By signcraft
Posted on Monday, November 11th, 2024
Most sign shops do their share of basic, one-color truck lettering projects—just a company name and phone number in a pleasing layout. The aim of our recent Pricing Survey was to find out what they charge to letter a pair of semi cab doors using their own basic layout, without a logo or graphics provided by the customer. David Showalter, David Designs, Bryan, Ohio, did the one you see here.
The survey asked what they would charge for such a job and for a little information about their business. The results are in, and we’d like to thank the nearly 250 sign professionals who took the time to participate. We really appreciate that, and we’re sure other readers do, too.
Overall average and median
The average price to letter the two doors in one color was $274. The median price—the price at which half of the responses were above and half were below—was $250. We’ll go into those numbers in more detail in a moment.
As expected, most would use computer-cut vinyl though a few said they would hand letter it. The hand lettered prices started at $400 and went up from there.
As you might expect, on the low end there were a handful of shops that would charge half or less than the average price. On the high end, there were a few that were double the average or even more. But overall, about half of these shop owners gave a price within $75 of the average.
For reference, if you estimated this job using our online Sign Pricing Guide with an hourly shop rate of $93 [Green level], the price would be $198 plus $37 to add license numbers. With the hourly shop rate of $119 [Blue level], it would be $250 for the doors and $48 to add license numbers.
Along with the selling price, we also asked some basic information about the sign maker’s business, market and experience.
Most were owners of sign businesses. Over half, 55%, were owners of commercial sign shops (primarily non-electric signs) and over one quarter, 26%, owned full-service sign shops (both electric and non-electric signs).
They were experienced. Over 80% had been involved in the sign business for 11 years or more:
Two-thirds letter three or more trucks per month: And one-third letter over six trucks per month.
Every type of market was represented. Here’s how they described their markets:
Nearly two-thirds have employees. 42% had 1 to 3 employees, and just over one-third worked alone:
Volume didn’t affect the average selling price much. Interestingly, the average selling price for the truck didn’t vary much by the shop’s volume of truck lettering. For a shop that does two or less trucks per month, the average was $256. The average for shops that did three or more per month was $309.
Experience had an effect on the prices. The shop owner’s experience did seem to factor into their price, with more experienced shops charging less on average. Perhaps those who have been in the business longer have had a harder time increasing prices for long-time customers or that new companies are faced with higher overhead.
The average price for shop owners who have been in the industry for two to five years was $356. Those who have been in the industry 6 to 10 years averaged $339. For those with over 11 years in the industry, the average price fell to $263.
Market size made a difference. In large urban and suburban areas, the average selling price was $308. For shops in mid-sized towns, the average was $267. For those in small towns or rural areas, the average dropped to $248.
If you’d like to compare the results of this survey with a similar pricing survey we did a couple of years ago, take a look at “What do other get to letter a truck like this one?” There are some interesting comparisons to make.
What they had to say
Many of the respondents shared their comments on the subject of pricing, and we wish we had room to share them all here. (Thanks, too, for the suggestions on survey improvements. We’ll put them to work on the next one.) Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
“I am in the fleet and decal business, doing more than 300 trucks a year. My pricing goes like this: 1 color 2-in. lettering for the company name, city, state, USDOT number and MC number is $485 to make and install the lettering. To make and ship the lettering, the price would be $320.
“A laminated digital print, cut to shape, is $560 to make and install or $395 to make and ship. For fleets with 3 or more units, the discount starts at 7.5%. At 12 units it goes to 10%; at 20 units or more it is 15%.
“These rates incorporate the 4.12% corporate credit card non-qualifying discount rate. That rate is inescapable. Thank you for the relentless work that you pour into these surveys.”
“Discuss the project with customer (phone, email). Send basic design with estimate. Lay out final cut file after approval. Set up appointment to have truck brought to shop for installation. Cut, weed and mask final design. Prep truck doors for installation. Apply graphics. Bill customer accordingly. Total: $225.”
“Remember to charge for extensive design time and revisions. If it turns into a logo design project, charge accordingly.”
“I estimate one hour for computer time, cut, weed, prep and apply.”
“I have been in the sign industry since 1983. For the first ten years, I employed 2 or 3 experienced sign workers, both brush lettering and screen printing. Eventually cut vinyl and digital printers allowed me to achieve it all on my own—a business volume equal to what 2 or 3 workers were producing. Profit margins have been much better, and I have slowed down somewhat the last few years because I most likely will consider retiring soon.”
“We average 25 to 30 trucks a month. Jobs like this are the most profitable, especially if they are for repeat customers. There is under $10 in vinyl and a half-hour of labor, without design.”
“If there would be any design work/setup work, that would be additional. Also, if I were required to remove any existing vinyl, that would be an additional charge.”
“This would be a high performance cast vinyl job. There is 15 to 30 minutes of layout time, then 1.5 hours to cut, weed, tape and apply.”
“Over the past 20-plus years I think I have done two trucks in only one color. Nowadays I would get $525 for two doors and the tailgate of a pickup, in a single color with artwork provided. My average pickup truck project—two doors in multiple colors, tailgate, hood and additional striping—runs $750 to $900. Even if the artwork is provided, I usually tweak and improve something to make the customer happier.”
“Like a lot of you, I give the client a quick pencil sketch for free after having qualified them for their seriousness. This would be hand lettered from a paper pattern that is pounced onto the surface.”
