Buying an LED Sign? Asking Hard Questions Now Can Save Heartache Later

February 10, 2017

The LED sign business today is a lot like the dot com era — it seems everyone is trying to get a piece of it. So it’s no surprise that companies selling LED signs are popping up all over the place. Many of them claim to have the lowest prices and in-stock signs that can be installed within a week. This may seem like an attractive option, especially in this economy, but if you shop for the lowest price only, you’ll likely end up with an inferior product that has little or no future support. Though low prices are tempting, there are many more important factors that anyone making the investment in digital signage should consider.

How long has the company been in business?

If a company has been successful in the sign business for a long time, there’s a better chance they’ll be around for the life of your sign.

Can they show you working reference signs?

Anyone can produce a beautiful image of a sign. With photo editing programs, companies can work miracles. And new signs, even from fly-by-night manufacturers, can look great on day one. But what will their signs look like in six months, a year or five years?

Ask them if you can see actual working signs in the field, and find out how long those signs have been in continuous operation. It’s a good idea to talk to the sign owners as well to find out how the signs have stood the test of time. Are they willing to speak well of the product and the service the company provides? If not, you should probably look elsewhere.

Do They Have a Dedicated Service Department?

Many buyers assume that a company has a service department and will be there to answer questions and take care of any issues that arise. Often, especially when buyers purchase from newer or lesser known companies (and even some that have been around for a while), they are disappointed when they can’t get any support for their sign. That’s why it pays to verify the level of service support your LED sign manufacturer will provide before you commit to a purchase.

How Easy Is It to Operate Their Sign?

The value of LED message centers lies in the flexibility of the medium and the ability to change messages quickly and frequently. So it’s important that sign owners can easily create and update messages. When you’re considering which company to purchase from, you may want to find out a few things.

1. Do they offer a turnkey system?

2. Does the price include software to run the sign?

3. Have you taken the software for a “test drive”?

4. Does the software come equipped with a large library of free and ready-to-use artwork that will help you create eye-catching messages?

Making a Decision.

If you’re asking how to get the “best deal” on an LED sign, you might do better to ask how to make the smartest LED sign investment. A well-known, experienced manufacturer may not always offer the lowest prices on the market, but they can offer energy efficiency, reliability, service and ease of-use. And those are the features that will make your LED sign purchase pay in the long run.

The fact is, your investment in an LED sign is just too large to be gambling your success on an unknown vendor — even when the price is significantly lower. A sign that has persistent problems or doesn’t look good will leave your customers with a negative impression. And that can hurt your business instead of helping it.

Complete sign solutions by Electra Sign Ltd. Winnipeg Manitoba, leading the signage industry in award-winning custom design and manufacturing.

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