Do you have anything cheaper? Is that the best you can do? Do you have any refurbished or used an equipment? Can you send me an email with all of this information and do a little bit better on the price for me? I can go on and on with these types of quips that we get from prospective clients. Heck, I do the same thing when I am out and about acting the role of consumer. After all, it is in everybody’s best interest to get quality at a reasonable price. The operative word in this case is, QUALITY. It is one thing if someone is committed to the purchase but is looking to haggle on price. It is something completely different if someone is just looking for CHEAP. 
Above and beyond all of that, it is difficult from a buyer’s point-of-view to digest all the information you receive from the companies you are dealing with. As Tommy Boy said (sic), “they’ll mark it guaranteed and you’ll get a guaranteed piece of $&*%” The fact is, you’ll think you’re getting something very similar at a lesser cost, but a lot of times you’ll learn the hard way down the road.
The following are three case-in-point examples of situations we see playing out all the time:
1- Drive-thru
As recently as two days ago we replaced a drive-thru that was less than a year old. At the time of his opening, our customer was very mindful of where he was spending his money – and rightfully so. He has presented a low-cost, illuminated drive-thru menu board from a local sign shop. What he received was a cabinet that frequently leaked, had a vicious glare because of the Plexi used, and did not have an efficient way of changing and securing graphics. There is a reason that you should use a menu board company for your drive-thru signage. They are not reinventing the wheel and/or engineering on the fly. They have tried, tested, and reliable systems.
2- Digital
This could be a blog, short story, case study, novel, (you name it) on to itself. The pitfalls that people fall in to trying to save a buck on digital signage are plentiful. As we have discussed at length in the past, there are digital systems and digital solutions. Solutions have the content and file management capabilities under one umbrella. Many systems rely on multiple moving parts to achieve “solution” status. You see this frequently with media player (i.e. MVix) type systems. The playback looks the same but when it comes time to make changes to the content it is a 3 pronged attack vs. a single one. You have to get with a designer to make the changes, wait on them to send them to you, save them to a USB, get up on a chair and plug it in to a media player, etc. Sure these types of companies offer “Enhanced” or “Premier” or “Platinum” options, but when you add that up, you’re back where you started in terms of cost for a TRUE solution.
3- Menu boards
This is the area where we see the most people skimping on signage. The main reason for this is because from a consumer’s perspective, they have the most options. Any sign company will tell you that they can provide you with menu boards, and some will do terrific work. However most will simply regurgitate your menu and pricing on to a mounted graphic. What ends up happening is the whole panel has to be replaced when you need to make any sort of change. More importantly, these companies typically lack the know-how in regards to the science of designing a menu board and how to lay out the content to maximize profitability.
Everyone nowadays is looking to save, and I am no different. What I hope to have illustrated is that by going cheap in the beginning can sometimes result in spending more in the long run. We get about a third of our business on replacement units. This is something to keep in mind.
Looking to add or replace at your location? Give us a call today at 888-235-2579, email us at info@origindisplays.com or contact us here and we’d be happy to walk you through some options.
