help with quoting a job,

[Dave271069]

hi all,
ive been asked to price up a vinyl cutting job, but as ive never really done this im struggling with working out how much to charge. a firm wants put sticky vinyl shapes onto ceiling tiles. the tiles are going to be 300mm x 300mm and 600mm x 600mm. at present i just have a cameo but if the contract came off then i have access to a full size cutter, or i would look into purchasing one.
the shapes are quite complex but the job seems easy enough, so how do i price this up? per tile? per meter? etc
thanks in advance
dave

[Earl Smith]

As you are only supplying the cut out shapes and not applying the material to the tiles I would charge by the meter. And dont forget the cost of the carrier paper in the calculations. Id charge it at two and a half to three times the cost price plus VAT depending on how difficult the shapes are to weed.

[RogerC]

Dave it might be worthwhile finding out what type of ceiling tiles they are before quoting. Some of the tiles you see in offices/shops have a contoured type of finish and a 'roughish' surface. If this is the case you would need a particular type of vinyl to make sure they adhere properly. Also it might be an idea to find out if they intend removing the decals at some point because if the tile surface is like some I have seen the decal will rip the surface off and then it's a re-tile job and the possibility of them metaphorically kicking your backside.

If you do quote I would calculate the cost of vinyl and application tape required and treble it per mtr. This will cover your materials/time/electric and give a 'fair' profit margin and a good price for the customer.

In addition if you've not done cut vinyl of this size (600mm) you're going to find putting the application tape on without creating creases/waste is not as simple as it looks. At 600mm wide you'll be hard pressed to do it by hand.

[Dave271069]

Thankyou guys, this came in yesterday and youve giving me some questions and thoughts before i go ahead,
cheers Roger and earl smith
Merry Xmas ALL
Dave

[logobear]

I would request artwork samples, and spend an hour or more working out what you can achieve, I would mark up the media by 3 times, and add an hourly rate for your time too. I would net expect you to get the job anyhow, they will probably get it screen printed!

[viccar]

First thing I thought of was about if they would stick to the tiles and what happens if they were removed.

Also commercial ceiling tiles have to meet the "time rating" for various fire codes, vinyl would interfere with this.

Could be trouble with this job :frown:

[Dave271069]

Ive quoted the price to cut and supply. What they do with it is up to them. Will wait to see if anything comes of it. Thanks for all replies.
Dave

[FutureProject]

yeah careful when pricing up per meter only, as you may spend days weeding complex designs and wondering what the hell you we're thinking charging such a low rate.

[Karen.]

We tend to use a per metre/A4/A5 etc pricing guide for ourselves, but complex jobs are priced , individually.

[printgarments]

yeah careful when pricing up per meter only, as you may spend days weeding complex designs and wondering what the hell you we're thinking charging such a low rate.

Yep, can definitely relate to this one...