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Quote help please – cutting & taping 40m vinyl?
Hi,
I’ve just been asked to quote on cutting and taping up approx. 40M of vinyl with the client
supplying all the materials and them applying. The job is all text over 150mm tall and artwork is supplied
pretty much ready to go.
I know for a fact they use a lot of cut vinyl and the chance of regular work is very high
but I’m really not sure how to price this one, having done next to no trade work in the past.
Anyone any formulas, suggestions I could work with given my hourly rate comes in at the
£25/hour mark.Thanks, Peter
PS I have a price in mind, but I’d like to compare it against those suggested before posting it.
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12 Replies
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Anyone?
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Ok I am probably gonna be of no help cuz I don’t know metric.
I can’t even find a yardstick with metric on one side laying around!
But I am gonna pretend that you are talking about 12″ letters.
This is outta the signwriter’s priicing guide:
Minimum charge: $33
Pre-spaced, ready-to-install block letters:
12-18″ letter is $10.80 each in cast vinyl.
He is providing the materials & etc but it is still your time and talent.
So I think, for a run like that, I would charge an hourly rate as you suggested. Sorry I can’t be of any use!
I worry if like mine, your plotter decides that it really likes the taste of the client’s vinyl.
Love….Jill -
hey bud,
if it were me, and i don’t know what kind of set up you have i would guesstimate the amount of time it takes to cut / strip / lay-up and charge it at you regular hourly rate. Don’t forget if your cutting with only one cutter you cant really cut any other jobs in the mean time.
I do a bit of trade work every now and then and some times its a doddle, so my advice is don’t leave yourself short on price with the slight hope of regular work from your client.
hope this is some help
roffs
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Hi there, thanks for the feedback. I estimate about 8hours to do all this, so I’ll probably go for £200 plus a mark up of about 50%. So the cost’ll be coming it at around £300 (just under).
Does that sound about right or is 50% greedy?
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Suppose the price you give will depend pretty much on how busy you are and how quick they want the turn around?
I’m with Roffs too, dont leave yrself short on Price just for the promise of more work – i used to get caught out all the time like that especially when first starting out.
You’d get a customer saying….do us a good price on this and i’ll put all my work yr way….and they are never to be seen again no matter how good a job you did for them.
No, 50% is not too greedy….once you got a price in yr head, stick with it, after all you dont conjure up that figure for no reason, its what you feel your time and expertise is worth.
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if you have the time/spare day to do it, £250-£300 is a good shift for having zero overheads. i recon ide go for £30 an hour and keep it at that if you gonna get roughly 8 hours work… thats maybe just me though 😀
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I think take into account font used ie:- easy weed hard weed and base it on time if it’s all the same colour even easier and less time consuming chaning rolls etc.
Lynn (not Peter)
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Hi all,
thanks for the input, I’ll probably stick with the price as above and see where we go from there. Watch this space 🙂 -
I think 50% is too greedy. After all your profit margin should already be built in to your hourly rate. In effect you are now charging £37.50 per hour. If that is what you need/want then fair enough but I don’t think that you will get much trade/voloume work at that level.
At the end of the day it is all down to time, and that is what you have to get right. Experience helps so take on this job at a fair rate and when you do it make a note of the time it actually takes so that if you have got it wrong then you can make adjustments next time and become better at estimating.
Good luck.
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Anyone ever tried getting a plumber or an Electrician etc for £25.00 per hour?.
Ever looked at the bill for servicing your car? £50 – £60 per hour.
Is this industry so over-populated that £25.00 is all we can aspire to achieve?.
£25.00 is too cheap.
£25.00 per hour won`t see you through those quiet days/weeks.
When this Labour government has had it`s share of tax, the de-preciation on your van, wear and tear on your plotter and consumables takes a bite, that £25.00 per hour is no-where near enough to maintain a growing business, never mind trying to expand it.
If a plumber can get £50.00 per hour for shovelling shite, why can`t a vinyl fitter get £40.00?.
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Very good point there McRod…
Simon
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McRod…
An interesting point. I think the difference is that if you pick up the phone it is difficult to find a plumber or an electrician at any price. On the other hand, look for a sign and you will have to beat them off with a big stick as everybody on this board, and many that aren’t, compete with each other and try to win the business.
Competition and its causes is something we have spoken about on other threads but bear in mind that, whether we like it or not, a newcomer can start signmaking at home for about a thousand quid with no training or experience. On the other hand if you try to open a garage, with even an obscure franchise, then you are talking well in excess of seven figures.
Here’s another thought. To employ a good fitter costs me somewhere in the £15 an hour region when all the expenses are taken into consideration. If I can charge him out at £25 then that is £400 per week I can make out of him without me even having to lift a squeegee. I can live with that. The point is that all my overheads are being met from current business so any extra profit goes straight to the bottom line. I will take on all the £25 per hour work I can get.
Much depends on who exactly is going to do the work. I personally will not turn out for four hours on a Saturday morning to do a three hundred pound job which will net me about £50 after all expenses and 40 % tax etc are paid as I consider my weekends are too valuable. On the other hand, if an employee wants to come in and do the same job and leave me with the same amount for doing nothing then I am all for it.
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