posted
Have a question on pricing digital print work, what do you expect to pay for digital prints if you buy it from someone else then how do you charge it out. Do you double it or put a % on it charge for time to apply it. How do you price it.
example a 7 year vinyl print and laminated what do yo pay then how much do you charge it out? and same for printed banners.
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Stoka i have been getting digi prints for around $75 sq metre and charging around $ 150 a metre Plus install, don't know what anyone else is charging. Cheers Kev
-------------------- Kev Browne Kevin Browne Graphics Mildura Australia Posts: 35 | From: vic.australia | Registered: Nov 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
thanks kev basically double it as puting on a print is relatively quick would you just charge $1 a minute or a minimum shop rate, it will be good to know as i think the prices vary to much in this field.
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Mark, we've been paying $90 sq m to buy it laminated, and sell it at as much as I possibly can- try & market VALUE as opposed to just labour plus materials. At that price, they're printed in 6-colours on a Roland Pro3- the quality is wonderful- no graininess or banding whatseover
Alternately, don't forget to allow heaps of design time, plus salesmanship time, plus collection & delivery- not just application time.
The more I get used to it, the more the idea works of 'charge as much as you can without laughing', and when they say OK, you then say 'plus gst and travel'.
[ February 27, 2008, 07:36 AM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I can get it around the 75-80sqm laminated I have found if i lose a job the client says i am to expensive so I am wondering what the go is with mark up and charge out of it Ian if you buy it at 90sqm do you charge it at 180sqm then your time. Digital printing is a easy way to do your jobs I know you and kev live in regional parts of australia and you can get more for your jobs less competition than the city. I would love someone to say who owns one of the machines what it actually costs to run one.
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Mark, I charge it out at around $145 sq m plus gst, if it turns out I have to figure on materials plus labour, but generally labour can include a fair bit of design time, also. I'm also making a point of telling clients I do not aim to be the cheapest- they can easily find someone cheaper if they want, (if the discussion comes to price) but I do aim to give better value for the dollar- I may be 30% dearer than the cheapest, but the work will last more than 30% longer than it, and generally I try to promote the deisgns we do as being way more effective for them- ie better at conveying whatever message is needed, so they end up being cheaper in the long run as they work for the business.
It's a shame more capital city signies don't post aussie prices here for comparison!
I spent yesterday striping & lettering a Cat-60, a 1926 caterpillar crawler. The bloke who's doing it up professionally restores Caterpillar crawlers- he has a workshop in USA & one in Qld. I asked him how he quotes on jobs and he said he tells any prospective clients, if they ask for a quote, that 'if you need to ask for a quote, you can't afford me' - and he's not joking, nor being arrogant. His clients want him because he is the best, and he CAN do what needs to be done, and do it properly, and he does not cut corners. He only works on Cats & Best & Holt machines pre1935. HIs ionvestment in his business is huge, and he works on his own- he itemises everything, invoices weekly, and expects payment weekly.
He's just had one machine shipped over here from central USA for him to do up- the body, less tracks arrived last week, and I'd guess it weighs 8 tons as is. It's a 1908 or 1909 model something or other- glad I'm not paying freight! There is not another in the world of that one, that actually runs. Anyhow I'm not meaning to pirate this thread, I just wanted to say I met this bloke and to tell you his business policy, and it works for him. Sure, he's different, but can you somehow get yourself to be a bit different too, so people come looking for you and want your work, no matter what? It IS possible, but takes time- it all depends on how you market yourself- you CAN do the work. You just need to think 'upmarket designs' rather than 'cheap as chips' designs.
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
P.S. I think some city signies probably get a lot more $ per job per sq. metre than we do, because they're closer to the action- greater overheads & more expensive real estate = higherprices!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged |
Just delivered a 7.2 sq/m banner with only a 25% mark-up
But then all I had to do was deliver the disc from the designer to the printer ... (huge file. took a DVD. Couldn't e-mail!) ... pick up the finished banner and deliver. My time? 2 hours Maximum.
Profit: Huge, but could have doubled that now I think about it.
But then, this is an on-going repeat job every 3 months
posted
Jon thats my point some files are ready to go and are basic than others and it sometimes does not take that long to do a layout and sometimes you pick-up and deliver. Computers are great but it does speed up things to quick and people who are in the industry that never have hand painted signs before print these signs in quick time only charge quick time so that's my qustion what do you charge for it. Ian wish I could be like the tractor guy but he sounds like a specialist at his craft, sure we are specialists at our job but there are more signies than him. If I said to a customer you do not need a quote I would never get a job.
[ February 27, 2008, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: Mark Stokes ]
-------------------- Mark Stokes Mark Stokes Signs Mount Barker South Australia Posts: 388 | From: Mount Barker | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged |
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic