Looking for a print shop

[TLE 0]

I was wondering if anyone had any info on a company that sells vehicle wraps wholesale. I was looking to buy the wraps so I could install them my self.

[darkdan 3]

Have you installed a wrap before?  If not, before paying the money to have it printed and laminated you may want to practice or take a class.

Avery makes a solid color wrapping film which is going to cost 1/4 of what a print will cost.

ORACAL did make a solid color wrapping film, it's kind of hard to find right now because I guess there were issues with it.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

"Oracal USA is pleased to announce that its popular Vehicle Wrap Installation Training Video is now available in DVD format. The new DVD also features enhanced packaging and a quick material selector guide for vehicle wraps using OraJet media and OraGuard laminating films.

Free copies of the video are available from many Oracal distributors, or directly from Oracal at 1-800-Oracal 1. The video is also available for viewing on the Oracal website."

Oracal website would be a good place to srat ,they offer training events but at this time none are listed. It looks like someone at Oracal is asleep at the wheel...no events listed and the video page is blank. You might try calling that number and requesting the video. I have seen it and it is a very good place to start.

also

http://www.carwrap.com/carwrap-questions.html#6

http://www.signindustry.com/installation/articles/2005-03-11-MW-FullVehicleWrapHowTo.php3

http://www.stripeman.com/vehicle-wrap-tools.htm

[TLE 0]

Where can you get hands on I look and can find no training near my area. I even thought if I could hook up with a place that sells the wraps maybe they would work with you to learn. I know I can sell them I just need to learn even if someone from a different area would want to partner up.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

PM me with your address and I will send you a copy of the Oracal DVD... in spite of ONE PERSONS OPINION it is a good video for actually watching someone do a wrap.

[FBRsportmod68 109]

i believe fellers will send you to school in tulsa, oklahoma for 2 weeks

[darkdan 3]

Feller's school is currently shut down.  Sergio left so they don't have a trainer.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

TLE.. I think you should have a look here:

http://www.realwraps.com/?gclid=CMS11efx6pYCFQhdswodMmFFPA

once again,some actual advice...not just a correction.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

Feller's school is currently shut down.  Sergio left so they don't have a trainer.

true...but if you go to Fellers site you will see several places that they suggest for training...all over the country:

http://www.fellers.com/index.cfm/spKey/wrap.training

stop being lazy,Dan.

[tory 0]

I saw a demo at a seminar last Sept, I now have a new respect for car wraps. You'll def want to do your homework before jumping in. They would apply a section only to remove/rework it. After about an hour I wandered off, I returned in another hour and they weren't too much farther. Two guys were working together and one would pull the vinyl while the other used a torch to heat it and try to conform to the vehicle. Def a art which will take a lot of patience for sure. I once saw where Fellers was charging a couple thousand for classes, I believe Oracal was the rep for the sem I saw in Indy. I can imagine the liability is rather high too since you are dealing w others vehicles. They stated the best way to apply was to first remove mirrors/headlights etc.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I saw a demo at a seminar last Sept, I now have a new respect for car wraps. You'll def want to do your homework before jumping in. They would apply a section only to remove/rework it. After about an hour I wandered off, I returned in another hour and they weren't too much farther. Two guys were working together and one would pull the vinyl while the other used a torch to heat it and try to conform to the vehicle. Def a art which will take a lot of patience for sure. I once saw where Fellers was charging a couple thousand for classes, I believe Oracal was the rep for the sem I saw in Indy. I can imagine the liability is rather high too since you are dealing w others vehicles. They stated the best way to apply was to first remove mirrors/headlights etc.

You touched on a very important point...liability. I currently carry $1 million liability insurance and it only cost me about $600 a year. Money well spent. Thankfully, I've never had to use it BUT it's nice to know that it's there.

[Rodger 527]

I was wondering if anyone had any info on a company that sells vehicle wraps wholesale. I was looking to buy the wraps so I could install them my self.

