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Basic cutting of vinyl pricing – lettering etc
Hi Gang
Sorry to post one of these questions, I have used the ole search button.
I am relatively new to printing etc (my main thing is airbrushing and supplies etc) and would really appreciate some help.
With printing banners, decals, laminating etc I have a basic per sq meter pricing I use so no major problem there. 🙂
Thing is I have just been asked to cut some flowers and lettering for a van. Single color vinyl. They are applying the vinyl themselves. (I will pre apply transfer tape)
To give you an idea it is..flowers 4 x 17" around, 3 x 10", 3 x 7", 1 x 14"
lettering 2 x 48"long by 6" high, 1 x 26" by 4"
So I am just supplying and cutting the vinyl on my cutter. Should I still use a per sq meter cost or linear cost or…?
I am just not sure what to charge. I know it is all down to my local custom/prices/what people are willing to pay, my situation etc but is there any relative cost I should be looking at?Just not sure what I should charge for basic plotter related services…
😕Many thanks in advance,
Jon
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13 Replies
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I still do it per sq metre but reduce the cost by around 20%.
Of course the psm charge varies on the complexity. -
Hi Peter
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Does anybody else here work on the same sort way of pricing?
Regards,
Jon
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Just did the numbers and going on your reduction percentage it would work out to £60
I know everyones prices vary with area and clientel etc but does sound like a decent ballpark figure to you guys? -
For vinyl I charge by the linear metre. Normally at 610mm wide as that’s what I stock most of. This is just for basic lettering, if I have extra work to do like vectorising a logo I will add extra for the arkwork time, if it’s very small text say for a menu board I will add an extra charge for the extra time weeding takes.
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as others have said work out your linear meterage lets say for arguments sake its 4m @ 610 wide work out your costs for vinyl and app tape etc lets say £6 p/lm then work out your hourly rate again lets pretend £10 p/hour (it should be more than that in reality) mutiply your meterage and hours out and add togethr for a basic cost to do the work then add a factor for profit say x 1.5 or whatever you calculate to cover your overheads and build your business.
Example 4 lm x £6 + 2hrs @ £10 x 1.5 = £66 (plus VAT if registered) or account for vat in first figure
Use this basic formula for everything you do
John 😀
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For 4 linear metres I would charge at least double the £66 cost price mentioned including fitting.
4 linear metres equates to 2.44 square meters. Typical quality 5-7 year vinyl costs around £2.20 + app tape.
I prefer per sq meter pricing as it’s easier to do a quick reckoning and is more the norm for pricing area type jobs.
For instance average £55psm fitted vinyl text. Customer asks how much for a sign 1200 x 600mm = 0.72 sqm x £55 = £39.60. Then imagine the sign and guestimate how much of the sign is clear (no text) and reduce by that percentage.
For example, text covers about 60% so reduce price by 40% = £23.76.
This would give the fitted vinyl cost only for large easy to weed text.
Do the same for the substrate; have a price per square metre and it’s then very simple to put together a price for the whole sign. -
Peter for printed graphics I charge by the sq metre because that is how I am charged when I buy them in but for cut vinyl I actually find it easier to charge per linear metre @ 610mm wide because that is the width of most of the vinyl stock I carry. I tend not to do off the top of my head quotes anyway so works well for me.
The price John mentioned as an example was for supply only, if I was fitting then I would apply a fitting charge. -
quote :For 4 linear metres I would charge at least double the £66 cost price mentioned including fitting.
4 linear metres equates to 2.44 square meters. Typical quality 5-7 year vinyl costs around £2.20 + app tape.
I prefer per sq meter pricing as it’s easier to do a quick reckoning and is more the norm for pricing area type jobs.
For instance average £55psm fitted vinyl text. Customer asks how much for a sign 1200 x 600mm = 0.72 sqm x £55 = £39.60. Then imagine the sign and guestimate how much of the sign is clear (no text) and reduce by that percentage.
For example, text covers about 60% so reduce price by 40% = £23.76.
This would give the fitted vinyl cost only for large easy to weed text.
Do the same for the substrate; have a price per square metre and it’s then very simple to put together a price for the whole sign.Hi Peter
The figures were for example only for how to arrive at a price im not suggesting this is an accurate cost for this job, which is btw supply only no fitting.
It would be up to Jon to work out his true costs and insert in the example.
Also I disagree on the square meter method if you have a sign 3m x 1m = 3 sq m but only a 610 cutter you will use 6 linear meters so better to price to your particular machine, it doesnt take much on site or over the phone to quickly divide the sign depth by the width of your cutter for an estimate of actual material usage
John 😀
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Thank you guys, I appreciate everyones input/reasoning etc.
As mentioned this is my first cut vinyl only job and is for a friend of the family. I ran them through the workings mentioned giving a total of £62. They were more than happy with that and said they were prepared to pay anything upto £100.
Cough cough, of course that price is not including VAT and beer money I continued to add.. haha.I figure the vinyl and app tape are around £12 from the place I would go to currently ( on a side note, feel free to recommend decent places to get standard signmaking vinyl from) and as stated the work shouldn’t take more than around an hour or so. So I think that is reasonable and the customer is happy so all is good.
They are fairly ‘tight’ so hearing they were pleased with the price gives me confidence in knowing my pricing will not be overpriced for the most part and is a decent starting point to base my pricing guides on.
Many Thanks!!!
Jon
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Vinyl prices obviously vary a lot depending on what brand and series film you are using. If you have downloaded & installed the sign toolbar then you shouldn’t be short of suppliers to call & check prices.
What brand vinyl & application tape you use is a personal preference for most people so once you have found one you like & can work well with then you are best to stick with it if you can. Saving a few pence a metre on vinyl that then takes you twice as long to weed, tape & apply is obviously a false economy.I try to opt for what I know is a decent quality vinyl because I know there will be no come backs with it.
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Hey Martin
Ah, I shall have a look for the vinyl toolbar (I assume it is on the forum/site somewhere)
I agree, a minuscule saving on materials is nothing compared to a manufacturers backing and the knowledge it isn’t going to mess up halfway through a job etc.
Being new to all of this I have tried to stick to more the mainstream brands as on a whole they tend to work better.
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The toolbar lists suppliers for just about everything you will need.
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … r+download
If this is all new to you your best bet might be to contact some of the suppliers and get some samples of different vinyls so you can get a feel for what suits you best.
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Cool, thank you for that Martin
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