Determine Material Cost from Average Cost per Letter

Your supplier gives you an average cost per letter. It is not a material cost for each centimetre or inch. You can still use the Advanced Letter model. This guide shows how to calculate a Letter Material Cost from the average.

Choose the Right Option First

A flat charge for each letter is often enough. Read these options before you start.

• Fixed Cost Per Letter: Every letter costs the same, for example $5 per letter. This is the default Letter Pricing option in a new Advanced Letter pricing.

• Simple Letter model: We recommend this model when your supplier gives an average cost per letter. Refer to Getting Started with the Simple Letter Model.

Use the calculation in this guide only when the price must follow the material length of each font. To compare the options, refer to Letter Material Cost.

In this guide, you measure the average material length of one font. Then you use that length to calculate the material cost for each centimetre or inch.

Before You Start

You need:

• The average cost per letter from your supplier.

• The font that you want to calculate the material cost for.

• An Advanced Letter customiser.

Accessing the Pricing Settings

1. Go to the Sign Customiser Admin:

   • Universal accounts: Go to Home in your account.

   • Shopify users: Go to Shopify admin → Apps. Select the app that you installed from the Shopify App Store. The listing name is Sign Customiser ‑ SF.

2. Click Customisers in the menu.

3. Select your customiser.

4. In the left-hand menu, go to Core Setup → Pricing.

Step 1: Create a Test Pricing

1. In the Pricing section, click Add Pricing. If the customiser has no pricing, click New Advanced Letter Pricing.

   

2. In Advanced Letter Price Settings, enter a Label, for example Material Cost Test. Customers do not see the label.

3. In Letter Pricing, select Letter Material Cost.

   

4. Keep the Size Boundary 1 that the new pricing already has. Do not add another size boundary for this test.

5. Open Size Boundary 1. The Letter Material Cost field shows a default value. Change it to 1 ($1 for each unit of length).

   • The field shows the measurement unit of your Store: per cm or per in. Use this unit in all the steps of this guide.

   • Keep Sign Start Price - (Optional) at 0. A new pricing starts at 0.

   

6. Click Done. Then click Save.

Step 2: Assign the Test Pricing to Your Font

1. Go to Core Setup → Fonts.

2. If the font is in your customiser, open it. If it is not, add it first.

3. In Assign a pricing, select the Material Cost Test pricing in Pricing.

4. Click Save.

Step 3: Enter the Full Alphabet

1. Open your customiser in Preview mode. Refer to Preview Customiser for help.

2. Select the font that you test.

3. Choose one sign size. Use the same size for the whole test.

4. Enter all the characters of the alphabet that you test. For the English lowercase alphabet, enter:

   abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

5. Count the characters that you entered. The English alphabet has 26 characters. For another language, enter all the characters of that alphabet and record the total.

Step 4: Calculate the Average Material Length

1. Click Price above the preview. The price breakdown opens over the preview. It shows how the customiser calculates the price.

2. In the Material Length block, find the line that starts with Total. Record the amount on that line.

3. Do not use the final price of the sign. The final price can include shipping, a start price, and other options. The Total line shows the letter material only.

4. Divide the amount by the number of characters that you entered. The test pricing is $1 for each unit of length. Therefore the amount is equal to the total material length of all the characters.

   For example, assume that the breakdown shows $646.51 for 26 characters:

   $646.51 ÷ 26 = $24.87

   In this example, the font uses an average of about 24.87 cm of material for each letter at the sign size that you chose. If your Store uses inches, the result is in inches.

Step 5: Calculate the Material Cost per Centimetre

Use the average material length from Step 4. Use also the average cost per letter from your supplier.

Use this formula:

Average Cost Per Letter ÷ Average Material Length Per Letter = Material Cost Per cm

For example, your supplier gives an average cost per letter of $10. The average material length is 24.87 cm.

$10 ÷ 24.87 cm = $0.40 per cm

Your estimated Letter Material Cost is approximately $0.40 per cm. If your Store uses inches, the result is a cost for each inch.

Step 6: Update Your Pricing

1. Go back to Core Setup → Pricing.

2. Open the Material Cost Test pricing that you created.

3. Open Size Boundary 1. Replace the $1 test value with the material cost from Step 5.

4. Click Done. Then click Save.

You can now use this Letter Material Cost in your Advanced Letter pricing.