In article , Sailing Fan wrote:
I'm a signmaker. I work mainly in vinyl decals applied to a varity of
substrates, but I need to make dimensional signage from time to time.
Problem is I can't afford a CNC router, and I'm a total newbie with
power tools.
Sometimes I get MDO Plywood (not MDF) letters from this company.
http://www.woodenletters.com/lettershop.htm They use a CNC router and
are very good. Problem is if I quote a customer for 12" letters for
example, my cost is over $18 for Arial and for Times we're looking at
$23+ per letter.

?? That site shows $12.80 per letter for Arial and $16.00 for Times, for MDO
in upper case. Lower case is somewhat cheaper.

That means before painting and mounting, Vetinary
Clinic is around $300 my cost.

Your client would, I'm sure, prefer the sign to read "Veterinary Clinic". :-)

Sixteen letters at $12.80 each is $204.80.

For the rest of the work and mounting I
quote $400-450 and I get nothing. I can get formed plastic letters for a
little less than wood.

Actually, at the site you gave, they cost *more* than wood.

They also save me a lot of work, as there's no
painting involved, so perhaps the quote is now $300... and my cost is
about $200, which still isn't low enough.

I agree with Bob's suggestion that you should look for a less expensive
supplier.

My guess is there's somebody in my market with a ShopBot. He's charging
the customer 1/3-1/2 less for MDO than I can buy wood for because he's
doing it in house.

Perhaps... but if *every* bid you make is accepted, that means you're not
charging enough.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?