Art & Inspiration question for pinstripers

how do you charge for your work? by the hour? what sort of rate?

a friend has been charged $800.00 to do a bicycle. 8 hours @ $100.00 an hour. 2 fenders, 4 little diamonds on the frame and a single line on the tank around a decal on each side.

this sounds crazy to me.

 

I just do it mostly for a hobby, but have done some paying jobs. I usually joke that I charge $20 per set of eyes, so the more people that watch, the more $ I get! But I agree the price quoted is outrageous. It shouldn’t take 8 hours to stripe a bike. So my guess is the striper just doesn’t want to do it.

 

I changed my post, it has already been done. not sure why I put "quoted" rather than "charged".
a very basic striping job. here's a pic from the internet of the same type of bike

 

It’s all in the details.

(both in the description and the job)




.

 

I was charged $300 for sign painting on both doors of my truck, pinstriping the entire thing, and doing the GMC lettering on the tailgate as well as a small Gulf sign. I didn't count the hours, but it was probably 5 or 6. I bought him lunch too so maybe that helped.

I can't imagine why the striping on the bicycle shown would take a good striper more than a couple hours. 8 hours sounds ludicrous.

 

yeah, that would be $10 - $15,000 bike if it were all original parts. the tank is the deal breaker. frame, tank and maybe the rear fender are unique to these bikes. this is just a pic from the internet.

the one in question was completely restored.

 

I had a friend( young college kid) pinstripe a deep blue glass from WalMart. Gave him $100— he did the work in less than an hour. I was trying to explain to the wife how “difficult” is is to make the left side match the right side/his work was very well done in my opinion!! He graduated from college and I lost track of his whereabouts. He signed Big Johnson in very small letters,truly magnificent piece of art!!

 

A young kid 10 or maybe 12 did this at the hod rod reunion at famoso around 1990. I probably paid him 50 or 60 bucks.

 

The "$100.00 an hour" sounds reasonable. The "8 hours" sounds insane........

 

Does $100 an hour sound reasonable? That's mechanic shop rate with overhead (give or take). I don't get $100 an hour as an engineer.

I've never asked for hourly rate from a pinstriper, but $100 an hour sounds like top dollar to me. Any pinstriping I've had done has been much less than that.

 

I generally get 100.00 per hour, but I've been striping since '79. Really depends on the job. How easy to reach all the areas and see what you're doing. That bike had to be disassembled or laid on side on a table to do a nice oval line. Could be lots of time there. I deal with fatboy tanks frequently, similar shape but much rounder and heavy. Sometimes they have gas in them (pain). Like I say...depends on how easy to position and reach the line and if you can "see" the surface.
Some Model A's are awful since they have been painted so many times the reveal is almost smooth. It just depends on the job.
I notice the owner paid the price and took the bike home. If it was so outrageous wouldn't there have been a discussion? Jer/Artworx

 

You don’t because your overhead is not what a Mechanic shop is. If you’re worth your salt I’m betting your hourly wage is more than the mechanic or tech who works for the shop. Apples and Oranges.

Now if you wanted to make good money put your engineering degree in your back pocket, go to lineman’s school, sign on with a Local unions apprentice program and become a journeyman lineman. Just remember when you take the degree out of your pocket some day to be the boss you take a cut in pay. The hours are better but the lack of OT and call out pay will hit you in the wallet.

 

^^^^^ Reminds me of an argument I had with the boss’s son in-law over his college degree in management. I told him I’d listen to his advice if he agreed to go up flying with me. “You fly”? he asked. No but my ground school instructor awarded me a certificate stating that I was qualified to fly.

 

There's a bunch of incorrect assumptions in your response. I meant my take-home salary rate, which has nothing to do with overhead and why I stated the comparison. Most pinstripers work for cash and out of others shops, so the quip of my take-home was just a comparison as overhead isn't considered into their daily work usually either. They also don't need the tools and overhead of a mechanic, and so that's why I stated that comparison.

