Discussion A vendor of mine just suggested I do something like this

[signage]

You need to be more like the gas stations.....price of oil goes up they raise the price next day to help pay for next delivery. So if you know something is going up you should adjust your prices for cost of replacement materials, now it you quoted something previously and it is within your estimate window price guaranty then you live with it, if it is a new one even if you have the materials you should charge what replacement will cost! If you bid on purchasing materials as you get jobs then good luck!

 

[Gino]

It must be 5 o'clock in Pennsylvania.......................

 

[FireSprint.com]

I think there is some confusion going on with this post. The OP wrote:

Due to the volatility of metal pricing, all orders are based as price in effect at time of shipment.

This, as it's worded, doesn't work. You can't just arbitrarily charge whatever you want when the job ships (when it's done).

You can, and should, adjust your pricing at the time of the customer placing their order though.

"Due to the current price volatility of materials, this quote is valid for 3 business days."

That's all you need. If they place an order after that, requote it before accepting it. If you only want your quote to be good until close of business, note that. But, you can't just change a price on a customer after they place an order with you. Not is this business - and that's how I read the red text above "We'll charge you whatever we have to to cover materials after we make [ship] your sign...GOD knows what that will be."

 

[gnubler]

My main (and closest) substrate supplier doesn't have a price list...nothing on their website, no online ordering. I asked why and they said because prices are always changing and they have no way to keep it updated. Anyone else dealing with suppliers like this? I really don't want to have to call them every time I'm bidding a job, to get the cost on material and lock it in for that job.

 

[signage]

if you don't stock any material, them I would call the vendor everyday at start of day and request a quote for for what you use the most often and don't stock. If they can't supply a cost make it a pain in the A$$ for them! Or start stocking some of these items!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I dont know about yall but the cost of an aluminum or any substrate isn't that significant in the pricing of signs... its mostly labor. My problem is being able to order stuff and it be in stock.

 

[Ray Miller]

Keeping things in stock for me is usually 10 or 12 Coroplast, 5 or 6 3mm ACM, 2or 3 6mm ACM, 4 r 5 gatorboards, a box of showcard, several different common sized banners, and no aluminum sheeting and a lot of various colored vinyl and plenty of digital printable vinyl and laminate. I don't want to be anyone's PITA customer not on any level. Getting a cost from them is no problem. I think I've just gotten lazy over the years. My bad.

 

[Gino]

I dont know about yall but the cost of an aluminum or any substrate isn't that significant in the pricing of signs... its mostly labor. My problem is being able to order stuff and it be in stock.

At the moment, we have one job which will use 14 sheets of material. According to when he decides can mean the difference of over $600 of MY cost. Another job is using around 30 sheets of material. I quoted them back in around the end of February. Now, in most cases, the cost only goes up a fraction, but in this case, it's gone up quite a bit more. How do you tell a customer who's been a customer for 34 years, his costs are gonna go way up ?? Sure, he'll most likely understand, but it's just lucky he's a good customer. However, for most other people, this would be an issue.

As I see it, regardless of if you ordered 6 months of inventory or 6 days..... it's gonna eventually hit you and when it does, how will you justify suddenly going up, unless you decide to eat it...... and we all know that's a dumb business decision.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Good points from all of you!
I wonder if it's the same problem we see in Epson inks and everything from Asia- USA Ports are barely unloading ships and causing huge delays.