ROI Lab
ROI Lab: Run the Numbers on a Wrap
You pay for a wrap once and drive it for years. These four calculators help you put numbers on that. Every assumption is on screen, and you can change every field.
Pick one
Four calculators
Planning estimates only. Prices are Ardor's published starting prices before fleet pricing. Design is quoted separately. Your quote depends on your vehicles, coverage and design.
Fleet Wrap Value
Estimate what your wrapped fleet's impressions would cost in other media.
Cost per Impression
See what one wrap costs per 1,000 impressions, per day and per month over its life.
Wrap vs Paint vs PPF
Spread each option over the years you'll own the vehicle and compare.
Break-even Customers
Count the new customers it takes to pay for the wrap from real job profit.
Our approach
How we handle numbers
We only cite figures we can trace to a source. You'll find bigger numbers quoted around the wrap industry for daily impressions and media costs. We couldn't trace those to a study we could open, so we left them out. Where a field needs a number we can't source, it says 'assumption' and you can change it.
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Fleet Wrap Value Calculator
Estimate the media-equivalent value of your wrapped fleet over the life of the wraps.
Example with the default inputs
Estimated media-equivalent value $93,750
Over 5 years with 5 wrapped vehicles. A comparison with other media, not revenue or profit.
- Estimated impressions over the wrap life
- 31.3M impressions
- Wrap investment (starting prices + design)
- $20,500
- Media-equivalent value per $1 of wrap
- $4.57 per $1 of wrap
- Your cost per 1,000 impressions
- $0.66
- Cost per vehicle per day on the road
- $3.28
- Operating days until media-equivalent value equals the investment
- 273 operating days
Starting prices only. Your quote uses your vehicles.
Estimated media-equivalent value is what the same impressions would cost at the CPM you entered. It is not revenue or profit, and an impression is a chance to be seen, not a lead. Impression and CPM defaults are assumptions you should replace with your own. Prices are Ardor's starting prices before fleet pricing, and design is quoted separately. Your quote depends on your vehicles, coverage and design. Fleet pricing: ask us.
How we calculate
- Each vehicle's daily impressions = your impressions at 50 miles x the driving-area multiplier x (your miles / 50) x the coverage factor for that vehicle's wrap.
- Fleet impressions = the sum across your vehicles x days on the road per year x years.
- Investment = each vehicle's price x how many, plus one design fee.
- Media-equivalent value = fleet impressions / 1,000 x the comparison CPM you entered.
- Your cost per 1,000 impressions = investment / (fleet impressions / 1,000).
- Every input above shows where its default came from. Change any of them and the results update.
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Cost per Impression over the Wrap's Life
See what one wrap costs per 1,000 impressions, per day and per month over its life.
Example with the default inputs
Your cost per 1,000 impressions $0.78
Spread over about 6.3M estimated impressions in 5 years. An impression is a chance to be seen, not a lead.
- Total cost (wraps + design + removal if on)
- $4,900
- Estimated impressions over the wrap's life
- 6.3M impressions
- Cost per vehicle per driving day
- $3.92
- Cost per vehicle per month
- $81.67
- Same reach at your comparison CPM
- $18,750
- Impressions per vehicle per day to match your comparison CPM
- 1,307 impressions
Starting prices only. Your quote uses your vehicles.
An impression is a chance to be seen, not a lead or a sale. Impressions per mile and the comparison CPM are assumptions; replace them with your own. 'Same reach' is a comparison, not revenue. Prices are Ardor's starting prices, and design is quoted separately.
How we calculate
- Total cost = wrap price x vehicles + design, plus removal if you switch it on.
- Daily impressions per vehicle = miles per day x impressions per mile x coverage.
- Lifetime impressions = daily impressions x vehicles x days per year x years.
- Your CPM = total cost / (lifetime impressions / 1,000).
- Same reach = lifetime impressions / 1,000 x your comparison CPM.
- The sensitivity table reruns your CPM at half and double the impressions per mile, so you can see how much the answer depends on that one assumption.
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Wrap vs Paint vs PPF over Ownership
Spread the cost of a wrap, a repaint and paint protection film over the years you'll own the vehicle.
Example with the default inputs
Wrap: total over ownership $4,000
1 wrap and 0 removals over 5 years, for 1 vehicle.
- Repaint: total over ownership
- Add a quote
- PPF: total over ownership
- Add a quote
Starting prices only. Your quote uses your vehicles.
A wrap, a repaint and PPF do different jobs: a wrap changes color or carries graphics, paint replaces the finish, and PPF guards it. This calculator compares cost only. Paint and PPF stay blank until you enter real quotes. We don't build in resale or lease effects because we haven't found a source we trust. Tax treatment varies; ask your accountant.
How we calculate
- Wrap cycles = years of ownership / wrap life, rounded up (or 1 if re-wrap is off).
- Each extra cycle adds one removal, plus one more if you remove the wrap at the end.
- Repaints and PPF are counted the same way: years / life, rounded up, x the price you entered.
- Downtime adds days without the vehicle x what a day costs you. Adjustments subtract any value you expect to gain.
- Per year and per month divide each total by your years of ownership.
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Break-even Customers
Count how many new customers it takes to pay for the wrap from real job profit.
Example with the default inputs
New customers to break even 9 customers
About one new customer every 6.7 months over a 5-year wrap life covers the cost.
- Total wrap cost over its life
- $4,900
- Profit from one new customer
- $600
- That's one new customer every ... months
- 6.7 months
- Months to pay back at your rate
- 8.2 months
- Profit after the wrap's cost, if your estimates hold
- $31,100
Starting prices only. Your quote uses your vehicles.
Every profit input is hypothetical until you enter your own numbers. How many customers you credit to the wrap is your estimate, so track it: ask every caller how they found you. This calculator measures profit; the Cost per Impression calculator measures reach. Tax treatment varies; ask your accountant.
How we calculate
- Total cost = wrap price x vehicles + design + other upfront costs + upkeep x years, plus removal if you switch it on.
- Profit per new customer = average job value x margin x jobs per customer.
- Break-even customers = total cost / profit per customer, rounded up.
- Payback = total cost / (new customers a month x profit per customer).
- The grid reruns break-even for three job values and three margins so you can see which number matters most for your business.
FAQ
ROI Lab questions
Is a vehicle wrap worth it for a business?
Run your own numbers in the Break-even Customers calculator. Enter your average job value and profit margin, and it shows how many new customers it takes to cover the wrap.
What is media-equivalent value?
It's what the same number of impressions would cost if you bought them from another medium, at the CPM you enter. It's a way to compare. It is not revenue or profit.
Where do your impression numbers come from?
They're editable assumptions. The default is 5,000 impressions per vehicle per day at 50 miles, which we chose as a conservative starting point. Wrap shops often quote much bigger numbers, but we couldn't trace them to a study we could read, so we don't use them.
Why don't you show an ROI percentage?
A media-value 'ROI' can look huge without saying anything about profit. We show a value-to-cost ratio instead, and we measure real return in the Break-even Customers calculator, which uses your own job profit.
Are the prices in the calculators real?
They're Ardor's published starting prices, and you can change every one. Design is quoted separately. Your quote depends on your vehicles, coverage and design, so treat the results as planning numbers.
Is a vehicle wrap tax deductible?
Advertising costs are generally a deductible business expense, but a multi-year wrap may be treated differently, for example capitalized with the vehicle. Ask your accountant.
Free quotes · Ardor Printing
Swap the estimates for a real quote
The calculators use starting prices. Your quote uses your vehicles. Fleet pricing: ask us.