How much should I charge for a vinyl banner?

Work out what it costs you (material with waste, ink, print time and finishing labor at your hourly rates), then mark that cost up. With the example costs on this page, a 3×6 ft 13 oz banner with hems and grommets costs about $29.50 to make and sells for roughly $103–$133 at a 250–350% markup, which is mid-range for what shops publish ($3–$11 per sq ft, most $6–$10). Your own roll price, rates and market decide the real number.

How much does a banner cost per square foot?

With this page's example costs, a 3×6 ft banner works out at about $3.30–$4.50 per sq ft. Small banners cost more per square foot because finishing and minimum charges don't shrink with size.

Where do the default numbers come from?

They are example costs from our worked pricing guides, not supplier quotes. The 100% markup is the cost-plus method in our markup guide; 175% is a markup a Signs101 shop owner said they use (2022). Change every input to your own numbers.

Does this replace a quoting system?

No. It shows the arithmetic for one item. Grommetbook keeps your real costs in a Price Book and your AI assistant prices and sends Quotes from it.

Banner and sign price calculator

Published November 13, 2026 · Updated November 14, 2026

To work out how much to charge for a banner or sign, add up what it costs you, then mark it up. The cost is material with waste, ink, print time and finishing labor at your hourly rates. Then check the job against your minimum. Enter a size, material, finishing and quantity below and the calculator shows a price range at a 250% to 350% markup (about the middle of what shops charge), with every step of the formula. The defaults are example costs from our banner pricing guide, not supplier quotes, so replace them with yours.

The job

Width Height Units Quantity Material Finishing

Your costs and rates (change these to your own)

Material cost per sq ft ($) Waste (%) Ink per sq ft ($) Printer speed (sq ft/hour) Printer rate ($/hour) Shop labor rate ($/hour) Finishing minutes per piece Grommet cost each ($) Job minimum ($) Low markup (%) High markup (%)

Finishing minutes default to about 0.85 minutes per foot of edge for hems and grommets (from the guide's worked examples: 15 minutes for a 3×6), or 4 minutes for a trim. Change it when you change the size if your shop is faster or slower.

With the example costs, a 3×6 ft 13 oz banner with hems and grommets costs about $29.50 and sells for about $103–$133. Turn on JavaScript to change the inputs, or use the formula below.

Price every job from your own costs: free for up to 5 quotes a month with Grommetbook

Free tool: already have the quote as a PDF? Get a link your customer can approve, and an email when they do.

The formula

Square feet = width (ft) × height (ft).
Material = sq ft × material cost per sq ft × (1 + waste %).
Ink = sq ft × ink cost per sq ft.
Print time = sq ft ÷ printer speed × printer rate.
Finishing = finishing minutes ÷ 60 × shop rate, plus grommets × grommet cost.
Cost per piece = material + ink + print time + finishing. Job cost = cost per piece × quantity.
Price = job cost × (1 + markup %), but never below your job minimum.

Markup isn't margin: a 100% markup is a 50% margin, 250% is about 71% and 350% is about 78%. Finishing labor and print time are already in the cost, so the markup covers overhead, design calls, reprints and profit. Use the markup and margin calculator to convert between them.

Where the numbers come from

Roll, ink, printer and labor figures are the example costs in our vinyl banner guide and coroplast guide. Ink at about $0.25/sq ft matches what a Signs101 member said they use (2022).
The 250–350% range is set so the default 3×6 lands in the middle of published banner prices: Signs101 shop owners quoting $3 to about $11 per sq ft, most $6–$10 (2022), the $8 per sq ft local-shop rule Signs.com describes (2020), and a $79 2×4 from 4over4 (2026). Sources are listed in our banner guide. The cost-plus method itself is in the markup guide.
The $45 minimum is the guide's example. Signs101 shops describe minimums from $25–$80 (older threads) to "$75-$125" (2022).

Prices depend on your costs and your market, so treat the result as a check on your own numbers, not a market rate.

Doing it in Grommetbook

Grommetbook keeps these numbers in a Price Book: rolls and sheets as Materials with their own waste %, printer and shop time as Rates, and a markup and minimum on each Product. Ask your AI assistant "quote ten 3×6 banners with grommets for Main Street Bakery" and it prices them from your Price Book, shows each step, and sends a Quote your customer approves online. When a supplier raises a roll price, one sentence updates every Product that uses it. It's $49 a month for the whole shop: see pricing.

Questions

How much should I charge for a vinyl banner?: Work out what it costs you (material with waste, ink, print time and finishing labor at your hourly rates), then mark that cost up. With the example costs on this page, a 3×6 ft 13 oz banner with hems and grommets costs about $29.50 to make and sells for roughly $103–$133 at a 250–350% markup, which is mid-range for what shops publish ($3–$11 per sq ft, most $6–$10). Your own roll price, rates and market decide the real number.
How much does a banner cost per square foot?: With this page's example costs, a 3×6 ft banner works out at about $3.30–$4.50 per sq ft. Small banners cost more per square foot because finishing and minimum charges don't shrink with size.
Where do the default numbers come from?: They are example costs from our worked pricing guides, not supplier quotes. The 100% markup is the cost-plus method in our markup guide; 175% is a markup a Signs101 shop owner said they use (2022). Change every input to your own numbers.
Does this replace a quoting system?: No. It shows the arithmetic for one item. Grommetbook keeps your real costs in a Price Book and your AI assistant prices and sends Quotes from it.