posted
Is there a rule of thumb formula for these cars? I have never done one in my many years of making signs. Seems to be a lot of reflective involved and a lot of labor. I have no idea where to start.
[ April 01, 2008, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: Jerry Starpoli ]
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
There are a lot of websites that sell pre-made 'packages' for all types of municipal vehicles. That would be a good place to start, to get some kind of baseline.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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posted
I've done a ton of police cars over the years, and I've learned that you should NEVER undercharge on these as they are vinyl eating monsters. Even simple applications take up time, shop space and vinyl. For Hi-performance with no crazy stuff beyond a couple of straightforward colors and graphic arrangments my minimum is $400. If your design looks really bold and dynamic, most people will readily approve this price. If it takes more than half a day and there are a lot of elements in the design and more than $50 in materials, start raising the price accordingly!!!
-------------------- Michael Gene Adkins The Fontry 1576 S Hwy 59 Watts OK 74964 Posts: 845 | From: Watts, OK USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
The design I was given to reproduce is a lot of reflective. Red and White reflective and Black High Performance. I was told the last shop did this car for $450. Maybe that is why they didn't come back. I was thinking more in the $850 range and thought that might be lowballing it. I will try to post a picture in the morning.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
The design I was given to reproduce is a lot of reflective. Red and White reflective and Black High Performance. I was told the last shop did this car for $450. Maybe that is why they didn't come back. I was thinking more in the $850 range and thought that might be lowballing it. I will try to post a picture in the morning.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I'm finishing a similar vehicle this morning. Red and White reflective vinyl on a High Performance black base. I thought that I would be charging around $600.00 for the job but, I've already gone through 10yds of reflective and even more black that that. Now I'm thinking that I need to get at least $750.00 to cover the headache.
-------------------- Lee McKee McKee Studios Birmingham, Al Planet Earth (sometimes) Posts: 277 | From: Birmingham, Al | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Cool looking car. The last shop was doing it for the cost of the graphics package and applying it for free, which is why they'e not doing it anymore. These jobs are about $750-1000. Only use the good stuff 3M or Gerber here.
posted
I decal 20 to 30 police trucks a year. Usually 10 or 15 at a time. It takes 2 days to make all the graphics for all of them. That is with the edge and 2 plotters running none stop. I have done so many of them that install is approximately an hour. I usually pick the vehicles up, so another 1/2 hour per vehicle. I charge $850 per vehicle
posted
Here's another thought....we do several police/ sheriff cars and when they DO have to stay within a certain budget, eliminate SOME of the reflective. In the example you showed, the black could be reflective but the red could be regular vinyl and save them quite a bit.
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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posted
Hiya Jerry, The only rule of thumb I've noticed is no matter what you quote, it's too expensive - even if you donate it
Since the design looks fairly simple and easy to reproduce, I would shoot from the hip and ballpark $750 for the first one and about $500-$600 for repeat work - depending on the other details and installation time. It looks like the design could be cut out of a 15" x 30' roll and there shouldn't be much material left over. I'm also assuming you're only doing 1 car a year. If it was a fleet of 3 or more of the same vehicles per year, I probably could go lower.
The other things to consider before quoting are...
How long will it take to re-create the design?
How many additional cars (if any) are they going to do in a typical year?
Will all the cars be exactly the same?
Do you stock the materials? If you normally don't stock the reflective colors they want, you may need to plunk down $200+ on a 24" roll of reflective that may be used just for this job.
Will you get the repair work - if any?
Back in Jersey, the shop I worked for used to letter the local police department fleet. We lettered a minimum of 3 cars a year, plus all of of the repair work - about 2 to 4 additional cars in a typical year. Since we created the design and did all of the work, we maintained an inventory of vinyl/graphics and had very little waste when the cars were complete. This meant we could be competitively priced and still maintain a good profit margin.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
The white and Red are Reflective. Black on the car shown appears to be Intermediate. I would not do that. The more I look at this job, the price edges closer to a G note.
-------------------- Jerry Starpoli Starpoli Signs... since 1952
845-795-2438 Posts: 446 | From: Milton, NY US | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
how much do you owe em for speeping and parking violations???))))))))))))))) or be nice to them......so they dont bring in code inforcement or the fire inspector))))))
[ April 02, 2008, 02:03 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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