How do you price up jobs,How do some people make a profit?

[John Harding]

Mark

Nothing wrong with your price its a numbers game you cant win em all, there will always be someone cheaper no matter what, question is will they still be in business next year, you just need enough quotes going out so that some are accepted!

John

[Lynn Normington]

Mark I think you need to look at your suppliers prices £35.00 is dear for 3mm fomex.

Lynn

[David Rogers]

Hi Mark

I recon it would cost me in materials alone about £15 to make the 4×4 boards (1/2 sheet PVC & 1.5m vinyl VINYL) & maybe half an hour wages on top of that.

I would if it was simple with no real design elements (straight text) stick it out at about £60, and only your £85 if it was complex. Often (to stay in business) it’s not what you want for it, it’s how much is it worth to somebody else.

eg. an 8×4 (£20ish) in 5mm foamex I can sell (here) for between £100 (eg. board with SALE in red) & £250 (for logo work & flood coated)depending on what’s on it. If I can turn £30 of materials into £100 for half an hours work I will – conversly if it takes me 3 hours and £40 of materials then it’s up near the £250 mark.

And yes, these prices might seem quite ‘keen’, but I lose quotes frequently with these, I’ve seen 8×4’s going out at £50 in Dundee! They looked totally (oops! I couldv’e swore!) – and the customer got exactly what they paid for – not necessarily what they wanted….

Dave

ps.

quote Lynn:

Mark I think you need to look at your suppliers prices £35.00 is dear for 3mm fomex.

I know – I can almost get an 8×4 10mm PVC for that price!

[Hugh Potter]

the supplier i use for foamex has two boards, one cheap, and the other a premium brand, i only recently found out about the cheaper one from the driver,

anyway,

as a rule of thumb, i add 50% to the boad price, a 1/2 board is two thirds of that price, and a 1/4 is two thirds of that again,

ie, an 10×5 £90. 5×5 £60, 2×5 £40, makes it easier to remember and make a price list, you can always discount if you feel it’s too expensive, but never give your work away, we’ve all done it, and probably still do it from time to time, it’s hard to not be tempted to do it for the work, but you need to try and be strict with yourself !

vinyl i just x10,

so 651 for eg is £12 per linear mtr for 610,
751 is about £25 per linear metre,

that then will usually cover my time, any delivery cost, and allow few hours fitting etc, adjustments can be made when you see the final quote infront of you, if it looks cheap, then it probably is, add some, if it looks too expensive, then check it, and maybe offer a discount if you think you need to,

so ultimately a 10×5 with 3 colouts totalling 10mts would be £210.
i often have work which might only be 5 lines of text on three sides of a van, no logo’s etc, and using about 8mtr of vinyl in one or two colours (the usual builders hack), so £96, but, £96 seems a little cheap to be spending an hour on design, and a couple of hours fitting, prob another hour on phone calls / a meeting / email. so i generally have a minimum price of £122.50 for the most basic van !!.

how you adjust your own prices will depend on your area, and your customer base, builders for eg, always love a discount, so add 15% and give that price, tell em you’ll do 10% off that and you can fit it in next week, 9/10 you’ll get the work !

no doubt i’ll be told my methods are way off by some, and i’d appreciate any coment, but it works for me for the most part.

Hugh

[M Brown]

£55 sounds smack on to me. its only 3mm foamex. A sheet on 3mm foam i’ve been offered foam £7 a sheet when bought in a 10 sheet deal

[Pryam Carter]

quote :

eg. an 8×4 (£20ish) in 5mm foamex I can sell (here) for between £100 (eg. board with SALE in red) & £250 (for logo work & flood coated)depending on what’s on it.

I could do with some of that £250 down here!!!!!!!!!!! Wowsers!!!

I can get 5mm foam for £14 – £15 a sheet, it’s the cheaper stuff thats now on the market. I was offered a 20 sheet deal at Xmas time for £10.50 a sheet. I’ve been told that the properties of these boards are no where near the same as Correx (top brands) and they will eventually let the elements soak into them. This affects the life span of the product when used outside and may crack in places. You don’t want the customer coming back to you un-happy. However for short term graphics and internal stuff they are great at that price. 😀

[David Rogers]

quote billywifta:

I can get 5mm foam for £14 – £15 a sheet, it’s the cheaper stuff thats now on the market. I was offered a 20 sheet deal at Xmas time for £10.50 a sheet.

I know – I’ve been offered similar prices. It’s like the story of buying cheap vinyl – if your margins for making a profit out of an 8×4 board depend on whether it costs you £15 or £20 a piece then something is wrong!!

Having the cheap crappy stuff isn’t worth the hassle of any possible complaints – for an extra £5 I’d rather KNOW it will be OK rather than just hope it’ll be OK. eg. Vehicle liveries – customer has lease van for 2 years, do you give him 3yr vinyl or 5yr+. I want him back in two years time saying it looks as good as the day it went on, not – "well a couple of the letters have started peeling".

Just my opinion. But my repeat business comes from recommendations & quality of service & materials, not being £5 cheaper than the other guys.

quote :

I could do with some of that £250 down here!!!!!!!!!!! Wowsers!!!

Yeh, corporate advertising for shopping complex. Replicating the retailers outlet logos can vary from £150 to £250 – and I’m definately NOT the cheapest company, just the one they prefer to use. They get what they want, when they want it, for a price they are prepared to pay.

Dave

[Robert Lambie]

quick guess, but i would estomate materials would cost a uksg member under £10 and thats using a cast vinyl. for a simple sign with a few lines of text… from design to handing it over 30 minutes labour… costing customer £50-60’ish

that said, i would not sell a sign at this size using 3mm foamex. infact, its not often we use the material at all…