Pricing guide
What real estate signs really cost, from the people who print them
Many sign sellers are resellers quoting someone else's print work with a margin on top. We print in our own Montreal plant, so we can explain exactly what moves a sign quote up or down, and what to send us for a real manufacturer-direct number within one business day.
What moves the price
1.The substrate: coroplast, aluminum composite, or PVC
Coroplast (corrugated plastic) is the economical standard for lawn signs: light, weatherproof, and affordable enough to treat as per-listing stock. Aluminum composite panel costs more up front but stays rigid and flat through years of reuse. PVC sits between the two with a clean, premium face. The substrate is usually the single biggest line on a sign quote.
2.Size of the panel
Price scales with area: a large panel uses more material and more machine time than a small one. Standard real estate sizes also cut efficiently from stock sheets with little waste, which is why an odd custom size can cost disproportionately more than the next standard size up. If a standard size does the job, take it.
3.Single or double sided
A lawn sign reads from both directions of traffic, so double-sided is the norm. It costs more than single-sided because it adds a second printed face, but it does not double the price: the substrate, cutting, and finishing are shared. Riders and directional arrows follow the same logic.
4.Quantity: one agent versus a brokerage program
One agent ordering two signs pays the full setup on a tiny run. A brokerage ordering for its whole roster on shared templates lets us gang the printing, so the same sign costs meaningfully less per unit. Quantity is the biggest lever a brokerage controls, and it costs nothing but coordination.
5.Hardware: frames, posts, stakes, and riders
Frames, posts, stakes, and A-frames are a separate cost from the printed panel, and they behave differently: hardware is a one-time investment reused listing after listing, while panels and riders are the consumable. Cheap hardware that rusts or bends after one season is the most expensive kind, because you buy it twice.
6.Quebec winter durability
A sign that faces Quebec sun, rain, and freeze-thaw needs UV-stable inks and finishing specified for the outdoors. That spec costs a little more per sign and much less per season, because the alternative is a faded, streaky panel reprinted in the middle of a listing. Durability is a cost driver you want on the quote.
7.Who you buy from
Many sign sellers take your order and send it to a trade printer, adding a margin for the handoff. Buying direct from the plant that prints the sign removes that layer, and it shortens the loop when a new listing needs a sign in the ground this week, not after a broker's back-and-forth.
How to pay less, honestly
Standardize sizes across the brokerage
When every agent orders the same panel and rider sizes, printing gangs efficiently, hardware becomes interchangeable, and reorders stop being design projects. One approved spec sheet for the office is the cheapest signage decision a broker can make.
Order as a program, not as one-offs
Batch the office's needs into program orders instead of a dozen individual ones. The quantities combine, the setup spreads, and every agent pays the program price instead of the small-run price. It also gives the office one accountable supplier instead of scattered receipts.
Amortize a durable panel over many listings
If your name, photo, and number stay constant, an aluminum composite panel reused across dozens of listings costs less per listing than coroplast replaced every few months. Keep the parts that change (status, price, open house) on inexpensive swap-in riders instead of reprinting the main sign.
Buy direct from the manufacturer
No reseller margin, no handoff delays. The same plant holds your templates and colours, so every reorder matches the last one and a new agent's signage looks like the rest of the office from day one.
The bottom line
Real estate sign pricing comes down to substrate, size, sides, quantity, hardware, durability spec, and who you buy from. Buying direct from a manufacturer like Accent Real Estate in Montreal removes the reseller margin, and a complete spec gets you a real, itemized price within one business day.
For an accurate quote in one business day
Include these in your request and we'll come back with a real number, not a vague range.
- Sizes and quantity for each item: main panels, riders, directional arrows, A-frame inserts
- Substrate preference (coroplast, aluminum composite, PVC), or how long the sign has to serve and we'll recommend one
- Single or double sided, and how many different designs or agent versions
- Hardware needed (frames, posts, stakes, A-frames), or panels only for your existing frames
- Your deadline, and whether delivery goes to one office or gets split by agent
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a real estate sign cost?
- It depends on substrate, size, single or double sided, quantity, and the hardware around it, and a brokerage program changes the math again. What we can promise: you see the manufacturer's price with no reseller margin, within one business day of sending your specs.
- Which is cheaper: coroplast or aluminum?
- Per sign, coroplast wins. Per listing, aluminum composite often wins, because one rigid panel reused across dozens of listings beats replacing coroplast every few months. If your core design stays constant, price both and do the math over a year of listings.
- Does double-sided printing double the price?
- No. You add a second printed face, but the substrate, cutting, and finishing are shared, so the increase is real yet well short of double. Since a lawn sign works both directions of traffic, double-sided is almost always worth it.
- How does a brokerage program lower the cost?
- Standardized templates and combined quantities let us gang the office's printing into efficient runs, so the per-sign price drops and stays predictable. Agents order from approved templates, hardware is interchangeable, and the office stops paying small-run setup on every individual order.
- Can US brokerages order in US dollars?
- Yes. We price in Canadian dollars, which a favourable exchange rate makes attractive for a US budget, and we accept payment in USD. Our Montreal plant is about an hour from the US border, and many signs cross duty-free or at low duty under CUSMA.
Start your project
Send your specs and get a manufacturer-direct price, itemized line by line, within one business day.