Every week I get the same email: "How much for a sign?"
I can't answer that without knowing what you're building. A 12-inch acrylic channel letter with LEDs might run $35. A 4-foot set of stainless halo-lit letters could hit $600. Anyone who quotes you before asking material, size, and mounting is guessing. Walk away from that quote.
So here's the real factory breakdown.
Our prices are per letter or per square meter, not installed project cost.
Front-lit channel letters run $20-80 each. Back-lit halo letters run $35-120 each. Stainless steel non-lit letters run $15-40 each. 3D fabricated letters $40-120. Aluminum letters $10-25. Light boxes $80-250 per square meter. Neon flex signs $30-200 per sign.
That's product cost from Lu'an, Anhui. Not installation, not shipping, not US retail markup.
You're not paying for magic. You're paying for material, labor, LED quality, and packaging.
Acrylic faces are cheap until you need UV-resistant Mitsubishi or Degussa sheet. Domestic acrylic yellows in 1-2 years under sun. Imported UV-resistant holds 5-8 years. If the sign faces direct sun, the good stuff costs more but saves a redo.
Metal choice changes price fast. 304 stainless gives 10+ years outdoors. 316 marine grade lasts 15+ years and costs 20-30% more. For a strip mall in Ohio, 304 is fine. For Miami Beach, pay for 316 or watch your letters pit.
I've seen this go wrong: a buyer ordered 2mm acrylic faces for a 3-meter sign because it was $12 cheaper. Six months later, the face bowed like a potato chip.
Over 2.5 meters, use 5mm+ acrylic or add bracing. Common thicknesses are 2mm, 3mm, and 5mm. For big faces, don't be cheap. The warranty won't cover warp from undersized material.
Aluminum is 1/3 the weight of steel and naturally rust-proof. It lasts 8-12 years outdoors. Common sheet thickness is 1.0-1.6mm. 304 stainless weighs 7.93g/cm³ and gives 10+ years. Common thickness runs 1.0-3.0mm.
316 adds 2-3% molybdenum for coastal and industrial conditions. Don't let anyone sell you 0.8mm stainless for a large exterior letter. It oil-cans in wind and looks cheap within a year.
Here's what nobody tells you: cheap LED modules die in 12-18 months.
We use SMD 2835 modules running 100-150 lumens per watt as standard. SMD 5050 handles RGB. SMD 5730 gives highest brightness at 40-60 lumens per chip. Good modules from Samsung, Osram, or Lan Jing 5+ years real lifespan. Cheap no-name modules are why some signs look half-lit by year two.
Our warranty is 2 years on LED, 1 year on power supply. That's because we run every sign through an 8-12 hour aging test. If it survives that, it'll survive most storefronts.
This is what we quote. MOQ is one piece. Yes, one. If you're pricing a standard storefront, our front-lit channel letters are the workhorse.
Look, I've watched sign shops pay $800 for a front-lit letter. Same 304 stainless, same Samsung LEDs. We ship that letter for $120.
US retail installed pricing runs $200-700 per front-lit letter and $400-1,000 per halo-lit letter. Factory-direct product cost saves you 50-65% before shipping. If you're a contractor or importer, that margin is yours.
But factor installation. We don't install in Ohio or Texas. You do.
Express shipping takes 7-10 days and costs $30-100 for small signs. Air freight is about 10 days at $4-12 per kg. Sea freight is about 65 days at $80-200 per cubic meter LCL, or $1,200-3,000 for a full container.
Add US Section 301 tariff of roughly 30% on product cost if you're importing into the US. A $500 sign order can land at $650 plus freight. Plan for it.
I've seen this go wrong: someone orders a $400 sign, forgets the tariff and customs bond, then blames me for the landed cost. Don't be that guy.
Here's what nobody tells you: CE marking costs 20,000-50,000 RMB and takes 2-8 weeks. Most factories say they have it. Ask to see the certificate with today's date and the product scope. I've seen photocopies from 2016 passed off as current.
We hold CE, RoHS, and ISO 9001. If your job needs UL 48 or ETL listing, that's a separate project. UL 48 costs $4,000-15,000 and takes
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