Sign Price Guide - Worth the money?

Hello folks, I've been doing mostly non-sign laser engraving for the past year but have recently been asked to quote a few outdoor signs. Starting from scratch, I wonder if the SignCraft 2017 Sign Pricing Guide is worth the twenty some bucks they are charging for it. The claim to have insights into current market pricing - "This helpful pricing manual is the result of SignCraft‘s research and surveys of successful sign shops. It covers pricing for everyday sign projects..."

It also appears that they are providing some formulas based on overhead, materials cost, etc., I have no problem figuring out what my break-even point is for any given job (until the "you don't know what you don't know" situation arises) but having insight into market data is appealing and should help with competitive pricing going forward. Has anyone read it? Thoughts on thoroughness and accuracy? Thanks!!

If you subscribe to SignCraft, it comes free every year........

I had a sign business for 16 years, and never used a guide. The problem is that you may be leaving money on the table if you have no competition and a great need, or not get much business at all if you use the guide and have a lot of competition that is cheaper. For speed, I did my own guides in excel and updated them as costs changed, adding for non-standard additional work. For example, sandblasted cedar signs back about 2006 were $100/sf, for one side, one color lettering on a contrasting background. Additional colors were calculated based on paint and time, second side based on first side less wood cost.

Joe, I don't use the guide either.
I started out pricing sandblasted signs that way myself, but people kept making their signs smaller to save $$$. So, I stared doing a base price + sq'. One price for "with detailed artwork", & one for "with lettering only or silhoutte/ very little detail". This has served me well.
I'm in the middle of nowhere, so rarely do I lose a job to a competitor.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe Pelonio

I had a sign business for 16 years, and never used a guide. The problem is that you may be leaving money on the table if you have no competition and a great need, or not get much business at all if you use the guide and have a lot of competition that is cheaper. For speed, I did my own guides in excel and updated them as costs changed, adding for non-standard additional work. For example, sandblasted cedar signs back about 2006 were $100/sf, for one side, one color lettering on a contrasting background. Additional colors were calculated based on paint and time, second side based on first side less wood cost.

---

2006 is not 2017. The internet has made the world a lot smaller and while obviously the internet was very popular in 2006, not everyone walked around with a mini computer in their front pocket connected to the internet 24/7.