Pricing for a large format printer

[nssignguy]

Just wondering how everybody does pricing on a machine like a large format printer. I am just getting into large format printing and trying to price out jobs. I currently calculate out my material and ink usage, add my markup, then approximate time for printing and general labour and use my labor rate for the total. Does that sound reasonable?

If the printer runs for two hours printing do you charge your full labor rate while that machine is running?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks for the help.

 

[johnnysigns]

We run heavy minimum price charges for sampling/proofing, charge for every lot of artwork in a given order to cover prepress/rip time and we don't discount very much until we're over 4500-5000 square feet. We find the prepress, machine setup and testing time/proofing are the biggest leaches on making good strong margins

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Just wondering how everybody does pricing on a machine like a large format printer. I am just getting into large format printing and trying to price out jobs. I currently calculate out my material and ink usage, add my markup, then approximate time for printing and general labour and use my labor rate for the total. Does that sound reasonable?

If the printer runs for two hours printing do you charge your full labor rate while that machine is running?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks for the help.

Factor in depreciation and maintenance too. That's like charging for gas and your time driving a car without considering the miles you're adding and eventuall cost to replace it.

 

[rjssigns]

Vinyl or vinyl with laminate is per square foot which takes into account all other expenses.
Industrial labels are per square inch since I use VDP to populate info fields.

 

[tollerdad]

We run heavy minimum price charges for sampling/proofing, charge for every lot of artwork in a given order to cover prepress/rip time and we don't discount very much until we're over 4500-5000 square feet. We find the prepress, machine setup and testing time/proofing are the biggest leaches on making good strong margins

On these forums we discuss equipment and processes all the time but spend little on best business practices. I found we were giving away so much free setup time for resubmitted files and easy touch ups that added up to at least an hour a day of billable time. That's $25k per year!!

 

[nssignguy]

So what I am hearing is that even if it takes the printer 1 hr to print something or 2-3 hrs or more you still only charge for that square foot or inch of material! Not sure if I agree with that. So your very expensive printer is sometimes printing for free???? Am I missing something???

 

[unclebun]

So what I am hearing is that even if it takes the printer 1 hr to print something or 2-3 hrs or more you still only charge for that square foot or inch of material! Not sure if I agree with that. So your very expensive printer is sometimes printing for free???? Am I missing something???

You have to figure out the average time the printer takes to do the jobs and work that into the square foot price so that you are always making enough money. Most people doing signs don't put enough cost calculation into their pricing and thus the amount they charge doesn't account for all the costs involved including the need to refurbish the printer in a couple of years and replace it after 5-7 years. They also don't allow enough for downtime for maintenance or other issues. And they don't factor in all their business expenses or future expenses.

 

[rjssigns]

So what I am hearing is that even if it takes the printer 1 hr to print something or 2-3 hrs or more you still only charge for that square foot or inch of material! Not sure if I agree with that. So your very expensive printer is sometimes printing for free???? Am I missing something???

My per square foot price is based on the materials for the job plus other expenses, wages, heat, lights, depreciation etc... It also accounts for yield and Oh Crap issues. Design time/layout is billed separately. Saves so much time when estimating. You will drive yourself crazy and waste time trying to wring every last cent out of a job.

And don't dismiss per square inch pricing. You would never sell a wrap or a sign at my square inch rate..

Best thing you can do is sit down with a pen and paper and go over all your expenses. Be brutal and get into the minutiae. Then go to a CPA and have them calculate your liabilities, depreciation schedules, etc...
Then plug that in to your pricing. Until you know what the monthly "nut" is asking questions here will net you hundreds of different responses. No two sign shops are alike and where you live will have a huge impact on what you can charge.