Kelly54487

How do YOU charge for vinyl Graphics

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This is just a general question I was wondering what you all charge for graphics? ie a 1 color 5 sq. inch X 5 sq. inch 2 color, 3-color and so on.  Do you have a price sheet you could pass on or is it strickly say for example .12 per sq inch Any help would be appreciated. I just would like to get a rough idea so I know how to price. For now I have been just going by what I think is a fair price.

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I checked out the sign expert calculator. It seems really high to me. Can anyone else tell me how you price your graphics per color,per sq inch etc..... Greatly appreciated.

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Im fairly new to this whole thing as well, so I basically charge about 10 bucks a linear foot of 24" vinyl for big stuff that doesn't require alot of weeding.  For small stuff like car decals it depends on the amount they want, anywhere from 3 bucks to 15 bucks depending on the size and difficulty to weed.

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I believe the key to this is finding out what is best in your area.....even then, it's still hard to nail it down.  You'll probably still have some that think your prices are high, and others that think you are low.  I tried using a system of selling them by the square inch but then realized that that wasn't working out to well.  An important factor (at least it is for me) is how complex the logo is as well as the size.  As a senario, If you have a customer that wants a 10"x10" letter "A" and another customer that wants a paragraph with 1/4" letters 10"x10", you would probably charge more because of the complexity and the time spent on that decal.  Maybe a price scale for simple, standard, and complex decals would be best?;D  I normally try to guess how much time I will be spending on each one and base my price on that.  I'm still learning and am interested in hearing what others have to say about this as well.  

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I'll charge more or less depending on the difficulty of the weeding as well. If someone wants something supersmall, I add a surcharge. I'll charge less if the thing is huge and super easy to weed.

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I use a pricing program for my quotes and it keeps me profitable - and my pricing consistent.  The one I use is Estimate 2.0 - and I just looked at their site to get a link to download the free version and found out they have reinstated the original price of $199.00 for the quick estimate version - too bad -  'cause it was a great deal for free.  If you are in business, I think it is still worth it at $200 - but I can understand not many will want to pay that much.

You have probably seen these - but maybe somebody will get an idea they can use by looking at these links.

There is a spreadsheet roll calculator

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,15598.0.html

- A price chart-

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,9955.msg76159.html#msg76159

- A spreadsheet based on the chart above

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,12539.msg96963.html#msg96963

And some others I remember seeing one by pappy in this topic

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,21737.msg172562.html#msg172562

If you want to develop a chart I'd like to see ideas from other users and links to ones they like to use if they are available for download - maybe we can make something useful.

-Mike

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if you are somewhere around $.10 to $.12 per square inch for a single color,you will make money. lower, and your not. For the most part. There are times when a very simple graphic will come along and I may reduce it's price, but at the same time you may have to charge more for a complicated one. I usually add 2 cents per color for additional colors. and when your doing your math, keep in mind you waste vinyl. If I do a Graphic that is 15" by 36", in Oracal 651,  that's $54 but if I cannot use that remaining 9" strip I should technically charge for that as well. I don't always, but you have to keep it in mind.

Kevin

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Thank you all for your input on pricing decals. It just seems difficult for me........ it honestly all depends on where you live and so on. If anyone else is willing to share ideas or what you charge it would be helpful to ALL of us. I see other people on the message boards that struggle with the same issue as I do. Thank you all for taking the time sharing with ALL of us your ideas and opinions on how you do things in the vinyl business. ;D

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I start off at .09 per sq inch fo rblk and and .02 for color. and adjust for size an difficulty. or If I have to try and design something.

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That’s helpful. Actually I too need fully body wraps for my campervan so was looking for exact details. Last time my brother did that for me and it was pretty good but now he is in Canada so I am planning to do that myself.

Edited by Wildgoose

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I agree with the .15 a square inch as a base line for single color oracal 651. This does all depend on your customer and project and if you are charging a design or set up fee as well.

It takes time to understand not overcharging and not also taking away from the amount of value in your product and time. If i am working one on one with a client I try and find a value that makes sense for the product and client vs my time and how much one on one design or personal time they need.

I have read almost every article on pricing here and online and talked to others, Value is a fine line of what someone is willing to pay and what you an do for them. many customers would be willing to pay alot more for your ability and trustworthiness to them if you excel early on in your business relationship. I think Knowing what you offer and saying steadfast up front that they are not only buying these decals but your time and expertise on the matter can help build value and even help the value of your design time on future projects. 

