricing and it costs me $1.87/sq ft. What costs do you have in storage that would be eliminated? What handling is gonna bump you up over $3? You have to handle your delivery of your store bought print, does that put you over $4 or do you only count that when trying to convince everyone to just be a broker? It's simple minded to look at your business and say I wont have any overhead if I don't make anything. Wrong. That $1/sqft goes towards my insurance, my building, my pay check, phones, internet etc etc etc, that doesn't go away by using subcontractors. That margin you keep encouraging everyone to forgo goes to pay S365s overhead rather than your own.
I think I agree with you. I actually make more money using wholesalers than when I was running a multi-million dollar full-service shop. I keep a substantial margin (usually around 40%) in addition to having considerably less overhead cost. We still have a considerable investment in service vehicles, installation and maintenance tools, and a small inventory of parts, power supplies, lamps, etc. I also keep a couple of guys busy doing installation, service and maintenance. Everybody has a different business model that works for them.