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Thoughts on the Metamark price increase please?
Anyone else shocked at the recent price increases by Metamark. Quite a hefty rise, may have to trial other products.
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17 Replies
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What – 3.5% hefty?
On a roll of say, MD3 that’s about £3.
Split that over the 50m – that’s 6p a metre.
Customers average job…3m at £50/m…add 20p to his bill and you’re covered, 40p if it’s laminated.
Yes it’s noticeable when you place the order for several items at a time – but surely not enough to go looking for alternatives if you’re basically happy with the product.
Dave
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3.5% quite reasonable… we just had 5-7% from our paper merchant.
Pass it on to your customer, as Dave says, 6p a meter :yikes:
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Hi Dave
We must be paying different prices then, who’s your supplier?
I was paying £175 for a 1370 roll of MD5, price I got yesterday was now £210.00
MD3 up by about £10 and MD3A by £12
Laminate similarly -
It would also be useful to know what other members charge out at.
I tend to work on £35/M for MD3
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I suppose it all depends on volume you’re using, but I’ve found their pricing to usually be on par with others, perhaps a little more expensive, but it’s worth paying for the quality.
As for what we charge, we let Clarity work that out, as it will vary depending on everyone’s overheads etc.
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Like most other people we don’t discuss our agreed rates with our suppliers as frequently it causes MUCH offence when they get calls from people that so and so only pays this much..etc. etc.
Say you’ve had a 5% increase from a supplier and they’ve not put prices up for 3 years…take it on the chin – if they can’t make money they’ll go out of business just like we will.
Whenever possible – deal direct with the manufacturer…if you see a name stamped on it or a part code…search online and see if you end up ‘at source’.
Haggle hard and be VERY loyal. Loyalty is rewarded in price & service…and be honest about what deals you have with other companies when a new rep is trying to get you on board….I’ve had occasions when I was buying media for the same price the distributor was (same source).
DAve
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I second what David Rogers says above.
Its your job to negotiate prices and get the best possible deal for your business based on how you pay and the volumes you use. Prices will rise, oil is going up (amongst other things).
I also believe that you should never tell anyone what you pay, suppliers need to protect the value of their brand, discussing prices will make your supplier wary of your integrity and break down trust. Without trust your b*****ed.
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I think every major vinyl supplier increases their prices each year. I know ours do from January to March each year. Some more than others, but still…
As has been said, negotiating your buying prices is something you should do based on the volume of your spend.
i.e. If i spend £100 per month with a supplier and you spend £10,000 with same supplier, i am sure i will gain far less discounts from them than you would.
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Everything else in the economy goes up so why shouldn’t our suppliers?
In the grand scheme of things as has been said, spread across 50 meters it’s negligible. Without causing offence, if a couple of percent increase causes worry then your probably charging too cheap.Taking a side step away from the original topic regarding broadcasting prices from suppliers… What’s everyone’s thoughts on metamark having the supply prices readily available on the website? Albeit slightly inflated.
I ask as I had a customer query the cost of his van during the week as he had priced the material and couldn’t justify our price. My outlook is that as much as it may be handy for some people but surely it should be a members only thing or is it really required when we all have a rep/cs agent we deal with?
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quote David McCarroll:Taking a side step away from the original topic regarding broadcasting prices from suppliers… What’s everyone’s thoughts on metamark having the supply prices readily available on the website? Albeit slightly inflated.
I ask as I had a customer query the cost of his van during the week as he had priced the material and couldn’t justify our price. My outlook is that as much as it may be handy for some people but surely it should be a members only thing or is it really required when we all have a rep/cs agent we deal with?
I couldn’t agree more but they certainly are not the only ones doing it!
I recently posted on 3M’s Facebook page about 3M selling vehicle wrapping kits direct to the public, whilst belittling the skill set needed to do the job properly. yes more expensive than what we pay but that is irrelevant, they are now targeting our potential customers! -
quote David McCarroll:Everything else in the economy goes up so why shouldn’t our suppliers?
In the grand scheme of things as has been said, spread across 50 meters it’s negligible. Without causing offence, if a couple of percent increase causes worry then your probably charging too cheap.Taking a side step away from the original topic regarding broadcasting prices from suppliers… What’s everyone’s thoughts on metamark having the supply prices readily available on the website? Albeit slightly inflated.
I ask as I had a customer query the cost of his van during the week as he had priced the material and couldn’t justify our price. My outlook is that as much as it may be handy for some people but surely it should be a members only thing or is it really required when we all have a rep/cs agent we deal with?
It annoys me when people do this, as they don’t factor in machinery costs, ink, wages, expertise, overheads, transport etc.
They seem to think the material is the bulk of the cost. Doh. -
There is another supplier whos prices are readily available online. They sell to the trade and public with no seperate prices for either
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quote Jamie Wood:It annoys me when people do this, as they don’t factor in machinery costs, ink, wages, expertise, overheads, transport etc.
They seem to think the material is the bulk of the cost. Doh.Me too, had a long drawn out £300 job a few months ago – customer telling me they can get the same vinyl on ebay for £5 a mtr. eventually i told them £5 a mtr for 630wide oracle is too much to be paying, however, if they can design, cut, weed and apply it themselves it’s a better deal that I’m offering, if they cannot design, cut, weed and apply it themselves without spending a couple of grand of very basic kit, then it makes my £20 pm rate pretty damned good.
To the original poster… I would say £35 per square mtr is too low for a retail price, with the time and effort you put into creating that square mtre of print, you’d make nothing if you needed to reprint it for any reason.. most sign makers I know retail between £50-70 per square mtr for digital print, the higher rate being low qty (allows for waste on very short jobs), the lower rate on longer runs, you can of course charge what you like but I’d rather bring the price down a bit to win a job and give the customer the impression of a better deal, than start too cheap.
Hugh
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I do the same Hugh, explain the investment we’ve made (and continue to make), along with explain to them how easy it is to make a mistake in production ruining hours of work, meters of material, it happens to us all… and if it’s not accounted for, you need to make that money up somewhere.
I thought hugh’s £50-70 per Sq/M sounded a bit high, but just checked a job we did yesterday for a customer at we’re smack in the middle :thumbup2:
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sorry to take away from the original post, maybe i should brush up on my customer care skills,
but when someone says oh i can get vinyl on ebay or i know how much you can buy that for , your too expensive.
they get asked if they can do it so cheap why are they asking me to do it, i recently had it as MDP website displays all prices. the comment regarded the price of the vinyl, i told him, did u bother to look and see how much they sell the plotter, tools, application tape, impact software, computer software, a computer to run it all.
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Hi Dave
A couple of percent doesn’t bother me, but 175 to 210 is 20% which is a large increase in one go. Which is why I had a double take when we were advised on the new cost, I thought they had quoted me the price including VAT.
Thanks all the comments.
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I think you get the lower price if you buy the laminate as well
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