Blog
Notes from the shop floor.
Pricing, quoting and shop-floor notes for large format sign shops.
-
How to price a vehicle wrap: square footage, waste, labor, design
Material and labor per square foot, design fees, setup waste, and a worked 250 square foot van quote with real numbers. Here is how to price a vehicle wrap.
-
How to price vinyl signs with a cost-plus formula that survives a price change
Price vinyl signs with cost-plus math: material cost per square foot, a real shop rate, and a markup that recalculates when your supplier raises prices.
-
Markup vs margin for sign shops and why 40% is really 28.57%
A 40% markup is only a 28.57% margin. Run the sign shop math on a laminated decal job and see why unmarked labor drops the whole ticket to 17.47% margin.
-
Quantity break pricing for signs and banners, without giving away margin
Quantity break pricing for signs and banners, with real setup costs, run speeds, and a worked 24 x 36 example. Set price breaks that protect your margin.
-
Sign shop estimating spreadsheet: where quoting breaks and how to fix it
A sign shop estimating spreadsheet holds up until material prices move or a quantity break formula misfires. Here are the numbers and when to stop patching it.
-
Sign shop estimating software compared (2026): what each one is for
Sign shop estimating software prices, per-seat costs, and known problems for Cyrious, shopVOX, Ordant, CoreBridge, and four niche tools, so you can pick one.
-
How to calculate your sign shop hourly rate (and a rate per machine)
Work out your sign shop hourly rate from expenses, profit and billable hours, then set separate burden rates for the flatbed, latex printer and install crew.
-
Sign shop profit margin: typical numbers and where jobs leak money
Typical sign shop profit margin targets, material markup ranges, and the five places jobs lose money, plus a worked quote that lands at 17.47 percent.