Vehicle stripping – How much to charge

[Paul Rollason]

Hi John

If the graphics have only been on the vehicle for under six months you should not have too much of a problem removing them

If he is a regular customer and you know you will get work from him in the future then I probably wouldn’t charge him for the removal of something like this.

If in the future you have to strip an entire vehicle that has sunbaked vinyl just charge them your normal hourly rate and charge them by the hour.

paul r

[Cheryl Tissington]

Hi John,
if its going to take you a couple of hours to strip & clean – charge for a couple of hours.

If he’s a good customer and likes your work, he wont be bothered.

It will be his choice to either strip it himself or pay for the service.

But when you tell him about the extra cost, don’t apologise for having to charge for stripping. Just say:-

” if you want me to strip & prepare the vehicle, its going to take a little longer and therefore the extra cost will be £** – when would you like it booked in” ?

He’ll go with it – Never apologize for charging for your time.

All the best,

Cheryl 😀

[Jill Marie Welsh]

I charge minimum $25 an hour for stripping…vehicles, that is.
Most folks are so cheap that they just do it themselves.
A good method is to heat the vinyl with a hair dryer (I think heat guns are too hot)
Use a L’il Chizler to scrape and peel with your fingers.
and clean off any glue residue with Rapid ramover (a Rapid Tac product)
I’ve seen it here that folks use a wallpaper steamer too.
Love….Jill

[David Rowland]

quote Jill Marie Welsh:

I charge minimum $25 an hour for stripping 😀 😀 …vehicles, that is. 😕

[Andy Gorman]

Be wary of customers who offer to strip the graphics themselves. They nearly always pick off the vinyl and leave all the glue behind. I do what Jill does – hair dryer and a plastic scraper to lift the corners, then white spirit to get rid of glue, followed my isopropyl alcohol or meths to degrease. Time depends on how good the vinyl is – a good cast vinyl is obviously more difficult to remove than a calendared one. Heat the bodywork, not the vinyl.

[Jayne Marsh]

As everyone has said, I would charge an hourly rate, some vinyls come off easier than others and its a miserable task at the best of times, one of my pet hates Im afraid. I use a hairdryer and my fingernails :lol1: and sometimes the kids :lol1:

[George Elsmore]

Then the worst nightmare happens 😮 the paint starts to come off as its a dodgy paintjob!!!!!

[Shane Drew]

I usually do what paul suggested.

Only 6 months on, the tape (if it was good quality) should come off pretty easy, I wouldn’t charge for this to do one van if he is a good customer. To do 5 vans tho I would.

An hourly rate is the best option,. as you’d cover yourself for any unforseen dramas.

I always give the client the option of doing it themselves, to save my costs. They nearly always go for that option.

If they do the first van and it is hard, they’ll happily pay you to do the rest – no questions asked. If it is easy, they’ll save you the drama. Make it clear tho as Andy says, that your price includes the remmoval of the glue too, as well as preping the vehicle.

Reather long winded to say ‘charge an hourly rate’ … sorry about that 😳

[John Childs]

I probably wouldn’t charge a good customer for taking the phone numbers off one van, and although I would if I had to do all five, I wouldn’t hit him too hard. After all, what are we looking at? 15 minutes per van?

As mentioned above though, make doubly sure that he is aware that you cannot be responsible for poor paintwork. It will save you a lot of grief if the worst happens.

[John Gregson]

Hi all,
The vinyl’s been on for under 6 month and it was macal 9800 series. (lum Blue).

The first van’s booked in for next week, i’ll give him a guestimate and if alls well i’ll base the other 4 vans on that.

Once again thanks for taking time to help out a newbie.

Cheers John

[Andy Gorman]

Mactac 9800 is pretty straight forward to remove, you shouldn’t have any problems.

[John Gregson]

Cheers Andy,
i’ll post next week with an update if I can still use my fingers to type.
John

[Stephen Morriss]

quote Andy Gorman:

Mactac 9800 is pretty straight forward to remove, you shouldn’t have any problems.

You coming up here to give me a hand then Andy 😀 It’s Mactac 9800….

Just got to strip a bus of the old sign writing and the paints coming off, crap paint job and it’s poly 383 so it goes soft when you heat it up.

So far done 3 letters and given up for now 🙁

Steve

[John Gregson]

Hi all,
Thought I’d give you an update!
Stripped the tel: no’s off 2 vans today, went quite well, easier than I thought. The 1st van came off no problems, heated with hair dryer as suggested and peeled the corners with a plastic blade ice scraper. GREAT TOOL. Quick wipe with meths and it was ready to apply. 2nd van must have been in the sun longer, not that we get much up in newcastle, but with a bit heat, peel and elbow grease that too was ready to go. That reminds me, i’ll have to get some more of that elbow grease!. :lol1:

I kept the price down but still covered costs and made a small profit. Customer was pleased and promised a new van to do + trailer.

With me being quite new to vehicle lettering I wasn’t looking forward to this job but with the helpful suggestions offered on the boards I did it no problem.

Thanks for all your time and helpful tips
Cheers John