I suppose this has been covered sometime before but just curious what you base your fees on and also do you sell panels or just the work you do on vehicles etc? Pete
Just had a look at some threads in the archives on this subject. Some very sound advice in there from some of you guys regarding charging. Not too many willing to actually put a $ figure on it though. Here's a few panels I did recently ... just for the helluvit. Pete
I had been trying to sell two different size panels. A small (approx. 5 x 10) and a larger (approx. 8 x 12) with the small panels @ $15-$20 and the larger @ $25-$40...any amount less wasn't worth my time. And as far as vehicle striping is concerned, the price starts at $100 and goes up from that point based on what the customer wants. Again, any amount less isn't worth my time. In my opinion, you need to verify that there is a market for your talents. I actually tried to do sign painting, airbrushing, pinstriping as a full time business venture not long ago thinking I could make some cash doing something I enjoy. I quickly found out that in my area there is no demand for pinstriping, etc. The less of a demand there is for your service, the less people are willing to pay.
Thanks for that. It's good to have an actual $ figure as a guide. I have no intention of giving up my day job but the advice I read in the archives mainly pointed to the need to charge something in order for people to respect the talents of stripers and artists as a whole. I think it is a very valid point.
I definitely think prices differ depending on where you are. I spoke with a guy out west that gets 2/3 the money I get for a stripe job at a dealership. He's been doing it for a lot longer than I have.
charge as much as people will pay, because that's what your work is worth....I'm sure Anthony White will chime in. here in NJ prices are generally higher. I've been told im way too cheap on somethings and way to expensive on others. it's a mixed boat. people have a tough time paying for something that they want to equate to "hours worked vs. skill"
i heard that ...thats one of the reasons i like for people to drop off the vehicle and come back in a couple hours....nothing worse than telling the customer $200 for the striping ....after they watch you for a hour and a half.....its not the time you give ....but the product they receive.....brandon
All striping at my shop runs $80.00 per hour (includes materials). If you're slower, drop the price. If you're faster, raise the price. So far, all the panels I have done have been for gifts or charity auctions at car shows so there are no time constraints and the work is more enjoyable. From what I could tell, the average price for a panel at the Pinstripe Legends auction in Milwaukee or the Pinstriper's Jamboree auction in Detroit seemed to be around $100.00 or so. Your panels look great! Larry
Caffeins got it right. Charge as much as your area will bear. Ive been doing this for 30 years, 15 years full time and it isent EZ. When I had my shop in Chicago i'd get $75 an hour, when I lived up north in Wisconsin all you could get was maybe $ 25!. Here in Kenosha, Wi. (between Chicago/Milwaukee) I can get maybe $40- $50 an hour. It depends how much people make in your area, how good you are and how fast you are. Just rember, if you sell yourself to cheap your going to be known as the guy to go to for a CHEAP strip job, and it can take years to get rid of that handle!
when I do repair work for bodyshops I charge $10 per foot with a $50 min charge. For two stock lookin lines across a door or fender is about $75. custom stuff I usually get $60-$100 bucks an hour. I can do a fresno style stripe in 3 or four hours front to back w/ ornamentation on hood and trunk. But you are only as good as your last piece and it is only worth what someone else will pay. Shoot for the sky and get as much as you can. Good luck
I have a lot of respect for you guy's who can stripe! I bought some 1 shot and a few Mack brushes, and thought I'd get the hang of it pretty easy since I'm a graphic designer. Man was I wrong! It takes a lot of practice. I do have a question though. Do you cut your 00 brushes down to make turns easier? If so, how much? I know a guy whose been a striper/sign painter for years. With the advent of all the vinyl graphics, he's sure seen a huge drop in business!
Hell, I respect the skill that some posses to do the job right. I'll pay what ever it takes to get it done right. For the longest time I though a good strip job would cost me $800 or better. I was saving up for some work on my car, until I asked..... ........................blew me off my feet. In my opinion it's cheap.
on custom stuff .....i usually let the customer price it.....they ask where i start ...which is usually 150 bucks for a basic car.....and tell them it goes from there....most will not want to seem like a cheap skate and usually will go 200 to 250 pretty easy ....sometimes you will get someone that will spend more....but in my area ...its pretty rare...lol as for body shop stuff.....a insurance adjuster said they will usually allow 25 to 30 a panel....for stock replacement striping...with a 40 min. charge unless its within a couple miles of me ....as for making a living doing it......depending on your area.....be able to do other things.....i offer hand lettering and striping ....vinyl lettering ...some custom paint....occassionally i will take on a over all paint job on old stuff...sell new and used hot rod and speed parts....and build a couple hot rods to sell a year.......pretty much what ever it takes to pay the bills....heck my step father and i built a house this past summer.....as work in my area has been all over the place the past couple years.....brandon
I always take a little hair off the belly of the brush, even on my 000 brushes. Seems that the hair on that part of the brush is not always equal. A little hair cut makes them all the same length and less likely to POP out while making a turn!.
