Pricing Jobs – Increased material costs by suppliers. Views and opinions please?

[Jeff]

Good topic. this is where i am at the moment also. I have made my mind up that my prices must go up but how best to do it is the question???

I have also been told there are future increases coming and the shortage of some products may hike prices further. I mean WTF!?

[David Hammond]

I don’t intend to ever be the cheapest, and we charge a fair price for what we do.

To some extent we can absorb some of the increases for recurring customers, and have an annual increase for them. New customers get the new price.

[Jeff]

I agree David but these increases are not just vinyl but all sorts of products we use daily and they add up fast. i cannot swallow the costs any longer and as karen says, everyone is doing stuff for beer money which is getting worse due to covid.
i may be able to pass the prices to long term customers as i am sure they will understand. but general enquiries and the passing trade base everything on saving a penny. the argument here maybe “do we want that business anyway?” normally my answer would be no! but these days i would rather take as much as i can get my hands on to pay the bills and i can become picky again next year when things cool down.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Karen,

Keep to the margins that sustain your business even if it means price increases, anything less is commercial suicide

At present distributers are being hit hard by manufacturers price increases due to Covid restrictions, a shortage of raw material especially pvc polymer and add to this transport and import issues.

Oil based products have been the hardest hit, which means big price movements on

Self adhesive pvc, Foam PVC, inks etc. Other plastics like Polypropylene that are not oil based have still been impacted but not as heavily

Hopefully these increases may force our industry to look at the pvc alternatives, as pvc waste can last upto 800 years and the “C” in pvc poisons the earth if it’s sent to landfill

I predict that non pvc products will become more popular very quickly and aligning the correct products that suite the project Will be essential e.g if a customer requires an internal print or short term out door print / graphic, instead of the usual Foam PVC there are now paper based alternatives including water resistant out door and some of these products show a cost saving

And polypropylene based self adhesive products replacing the usual monomeric/ polymeric pvc we have at present

Take a look here to see what work we’ve been putting into looking for pvc alternatives

https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/ysRJCq2rzi1nx1tZ6MBZ?domain=vimeo.com

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Simon Worrall]

The chances are your customers have ALREADY put up their prices for whatever it is they do, and they are expecting to take a hit from you too. Dont be shy, just follow suit.

[RobertLambie]

My view of anything that we sell is “a well designed, quality constructed product at an affordable price”.
I am not interested in selling based on price because what may be profitable for someone, is not profitable for me! I focus on what we are good at and can turn around quickly.

Like everyone, I am aware of the price increases and the shortages of certain products and We are adjusting our prices accordingly but also looking at what we stock. We have spent the whole covid period bleeding out stock we seldom use and reevaluating how we will do this in future. It’s amazing how much crap you accumulate over time.