I went to the Atlantic Sign Show last December ( same show this December ) . Several dealer owned vehicles that were wrapped were very poor in quality , 1 was outright bad . EVEN Fellers wrapped Ferrai had imperfections . I would think wraps are best for tempoary stuff like Nascar . The cost of custom paint & painted graphics proably are ALOT more than getting a vehicle wrapped . I don't know how much it is to get a vehicle wrapped , but I bet it's ALOT of $$$ still . Spending that kind of money on wraps ....what I have seen would not make a customer happy & willing to pay . I would be ESPECIALLY leary getting into wraps if the "pros' have that much trouble , especially if buying the wraps . It would be expensive enough ruining wraps made inhouse . my 2 cents 

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I live in a town with 60,000 people and have never actually seen a vehicle wrap except on commercial vehicles. They looked pretty good from a distance, but ddi see one that the rear window part was about 1/2 inch out of line with the rest.

I guess most people around here realize that what THEY might like on a car might not be so easy to sell down the road. It's a fad and will pass,IMHO. I'll stick to making magnetic bumper stickers,easily removed.

[darkdan 3]

I went to the Atlantic Sign Show last December ( same show this December ) . Several dealer owned vehicles that were wrapped were very poor in quality , 1 was outright bad . EVEN Fellers wrapped Ferrai had imperfections . I would think wraps are best for tempoary stuff like Nascar . The cost of custom paint & painted graphics proably are ALOT more than getting a vehicle wrapped . I don't know how much it is to get a vehicle wrapped , but I bet it's ALOT of $$$ still . Spending that kind of money on wraps ....what I have seen would not make a customer happy & willing to pay . I would be ESPECIALLY leary getting into wraps if the "pros' have that much trouble , especially if buying the wraps . It would be expensive enough ruining wraps made inhouse . my 2 cents 

Well, it's moving signage.  It's not meant to be inspected up close.  Nothing is perfect is you spend long enough looking at it.  This is also why you can get away with 72 dpi artwork.

So it's for advertising and not for show-cars.  It's VERY effective advertising too.  I think they estimate 50k to 60k impressions a day in metropolitan areas.

[tory 0]

I'm with you Rodger, from what I saw it wasn't something I wanted to get into. Too much potential for the client not to be happy with the outcome. And yes, close up you don't have to "look" for problems they are very evident.......and that is with the pros doing it. Now with that said, DarkDan has a point, it is what it is....an advertising tool. We have plenty of then running here, as BannerJohn said, commercial vehicles. I was told they get like $4000/vehicle and you can take it off without any harm to the paint job. The versacamm costs like $15000 to make the wrap. TLE, if you decide this is something you want to pursue, you can have Stahls cut the wrap for you. Not sure what they would charge, just know they will cut for you.

[TLE 0]

Thanks for the replys.Who is stahls, I have been doing alot of research on this it seems like it could be the next big thing and I am trying to add things to my shop to make money. the way things are going with the economy you have to offer many things and try to be good at them all.Thanks bannerjohn I did call oracal and they are sending me the video everything helps.I will let you all know how things go on my try at wraps.

[tory 0]

Yes, it is very big right now. One thing I forgot to mention, they stated you needed a clean indoor environment.....no dust etc blowing around. I'm sure it will all be on the video tape. This is one of those things where a picture tells a thousand words. Stahl's (stahls.com) is a company that sells a lot of the decorated apparel materials for your cutter. Similar to Imprintables, which I believe they either own or have a stake in? Not sure who you have to talk to, you may be able to locate the info on their site itself. They also are the ones that put on the Great Garment Graphics Seminar (www.greatgarmentgraphics.com) which is free and they touch on car wraps too. They also demo the VersaCamm.

[Rodger 527]

I went to the Atlantic Sign Show last December ( same show this December ) . Several dealer owned vehicles that were wrapped were very poor in quality , 1 was outright bad . EVEN Fellers wrapped Ferrai had imperfections . I would think wraps are best for tempoary stuff like Nascar . The cost of custom paint & painted graphics proably are ALOT more than getting a vehicle wrapped . I don't know how much it is to get a vehicle wrapped , but I bet it's ALOT of $$$ still . Spending that kind of money on wraps ....what I have seen would not make a customer happy & willing to pay . I would be ESPECIALLY leary getting into wraps if the "pros' have that much trouble , especially if buying the wraps . It would be expensive enough ruining wraps made inhouse . my 2 cents 

Well, it's moving signage.  It's not meant to be inspected up close.  Nothing is perfect is you spend long enough looking at it.  This is also why you can get away with 72 dpi artwork.

