livinloudgraphics

need a little advice

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i was working with a customer on a sign is it about a 4x8, the person that used to do all of his work has cut him out of the deal, meaning he sized his shop down and isnt taking hardly no work in anymore. so i offered him to price it for him the other guy charged him about 125 on one side but left the other size blank(it was suppose to be only a one sided sign for now) so he when around different places trying to get someone to finish this sign and now im in the game. it is Omega-bond sign board double sided one side is already done but the other side isnt so im working on that as we speak. the question is on this sign it has been outside for over a year and has had been thru the hurricane and such so specks, scrapes and etc have occured, it is very hard to get the plastic off that protects the metal and ive had to buy supplys to get it off (about $35 bucks) ive gotten half way on taking this stuff off but now im wondering would he pay me the addtional amount that i spent on it. how would you come about doing this in asking the customer being i already set the price but no money has been exchanged yet. and if he gets mad with what needed to be done and tryed taking it could i keep it until it is payed for???

PS. i guess its part of the business but i really never thought about it until now when i spent 3hrs on ripped this crap off lol please help me thanks. LIVIN LOUD GRAPHICS

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you're probably not going to want to hear this, but personally i would chalk that up to a learning experience, i feel like if i gave a person a price then the price was all inclusive. i would feel bad going back to them for more, not professional in my mind. the extra supplies you bought should go to when you might need to do this again, so that's investment in future projects. plus, now you know how to price something like this in the future. i can honestly say that i've been there on pricing something and then finding out later that it was way more labor intensive than i imagined.

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i understand that now because of what i have to do to get this sun cured stuff off i bet he knew it was gonna be more that expected because he couldnt get the plastic off either he said so i went and got one of those huge eraser that u put on the end of a drill and works like a pro now lol. but im stuck with this feeling now

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well i just finished a 8x8 sign but sort of felt the same way i quoted the price told him it might be higher or lower depending on what it needed. good thing it needed about 100 more dollars of work. I like the pillow you create by over pricing it and it does give you some flex, and if you dont use it the customer will like the discount they get which is not really a discount at all. At least talk to the customer and explain to them it took X amount of time and supplies to fix what the other guy did not do what do we do about the extra cost. Never be afraid to talk to your customers, I bet if you explain to them about it they wont mind at all. Like others have said it gives you shop suppies but when quoting a price add a shop supplies fee in to the list. HTH

One Off Grafx

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I just did the same thing in a different way. For the logo design of a company I asked $30 and then told the guy that I would use that for the sand blast mask but now I found that sand blast mask is about $65 to $120. I now have to reach in my own pocket for the extra amount because the deal was done.

P.S. I always ask for payment ahead due to people trying to bring the price down or when it comes to a decal, not ever responding back over the phone because they found they don't have the funds to pay for it anymore and you get stuck with a decal that says "Nor Cal Chevy" and you drive a dodge.

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Unless you conversed with them before the purchased or said it would be Time and Material tacking on more cash will cost you more in the end. Things like that are called tools of the trade... now you have the tool to use in the future. It's not the customers fault that you lacked the tools to do the job. You are paying for your education. I If you run into this again try a little heat to lift the corner edge then use a pressure washer fitted under the flap to urge it off. Should take about 4-5 min for plastic film. For paper lift the shorter edge and attach a dowel rod... hook it to a drill on low speed it should roll if off as well.

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I'd eat the difference. As others have said chaulk it up to OJT.

If you feel like you just HAVE to charge the guy, then it'd be best to call him as soon as possible and let him know what is going on. Don't wait unitl you've got so much time tied up into the sign that now it's double what it was going to be.

If you do a good job for this guy, he'll likely tell 2 or 3 people. If you try to charge him more than the tought it was going to be, then hold his sign hostage until he pays, He's going to tell 30 people what a crappy job you did.

azdecals

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For removals and cleanup always leave it open.... You never know how much of a PITA a removal will be. Also be sure your customer understands that your removal time is an estimate and can change due to many variables.

In Example: we quoted a wrap removal at 5 hours for one client and when it was all said and done it took us 12 because it came of in little flakes. Our client understood because we showed them and we split the difference and they were very happy.

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thanks you guys/ladies and i have spoken with the customer and it seems like he was mad at first but he said i was the person right for the job because i started on it right away and he didnt mind the extra because he knew it had been there over a year and it may have been harder to get off than expected and the sign came out great in my opinion. so id thank you for your advice and have a great day/night

PS WHERE THE WHITE SPOT IS WAS THE NUMBER OF THE COMPANY

post-17596-0-37496600-1326859078.jpg

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