How print pricing works: the five dials on the product page and the lines in your basket

Here is how print pricing works on our site, in one go. Five dials on the product page (size, material, finishing, quantity and turnaround speed) set the price of the goods, and it updates live as you turn them. Delivery and any paid artwork help then appear as separate lines in the basket. Nothing is tucked away inside the product price, so what you see at each step is what you pay for that part.

Where the “from” price comes from #

Each product page opens on its cheapest combination: the smallest size, the standard material, no extras and the slowest speed. That starting figure is the “from” price shown in listings. Change any option and the figure recalculates on the spot, because each combination has its own production cost. For a standard product you never need to ask what something costs; the number on screen is the goods price.

That also means the “from” price is a floor, not an estimate for your job. A bigger size or a faster speed will cost more, and the page shows you exactly how much before you add it to the basket.

The five dials, one by one #

1. Size

More area means more material and more machine time, so size moves the price most on banners and boards. A 6 ft × 3 ft (1829 × 914 mm) PVC banner costs more than a 4 ft × 2 ft (1219 × 610 mm) one simply because it is bigger. If the space allows, check the next size down before you commit.

2. Material

The board or sheet itself has a cost. The same sign in Dibond costs more than in Correx or Foamex, because aluminium composite is a pricier sheet. Pick the material the job needs, not the most expensive one; our guide to Foamex, Dibond or Correx helps.

3. Finishing

Extras add to the total: lamination on cards and signs, drilled holes or profile cutting on boards, and bags of cable ties on banners. Each is priced as you tick it, so you can see its effect straight away.

4. Quantity

This dial is the part of how print pricing works that people most often miss, because it behaves differently from the rest. Setting up a job takes the same effort whether we print one or fifty, so on many products the price each falls as the quantity or pack size rises. Products sold in packs show a small table under the price with the price each at every step, which makes it easy to see where the saving flattens out.

Quantities come in fixed steps. Business cards come in packs from 100 up to 5,000. Correx boards run from 1 to 1,000. Labels come in packs that depend on the label and material. If you need a number between two steps, look at the price each for the step above before deciding; sometimes the bigger pack costs little more.

5. Turnaround speed

Saver, Standard and Express make the same item at different speeds. Saver is always the cheapest and Express always the dearest, though the gap is bigger on some products than others. If your date allows, Saver is the easiest saving there is, because nothing about the item changes. Our guide to working days to dispatch shows how to count back from a deadline.

How print pricing works at the basket #

Once the goods are in the basket, up to two more kinds of line can appear.

Delivery

Charged once per order, not per item:

• £7.95 to UK mainland addresses.
• Free when the goods total reaches £100 or more after any discount code.
• Plus £15 once per order for oversize items: banners over 3 m on any side or boards larger than A0. See the oversize delivery charge.
• Plus £10 once per order for mainland Scottish Highlands postcodes, even when delivery is otherwise free.

Northern Ireland, the Scottish islands, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight are quoted. The delivery page has everything.

Artwork help

Designing in the online designer costs nothing, and neither does uploading your own file, which a person checks for free. If you want us to do the work, the paid artwork service (typesetting, design from your brief, a logo redraw or a new logo) shows as its own line so you can see exactly what it adds. Typesetting includes 1 design and 2 rounds of changes. Artwork fees do not count towards the £100 free-delivery total.

A worked example without the numbers #

Say a football club wants two banners for the ground and fifty A4 Correx boards for match days, all with the same crest and sponsor. Here is how the total builds:

1. Each banner is priced by its size and finishing, at the speed chosen.
2. The Correx boards go in as one line of fifty, so the club sees the price each for that quantity instead of paying for set-up on several small orders.
3. The club uploads its own crest file, so there is no artwork line.
4. Everything travels together, so delivery is charged once, and the goods total is likely to clear £100, making it free.
5. If either banner is over 3 m long, one £15 oversize charge is added for the whole order.

When the page cannot give you a price #

The configurator handles standard sizes and quantity steps. Outside those, a person prices the job by hand. Typical reasons: a banner larger than 16 ft 5 in × 9 ft 10 in (5000 × 3000 mm), a run bigger than the top quantity on the page, a material or finish the options do not show, a delivery address in one of the quoted areas, or a mixed kit of items you would like costed in one go. Our guide to a print quote request lists what to send.

Five ways to keep the total down #

• Buy time, not a faster speed. Ordering a week or two ahead lets Saver do the job.
• Batch it. One basket means one delivery charge and a better chance of hitting £100.
• Read the price each table. The step above your number is sometimes the smarter buy.
• Share a design. Tick “same artwork as another item” and a single design fee covers every item that uses it.
• Watch the 3 m line. A banner a few centimetres over it picks up the oversize charge; trimming it to 3 m may still suit the fence.

Once you know how print pricing works, the checkout total should hold no surprises. Prices are for the goods as described, and your normal consumer protection rights apply. If a line in your basket looks wrong, contact us before you pay and we will talk it through.