So it's for advertising and not for show-cars.  It's VERY effective advertising too.  I think they estimate 50k to 60k impressions a day in metropolitan areas.

  Hi Dan ,

First of all , I agree that we disagree on many things  . No problem & I hope nobody has to prove themselves right & the other wrong . I think we can discuss things civilly .

  I think vehicle wraps is much more than moving signage or just advertising , So does Frank Fellers . Fellers catalog has about 12 pictures of vehicle wraps & only 1 has an ad/sign on them . The Fellers catalog talks about  " commercial vehicle wraps " for advertising & also talks about " Vehicle personalization is a market that is virtually untapped .........the personalization of vehicles thru wraps opens up a market that's far bigger than any other form of signage in the world "    Signs could be put in/on the wrap , but the same ad/sign could be put on the vehicle without the wrap & get the same 50K to 60K impressions you mentioned . Digitial printers could make custom colored /effects also . I consider Fellers the top of the line supply co . Alot of other good companies , but Fellers overall stands a bit taller IMHO . Frank's Ferrai does not have ads or signs on it so its not a moving sign ( especially when it's parked inside a show ... IF it wasn't meant to be inspected close , I wonder why they didn't put a rope barrier up away from it . It didn't have any barrier at all & everybody was putting " hands on " ) . The wrap on it is VERY good , but not as good as a custom paint job . I think vehicle wraps is an option instead of VERY pricey paint jobs ( Fellers says the average wrap is between $12 - $15 per square foot nationwide { the more that get into it , the resulting competition will drive the price down alot } ... that's probably 1/4 to 1/8 the cost of custom paint . ) A wrap lets more people afford something they would not be able to afford otherwise . Comcast has Digitial printed vinyl on all thier vans , just not wrapped  . The wrapping around everything is where the imperfections are hard to eliminate from what I seen at the shows .

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I would tend to agree on that,Rodger..non-commercial vehicle wraps seem to be catching on fast in certain areas and esp Europe. My nephew lives in Nashville,much larger town than I do,and says he sees quite a few of them.

I am glad to know that while people complain about the high cost of gas (and it will go back up) they can afford such frivolity.(scratches head)

as for Dan's contention that "It's not meant to be inspected up close."...well that pretty much applies to most signage except POP. So we can all forget about the bubbles and other imperfections? From a logical viewpoint, it is much more likely that someone would be having a good look at a vehicle wrap than at a banner or coroplast sign.

I hate to say it,but if you are gonna do it,do it right or not at all.

Where have I heard that before?

just my 2p worth.

[darkdan 3]

but not as good as a custom paint job

It's never going to be as good as a custom paint job.

There is a car customizing market out there for the stuff, but it's smaller than the advertising market out there.  I get a lot of requests to wrap hoods and roofs in either black or carbon fiber.  With them, yes, you might get complaints because it's not perfect, but that's a risk we take with everything we do because there's always "that guy" that will complain about any little thing.

When I was in Vegas EVERY commercial vehicle out there was wrapped.  Even taxis.

And no John, never is perfect.  We can get close, but like I said, if you spend enough time looking at anything you'll find a flaw.

I've seen good wraps, and I've seen bad wraps, but I've never seen a perfect wrap.  Strive for perfection, but realize you'll never get it.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I've never seen a 'perfect' anything...well maybe once. I know of a perfect idiot but we will be rid of him in January.

[Rodger 527]

  John ,

You are very funny !!! thanks for the chuckle . I don't know whats happening in January , but that was fun . I get told I'm perfect by alot of people ... but they say asshole afterwards 

[BannerJohn 1,324]

lol....January is when Bush the W moves back to Texas....