PatrickR

Pricing Assistance, Please...

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I have been asked for a quote for ~30 vinyl door signs. The customer wants 6"x10" black vinyl background with golden yellow reflective letters/numbers in the center. Essentially we're looking at creating a layered vinyl sign, no substrate. I will do the install. The background will be 751- not sure yet on the reflective (suggestions?).

 

I am just getting into pricing things (usually just sell vehicle window decals, t-shirts) and am uncomfortable in my ability at this point to price this. Not looking to make a killing, but want to be fair to myself and the customer. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Patrick

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3m is the go to for reflective

http://www.beacongraphics.com/supplies/3M/3m-580.html

never used it myself but you can save some by going to oracal - maybe someone that has used it can comment

http://www.uscutter.com/ORALITE-5600-Fleet-Engineering-Grade-Reflective-Film-15-by-10-Yard-Roll-Punched

pricing really depends on which film you want and how long it will hold up

 

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I've used the economy Oracal. Stick with 3M.

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we used to use Oracal 5600, had nothing but problems.

3M all the way.  

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Keep in mind the reflective stuff is quite a bit more expensive than "normal" vinyl. You'll probably have $3 or $4 of vinyl alone in the sign.

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My reflective yellow I use is 3M EGP 3400, which is Engineer Grade Prismatic, which is the high dollar good stuff. Our's comes 36" x 50 yds and it's $504.95.

 

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Thanks for the replies- I now have a better idea of what reflective vinyl to look for. I guess my main concern is, assuming that I had the vinyl on hand already, what would be a fair price per sign? I understand the concept of my cost being added in, etc., but if someone came to you and wanted a quote- again assuming you had the materials on hand- what would you charge?

 

Once again, any input is appreciated!

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On hand shouldn't mater unless you are building it out of left over scraps that are paid for. Inventory on new vinyl is just something you have shelled out the cost for in advance. In situations like this you have to decide if you can afford to floor a whole roll of vinyl. For a one-off special job you'll necessarily have some added cost buying vinyl you don't have but for normal colors you should be able to figure out your cost per ft or cost per inch or cost per yard or whatever you want to measure with and then add your time and machine wear and come up with a reasonable price that works for you. I do a minimum charge for small stuff, usually $3 for small decals and then add as appropriate. You will find that most areas have a preconceived idea of what something should cost and it's often way more than you would think. I would guess something like what you have pictured would be $10-!2 but if you are going to knock out all 30 then you can get some saving with the economy of volume saving time by cutting all of them in one fell swoop rather than one at a time over a two week period. 

 

All that being said I like to charge by the SF. If it is basic vinyl I often charge $3/SF or $5/SF for cast. If it fits in the Sq/ft it is $3 even if I can fit two or three I charge $3 each and I add some for the second and third color, often giving them a break if it's only partial coverage like $2 for the second color per SF. Your reflective is going to bump that price up a LOT. 

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Id look to charge maybe $250 for the lot if it were cast. $360 for the reflective job (If this in indoors and not going to see abuse I'd use Oralite 5300. If this is outdoors I order 5600 and eat the difference in cost to have leftovers on hand).

 

Rural PA pricing (and going in somewhat (cheap?) because of the simple nature of the job)

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