pricing ????

[Patrick Licata]

Have a customer looking for 200 - 300 mini 18" baseball bats with a single line of engraving on them. Any ideas on what you would would charge for the engraving? or completed price. Bat cost is $2.75
Thanks, Patrick

[Dee Gallo]

I would say the price depends on whether they all have the same words on them or each one is different. Does the engraving go straight along the bat or around? How big are the letters (or how long will it take to engrave one)?

Details first, answers later! But in Cooperstown, they charge $6.50 per bat... that's including the bat & personalization. And the cache of buying it near the Baseball Hall of Fame.

:) dee

[Gary Hair]

Patrick,
One way to do this is to calculate by the job instead of by the piece. You'll give them a piece price but you start with the total for your purposes. To do this you need to determine the time it will take to do the entire job and then how much you need to make for that period of time. Make sure you include every aspect of the job - ordering, unpackaging, artwork, laser setup, engraving, cleanup, repackaging, delivery, etc. If, for example, it took you 2 hours to do 20 bats from start to finish, and you charged $120 per hour, then your total for the 20 bat job would be $240 plus the price of the bats (marked up 2 - 3 times the cost). Divide that total by 20 and you get a per-piece price. Adjust for "perceived value" or "market value" and you have your price. One other word of advice - even though they want 200-300 ALWAYS give a price for your minimum, maybe 20 or so, and then give prices for 20-50, 51-100, 101-250, 251-400 - don't make 300 your top break or they will order 301 to get the next level.

Make sure whatever prices you give will give you the revenue you need for the time it takes to do the job.

Gary

[Rodne Gold]

Charge 1/2 the price of the bats or less - $1.25 sounds like a good price. Problem with a job like this is that the laser is an expensive tool being asked to mark a real cheap product - not the ideal application

[Patrick Licata]

Thanks for the help and info!
Dee, I found on their site for 200+ pieces they were $5.00ea.
Tough to compete with that. Almost better to let them do it and add a couple of bucks for my "middle man" time.
Gary, I'll definitly price in different quantity groups. We all know how it goes when you get a request for big quantities then only to have them change it to a small quantity. Based on $100 per hour, I figured they are about $2.00 each for engraving.
Rodne, Your point is well taken. Alot of time on an inexpensive item.
However, doing a search, other than Cooperstown, most sites get anywhere from $10-$20 for each bat.
We'll see what happens1
Thanks again

[Mitchell Andrus]

Patrick,
One way to do this is to calculate by the job instead of by the piece. You'll give them a piece price but you start with the total for your purposes. To do this you need to determine the time it will take to do the entire job and then how much you need to make for that period of time. Make sure you include every aspect of the job - ordering, unpackaging, artwork, laser setup, engraving, cleanup, repackaging, delivery, etc. If, for example, it took you 2 hours to do 20 bats from start to finish, and you charged $120 per hour, then your total for the 20 bat job would be $240 plus the price of the bats (marked up 2 - 3 times the cost). Divide that total by 20 and you get a per-piece price. Adjust for "perceived value" or "market value" and you have your price. One other word of advice - even though they want 200-300 ALWAYS give a price for your minimum, maybe 20 or so, and then give prices for 20-50, 51-100, 101-250, 251-400 - don't make 300 your top break or they will order 301 to get the next level.

Gary

Agreed, but I'll add.... make sure you watch for the price breaks on the supply side. If they do order 320 instead of 300, will you have to buy 350 in order to get a price break - leaving yourself with 30 pieces left over? Will the extra 20 incur another delivery charge or will they fit into the same box and ship for 'free'?
.