my most complicated sofar

[BannerJohn 1,324]

This is a banner I did yesterday. I got my first plotter a year ago,and have taught myself everything I know,except for some things I learned on this forum. I've been doing banners all this time but nothing quite as complicated as this one.

[Beardown 0]

Looks GREAT ! ! ! ! ! ! '

How big is the Banner ...and what did you charge??

GREAT JOB THOUGH ! ! ! ! !

[BannerJohn 1,324]

That's a 3x6. For a banner like that I charge $50 BUT I don't have any overhead (work out of the basement) and actual cost of materials was less than $12. If I was selling that locally,it would be double that. But I sell on the internet and have to compete with others there.

FYI, I get that size blank banner,13 oz,glossy one side,hemmed and grommeted,for $7. A 2x6 costs me $3.50. If anyone is interested,PM me and I can give you the link to the guy who does them for me.

[Guest fivestar]

That looks great, very nice job.  $50.00 I think is way too cheap.  I would think more around 100.00-120.00 but I understand the internet is a very hard place to compete.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I know it sounds cheap but I do a LOT of simple one or two line text banners that take about 30 minutes and charge the same so it all evens out in the end. And I spend HOURS every week looking for deals on vinyl and other supplies.

Honetly,I don't have anything else to do.

Around here,the guys with the wide format printers (including Kinkos) can knock out full color printed banners cheap. Not as good quality,materials,but most people only see the price. My banners are made to last.

Another thing,by selling strictly on the internet, I don't have to get a local business license,collect sales tax,pay personal property tax,etc. Not having to do all that paperwork is well worth not making so much.

[kenimes 42]

Looks really good.    The customer got a steal.....

I know car decals 1/4 that size go for around $250 here in Seattle. Just vinyl on the windows, and the labor of course. But yea....internet pricing is tough to compete with.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I bet the house I live in (3 bedrooms,full basement,nice neighborhood, would sell in Seatle for a LOT more than the $90,000 I could get for it here. In a town of about 60,000 there are maybe a dozen sign shops. People won't pay big prices and you have to charge what the market will bear. On the rare occasion that I do car decals, I get about $40 for one like that and my prices are only about 10% lower than the average here.

[TaterNuts 3]

Looks Very Good John! 

[BannerJohn 1,324]

Thanks! I was hoping to get your opinion.

One question for everyone...is being a sign/vinyl guy(or lady) more than just a job to you? I find myself thinking about things I can do all the time. It's more of a passion than a job with me.

[thredz 1]

For me,it was another venue to make a living because the embroidery bizz sucks where I'm at.And it has done so much better that I only do digitizing for a few embroiderers now.I sold my embroidery machines and farm that stuff out to my little brother.After I frst got R2 I realized there was so much more you could do with a cutter than just cut signage.I guess it's more of a passion.But not one I was looking for.It just kind of happened that way as I started doing the poster sized plots and graphics that cover my walls.I quit screenprinting about ten years ago because I have emphysiemia and make lungs can't take the keytone vapors anymore.But with this cutter I find I'm getting back into it because it actually eliminates a couple of steps in the process.I don't have to coat screens with emulsion.And I don't have to have a dark room to burn the designs.I stopped at a convience store a couple of days ago and a lady was using shoe polish to paint her storefront windows.When I checked out I asked her husband why she was doing that and he said she was just playing around.I told him I did vinyl signs and we talked about 10 minutes.I sold him 2 2 x 8 signs.I always think of ways to apply it,and it's an easy sell.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

It was the same for me. I was in the upholstery business for years but health problems forced me to make a change. My brother has a concession business and had just ordered $1000 worth of banners and I thought...hey I can do this. A week later I had a plotter (he paid for it,in exchange for a years worth of banners).

I used to make good money upholstering and refinishing furniture but breathing problems associated with a rare neuro-muscular disease made it impossible for me to breathe the cotton dust from the furniture or the fumes from the paint strippers.

But at age 51,I had finally found something that I was good at and really enjoyed doing. And the best part of all is talking with you guys (and gals) on here who do the same thing.

[coeds 0]

Nice job! I 'm just starting out. I have done embroidery and transfer(plastisol and  inkjet) for 12+ years. I hope to do a banner for myself soon. I'm still trying to find suppliers. Best wishes ...JB

[Guest fivestar]

coeds, first off here is the friendliest guy your meet for vinyl, Fred. http://www.cvsignsupplies.com/  you can go to this site and sign up www.signforums.com and there is all kinds of post about vendors and such.  It has the same feeling as t-shirtforums except a little older crowd I believe.  Definitely worth signing up though. 

Now that second thing, where do you get your plasticol from and how expensive is it?  Does it really look as good as screen printing? 

Oh back on topic, very good again bannerjohn...