Bike Decals: WTF?

[Canuk]

At the weekend I finally got round to look for a set of Colnago decals for an old Sport I recently got painted - what a shock!

Last time I looked bicycledecals.net and their 'competitor' (a disgruntled ex employee who nicked all the digital scans and started making them himself) used to offer a full set of decals for between £13-15 on eBay, often including a Columbus or Reynolds frame tube decal. The same guys now ask £30-40 for identical decals! That's nearly a 300% increase... And Lloyd now asks eye watering sums for even the smallest of decals. My youngest son works in the print and graphics industry, so I know how much these decals cost to make in bulk - it's pennies per sheet. Granted, if you have to redraw a set of decals there's time involved, but once it's done you're just clicking a button to print money.

I didn't mind paying £15 for a full set of quality vinyl decals, but £40…!?

It's good to see that some eBay sellers (Devigraf for example) are still selling quality vinyl decals at reasonable prices (£16 for a full set of Colnago Sport including Columbus stickers) and the postage is almost the same as what Lloyd charges for a single small decal!

I've noticed quite a few new European players (Costumcycles, of France, Egovinyls from Spain and Goodhabbits for vintage Raleigh) even Thai and Malaysian producers of decals in the last few months. For those who are really milking the decals market (a full set of Freddie Grubb decals cost more than I paid for the frame) I hope these new entrants kick your arse.

https://ebay.us/m/LphxoY

https://ebay.us/m/RUyZOm

 

[fguki]

However, if your "son works in the print industry", you should know that the "pennies" printing costs per sheet dont mean shit at all and the costs for the decal sets lay way way way elsewhere, right?

Shall we both sit together and scan (or even design) a full decal-set for a retro-bike together? From scratch. From start to finish! Then, go and buy all the machines and material that is needed to complete high class decal-projects. And THEN in the end also talk about the economical aspect of it? The plain numbers? The expected sales per year per design? Alright.

When this is all done, we will come back here and talk about your criticism again ...

After 3 years of making professional decals myself, I absolutely understand why one always (!) has to calculate 35-50 for a great decal set!

Imagine why the best shop there ever was (Velocals) went out of business. Yes, you guessed right ...