trailer dealership decals

[cieraanddavid 2]

im quoting an order for a trailer dealership to do a 3 color layered decal size 3x9 they would be ordering 50 or more at a time and they also want liscense plates with the same decal i was looking for a lil advice on pricing

[john! 1]

defiantly get those digitally printed and contour cut. PM me if you need that done

[tlzimmerman 11]

I disagree, vinyl is just fine if you get in the groove making them. 

I would be around 7-8 per decal on that color depending on the weeds of the layers I would say.

[James605 7]

I think both of you are right...

I think they could be done in vinyl just fine, just would take a while to do. Not sure about the cost

Getting them printed would be alot faster and cheaper i would think, just depends if you need something to do or not i guess

[Spyder Graphix 0]

I would be at $4.75ea if a pretty easy design and they did 50 or more.

[john! 1]

I disagree, vinyl is just fine if you get in the groove making them. 

I would be around 7-8 per decal on that color depending on the weeds of the layers I would say.

Hey, if you want to get a headache doing them be my guest.

Work smarter, not harder 

[tlzimmerman 11]

Personally I think cut vinyl looks better than printed vinyl, and a 3 color decal isn't that bad.  I could add up my time in one and have less than 5 minutes of cut weed and assembly time depending on the design.....so you are looking at 4 hours of work or so to do 50 of them?  4 hours 350 dollars minus materials....thats a pretty good wage.  Call me crazy, but I will cut and make decals all dang day if I am bringing in that kinda money!  I enjoy the work I guess, sure sometimes it gets monotonous....crank up the tunes and rock out or put in an old movie you don't have to pay much attention to and get em knocked out.

I will give you that printing them would be easier, but I don't have a large format printer and am not going to be able to afford one for a long time. I don't outsource either.

[Guest round2racing]

You bought your cutter to work and make money.

So use it.

If they chose the design and asked for your services, undoubtedly they want you to do them and not outsource them to others.

Yeah, printing is easier, but they could have found a printer.

Instead, they found you.

I think it's great that everyone here is willing to help out with advice and all, but sometimes printing and contour cutting is not the only way to go.

I say, do the job yourself and take pride in knowing that they wanted you to do it and that they want 50 of these things, as well as license plates.

That is 50 mini billboards of your work!!!

[Rodger 527]

  What is the outdoor rating on printed vinyl ? Are there different ratings depending on the ink used ? I think the cutters do a great jop & make great products , but the digitially printed vinyl is the next generation , but will be years ( if ever )  before affordable enough for hobby type use . 

[James605 7]

Personally I think cut vinyl looks better than printed vinyl, and a 3 color decal isn't that bad.  I could add up my time in one and have less than 5 minutes of cut weed and assembly time depending on the design.....so you are looking at 4 hours of work or so to do 50 of them?  4 hours 350 dollars minus materials....thats a pretty good wage.  Call me crazy, but I will cut and make decals all dang day if I am bringing in that kinda money!  I enjoy the work I guess, sure sometimes it gets monotonous....crank up the tunes and rock out or put in an old movie you don't have to pay much attention to and get em knocked out.

I will give you that printing them would be easier, but I don't have a large format printer and am not going to be able to afford one for a long time. I don't outsource either.

You are right by all means thats good money. I was just saying this is 2 different animals. People who print and people who cut look at thing different. The way i would look at this job is

for 50 you would be alittle over 9 sq ft.

so 10 sq ft x 7per sq ft. printed cut and laminated. thats $70

And about 10-15 minutes of my time.

Make the 70 and do other things.

This is wholesale also, but even for retal i might get about 13-15 per sq ft. still around 150 out the door...

[tlzimmerman 11]

Personally I think cut vinyl looks better than printed vinyl, and a 3 color decal isn't that bad.  I could add up my time in one and have less than 5 minutes of cut weed and assembly time depending on the design.....so you are looking at 4 hours of work or so to do 50 of them?  4 hours 350 dollars minus materials....thats a pretty good wage.  Call me crazy, but I will cut and make decals all dang day if I am bringing in that kinda money!  I enjoy the work I guess, sure sometimes it gets monotonous....crank up the tunes and rock out or put in an old movie you don't have to pay much attention to and get em knocked out.

