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Francisco perez
11-30-2009, 2:27 PM
Hello to everyone! few months ago i purchased my laser machine as addition to my business, and im just puzzled about how much i should charge for cutting acrylic,mdf and engraving a picture or design, how do you guys figure this out??? :confused: help!....

Bryan Cowan
11-30-2009, 2:44 PM
Hello to everyone! few months ago i purchased my laser machine as addition to my business, and im just puzzled about how much i should charge for cutting acrylic,mdf and engraving a picture or design, how do you guys figure this out??? :confused: help!....

Depends on how much you want to make.

Do you want 5%, 10%, 35% profit? Use this formula to determine the customer's net price:

COST / (1 - PROFIT %) = Customer Net

Example: If your cost is $25 and you want a 35% return;

$25 / (1 - 0.35) = $38.46

As always you may not get what you want depending on the market, but it's a good starting point.

Also good to shop your competitors and see what they charge for the same service. This will give you a general idea of where you want to be price wise.

Bryan

Tom Bull
11-30-2009, 3:18 PM
I always go for $2.00 per minute for the actual engraving time, plus an hourly fee (estimate) for the computer time and material set up time. Don't always get it, but that is my goal. Don't forget to add the actual cost of materials (which usually is a lot more than what you paid for them because of ordering time, pick up time, etc.) plus a mark up for waste and spoilage.

Francisco perez
11-30-2009, 5:47 PM
so lets say that a customer wants some letters cut on acrylic, what/how would you guys charge?? per minute of machine used or per letter cut...??

Martin Boekers
11-30-2009, 6:07 PM
I take the cost of material add my mark-up, then charge by laser time.
Letters are relatively easy so I really don't hit them for a set-up fee.

If the only want a word or two or a couple numbers I may charge by the piece.

It's easier to go with cost of material then you don't have to spend time refiguring
font variences in size and format. Just set it up on a page, check the page size and off you go!


Marty

Bill Jermyn
11-30-2009, 8:00 PM
There's a lot of variation, Francisco.

For example, I charge around $2 for a 2" x 2" legend plate which doesn't really cover my time, but sometimes the quantities make up for it, and my competitors are charging around that. Also, sometimes it leads to other work.

For industrial work, I just charge my shop rate plus materials and markup.

For some retail and commercial work I can get a LOT more than a formula would indicate. People don't seem to mind paying $12.99-$16.99 for a painted aluminum or alumamark plate. Same with iPod or laptop engraving. I had a commercial customer recently that wanted an alumamark sign for a 2 storey piece of art for their new building. Had to have cost them a fortune. I priced accordingly. They've since ordered more signs, and they're overjoyed with them.

If it's a gift item, I sometimes think people WANT to spend more rather than less, so they don't feel guilty for buying a cheap gift.

I'd start off charging what you need to cover your overhead, profit etc. and slowly raise your prices until you start to get people going into cardiac arrest in front of you. If they do, tell them "oh, but we have a 10% off special this month on these". Personally, I haven't had that happen yet, so I guess I'm still learning.

Also, have a peek in the parking lot. If the customer is driving a Hummer he's already advertising that he loves to spend money foolishly. Accommodate him.

Brian Jacobs
12-01-2009, 12:08 AM
Also, have a peek in the parking lot. If the customer is driving a Hummer he's already advertising that he loves to spend money foolishly. Accommodate him.

Hey... wait a minute... I drive a Hummer. (But my customers paid for it!) :D :D :D

Bill Cunningham
12-03-2009, 8:44 PM
Hey... wait a minute... I drive a Hummer. (But my customers paid for it!) :D :D :D

Boy!! If I was driving a Hummer, you can bet it would have a bumper sticker that says "It Ain't Easy Being Green"!:D

Brian Jacobs
12-04-2009, 1:38 AM
Boy!! If I was driving a Hummer, you can bet it would have a bumper sticker that says "It Ain't Easy Being Green"!:D

It's a 'reverse psychology' thing for my kids. My oldest is vegan and my youngest is getting his degree in Environmental Architecture! :)