quote.

[GrossGraphix]

When someone asks how much you would charge to paint something. Do you...

Give them a quote of what your labor will cost?

Or do you give them a quote of labor plus supplies quote?

[aixguy]

I tell them how much I will charge them for the job, they normaly says "FOR A TSHIRT" to much for me! So I don't do much painting for Money!

[fresnojohns]

Same here. I really don't know if some of these painters really get
decent money for any kind of painting. People don't realize how much it takes to airbrush anything or pinstripe. All of us put so much time in learning alone.
I will always do this stuff, but pretty much for own enjoyment.
As far as painting on my own, I enjoy doing it giving away as gifts and sharing with all of you here. I got my fill when working at the airlines painting big jets. Doing any form of Custom Painting for a living is a very big process.
A constant change. Day by day. Old School, New School, trendy designs.
We all put in as much time learning this as a doctor or lawyer does. To bad
I can't charge what they do. LOLOLOL
Stay with it, it all works out.
Fresnojohns

[KDSilverBrush]

I don't tell them how much untill I see the piece they want the painting done on, then its a big discussion of what they want, and what I see in my minds eye of thier driscription. Then my mind starts thinking in graphs LOL one for the prep work, one for the art work , one for the time involved, and one for the clear work... etc

[rowie]

I look at it this way;

I never give them a straight answer, their question is answered firstly with a question, that is, "How much do you think?" or " What are you looking at spending?"

This gives me a gauge of where their head is at, they don't need to know the breakup of time and materials, that's information overload.

Just my opinion.

[theairbrushguy]

We usually give price to do the best job that we can with no consideraton to their budget and no detail as to labor and material breakdowns. Once you get into material cost discussions, you end up negotiating. Can't you use a cheaper primer. Why does the clear cost so much? Stuff like that. Also, the reason we start using the best job that we can provide is that it is easier to pull things out of a job, change design or change materials to drop a price if necessary. I dont like to ask what a client is willing to spend right off as most of the time they dont really know what the service is worth and what they think it is going to cost is low. Don't let someone dictate what your skills are worth. You tell them what it will cost. Then work together to find a happy medium.
TABG

Airpower Art Studio

[Cameron Arts]

Ditto what theairbrushguy just said. When someone comes to me asking how much it is to get something done, I always need to know what kind of project they have in mind with what kind of images. I always quote a range as well. Until they put down a deposit & all the details are worked out, I can't say exactly for sure how much something will cost to the penny. My latest client dropped off a plastic mailbox shaped like a bike tank. When he first contacted me for pricing, I got him to email me a pic of his tattoo, which is what he wanted on the top of it. It was very simple, but since I was also doing the base paint & hadn't gone over any samples, I said it would be $120 for the tattoo design, plus anywhere from $200 - $300 depending on what you choose for the rest of the tank. The price is the price. If he says it's over his budget, then we can talk about changing the design to match his paycheck, NOT painting the same design for less money.

I always quote for the whole job, & I never give a pricing breakdown. Once you go down the itemized road, you'll get guys who'll wanna drop off their cheap masking tape & cans of housepaint or clearcoat the thing themselves just to save themselves a few bucks.

[Cameron Arts]

Originally Posted by theairbrushguy

I dont like to ask what a client is willing to spend right off as most of the time they dont really know what the service is worth and what they think it is going to cost is low.

This is SO TRUE!!!

[BigDaddyCustoms]

I was given some advice by Mickey Harris some time ago about quoting prices........ I always ask the ballpark area of what the customer wants to spend. Based off that, I can come up with several schemes that will meet his budget.

If a guy wants to spend $50, I can do that......couple of cans of spray paint, and we're downtown. What's the point of talking about a $2500 paint job if the person only wants to spend about $1500? More often than not, you are just going to scare a good (potential) customer away. Besides, they normally don't know what they want in the first place, just a vague idea. And.....ALOT depends on what you are working with. Is the base good? Are there stickers? Is there factory pinstriping? Are you keeping the pinstriping? Is the stiping or stickers on top of the clear, or under? Am I clear-coating or are you handling that? And so on and so on.

If a customer is willing to give you all this information, chances are, they are seriously looking at getting the work done. I try to gather all the information first, then give them a ballpark figure for an appropriate paint job. Been working well for me and my customers for a while now.

Big D

[lsabourin]

Guys, I'm guessing that is also going to be problem. Could you (TABG, Big D, Diaz and others) give a pict with a example quote on a given design? That would help the newbies not being scr.... over.

L