Estimating Plotted vinyl – how do you price up jobs?

[Gil Johnson]

Hi David,

Yes, always found this a difficult area.

Depends on the vinyl, we generally use Avery 777 and price this at approx £25 – £30psm inc weeding and app tape, but ultimately depends on complexity of design and total meterage on the job. Then factor in the usual labour costs for applying etc.

Seems to work out most of the time, but now and again you get a ‘that’s cheaper than I expected’ or a ‘wtf is that including gold plating it!!’

Would also like to know what others on the boards think….

[Martin Pearson]

I use to charge by the linear metre rather than square metre because I generally stocked 610 wide material, well 630 actually as I used oracal.
Seemed to work ok for me but I also kept a close eye on what the competition was charging.
Your always going to get some customers who tell you it’s cheaper than they thought it would be & those that try to tell you your ripping them off basically because I think the general public at large haven’t really got a clue what it should be costing them.
I pretty much positioned myself some where in the middle between the most expensive Companies & the cheapest ones.

[Stephen Morriss]

We charge by the linear meter + time, the meter rate includes app tape.

We also get comments on price but that vary from "thats cheap" through to "how much?!"

Steve

[Hugh Potter]

I do the same.. good quality vinyls (usually oracle) and base it on around £xx per linear mtr including weeding and tape, I add a 50% surcharge for small (10mm text, menu style) and 100% for ridiculously small – usually in the hope they’ll takie the job to the local competition who likes to undercut me! obviously reflective and specialty vinyls are more expensive.

I charge an hourly rate for everything else, it’s the same regardless of whether I’m designing or washing a customers van! I’ve been told I’m too cheap, I’ve also had people laugh and go to mr undercut along the road!

Hugh

if you want to know what I charge just drop me an email, I’m ot sure if this is an oppen forum so won’t post prices.

[Simon Worrall]

$100 nz per linear meter (Oracal 751, 1260) cut weeded and taped.
It takes too long to work it out the long way, and it averages out.
Incidentally, why do we always have to give a quote for our work?
Sparkies can just get on with it and present the bill at the end, and nobody seems to question it. 😕