I will give you that printing them would be easier, but I don't have a large format printer and am not going to be able to afford one for a long time. I don't outsource either.

You are right by all means thats good money. I was just saying this is 2 different animals. People who print and people who cut look at thing different. The way i would look at this job is

for 50 you would be alittle over 9 sq ft.

so 10 sq ft x 7per sq ft. printed cut and laminated. thats $70

And about 10-15 minutes of my time.

Make the 70 and do other things.

This is wholesale also, but even for retal i might get about 13-15 per sq ft. still around 150 out the door...

Is that contour cut?  Or is that simply printed on a clear or opaque vinyl on a square?  Printed/Contour cut stuff can look really really good depending on what it is.  I would think contour cutting them would take your longer than 15 minutes.  You are completely right though, they are completely different animals.  One of them takes a huge investment on a printer and you can do things faster and easier, and allows you to do some pretty amazing things.  A cutter you can also do some really cool layered stuff as well as cutouts to let the colors of the substrates and stuff come through, which you can do with printed as well if you are contour cutting as well.

[sarconastic 29]

Shouldn't we also be looking at longevity of the decal as a selling point as well. From what I have read online, printed stuff isn't lasting near as long as say 751 vinyl. So if the dealer wants a decal that is going stand the test of time, I would say go with vinyl. If the printed decals fadee out in 2 years, Like all the Print on chrome decals you see on cars everywhere, the investment made and saved over vinyl on the initial investment wasn't really worth it. Many dealers in my area use the Molded plastic, chrome plated with black self stick emblems, but they pay a premium for them.. But they last. So I guess that would be my selling point. Longevity.

Kevin

[James605 7]

Personally I think cut vinyl looks better than printed vinyl, and a 3 color decal isn't that bad.  I could add up my time in one and have less than 5 minutes of cut weed and assembly time depending on the design.....so you are looking at 4 hours of work or so to do 50 of them?  4 hours 350 dollars minus materials....thats a pretty good wage.  Call me crazy, but I will cut and make decals all dang day if I am bringing in that kinda money!  I enjoy the work I guess, sure sometimes it gets monotonous....crank up the tunes and rock out or put in an old movie you don't have to pay much attention to and get em knocked out.

I will give you that printing them would be easier, but I don't have a large format printer and am not going to be able to afford one for a long time. I don't outsource either.

You are right by all means thats good money. I was just saying this is 2 different animals. People who print and people who cut look at thing different. The way i would look at this job is

for 50 you would be alittle over 9 sq ft.

so 10 sq ft x 7per sq ft. printed cut and laminated. thats $70

And about 10-15 minutes of my time.

Make the 70 and do other things.

This is wholesale also, but even for retal i might get about 13-15 per sq ft. still around 150 out the door...

Is that contour cut?  Or is that simply printed on a clear or opaque vinyl on a square?  Printed/Contour cut stuff can look really really good depending on what it is.  I would think contour cutting them would take your longer than 15 minutes.  You are completely right though, they are completely different animals.  One of them takes a huge investment on a printer and you can do things faster and easier, and allows you to do some pretty amazing things.  A cutter you can also do some really cool layered stuff as well as cutouts to let the colors of the substrates and stuff come through, which you can do with printed as well if you are contour cutting as well.

Yes thats contour cut, and yes it looks very well when done right.

Shouldn't we also be looking at longevity of the decal as a selling point as well. From what I have read online, printed stuff isn't lasting near as long as say 751 vinyl. So if the dealer wants a decal that is going stand the test of time, I would say go with vinyl. If the printed decals fadee out in 2 years, Like all the Print on chrome decals you see on cars everywhere, the investment made and saved over vinyl on the initial investment wasn't really worth it. Many dealers in my area use the Molded plastic, chrome plated with black self stick emblems, but they pay a premium for them.. But they last. So I guess that would be my selling point. Longevity.

