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  • lost a qoute today

    Posted by Dennis Van Der Lingen on 21 June 2006 at 19:55

    now this one is beyond me.
    a guy mailed me this evening asking if i could provide a qoute for the folowing:

    20 stickers
    size: 1m² (one square yard) 1m x 1m
    full cour highresolution
    laminated
    contourcut
    material to print on: one-way vision (never contour cut that one)
    -time scale and delivery place: they needed to be done tommorow evening so they can be sent to ":o"Africa":o" ,
    -deadline whas: arrival at destination on 27/06/2006

    since i’m always looking to cover new grounds i thought i’de give them a price witch would ensure the order.

    i qouted them: 739,34 euros + tax (4 or 500 pounds i think)
    price included everything, from printing to packing an delivery at destination by ups

    15 minutes after i recieved the mail (saw it coming in) i called the guy on the phone and gave him my proposition with the garantuee the order would be there on monday the 26th (arranged this with ups to make a good impression), the only catch (and i don’t think it whas one) he had to agree with me on the price at that moment i said it.

    told him and he whas semi positive about it but whas on a pressure scale so i thought i had the job for sure (good price, quality materials used and a garantue i would make the deadline)

    at that moment he recived another mail.
    he said he just gotten a mail that gave his preference.
    being a dutchman at heart i assertively asked what the price whas so i could make him a counter offer.

    he told me the price whas 320 euro’s + tax shipping included

    starting to get a gut feeling that the guy is not normal and i would have to hunt him down to get my money i pulled pack and choose the safe route and i politely replied that my offer whas a realistic one and that with quality (wich he demanded to begin with in the enquery) there is no way i could do it for that price and i suggested he should take the winning quote and we’ll leave it at that

    it’s like the time i lost the quote to make a bunch of euromillions t-shirts (white shirt, 4 colours chestprint)
    i was notified i did not get the order and that the winning bid whas 1,25 euro + tax per shirt

    i know ther is a "war of the prices" going on in the land of signmaking but this is rediculous.

    have any of you had this happen to you?

    ps: on the plus side i won the qoute today to make some merchandising for "beyond the moon": banners, t-shirts, labels, displays. wich will be distributed to Belgium, The netherlands, germany, france and of course the UK 🙂

    not all bad news but really baffeled (hope i spelled this right) after these encounters (of the third kind) 🙂

    Shane Drew replied 19 years, 6 months ago 7 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • Jill Marie Welsh

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 20:09

    I once bid on a fleet of cement trucks. The barrels would have to be painted and the doors had stickers.
    I came in at $650 each plus a one-time set-up fee of $100 for replicating their artwork.
    I was outbid by someone who did them for $175 each!
    That didn’t even cover the materials!
    I feel your pain.
    Bear in mind that you can’t miss what you never had, and that he sounded like a weirdo anyway.
    love…..Jill

  • Marcella Ross

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 20:43

    no fool like a busy fool!

    I had a guy call me and ask about replacing all the logos and striping to a caravan. The logos I would have to redraw them as no artwork was available. Anyway, he thought that £50 would cover it….. including stripping all the old stuff off and cleaning his caravan first……… 😕

    Needless to say I didn’t do the job. 😀

  • Mike Grant

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 20:58

    Thats an everyday occurance in my world. Stick to your guns every time. Sometimes you have to call their bluff. You are in business to make money and dont forget that fact. Work to live, not live to work.

    I seem to be getting fewer and fewer jobs nowadays but I would rather go bankrupt through no work, rather than working my butt of for nothing.

  • Dennis Van Der Lingen

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 21:21

    i can only hope that the financial breathe of the company’s dump prices will reach an end so that there will come a day that they heve to raise their prices to pay for everything they used their piggy bank for because they weren’t making any money the last few years .

    making no money can’t last forever, it’s just a matter of time, i hope

  • Hugh Potter

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 21:26

    i’ve actually had several jobs where the customer has come back to me after telling me i was a big amount over his next quote, the last time it happened, on a £260 job, he reckoned i was double the price, i told him to go for it and three weeks later i was doing the van on site in hastings !

    i prefer to just call the bluff if the difference is more than a sensible discount away, it’s cost me work, but i dont want to be known for cheap, most of my repeat work is based on quality of work, efficiency and customer service, and that suits me !

  • Lynn Normington

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 21:57

    wev’e had that since we started used to fall for it a bit don’t even entertain it anymore " if you have been quoted less go there "

    Lynn

  • Shane Drew

    Member
    21 June 2006 at 22:29

    I quoted on the signing the cranes holding the TV cameras at the Gold Coast Indy some years back. Signage was extensive and had to be done during the night.

    Got beaten by an unemployed sign guy who did it for a couple of cases of beer, and some cash.

    You get this all the time here. Even backpackers on a working holiday 😮

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