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What would you charge to letter this trailer?

luggnut

luggnut

New Member
Everyone is hell bent on learning how to cut out stickers, but most put sound business principles and pricing on the bottom of their list of priorities. Until this changes, you are going to be stuck selling commodities at bargain basement prices. This hurts you more than you realize and is really effing up the sign business..
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that is so true! i was like that the first time i tried this sign biz on my own.. went out of business in a short time and lost money.
now i am giving it a second go after working at some other shops.. i am the highest price in my area most of the time and i don't get all the jobs but i am not working for nothing either.
 
SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
A disciple is born... Thank you luggnut! You are proof that if you want to, you can learn to run a sign business the smart way. Twenty five years ago I was told by a self made millionaire, that the reason I was always so busy was not because I was so good at making signs, but because my prices were too cheap.

What I took from that comment has proven to be invaluable.
 
C

CentralSigns

New Member
SignManiac said:
A disciple is born... Thank you luggnut! You are proof that if you want to, you can learn to run a sign business the smart way. Twenty five years ago I was told by a self made millionaire, that the reason I was always so busy was not because I was so good at making signs, but because my prices were too cheap.

What I took from that comment has proven to be invaluable.
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That's my current problem now. The hacker I compete with, takes forever to get a job done, usually it's wrong and he continues to charge over the top dollars. I on the other hand charge fair market value for most items, big city prices, in a small town setting. I'm finding that I am so swamped that I can't keep up. Some business associates think I should hedge up my pricing a little, at least till business starts to slow if it would.
 
W

wetgravy

Guest
we would charge about 700-900 for that if it doesn't have rivets ... with rivets .. 1100 easy.
 
W

wetgravy

Guest
CentralSigns said:
That's my current problem now. The hacker I compete with, takes forever to get a job done, usually it's wrong and he continues to charge over the top dollars. I on the other hand charge fair market value for most items, big city prices, in a small town setting. I'm finding that I am so swamped that I can't keep up. Some business associates think I should hedge up my pricing a little, at least till business starts to slow if it would.
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It's definantly a thought. One sign shop in my area was swamped with jobs and because of the overtime or just the simple demand of smaller jobs eating the time away he wasn't making too much money for the shop. He bumped his prices incrimentally and over time all the loyal customers who stayed got better service in a more timely manner and the cheaper customers who were just bargain hunting went elsewhere. as a result he started making higher profits from better time management and inventory control and isn't running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
 
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wetgravy

Guest
CL Graphics said:
NO the reason the industry is in the toilet as you say is because you can buy a cutter for less than a grand and vinyl for 20 bucks a roll. Had a customer in that told me he could buy a pair of magnets from a guy on the other side of town for $35 but the power supply was out in his "machine". Wonder how many sets of those $35 magnets the ole boy will have to sell to pay for that power supply. FYI i charged him $75. Same as anybody else that walks through the door. I would love to be able to charge like some of you guys but I will be looking for a new job if I did. Especially when I see OP's pricing structure on here. I guess if you work from home with no overhead you can charge what you want. All you need is one sucker a month to pay $2500 for simple cut vinyl to keep the lights on and bologny in the fridge...lol
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I wish that I could charge what I wanted with my home setup ... i still have the same overhead (power, equipment, materials, tools, etc) I say let the ones who are scabbing the cheap jobs keep them .. they only get the cheapest customers and all my clients know if they want quality work with quality materials to come to me ... if not, there is a competitor who will gladly undercut us down the road and all their vehicle graphics are crooked when they are done.
 
Pat Whatley

Pat Whatley

New Member
Mosh, I've had much, much better results with 651 than 751. It holds it's shine longer, comes off cleanly longer, and seems to last longer.
 
OldPaint

OldPaint

New Member
CL Graphics said:
NO the reason the industry is in the toilet as you say is because you can buy a cutter for less than a grand and vinyl for 20 bucks a roll. Had a customer in that told me he could buy a pair of magnets from a guy on the other side of town for $35 but the power supply was out in his "machine". Wonder how many sets of those $35 magnets the ole boy will have to sell to pay for that power supply. FYI i charged him $75. Same as anybody else that walks through the door. I would love to be able to charge like some of you guys but I will be looking for a new job if I did. Especially when I see OP's pricing structure on here. I guess if you work from home with no overhead you can charge what you want. All you need is one sucker a month to pay $2500 for simple cut vinyl to keep the lights on and bologny in the fridge...lol
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well cl, i dont have a PRINTER, #1. so there is no need for me to keep it pumping out "stuff" so the jets dont clog up and i have to pay a service rep to fix it.
vinyl can sit on the shelf for years.........and still be good to make money with. just a side note, i vut some vinyl last week off a roll of 20" TEAL, now i know its been 8--9 years since i have bought a roll of 20" vinyl, because i havent had a 20" plotter since 2001-2002. AND YES..........its still good))))))
and yes i am home based, with a 24' x 30' shop i built on 2 acres we have. so i have overhead, but not as rent.
when i price a trailer/box truck..........i consider ALL USEABLE SPACE of it!!!!
if it is a 7 ft high X 10' long panel, then i use all 70 sq ft to price it. reason is, when you cut vinyl, who PAYS FOR WHAT GOES IN THE TRASH CAN as weeded vinyl???????????????? or the TRANSFER TAPE that goes in the trash can???????? if you dont get paid for that......then your giving it away.
i see one here said 60 sq ft of vinyl............yea that may be what winds up on the trailer..................but ther is another 30-40 sq ft in the trash, that if YOU DONT CHARGE FOR.........you pay for it))))))))))))))))
 
OldPaint

OldPaint

New Member
patti, you have no idea how wun-der-ful my ROLAND CX-300 is..............now i would AGREE..........if it was CM/GM-24!!!!!!!!!!
and i dont waste vinyl, i nest and group all i can on the 24 & 30 inch rolls of vinyl i cut.
 
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