Kevin

Kevin, you are right in a sense. Depends on who is doing it. I have some decals on our windows that have been there for almost 4 years now. Look as good today as they did when they were printed. You just have to laminate them. I have some decals i put on the back of the house a couple years ago, the red is starting to fade a bit, not much but alittle. I wouldnt even notice it but i have some laminated decals right beside it, therefore you can tell a slight difference. Handing out decals for the long run not laminated is like trying to do a wrap a truck with oracal 631.Not smart. you can do it but why?  I would put my printed/laminated decals up against any other vinyl, Anyday.

[john! 1]

Yes i bought a vinyl cutter to make money but you need to understand what the best way to make a order is. Go ahead an make the 50 3 color decals and tell me getting them outsourced to a reputable digital printer wouldn't have been a heck of alot easier and profitable. By outsourcing i mean getting them made at a wholesale cost not retail and then mark it up slightly.

Laminated digital vinyl lasts just as long if not longer depending on what you use. I personally use 3651 with 210 lam and have seen great results.

I guess some are stuck in the ol'cut vinyl ways 

95% of my jobs are cut vinyl but if you want a multi-color decal in bulk it's getting outsourced to someone i know can come through and achieve a excellent final product.

[Guest fivestar]

I can tell you that James printed decals are very nice and contour cut.  I got mine from him today.

[sarconastic 29]

I have been seeing a lot of change in the way signs/decals are being applied today. I live in a relatively rural area and I think I have some time left to keep on the Cut Vinyl track, but I am starting to see the Printed/Wrapped stuff appear more often. I also am hearing horror stories about it, people making the sign company completely re wrap cars/trucks because it is not what they wanted. That's Scary, and probably more the fault of the creator installer, but who knows? I realize If I want to compete in this area I am going to have to do some serious monetary investing to not get left behind.

The real problem i see right now is just what we have been tossing around. Low Quality stuff has been forced out onto the market, so it's going make those of us who won't settle for less as far as quality and workmanship go, push harder and gain more trust in our customer to be able to sway them towards the printed stuff.

I am doing several local Plumbing trucks this weekend that were just done 3 years ago in cut vinyl. But they were done with el cheapo vinyl and now they look like crap. It took me a little conversing/educating with the customer to convince them that I could Replace it, and that it would definitely last a LOT longer than 3 years. I have seen a lot of printed stuff on doors around here that was done recently that is already faded and looks awful. If I go out and invest in the stuff to print, Like I plan on doing, I will have to cross that hurdle as well.

In the end, quality work and good customer service will prevail over the cheapest prices.

Kevin

[Rodger 527]

There is only a few companies around here that get the stuff painted on by hand still . Not many people offering that anymore ( at least around here ) .Cut vinyl is always going to have a place & need , but the digitially printed vinyl is the next step in the evolution IMO .

[Guest round2racing]

I have to say this debate is interesting.

Each style has it's pros and cons.

Printed decals are quicker and easier to assemble.  They have a decent life expectancy.  The equipment used is MUCH more expensive.

Layered vinyls are a little more time consuming to assemble.  They have a great life expectancy (if you use to good stuff).  The equipment is more affordable.

I guess to each his own.  Bottom line is the customer.  What does the customer want?  I base my business on that.

If the customer wants a lot of shadowing and fine detail, I refer him to a local shop that prints decals.  They were kind enough to help me when I first got my cutter.  They supplied me with lots of big pieces of scrap for free so I could "play".

I hope, one day, to be able to afford a decal printer, but until then, I guess I'm just stuck in the cut vinyl world.  Personally, I have a lot of fun watching the finished piece come together.

I just did 2 Miller Lite Logos for someone in three color layer, and they absolutely LOVED it.

I was so proud!!!!

[Rodger 527]

  I agree with you 

I think the owner operator that can give quick if not immediate products will always have a niche . Especially if they are willing to allow some input about the finished product . I have a friend who bought a cutter 30 years ago & made anything I wanted for free , not even letting me pay for the vinyl etc . The only problem is he is WAY too artistic for me ( does dirt racecars mostly ) & would not let me have much input or especially not let me sit on his computer & design . I bought my cutter to do my own stuff & to start a retirement type weekend business . I share the download site of SBE to friends that are interested .