Just got laughed at with my quote for 2 3'x10' banners, cut vinyl not printed. Said he could get them for about $50 a piece, call me outrageous, I told him good luck as he laughed and hung up.

 

Are banners really being made for $1.66/square ft

Underpriced banners are one reason I have not been able to sell much in my market... When the customer needs one NOW he may be back.. 

Everyone in town seems to know about the local banner printer who wholesales his banners to anyone who walks in with cash, they staple them to a piece of plywood and say they have a nice new sign. When they get tired of replacing the cheap stuff every year maybe then they will be ready for a real sign. In this economy I do understand completely. Most I can do when one of these folks asks me about a sign is be polite and cordial and tell them I cannot compete with a machine printed banner on price, but my stuff will last a lot longer. When they have the budget for a pro sign, I will be glad to help them out.

i would charge $180 for a 3x10 printed banner.

bb

Bannersonthecheap.com has cost us numerous customers at my work.... Untill 2-3 days before their event when it shows up and they HATE them... 8 out of 10 times someone says "i can find it cheaper online" they end up in our door days before an event BEGGING us to do the banner for them.
Any time someone says they can get it cheaper online we say "you are more then welcome to go that route, we will see you when its not correct" like i said 8/10 times we see that customer again...
Its my experience that the people who are price shopping are more of a PITA then they are worth anyway.

And as far as pricing, i just did 2 2x10 banners printed but 1 color (we couldnt get blanks in time to do cut vinyl) and we charge $365

I just did a 3'x12' and charged them $216.00.  They was happy and they are actually one of my best customers. 

was that laminated?

bb

The orders that I have placed from the online wholesaler have been outstanding quality, better than some that I have paid much more for locally and in at least one case, from a forum member (USC, I believe). 
While I believe it's true that customers can and will screw the graphics up, the quality from some of the cheap online suppliers is not below that of anywhere else, IME.

In any case, it sucks but we'll be able to overcome via loyal customers and other products.  Just like everything else, it eventually becomes a race to the bottom, destroying the market.

Nope........He hopes it's only up for a little bit of time.  It's for a real estate company, for a business being sold.  But with that said, I did 2 other banners for another real estate company that have been up for well over a year and they still look brand new with no laminate, I've never laminated a banner.

i have a few that have been up for well over a year and still look great!!