phila3

I have a Laserpoint II. Good advice concerning the better quality vinyl being easier to weed. Never thought about that. Thanks!!

I am struggling with pricing for a customer who wants 24 different signs that have 9/16" high letters out of vinyl on multiple lines each sign with different text. I had done this same type of thing for this customer two years ago and I reviewed what I charged him and I was too cheap.The image area is roughly 6"w x 2"h and I have timed the time it takes to weed a few of these and it takes me on average 14 minutes. I just need to cut, weed and apply app tape. It seems to take an inordinate amount of time to weed these since the letters are so small. Could folks share how you would price something like this and what would be a fair price for the customer where I can make some money as well. I would be interested in your whole thought process and in what instances you would consider an up charge for small letters. Thanks in advance for your help. - Phil

I'm just getting started and was wondering what everyone does with regard to pricing for a 24" x 18" bandit sign for cut vinyl. Do you have a set price for single side and for double side single color and then an add for a second and third color. All input on the various pricing strategies would be appreciated. Thanks!!

I'm just getting started and was wondering what everyone does with regard to pricing for a 24" x 18" bandit sign for cut vinyl. Do you have a set price for single side and for double side single color and then an add for a second and third color. All input on the various pricing strategies would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Greetings All: We have had a retail store in a small town in central PA for 35 years. We sell crafts and art materials, we have a flat glass shop and we do custom picture framing among quite a few other things. We have a 40 " x 60" vacuum press and a 28" x 34" heat press for the custom framing dept. We already carry many of the substrates that are used for signs. There is no sign shop that has a store front in town although there are one (or two maybe?) folks that work from their homes in the general area. There is really no one that I would really call competition for miles and miles. If we had just the retail we would have been out of business long ago. What keeps us going along with the retail are the services that we provide, i.e. the custom framing and glass work (insulated units, tempered glass, mirrors, table tops. etc.) I really hadn't considered adding a sign shop until I ran across a sign cutter on eBay from US Cutter. Up until then I had't realized how reasonably priced they were. I should also mentioned that I have had years of experience using design software not specifically vectored graphics, but I understand what they are and actually the software that I am using now will generate vectored graphics. I have a space set up and have built a 36" x 97" table to work on. (We have other work spaces, tables, etc. as well in our other departments) So long story short we are probably a few weeks away from ordering a vinyl cutter. I am sort of zeroing in on the Laserpoint II to get started unless someone here can tell me why not. I ddn't want to get the cheapest cutter they have but since I have a budget and we also want to make sure this sign shop thing flies before making a huge investment. Also from doing my research and watching all the videos that are available. I understand that without a vinyl printer there are some things like logos, etc that I won't be able to do. But I'm hoping just like with the custom framing and glass businesses to find some vendors that specialize in providing services to a sign shops that either can't do something because they don't have the equipment or expertise or don't want to do it also it would be nice to have someone to lean on for special projects. If you know of any of these suppliers I would appreciate you sharing. Also I have read some of forums concerning how people price things and obviously being in business for 35 years we know how to price things to make a profit but I would be interested in input on pricing and anything else that would be helpful in getting this off the ground. Things like what you would do differently if were to start again knowing what you know now. Thanks much in advance for any information anyone provides And I will be glad to reciprocate in any areas of my current expertise.