I just left a quickie quote where the new candle shop (how many of these are there?) wanted a price on lettering a 3' by 6' formed face and supplying a 4' by 6' aluminum composite sign. He stripped the old lettering off the plastic and will install the aluminum sign.
The all in one sign shop,rubber stamp,clothing imprinter, logo designer, printer, office supply guy down the street quoted $275. I told him $450 before I knew the price and felt this was too low.
Now I know why people wait weeks to months to get this guy to complete their work and why they wait. Looks like crap but too cheap to pass up and one more nail in the coffin of the sign business in this area.
You have to go after custom work, I know and I do but this bread and butter stuff pays the bills too. At least it used to.
Posted by Dawn Drake (Member # 6533) on :
wow your'e in Michigan too Things are still tough in this state
Posted by Ed Gregorowicz (Member # 1842) on :
Seems like there are a LOT of Michigan letterheads...
Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
I don't know why my competition is busy. Here is a fine example of his work.
My other competitor has similar peeling vinyl on his OWN sign on his building.
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Update, I found out that he just lettered a van for $300. Is this a Michigan thing, probably not.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
can't be making much if any of a profit at that price. Depending on how much lettering there is.
He must be confusing money in hand with profit.
Doesn't take long to burn out that way.
Posted by Kevin Gaffney (Member # 4240) on :
Try this one guys. A good client of mine wanted 12 vans signed. Rear only, printed one way vision on back window and four lines of text. Priced them at 290 dollars each. Estimated seven days work for myself and my wife. Poor price really but for a really good client of mine. A franchise shop got in on the act and got the job quoting less than half my price. Not really bothered as we have loads of work at the moment but this lowballing will eventually lead to misery for someone
Posted by Dawud Shaheed (Member # 5719) on :
Kevin, I tell them..."that's a good deal,but don't let them sell you an inferior product and material that will not last" not to mention...at that price, I won't have to compete with them long, because they'll price themselves out of business." Why should I work for free just because Joe Flipperhead who owns the quicky sticky sign it in a jiffy" shop up the block wants to work for free?
Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
let them buy the bad stuff, dont compete on price,sell top work and make the customers line up and wait
Posted by Kevin Gaffney (Member # 4240) on :
I'm lucky with this one because this particular customer will be back to me after this job. He knows something is amiss with the price but is willing to take the chance on this one as the lettering will only be on the vehicles for six months. Probably is, this lowballing sets a new level in pricing and word spreads rapidly. So by the time this outfit have gone out of business, what kind of a mess will they have left for the reputable businesses. This has been a trend for the last ten years here. Far too many sign shops competing now for a decreasing market. I'm ok, I'll always have enough to feed the family but I once hoped I'd have a worthwhile business that might provide a living for one or two of my three daughters. There's not a chance of that now and I wouldn't let them within a million miles of it now. Far too many problems to address every month now being self employed
Posted by Nikki Goral (Member # 7844) on :
Two words: BEER MONEY
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
I think that some people can sell really cheap because of their lifestlye. If his "Overhead" is miniscule, then he can survive selling cheap signs. Lots of people just live day to day. And I'm sure that happens in many industries. Cheap mechanics, plumbers, who work out of the back of their cars. I don't feel any type of anomosity towards these people. Usually they have enough probalems to fill a giant dumpster. They are who they are, and I am who I am.
Posted by Kevin Gaffney (Member # 4240) on :
Good point Alicia, although I know for a fact in this case this competitor has far greater overheads than me. I'm rent free, all my equipment paid for except for a few months left on my digi printer. It doesn't worry me anyway cos the time slot I had allocated for this job has been filled up with far more lucrative work. So basically, next week this other fool will be working for less than half what I'll be earning. I think the big city outfits over here seem to be the one's mainly guilty of lowballing prices. See a lot of sign workers being laid off and setting themselves up in a self employed state. Of course, most of these only have manufacturing experience and have probably never had to price a job in their lives. Like us all, they'll learn the hard way
Posted by Joy Kjer (Member # 3026) on :
And then there is the issue of how much you need to earn per hour to cover the cost of health insurance alone (not health bills), and not even beginning to count making a profit. These are difficult times.
