How to come up with price?

[SMD 0]

hey guys and gals, how do you come up with pricing for vinyl stickers? I see on my signcut it says estimated vinyl consumption, do you take that number and multiply it by a dollar amount? If so whats the normal amount?

[hockeygirl 30]

A big part of setting the price depends on your market. Call some sign shops in your area and find out what they're charging for a similar job.

[lynnpromotions 0]

Hourly - Figure out how much you want to make in an hour and charge that price

By COGS - Figure out how much you pay for your material and multiply that by a factor such as 100% markup: multiply by 2

By Job - Size up the customer and quote a price based on what you think they will pay

By size - Flat fee per unit such as a square foot

You can do one or more of these ways. Most shops will charge by the square foot.

Add on's.

You may also be able to charge for Art prep, color changes, separations, etc.

[tshirtn00b 12]

Hourly - Figure out how much you want to make in an hour and charge that price

I usually find this method to be the most expensive for the customer, maybe I'm greedy.  I can't be that greedy though because I usually charge by cost of goods sold w/a markup or by the square foot, depends on the job.

Other markups are nice too, installation charges, removal of old vinyl, etc.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

A big part of setting the price depends on your market.

and a dart board!

[tlzimmerman 11]

For small orders I kinda do it by square foot, thats for custom and single decal jobs and I also estimate how long it will take me and can adjust the pricing based on that, so i am making a good hourly wage.  A 3x6 decal that takes me 20 minutes is worth less than a 3x6 decal that takes me an hour because its a very intricate weed and tape.

For scaling up larger orders of small decals and such I always revert to hourly, its the best way for me and the customer to get a fair price IMO. 

There is also something to be said for a perceived value of what you are making.....I can make more money hourly doing large decals for trucks and such than I can doing small decals in quantity...I may make 50-75 an hour doing larger decals, and 20 doing small stuff.  Thats just how it is though, because you have to be competitive and people will pay more for something larger because they feel its worth more.  My pricing is not linear at all based on size...and I would have a hard time staying competitive and landing jobs if it was IMO...which is why I just got a feel for what things are worth in my area, and price accordingly.  The most important thing I think is to make sure you are making good money for your time.....which is why I am always thinking about my hourly wage for doing it.  If I am getting payed nothing doing it or $5 an hour...then I might as well send them on down the road and spend my time growing my business into new avenues or drumming up paying business.  That said....I am not above doing large bulk orders for not much hourly (say $15 or so) to pay the bills either...there is always give and take. 

[pyrophire 0]

My local market charges 15/sqft and I think that is over priced for alot of the jobs

What I did is figure out my cost of materials per square foot, figure out a good markup and then base all the jobs off of square footage. If a design is small and you can fit 2 of them into the sqft, charge 1/2 the sqft + a buck or two bonus for the work required to make sure you dont under price yourself. I've done "per sheet" pricing on my printed stickers for the past 3 years and have not changed my prices or thought i was undercharging for the work I put into it. I've actually had ALOT of return business because they love my low prices and quick turn around time. Now that im looking to expand to different fields, I look to see what the cost for materials is and how much I can charge w/o being too high and then I see if its worth investing in new equip.