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I just do this as a hobby, but for the most part I don't think in terms of cost per quantity of vinyl used. I think in terms of time. If something takes me an hour to do vs something that takes 15 min. I'm going to charge more for the hour one even though it maybe smaller than the one that takes 15min. I will admit though, customers don't think this way. They think the bigger something is, the more it will cost, when in reality, bigger items are often times cheaper to produce in terms of time, and time is the real cost of vinyl decals.

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I know this is an old thread, But I'm just getting into the game. I have an SC2, and am using ORACAL 651. Trying to figure out pricing and looking at calculators I'm getting pricing all over the place. Some of this I have difficulty pricing stuff to be profitable, yet not wanting to push away customers. Actually, I'm working on my very first customers potential order. I had a software learning curve to get the logo right, so obviously I can't charge for all that time, but it was education for me. Now to the pricing of the vinyl, I bought all my vinyl from USCutters in a starter pack of 12 five yard rolls of ORACAL 651. I have figured the price per square inch to be .48 which includes the transfer tape. The customer wants 10 8x8, and 12 6x6 of the logo in a simple form, and the same priced for the same logo with what he calls a pinstripe shadow, that took some doing actually, but I figured it out. The pinstripe also has a tiny colored bit to it, so an extra cut there, as well as another color.

I'm figuring about 50 inches total (24 inch wide, and can only fit so much across- I did try 3 across, and there is just not enough room to actually fit it and cut it properly).

So how would you price this? I see several different prices that I can obtain just from this thread. And do you price design time separately? Additionally, do you add some for the time it will take to assemble the red stripes? I can tell you already this customer is VERY picky as well. I was tempted to not work with him.

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a general starting point for single color is length + width divided by 2= total .  if a PIA customer double or triple that :)

at some point you will need to add in design and clean up time ( I get starting out you cannot charge for all that but charge some) - my shop rate has been $50-$75/hr.  If you design for free you will be making changes and taking up all your time giving away your work.  keep in mind that any artwork you present should be made in a way it is not easily traceable as you will run into the customers that will get you to do all the design work for free and then have aunt Bea and her cricuit make the deal for them for nothing.   You will also run into the cusomer saying they can get it on the internet for 1/10 the cost - when that happens tell them to go there and purchase it then.
I worked in corrections for 27.5 years and learned with people you can turn a no into a yes later easier than the other way around and in business you can lower your price somewhat at times but once you do it that is now what everyone expects

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So using that formula, 50+24 (1200 square inches)/2=$37. When I priced it by the square inch it came to almost $70 based on cost of raw materials. Interestingly my wife said even that seems low for business decals that will be prominently displayed on the side of 5 trucks. (50 inches X 24 inches=1200 sq inches X .10= $120) which to me would be way too much.

See I've now figured this so many different ways, I can't even tell what's right...

I've always had trouble pricing my stuff. 20 years ago when I was in the airbrush t-shirt business, I was always the cheapest guy in town, and yes, I had to fight that forever, because people knew what I charged previously....

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1 minute ago, The Flaming Eyeball said:

So using that formula, 50+24 (1200 square inches)/2=$37. When I priced it by the square inch it came to almost $70based on cost of raw materials. Interestingly my wife said even that seems low for business decals that will be prominently displayed on the side of 5 trucks. (50 inches X 24 inches=1200 sq inches X .10= $120) which to me would be way too much.

See I've now figured this so many different ways, I can't even tell what's right...

I've always had trouble pricing my stuff. 20 years ago when I was in the airbrush t-shirt business, I was always the cheapest guy in town, and yes, I had to fight that forever, because people knew what I charged previously....

if on the side of the truck use 751 or 951 a cast material is appropriate for that application and cost more.   if you are installing you need to ad to that too.   Each area also dictates what the price will be - I have a friend in oil country in Ohio and his nearest competitor is 50 miles away that charges 3 time what I do and has as long as I have known him.  in our area there are at least 8 solvent printers and hundreds of vinyl plotters withing that distance so work comes from quality and not price in our area.

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most times in cooler climates it may shrink and leave the glue edge around it - in hotter climates might crack - knowing the difference in cast and calendared vinyl and when to use each is part of the business  windows 651 - body panels 751 or 951

 

 

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