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Vinyl Graphics, Large or Small


Lbfrozen

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I know some have had vinyl wrap made at a vehicle wrap facility, but does anyone here print their own vinyl graphics?

If so, do you print large pieces on a large format inkjet printer, or have you gone all out with a vinyl plotter/cutter? Or, do you stick to the small stuff and pay FastSigns or FedEx Office to make big pieces?

Of course, you can go broke by spending all of your profit on new graphics, but our business has a lot of seasonal activity that leads to location changes for some of our machines. (Neon and exclamation points may not be as appreciated in an office building as much as at the rec center.) Another way of saying it is that occasional changes in graphics is part of our profitability, where it may just be a wasted expense for other vending companies.

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Graphics for vending machines are specialty items and have to be made by someone with the proper equipment to do so.  Custom graphics should only be put on machines that will be in long term locations or you will spend all you time constantly peeling old ones off and installing new ones.  Why don't you just hold on to the machine since it's for a seasonal account and then reinstall it next year?

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Good points, AZ. Our strategy is to put seasonal machines on location, and pull some at the end of a season. Our entire inventory is refurbished and used equipment. Pulling some of the seasonal equipment allows us to make repairs and improvements in the warehouse on our own schedule, rather than otherwise profitable time in a tight space, often with gawkers (with great ideas to share). We keep our lift gate and moving equipment in good shape, and we do not do stairs or major inclines. I have safely placed machines by myself in less than 10 minutes.

We also do events where machines are placed for only a few days. (There are ways that this can be highly unprofitable, but there are ways where we make money and gain exposure for the business.) Most of our strategy will not work for most vendors, as our location allows us to have 90 percent of our locations within five miles of home base. I try to spend as little driving time as possible.

I should add that part of our strategy and success is that we, like many here, have another business that requires frequent large printing. The other business helps vending, and vending helps the other business. Without getting too complicated, I describe the other business as concessions.

Just as another reason to do our own large format printing, some of our used equipment is branded for the prior owner or product (or has too many scratches or small dents). Even if we are only replacing the vinyl graphics for the initial location placement, it is profitable for us to do our own printing/plotting.

I know it is not for most vendors, but I am asking what other people do or have done in the past. Our small service area, other business, moving equipment, and approach to seasonal use of used equipment make it a good choice for us. This is all similar to how it is the right choice to hire a mover for some, but others choose to buy moving equipment. (and look forward to the first time they lay a machine down on the ground! Talk about 'fallen and can't get up'.).

To be helpful by giving information rather than just asking for everyone else's experience and knowledge, used plotter/cutters can be had for decent prices. A large format inkjet printer and vinyl sheets can be useful for many projects, too. There are various reputable merchants on Amazon or eBay that sell blank rolls. I would like to find out if anyone knows cheaper reliable sources for Oracal or 3M vinyl (it is the shipping cost that ruins a good bargain on vinyl rolls).

Hope this made sense to some. (Stupid, tiny window on tiny mobile screens with tiny keyboards.)

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You would be far better off going to a forum that discusses such a topic. Most of us here, if not all of us, pay to have that kind of work done. It's not profitable for us to pay for the equipment to make a few graphics when we can pay someone to do it cheaper, faster, and better than we can. We are vendors, not graphics designers lol

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Go to a shop that does car wraps. Not sure where you are but some state univeristes have print labs that students operate. They often look for work, and it is much cheaper then actual businesses. I paid a couple ASU students who were graphic guys to do my wrap and brochures, saved proably 50% then going to a real shop. When i need more i simply send them a text and they print the next batch.

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  • 1 year later...

I use GTP when I need something custom, they also sell the tuff fronts kits which are nice in some situations.  I just don't do enough of that kind of thing to justify my own equipment.  The nice thing about GTP is they have a large library of stock images also, and they can do a nice mock up presentation for you if you are pitching a location and want to go custom for them.... and yes, other companies can do that too, not just GTP!

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/15/2016 at 2:28 PM, kiwi said:

Just wondering (if your allowed to say) what department you work in at VEII?

On this board I am just one guy who happens to work for a large manufacturer with my own machines.

I don't represent them on this site

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