Pricing Help

[Joe Kace]

Hello everyone,

I have received an order for 650 signs ( plastic labels ) 15" x 8''. I know what my costs are but was wondering what other people would charge for a job like this. I want to be fair but also make a solid profit. Any advice would be great since this is my biggest job to date.

Thanks to all who reply

Joe

[Mike Null]

Joe

A few more details are necessary to be able to help you out.

[Joe Kace]

What details do you need Mike??

[Joe Kace]

15'' x 8" White / Black lettering, 2 lines at 3" high letters, sticky tape completely covered back, each one takes 10 min to run and I could do 60 a day. Is there anything else I should add??

[Mark Conde]

How thick and what type of plastic?

Can you share a pic of a sample?

[Joe Kace]

IPI Laserables Indoor .058

[Mike Null]

Joe

I'm normally at about $ .40 per sq inch for wholesale customers but I think you'll have to be much lower for this one. Maybe as low as $ .20 per square inch.

There is an IPI lower price material called primary plus. It's about 25% lower than the next IPI variety. That's through Johnson Plastics.

I'm wondering if vinyl might not be a better and more economical way to go.

[Joe Kace]

When you say Vinyl, do you mean cut out numbers and letters in Vinyl?

[Mike Null]

Yes, for this job you could pay for a very nice vinyl cutter and still make a nice profit.

[Joe Kace]

Very interesting Mike, thanks for the input. I will check with the customer and see what they think. What is a good brand of cutter?

[Rodne Gold]

With vinyl there is another advantage , the white material can be something like cheap ABS rather than the very much more expensive laserable twin colour material.

[Joe Kace]

Just found out it has to be just like the sample. They will not allow vinyl lettering, they want it as a sign. So with that, does $22.00 a sign seem unreasonable?

[Mike Null]

I'd take that deal. I'm assuming they're going to give you a file that you can copy and paste or import or print merge. Material will be about $1600 with tape and cleaning stuff and your sale will be $14,300.00.

When I get deals like that I always find a piece of equipment I "must" have. For example last year I had such a deal and bought an automatic tape dispenser which has been well worth the money in just time saved.

[Joe Kace]

Mike, I have it at $7.00 x 650 sheets = $4550.00 and the tape is $860.00 (30" per sign) totaling $5410.00 in material alone. These are 15" x 8" signs , I can only get 1 per sheet or am I missing something?

[Gary Hair]

Mike, I have it at $7.00 x 650 sheets = $4550.00 and the tape is $860.00 (30" per sign) totaling $5410.00 in material alone. These are 15" x 8" signs , I can only get 1 per sheet or am I missing something?

I buy rowmark by the sheet, 24" x 48" for about $48 each. For the quantity you need you should be able to get it for way less than that - at $48/sheet it's only $5.33 per sign or about $3,500 for 72 sheets. I would go direct to Rowmark and get pricing for that quantity. In fact, I would ask Rowmark to price out the signs pre-cut to your size then all you have to do is laser the letters. With the economy the way it is I'd bet they would make it worth your while to cut them for you. With a little creativity you could save yourself quite a bit of money and time. You also need to look at the various ways you can gang up the signs for the best throughput, a minute or two per sign will add up fast! $22.00 per sign seems reasonable to me but then I could make 4 at a time in my laser, maybe 6 if I could get the layout to fit within 20" of vertical space. If you can at least get two side by side you'll find that it won't take twice as long to do two as it is to do one, it will probably be only 50% longer. Take some time up front to maximize your layout and get it as efficient as possible.

Good luck!

Gary

[Joe Kace]

I asked my vendor if they could get the sheets 24" x 18" and they said no 24" x 12" only. So have to base my price on that, wish I had your table space. I sent out the quote, I have been working with this company for 11yrs now and have a firm relationship I'll see what happens. Thanks for the advice Gary.

[Rodne Gold]

You need to perhaps source cheaper material or make your own - paint filling white 1.5mm acrylic will be a lot cheaper than twin colour and more durable - it should not cost more than $1.50 a sq ft/sign for 1.5 to2mm acrylic or perhaps find a supplier of cheaper laserable laminate - I import the stuff you would use at about 1/4 the price. ($12 per 48" x 24" piece) and I'm sure there is cheaper in the US than rowmark (and it's just as good) as the co I use supplys the US
If you do use a twin colour laminate , I would also experiment by perhaps running this job a fair amount out of focus and trying to run at 150-200 dpi for much faster processing.

[Mike Null]

Joe

I made a whopper of a mistake in math. But you can still do better than you've calculated.

[Tony Lenkic]

Joe,

My suppliers will apply adhesive backing and cut full sheets in third 16"X24" (they may even cut them 15" X 24" if asked)
If you order them that way it is easy to pop in each one and cut them on your Helix to final size (vertical cut) and you get 3 pieces of 15" x 8"
I also agree 22.00 is very reasonable.

[Mike Null]

Tony is right--I just pm'd you with a name and number.

[Gary Hair]

I asked my vendor if they could get the sheets 24" x 18" and they said no 24" x 12" only.

If it's Rowmark you are using then it comes in 24x48 sheets and your vendor is cutting them to their size. If they are unwilling to provide you with what you need then I would look for a new vendor. I would suggest Johnson Plastics as a start, ask for Kevin Lumberg. He is a sublimation guru but I'll bet he would be happy to help you.

Gary