Pricing Question

[Tim Baude]

Hello all....quick pricing question. I have been asked to quote a job of 1300 wooden coins. Each coin is 2.25 in diameter. They will provide the coin...I will poly and engrave 2 sides. I gave them a list of different prices depending on how many they order. Just checking to see if I am in the ballpark. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

[Joe Pelonio]

I think my customers would probably beat me down to about $0.50 each for that. The question is whether $650 is enough for you to do that much work. Cutting a template from cardstock to place the laser full of them would help a lot. This is one of those jobs that if quoted too high will go off shore for 13,000 at a fraction of the price.

[Martin Boekers]

I do coins all the time, not in that quantity though!

Typically 2 sides burned and cut out of .125 alder (prefinished wood Laserbits aldersheets)
2" dia, 30-100 coins I charge $5ea for it takes about 5min a coin by the time I finish them and clean burn residue off. The longest run was about 300 coins at $3ea (lower res quicker run time). Make sure to cover your time!

They do pretty good on base as coins are a big thing. Most of these are handed out for retirements. I run these at a higher res most of the time as it helps on a more detailed coin. This is a good option for unique short run coins without a die charge and higher quantities as the metal ones.
Plus turnaround is much quicker.

Do they have to be engraved? There are some places that do wooden nickles "dirt cheap" in color.

You definatly need to set up a jig as it easier for doing the flip side of the coin, just watch alignment so the coin isn't rotated much for the flipside burn.

You might check the wood that they supply to make sure it gives a good contrast in burning.


Marty

[Dan Hintz]

You definatly need to set up a jig as it easier for doing the flip side of the coin, just watch alignment so the coin isn't rotated much for the flipside burn.
A good jig for this consists of a solid sheet of ply below the circle jig. When flipping, place another piece of solid ply above, flip, then remove the "new" top ply. If the coins turn/move at all, it should be by an imperceptible amount. This has the added advantage of flipping all of the coins at once.

[Tim Bateson]

Just turned away a job just like that one - maybe the same one? Like above, I could do it on the cheap, but I'm way too busy to spend the time required and not get properly paid for it.
Simple job - Yes
Time consuming - No (so it would appear)
More time then it would first appear - Absolutely - templates, sanding, burning, vectoring, flipping, burning, finishing, packing, billing, shipping/delivery
I agree $3-$5 is more like it, but like said above no one will likely pay that.