posted
Hi, I'm replacing a face in a 4 x 15' light box. The customer wants a white or yellow background. Two color letters to be about 24" high. What king of price do you give for a brand new face? Thanks
posted
Hi Shawn;when I buy new plastic I double the cost then add my other expences-like labour,design vinyl or paint,then markup,install.Hope I could be some help.
-------------------- Randall Campbell Randy's Graphics, 420 Fairfield N. Hamilton Ontario Canada Posts: 2857 | From: Hamilton Ontario Canada | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
i price things according to the printed Sign Contractors pricing guides. at first i thought they were too high... now i'm getting about 90% of their price, and i expect i'll be close to matching them in about a year. (i bring the book with me to see clients -- they see the prices "in the book" and they have more confidence that i'm not just pulling numbers of of the air).
anyway, for a Plastic Face, illuminated sign, they suggest $20 to $27/sq.ft. Your 4' x 15" is 5 sq feet -- so that's $100 for a "simple 1 color letters" and $135 for 2 color letters with outlines and shadows. they also suggest a MINIMUM charge of $120, so your range is $120 to $135.
that price is from the 2001 book and it does NOT include installation. (they assume you'll be spraying onto the backside of 3/16" clear acyrilic).
you can price it with the "non-illuminated" price, which is just cut vinyl slapped onto 1/8" white acrylic, and that price range is about $104 to $148.
figure $40 to $60 for the installation ($37.50 is their suggested minimum for a trip charge). I'd use the $60 because i'd want to remove the old face before i ordered the new one - to make sure the new one is exactly the same size. if you're off by 1/8" the face might pop out too easily or crack.
posted
whoops - you wrote 15 INCHES in the message (and 15 FEET in the title) --
here are the prices for a 60 square foot sign:
anyway, for a Plastic Face, illuminated sign, they suggest $18.50/sq.ft. Your 4 x 15 is 60 sq feet -- so that's 1110 for a "simple 1 color letters" and $1440 for 2 color letters with outlines and shadows.
that price is from the 2001 book and it does NOT include installation. (they assume you'll be spraying onto the backside of 3/16 clear acyrilic).
you can price it with the "non-illuminated" price, which is just cut vinyl slapped onto 3/16" white acrylic, and that price range is about $885 to $1080.
illuminated signs are expensive to own and maintain, require permits, etc, so the sign FACE should be equally expensive (and well designed). at the least, you're using better materials (high performance translucent or transparent vinyl and sign-grade acrylic that wont bend and can take the heat from the lamps).
posted
Dude, like, pretend it's a business... then simply consider a few little pionts: ~High or medium performance translucent vinyl? ~Thickness of face? ~acrylic or lexan? ~Permits? ~Scafolding, scissor-lift or bucket truck? ~Can interior cleanup? ~Transformer replacment? ~Bulb replacement? ~Paint? Paint cleanup time. ~2 or 1 man job? ~Can exterior paint touch-up? ~Complexity of layout? ~Time already spent with customer? ~Labor costs? ~freight on supplies? Double check which supplier is charging what for the supplies (remebering they have different levels of pricing) Shop costs (Lease lights equip. ins. legal etc.) Depending on your initial talent at negotiating all the above costs, you now have your true costs, which could be higher or lower than the next guy bidding on the same job. A book won't figure THAT out. A "Rule of Thumb" won't figure that out. Put your required markups on.
Now "Bob's your Uncle" dude. ps. if there is extra time, it's fun to chase people up and down the sidewalk on the scissor-lift!
-------------------- Brian Crothers CR Signs 1790 C Tamarac St. Campbell River B.C. V9W 3M6 briancrothers@crsigns.ca Posts: 82 | From: Campbell River B.C. Canada | Registered: Apr 2002
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