Teran Marsell | Published on December 30th, 2014
While the size, design and style of wrap you choose will affect your final price, you can generally expect your costs to fall between $5 and $16 per square foot of coverage.
So while you might pay around $200 to $500 for lettering or spot graphics, you’d probably wind up paying something in the range $3,000 and $5,000 for a large SUV or van.
If you’d like a better idea of what your project would cost, we can give you a free quote.
Figuring Out if a Vehicle Wrap is Right for You
Now, what you pay to wrap a vehicle is one thing. But if you’re using it to advertise your business, you’ll also want to determine what kind of return on investment you’re going to get.
Benefits of a One-Time Installation Fee
One of the beautiful things about vehicle wraps is that you don’t have to pay fees for media time or space. You pay a one-time installation fee and only need to replace every 5 years or so, which is a great way to advertise your business without putting a stranglehold on your budget.
CPM for Vehicle Wraps
When it comes to CPM (or cost per 1,000 impressions), nothing performs like a vehicle wrap. With a CPM between 50¢ and 75¢, wraps beat radio ($5 to $12 CPM) and television ($18 to $24 CPM) by a long shot.
Calculating Your Break-Even Point
You’ll also want to know how many new customers you’ll need to attract with your wrap before you break even. This will help you determine whether a vehicle wrap is practical for your business. You can calculate it using this formula…
BE = FC / GM
…where…
- BE is your break even point (or the number of new customers you’ll need to attract to cover the cost of your wrap)
- FC is your total fixed costs (or the cost of your wrap)
- GM is your average gross margin (the selling price of your service minus what it costs you)
Break Even for High Ticket Sales
Plumbers, roofers, landscapers and similar types of businesses will find these estimates more in line with their actual break-even point.
So for the sake of an example, let’s pretend you’re a plumber considering a full wrap for your new van. We’ll assume the wrap is going to cost you $3,000. That’s your fixed cost (FC). We’ll assume your GM for a new customer is $1,000. That means
BE = FC / GM
BE = $3,000 / $1,000
BE = 3
This means you would need to attract 3 new customers over the life of your wrap in order to break even. Anything over 3 would mean that you have a positive return on investment and that your wrap is profitable to your business.
Break Even for Smaller Sales
Now food trucks, ice cream trucks, flower shops and other businesses that do a higher volume of smaller sales may see a break-even point more similar to this.
Let’s say you’re an Italian food truck. It’s going to cost you $3,000 to get a graphic of those a-spicy meatballs on your truck. Your GM is $4. This means
BE = FC / GM
BE = $3,000 / $4
BE = 750
This means you would need 750 people to buy from your truck over the life of your wrap in order to break even. Anything over that and the wrap would be profitable to your business.
Team Acme Can Service Your Fleet
We’re located in Henderson right off the 215 Freeway and offer full service for fleet vehicles. This includes design and installation of full and partial vehicle wraps, window tinting, and auto glass repair, which means you can get your new vehicle completely outfitted quickly all in one place.
When you set up a fleet account, we’ll keep your graphics on file to offer you faster lead times on your next vehicle. So what are you waiting for? If you’re ready to get your new vehicle wrapped, contact us today!
