How to price a print job.
Add up what the job costs you, then add the margin you need on top. The method is simple. Most underpricing comes from leaving costs out.
By the rastr team. Published . Last updated .
The method
- Work out the cost of the materials, including the waste.
- Work out the time the job takes, and price that time at your shop rate.
- Add anything bought in or paid per job.
- Choose the margin you need and divide the cost by what is left.
Your shop rate is an hourly figure that covers the wages of the person doing the work and the cost of keeping the doors open: rent, power, machine wear, software. Work it out once, from last year's totals divided by the hours you actually sold. Do not use the hours you are open.
A worked example
Ten vinyl banners, each 3 feet by 6 feet, hemmed with grommets. That is 18 square feet each and 180 in all. The figures are made up for the example, so use your own.
| Cost | How | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | 180 sq ft at $0.55 | $99.00 |
| Ink | 180 sq ft at $0.20 | $36.00 |
| Waste | 8% of vinyl and ink | $10.80 |
| Hems and grommets | 10 banners at $2.50 | $25.00 |
| Time | 4 hours at a $45 shop rate: file prep, print, finishing | $180.00 |
| Total cost | $350.80 |
Margin is not markup
A 40% markup means adding 40% of the cost: $350.80 becomes $491.12. Your profit is $140.32, and that is only 29% of the price. A 40% margin means profit is 40% of the price. To get it, divide the cost by 0.60.
$350.80 divided by 0.60 is $584.67. Round to $585, which is $58.50 a banner or about $3.25 a square foot. The profit is $234.20, which is 40% of the price. Decide which of the two you mean before you set a target, because they give different prices.
Costs shops forget
- Fixing the customer's file. Ten minutes of repair on every job adds up. Charge for it or put it in the shop rate.
- Reprints. Some jobs fail. Your waste figure should cover them.
- Setup. Loading media and checking color takes the same time for 10 banners or 100. Spread it over the quantity, which is why bigger runs cost less each.
- Quoting time. If you spend an hour on a quote that does not turn into a job, that hour was a cost.
- Delivery and payment fees. Add them to the quote as lines, or build them in.
- Rush work. A job that pushes others back should cost more.
Set a minimum
A single small sticker still takes the same setup and the same quote. Pick a minimum charge per job so tiny orders are worth doing.
Keep the price list in one place
Once you have a price per square foot, or per piece at each quantity, write it down once and use it for every quote. In rastr you set it on the product: a fixed price per piece, or a rate per square inch with the width and height typed on the quote, with price breaks by quantity. $3.25 a square foot is about $0.0226 a square inch. You can still change any line on a quote by hand. More on quotes in rastr.