For what it's worth, becoming a journeyman lineman would be a significant pay decrease and I much enjoy my career, but thanks for the career advice. I'm guessing you have some attachment to that career and dislike of engineers or those with degrees based on your response.

 

bike was disassembled, and he has not picked it up.

 

Art is whatever the traffic will bear and the talent of the artisan. If this is indeed something significant you don't want an up-n-coming car show hustler (not that those guys are bad), you want an established quality and reputation. Looks like a lot of striping, black and red, black bordering almost everything. Pinstripes are one of the art forms on things. Can't buy em over the counter. My opinion of course...

 

I charge by the piece when I finger paint but no one has hired me.

 

I won’t argue with you because I’m not in your shoes or you in mine. I also do not know where Sherwood Park AB is located.

But I don’t have any disrespect for engineers, I worked in the Power Generating system’s and plants 45 yrs hand in hand with all types and background of engineers and had we had a mutual respect on what needed to be done and how to do it. My last 10 years were with no direct supervision and with one of the best young engineers I had ever worked with and for.
I agree with your analogy of a stripper having little to know overhead but they also don’t have steady work @ a minimum of 40 hrs per week.
If you don’t make $100 dollars an hour you would trouble catching all the linemen and troublemen I know….All have gross years pay of $ 300K+ and there are many way over this number.
My grandson is a 5th step apprentice @ $200K+ a year. You just need to answer the phone.

 

That's not typical of the profession here in Alberta, and regardless there's more to life than money. You missed the point of my initial comment on that subject and I'm not discussing it further.

If a striper does not have steady work or a main gig, that's not their customer's problem to make up for. There are a lot that do it on the side of a regular job, so there are plenty of options for good reasonably priced striping work. If I'm paying $100/hr for pinstripe work, it better be some of the best I've ever seen.

 

There's a lot of artisan services that by themselves seem pricey, maybe excessive at times. Airbrushed art is up there, woodgrain too. Wraps and hydrographics has shaded those processes a bit, but if you want something true you step up. A wrap isn't true, it's a photo on paper stuck on. Hydrographics look like the inside of a new car vs the quaint feel of grain from the old days. As the Beastie Boys said, "So whatcha-whatcha-whatcha want..."

 

Detailed striping is typically more expensive than panel work. My guy in in Lubbock charged like $350 for the trunk lid and taillights on the Olds, took about 2-3hrs I believe, and that was about 6yrs ago.

I've talked to him about doing another similar job and his quote came out to roughly $100/hr

 

With it being stated that the value of said bicycle is in the vicinity of 10K to 15K , I would assume that the owner sought out a striper of a calibre in line with the required work. Yep, $100/hr seems ok to me if you want a striper with experience and a top notch reputation. I am still not convinced it would be an 8 hr job though........

When it comes to commensurate rates for work, it should be noted that things will vary from country to country. I don't know what would be the norm in Canada, but I can tell you that a high level striper here in Australia would cost way more than $100/hr.

As for your comparison to mechanic shop rates, remember, you will pay that for even a bad mechanic.........

If it upsets you that a talented striper can command what you see as such an outlandish hourly rate, it's never too late.
Go buy those brushes today.......

 

You pay that for a mechanic regardless of their skill level because of the tools, lifts, and facilities they need to do their job.

 

Is the striper suppling the paint? What about replacement cost of brushes, consumables such as thinner and rags. $100 / hr seems fair to me.
Is he coming to you or are you going to him?

 

well-at least we are back to 'striper' for a few posts in a row-darn...

 

Pretty much....... but surely you would pay a good mechanic a little more than Bubba in his backyard shed.
And because a pinstriper has very few "overheads", you will pay him/her based on reputation, talent and competency
(if you do your homework right). Someone who is at the top of their game deserves more reward than mediocre.
Good shit don't come free.

 

Easy to tell who is or has been in business . Things cost money when you pay someone to do it.
Learn to do it or pay. Your choice.
I don't work just to work.
Now if were talking strippers ...

 

Having been a slacker for most of my life/career, it would appear that anytime I was given money for my work...I was being overpaid.