how to price flat glass

I've been doing auto tinting for 8 years and Im just now tring to break into the flat glass . Dont really know how much to charge per square foot. I live in a small town in New Mexico. I'm afraid if i price it to high, i won't get any work. And if I price it to low, i won't get a return on my investment.Whats a good ballpark figure?

It depends on how much the film costs you per sq. ft. Charge more for certain things like mini panes and small amounts of sq footage. Big jobs, you can charge a little less per sq ft. You set the price based on how much the job is worth to you. Somewhat like how you would charge to do an old car compared to a new car. Reputable companies charge anywhere from $5 to $15 per sq ft, and more for special films.

Easy, take a look at it and say, "Wow, how much money is it going to take me to do a good job and not be worried over material cost if something goes wrong on a window or two?" Then add 10%.

I know most do the measurement then charge per sq ft . But alot of time there is alot of waste due to size. I did a 350 sq ft job last week and end up using 470sq ft ( 38" width on most). I personally find out how much film cost and then add on my profit on top of it .

I hope you are as concerned about glass breakage and things like that as you are about how much to charge!

I do that quite a bit and sometimes I am way over the sq price other charge, but I am in business to make money not sell film

Hey guys, this is my first post, but i've been reading this forum for a few years now.
I made an excel program for my estimating. The program can vary from 4 to 15 a square foot, and it breaks the number you choose into percentages broken down to installers, salesman, film cost, and profit.
I also base the price off of what square footage of film I use, NOT what square footage of glass there is, i.e. a 38" window will need 48" film.

The program also tells me how much film the job I will need to order, (round up to the nearest 25' for suntek, llumar, hanitaTek, and up to the nearest 10' for global.) and how much that much film will cost plus shipping and cut charge if applicable.

Wow! Very smart! How long did it take you to create this program? Is it specific to your own business or could any one use it by changing some simple values? cheers.

I want to setup my Excel program this way. I worked for another company that did the same thing you did. They put in the measurements and the program told them EVERYTHING. It made it easy for the installer to load up with film with no guess work. It said what film, size, and how many rolls it would take to complete the job. It was awesome!

I'd like something like that. If my Excel skills were better....

Right now I manually put all that info into a spreedsheet and it gives me the sq/ft of everything. Easier then writing it all out and using a calculator. Plus I don't have to worry about being wrong on the price. (Did that a few times - not good at all)


-R

Is there a way to share that program with all your new friends who arent excel geeks?

Yeah, what he said.

Thanks Mahuebel!

sign me up!

i've been meaning to beef up my Excel spreadsheet estimates. If this guy doesn't provide it I'll ask my aunt who is very good in Excel, I'll try to post if I find out something.

I can get you guys a copy, but you'll have to edit it with all of your info. Like my program estimates square footage based on film used, not actual window sizes... from what I've read, some of you do that differently. Also it will add 3 inches to the height of all the windows for some overage when I cut.
Also it will come with what I pay for film, I use Hanita Tek and Suntek, but there are also prices in there for Global.

If any of you guys(or girls) have any questions about how to customize it for your particular prices for film or whatever, let me know and I'll help out the best I can.

Anyone know a way I can upload it so that you can download it, or should I just email it to each of you individually?

Since you don't have enough posts to PM...

my email is roach@azclan.net

If you email it to me, I can host it on my webserver for others to download.

Just an idea.

Oh is that why I can't PM? someone emailed me before and said thought couldn't and I just thought I had something screwed up with my board settings.
I'm putting some final touches on the spreadsheet (its always a work in progress), I'll email you in a little bit with the program so far

Sounds good.

I believe you need 25 posts to be able to pm people...

1!I just sent the program to Roach so he should have it uploaded fairly soon. Let me know what you think!

Thank You!

Sorry.. I had to run out for a bit..

http://www.azclan.net/files/fgep.zip

Two versions.... One for Excel 97-2003 and the other is for Excel 2007.

Wow! Way too complicated. No software or fancy program needed to calculate your fee. I suggest expanding your business saavy through reading business, self help and other positive informational resources. The short of it is that you calculate the amount of material then multiply that with the number of company functions required to complete the job. For example, a customer requests and an agreement is reached for tinting their storefront. Figure the material cost then multiply that by 4. The four constitutes labor, administrative duties, i.e. paper shuffling, transportation to and from the job and, finally consultation. This is a fictitious example, however may clarify the process of creating a "quote." Make a great day for yourself!

haha to each his own I suppose. I spent a lot of time on this program because I'm afraid of getting screwed by my sales persons...or just a stupid mistake doing simple math.
I estimated an apartment complex with this program and it saved me a LOT of time and math.

It is great program but for sure way to complicated to manage. you should set range of prices and bottom lines of competitiveness becuase sometimes you just have to react quickly or to strategically sell out.

Thanks bro for the participation

You mean like have a line that has the price at 5, 6, and 7 without having to type something in or something like that? That would be easy enough.

I actually changed the program around a little bit last night, now you can put windows inexactly as they appear in front of you (width = width, height = height) and it will tell you the most efficient way to pull it off the roll and give you the square footage off of that.

One thing Ihaven't figured out yet is to make it want to use the least amount of different sized rolls as possible... that'll take me some timem if it's even possible

I think that is a neat app.! Thank you for sharing!

wow!! Nice app.. a bit complicated for me.. I think its easier to figure film cost and multiply by 4. I guess thats why we are all different and get a quote in a different way...

mahuebel

I would like a copy of your spreadsheet if possible

Thanks