I usually cut all my brushes but it depends on the feel of the brush itself as to how much I trim. I usually use a brush a few times prior to trimming to see what it's characteristics are. After getting a feel for the brush I trim small amounts off the brush until I get the feel I like. Some brushes won't require much trimming where others will. I guess it usually turns out to be about 1/8" that gets trimmed off my 00 brushes but it is a personal preference...
This has been covered a couple of times before and the answers so far seem to be spot on.There are SO many variables involved it is almost impossible to come up with a correct answer.Even if the person replying lived close by you,it might be way off. That said I can only give you an idea based on what I charge in my little corner of the planet. I do a lot of repair work to factory(or aftermarket)striping for various body shops in the area and this is my current breakdown: Replace and blend double stripe into adjoining panel($30 per panel).Price includes mixing custom color which is almost always necessary.I really wish people would use standard colors.If fancy ends are used on stripes,I add $10 per end.It usually takes longer to get a color match than it does to paint the stripes on. Complete double stripe on both sides of car:$150.Takes about 40 minutes including prep. Graphics on the side of a car(or truck)start at $200 and go up. Motorcycles(a tank and two fenders)start about $150 and go up depending on how many other pieces are involved;Fairings,oil tanks,bags,tool boxes,etc. Lettering is usually by the job as there are MANY variables here: A simple two color name of average length runs about $40.Truck doors start at about $125 per side. For travel,I usually add $25 if it is local(within 15 miles).Anything farther gets charged on a per job basis. If people wish to watch me paint,I have no problem with that.I tell them up front that I charge by the job and not by how much time it takes me to do it.I've never had anyone complain about it even though,if you figure it out,I'm usually making a bit over $100/hour;sometimes less. What I really love about striping is I actually enjoy my work and I get paid on top of that.It doesn't get much better than that.
i know guys that charge that much, and its well worth it too. the day someone says its not worth it, you hand them your brush and ask them to do it.
most of what i base my prices on is how many times im going to have to change a brush, get out paint, etc. etc. i really don't base it much on how many stripes.... once oyu have the paint out and the brush loaded its not a whole helluva lot more work to make a peice bigger, etc. its when you have to change brushes, etc. thats what drives the price up, exponentially with graphics and lettering. i can pinstripe a whole care for 200 but to add lettering/graphic i may add 200 more but i have to use 10 colors, and change brushes 6 times.
He just chooses to suck down granite dust for fun and shit he even gets a place to store his Merc! I am very supprised that he hasnt stepped in here yet.
Hey Rob, you are really starting to smoke these days. I can't believe how far you've come in such a short time. I hadn't seen your website in a while, I'm impressed.
i have a 58 ford that alot of great jersery stripers work on it from don rooney , glenn agian al johnson ,joe surply, anthony white and many more it started at a pinhead show back a few years ago that they needed a car to start with the are all great artish and each job is like a painting so the price goes with the job
my old 47 coupe was a panel jam car from a event in washington....alan johnson , tony perez, magoo, berg, and 3 or 4 more.....each had their own style ....all in one big design on the decklid....wish i wouldn't have reprimered it....lol brandon
Hell, if I could do it I'd charge the most I could. That isn't easy. I've watched 'em at shows, some are real naturals. It takes skill to do it right.
ive seen dudes charge that much for a simple, and i mean SIMPLE (well not that simple as flames arent that simple) flame job on a harley dresser at bike week.....basically assembly line jobs, you get 4 dressers lined up that all want the basic flames, (like 2 licks on the tnk, and one on each bag) and just do it in about 30 minutes and make an easy 1500. but there spot to rent for the week is 5k.
I'm not saying that their aren't guys out there that don't command prices like that for a "complete" on a car, a lot of talent out there. And I'm not saying it's not worth it, but here in the frugal Mid West, high end pin striping jobs are few and farrrrr between!. Maybe it's time to move???
Maybe you're asking the wrong group of folks. How about checking with the people that have pulled the hard earned cash out of their jeans? I had my '50 Ford striped by a guy in the local area that had been striping for close to 40 years. I told him that I wanted something based on an inverted "T" in the rear and just a bit to fill in between the bull nose and the edge of the hood up front. For colors I left it up to him and told him that I felt no need to approve any design work, just do something that looked nice. I cleaned and delivered the car to his shop and left it with no instruction on when I wanted it back. Two days later he called me to pick up my car. From what he told me he spent a lot more time on laying the stipe location out than he did in the actual painting. He was able to tell me that my rear bumper was 3/8ths of an inch off to the right. There were 4 colors used on the job to match the paint on the car. 200.00 later I was out the door with my pin striped Ford. Am I happy? You're darn right I am. The price was a bit of a sticker shock up front when we talked about it but the results were worth it. My best guess would be that he had less than 2 hours with a brush in his hand but I'm paying for the skill to know how to lay the paint and where. There is no need for me to even know how long he spent on the project. It's not just the time, it's the skill. As has been mentioned above, don't sell yourself cheap. There is a lot of work that goes in to the design that not everyone can see and put a dollar price on.
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