Front-lit channel letters run $1.05–$1.35 per centimeter of letter height from a factory like ours.
A 12-inch letter? That's 30 centimeters. Do the math: $32–$41 per letter. A 10-letter storefront sign lands at $320–$410 before freight, power supplies, and install.
We quote per centimeter, not per letter, because a 10-inch letter and a 30-inch letter aren't the same product. Anyone who quotes flat per-letter pricing without asking height is reading off a menu, not a fabrication ticket.
Here are the 2025 ranges straight off our line:
That's the honest spread. If someone quotes you $0.50/cm for a stainless front-lit letter, the LED modules will be trash and the paint will chip before the crew bolts it up.
Look, size is linear, but material isn't.
Acrylic face: Mitsubishi or Degussa UV-resistant acrylic holds for 5–8 years. Domestic acrylic starts yellowing in 1–2 years. Price difference runs maybe 20–30% on the face material. You'll eat that in warranty if you cheap out. Our default is 5mm. A 3mm face cuts light output to 92%, a 2mm cuts to 90%. Nobody sees the 2% difference. They do see the 40% cost bump.
For metal returns and backs, stainless 304 gives you 18% chromium, 8% nickel, and a 10+ year outdoor life. Standard thickness is 1.2–1.5mm. 304 stainless letters are fine for a strip mall in Ohio. 316 has 2–3% molybdenum and costs 20–30% more. You pay for that in Miami Beach or you replace letters in three years.
Aluminum weighs about a third of steel and lasts 8–12 years outdoors. It won't rust.
Depth matters less than you'd think. Labor is almost the same whether the can is 2 inches or 4 inches deep. Material cost moves a little, but your real drivers are finish, face material, and whether the letter is front-lit, back-lit, or both.
Here's what nobody tells you: the LED modules are where factories hide their margin.
SMD 2835 is the industry standard at 100–150 lumens per watt. SMD 5050 gets you RGB. SMD 5730 throws 40–60 lumens per chip. L70 rating across decent modules is 50,000 hours. That's five-plus years of real runtime.
We use Bluesky and Rishang modules. They survive five-plus years. Cheap no-name modules die in 12–18 months. Quickest way to spot bad modules: look at the solder joints. Dull gray solder means they skipped lead-free, and the joints won't last 18 months. Shiny silver is proper.
Power supplies are a separate line item. Our warranty covers LEDs for 2 years and power supplies for 1. That should tell you which one fails first.
Certifications cost real money. CE marking runs 20,000–50,000 RMB. UL 48 runs $4,000–$15,000 and takes 4–9 months with quarterly audits. ETL gives you a UL alternative for 10–30% less. IP65 is minimum for outdoor — dust-tight and protected from water jets. IP66 is for coastal. IP68 is submersible.
The ugly truth? A lot of factories will tell you they have CE. Ask for the certificate with today's date. Watch them sweat.
Front-lit is the workhorse. You want front-lit channel letters for a storefront, budget $1.05–$1.35/cm. These have acrylic faces, LED modules inside, and trim caps. That's our bread and butter.
Reverse-lit, or halo, is a premium look. The light bleeds off the wall behind the letter. You're looking at $1.20–$1.65/cm for baked-paint stainless, and $1.50–$1.80/cm for electroplated. Back-lit halo letters use more precise fabrication and tighter tolerances. The light gap has to be consistent or it looks like a DIY job.
Front-and-back lit? $1.50–$1.95/cm, or up to $2.25/cm with electroplating. Twice the light, twice the wiring, twice the points of failure.
Open-face channel letters? I won't give you a fake number. Anyone quoting open-face without a spec drawing is guessing. Expect to pay more than front-lit and wait longer. That's a retro look, not a standard line item.
Side-lit acrylic gives you that elegant edge-glow. You'll pay more in LED density, but if you want that thin line of light, side-lit acrylic letters are where the budget goes.
The ugly truth? Local sign companies mark up materials 20–30% after they cut and weld. That's not greed. That's rent, insurance, and a guy standing in front of you with a tape measure.
I've watched sign shops pay $800 for a front-lit letter from a domestic fabricator. Same 304 stainless, same Samsung LEDs. We ship that letter for $120. That's not a sales pitch. That's the cost of labor and overhead in different postal codes.
We're Aochuang Sign in Lu'an, Anhui. 3,000 square meters of production, 50+ skilled workers, CE and UL on file, founded in 2010. MOQ is 1 piece.
But factory-direct isn't free money. LCL sea freight means dockhands handle your crate 6–8 times between our dock and yours. Every touch is a chance for damage. That's not in the brochure. Crating, foam, and a plywood crate are part of export packaging — not optional.
Lead times from us: sample in about 5 days, production in about 15 days, confirmed per order. We quote freight per destination and volume. Never trust a flat freight number without a port address.
Shipping times are real: express 7–10 days, air about 10 days, fast sea 40–50 days, standard sea about 65 days. Plan around that.
I've seen this go wrong: a sign shop orders beautiful factory letters, then the client's wall is stucco over foam and the electrician pulls a permit from a guy who used to work at a car wash.
IP65 sounds impressive. That rating means water jets from any direction. It does NOT mean your sign survives a Florida hurricane.
For the US, your electrical work falls under NEC Article 600. The per-letter price doesn't include permits, lifts, or a licensed electrician. No factory can quote those. Anyone who does is guessing.
If the sign needs to be ADA-compliant, tactile requirements kick in: mounting between 48–60 inches, non-glare finish, Grade 2 Braille. That changes the fabrication, not just the install.
Site conditions drive hidden costs. A raceway mount hides wiring but adds material. A flush mount on brick needs anchors and a drill bit that doesn't skip. If the wall isn't flat, the letters will look drunk from the sidewalk.
Take the word "STARBUCKS" or "WORKSHOP" — 10 letters. Each letter 30 centimeters tall. Front-lit, stainless trim + acrylic face, no electroplating.
At $1.20/cm, that's $36 per letter. Ten letters: $360.
Add nothing for MOQ. Add freight and crating, quoted per destination. Add power supplies and wiring, quoted based on LED load. Add installation and permits, quoted by your local guy.
Production time runs roughly 15 days for a set like that after design confirmation. Sample, if you want one first, runs about 5 days. That's the reality. Not 5 weeks.
If you want color-changing RGB, floor-standing letters, or starry perforated faces, those run higher per centimeter. You'll find pricing in the catalog, confirmed per project.
What's the cheapest channel letter? A 10cm baked-paint stainless letter at $0.90/cm costs $9.00. It'll look like a $9 letter. Don't.
Do you really ship one letter? Yes. MOQ is 1 piece. You'll pay freight on a crate that's 95% empty, but yes.
Can you quote me per square foot? No. We measure letters by height and count, not square footage. A 30cm "I" and a 30cm "W" use wildly different material and labor. If someone quotes per square foot, they're selling you a lightbox, not channel letters.
Why is UL so expensive? Because $4,000–$15,000 in testing, 4–9 months of waiting, and quarterly audits. If a factory says UL included for free, ask if they've ever seen the auditor.
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