Vertical Inch Channel Letter Pricing?

[Hawkeye]

Hi There! With the ever-changing price of our supplies, I'm curious what pricing you all are using for channel letters these days for Raceway mounted channel, Remote channel, and Reverse lit Channel? Assuming a 3'' depth, LED Illuminated letter, Acrylic Face, .040 aluminum returns-nothing crazy. (not including installation).

Thanks,

 

[MikePro]

standard pricing is difficult, as there is a major difference between an "I" and an "&" no matter what size they are.
time plus materials/labor plus upcharge, we quote the job as a whole.

 

[Hawkeye]

Thanks Mike,

Yeah, I usually will count the letter "I" as two letters to even things up. I think the rest kind of average out. In general, for Remote Channel letters, I've been using $19 a vertical inch, Raceway Mounted, $21 a vertical inch, and for Reverse Channel $22. I find that is a good starting point from which I can tweak as needed for any unusual font, or logo shape. Installation is figured separately.

 

[JBurton]

This is the first I've heard of someone using vertical units for channel letters...
I like to take the time to reckon materials, mark them up, estimate the labor, and deliver a realistic price. Keeps me from potentially losing my shirt, and gives a fair price to the customer. It might take 5 minutes...

 

[Bradley D]

Cost per upright inch is not the only way but is a very common way to price channel letters for wholesale channel letter fabricators. I also use this as just a starting point. After keeping close track of materials and time for many similar jobs, patterns emerge and time can be saved by being able to quickly give a price for a job with very limited information like upright inch or overall job width. For example, the dual lit "SPAVIA"



job was a normal trimless style channel letter job for us and I estimated the job at $15/ upright inch and did the quote in less than 1 minute since it is a standard style job for us. On the other hand, we recently quoted $22/ upright inch for the "PARK MEADOWS"



job (brown, yellow, and white letters) because it had 2 colors and a push-thru style face illumination. This quote required more time to estimate because it had a complex design.

We will be raising our prices a little with the rising cost of supplies but have not done so yet. Labor is our biggest cost so I don't think we will be changing our prices nearly as much as the larger wholesalers.

 

[MikePro]

thinking on it some more, just figure out the most difficult letter to produce and use that as your price point. ...then "sharpen your pencil" if you're trying to be more competitive on a quote.

 

[Hawkeye]

Cost per upright inch is not the only way but is a very common way to price channel letters for wholesale channel letter fabricators. I also use this as just a starting point. After keeping close track of materials and time for many similar jobs, patterns emerge and time can be saved by being able to quickly give a price for a job with very limited information like upright inch or overall job width. For example, the dual lit "SPAVIA"

View attachment 177626

job was a normal trimless style channel letter job for us and I estimated the job at $15/ upright inch and did the quote in less than 1 minute since it is a standard style job for us. On the other hand, we recently quoted $22/ upright inch for the "PARK MEADOWS"

View attachment 177627

job (brown, yellow, and white letters) because it had 2 colors and a push-thru style face illumination. This quote required more time to estimate because it had a complex design.

We will be raising our prices a little with the rising cost of supplies but have not done so yet. Labor is our biggest cost so I don't think we will be changing our prices nearly as much as the larger wholesalers.

Thanks Bradley D for the input! You're right about people liking to have quotes back quickly, and i think this method of pricing does help do that. Nice looking work!!

 

[tulsagraphics]

This is the first I've heard of someone using vertical units for channel letters...
I like to take the time to reckon materials, mark them up, estimate the labor, and deliver a realistic price. Keeps me from potentially losing my shirt, and gives a fair price to the customer. It might take 5 minutes...

Yep -- vertical inch is a silly way to calculate. Pre-COVID one of my regular trade suppliers quoted me $17-19/inch. Maybe not the most cost-effective (lack of options in my neck of the woods), but the quality was there. I marked it up to $27-29 for quick phone quotes. Not sure what suppliers are charging these days, but jobs for serious customers require pen to paper. At the end of the day I care more about labor costs than % markup on product.