Reflective signs offer less expensive options than electric signs. The manager of marketing for a group of several hardware/feed supply stores in Central Virginia contacted me last month to provide options for a new wood framed ACM sign that would help lead potential customers to one of their sites.
Their store in Weyers Cave, Virginia is located off the beaten trail, so she was wondering about the cost of a reflective sign to replace the existing non-reflective one that had been there for quite some time. After seeing that the cost between reflective or non-reflective options was about a 30% difference, she ordered the new reflective sign to mark the turn off the main road.
We knew that standard DOT and traffic signs are okay to be reflective, but we weren’t all the way sure that 
commercial road signs could be. After checking with DOT’s office that deals with off-premise advertising, we found out that reflective graphics were legitimate as long as they didn’t resemble traffic control signs, such as traffic lights, etc.
The biggest benefit of reflective signs is their cost over internally illuminated signs. When you calculate the cost of the manufacture of the signs, the installation, the on-going maintenance, and especially the installation of a new circuit to provide power, reflective signs are quickly seen as one of the better alternatives.
Mark Hackley is the owner of Augusta Sign Company, Waynesboro, VA 540-943-9818