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dan dillon
09-26-2011, 8:32 PM
Well, I'm a newbie. . . 'Been lurking here for awhile now. My Epilog Mini 18 is going to ship Tuesday or Wednesday this week (Oct 27th or 28th). I already have Corel X5 and a computer set up to run everything. I know that I'll be able to master the engraver fairly fast. The biggest question in my mind is how much to charge for services rendered. I understand that I don't want to give my services away for peanuts thus eroding the market but likewise I don't want to price myself out of the market. How much is enough to charge? For instance, for a simple plastic name tag, what is an appropriate amount to charge? Should I base my fee on material plus a certain amount per character? Should I charge a flat fee? There are no other laser engravers that I am aware of in my immediate locale so I don't have to worry about competition however I don't want to gouge. What are some guidelines that others use to set pricing? Thanks in advance.:confused:

Martin Boekers
09-26-2011, 9:03 PM
Two things you said that stands out. "I know that I'll be able to master the engraver fairly fast" & "I don't have to worry about competition" be careful, very careful. Those words can be eaten rather quickly. :)
If you have been lurking for a while you notice that even the most seasoned pros haven't really mastered it. And there ALWAYS is competion! The real challange comes with the software. So become familiar with YouTube.

Search for pricing here in the forum it's one of those illusive goals that we all try to reach. It's difficult anymore to charge by character when some one and emails you the
text and you just import it. Charging by letter was done in the rotary days when you physically had to set the type and proportions. What I sell something for may be fine in my area
but not at someone elses. Try checking out some sign shops or business stores like Office Depot and see what the get for basic nametags. I'm willing to bet that there is someone
with a laser in their basement or garage within 25 miles that you aren't aware of. Do you plan on using pins or magnets? Magnet are almost $1ea now, that does make a difference.
Is it standard gold or silver plastic? Plastic laminates are also on the rise so unless you use a color regularly it's expensive to stock a large selection of color. Many purchasers
of nametags prefer Dye-Sub because you can do images in full color. I believe most charge by material cost and time. So you need to figure what material is costing, decide your
mark up the figure a reasonable fee for your time. If you have a Things Remembered in a shopping area check them out and bring some of you fliers to hand out as they get a heck of
a lot for what they do!

Oh, believe clients will tell you if you are gouging. That being said I have charged anywhere from $4.00 to $10.00 for nametags. Much depends more how long it takes to laser them.

Welcome aboard! Let us know of your progress, and if you find or create anything neat please share it with us!

Dee Gallo
09-26-2011, 9:43 PM
Dan, Welcome to the Creek!

I feel that a thorough search of your market and what other similar items cost is your best bet. As you begin any skilled art or work, your time will become more efficiently used and the quality will improve. No offense, but one of your hours is not equal to one of mine at this time, simply due to years of experience and study. So to be most fair to your potential customers, I would start out with a modest flat fee and work to earn more per job by getting better and faster and offering a new, unique or better product to your customers. It's easy to raise your prices each year as you improve aspects of your work. You will gain more repeat customers with excellent service and a reliable product.

It also makes a big difference what kind of work you intend to do and who you sell to: corporate, State contract, walk-in individuals, craft shows, on-line, public utilities, storefront, word-of-mouth, etc. Making one tag vs. making 1000 tags will affect the pricing structure. Making tags from plastic vs. wood vs. metal will affect the price.

Personally, I don't believe in charging by character. You'd be better off figuring square inches. One 12" letter should be much more than ten 12 point letters in my opinion.

One last thing is that artists have always placed whatever value they feel their work should earn regardless of time, materials and effort. If your work falls into the art category, think about this. I make niche market items and people are paying for years of experience, specialty research and design work, unique and rare work. They are not paying a per hour fee. When they ask how long it took me to make XYZ, I tell them it took me over 50 years to get to the point where I could make this. They can take it or leave it, I have waiting lists.

That's my 2 cents, dee

EDIT: if you haven't already seen this thread, it's worth a read for you: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?173002-Losing-Business-to-Idiots

Joe Pelonio
09-26-2011, 9:45 PM
Back when lasers were new, you could charge a lot more than the old fashioned rotary shops because you could do crisp logos and lettering with nice sharp points, no rounding from the tool. Now that most shops have a laser and there are so many places doing name badges cheap on the internet, you have to price competitively. I would not suggest trying to make money with name badges. I still have a few regular customers for which I've been doing them 5-6 years, but no longer would look for new badge orders, there's just not enough profit in them for the work unless you can get $7-8 each
in large quantities. They can go most anywhere and find them for $2-$4.

Martin Boekers
09-26-2011, 10:35 PM
Only one this worse than name badges doing rubber stamps! :-)

Bill Cunningham
09-27-2011, 9:14 PM
Well, I'm a newbie. . . 'Been lurking here for awhile now. My Epilog Mini 18 is going to ship Tuesday or Wednesday this week (Oct 27th or 28th). I already have Corel X5 and a computer set up to run everything. I know that I'll be able to master the engraver fairly fast. The biggest question in my mind is how much to charge for services rendered. I understand that I don't want to give my services away for peanuts thus eroding the market but likewise I don't want to price myself out of the market. How much is enough to charge? For instance, for a simple plastic name tag, what is an appropriate amount to charge? Should I base my fee on material plus a certain amount per character? Should I charge a flat fee? There are no other laser engravers that I am aware of in my immediate locale so I don't have to worry about competition however I don't want to gouge. What are some guidelines that others use to set pricing? Thanks in advance.:confused:

Dan all it takes to master the 'engraver' itself, is a finger to push the button. if you are just getting CorelDraw, and have no experience with it, get ready for a shock.. Many of us here have been using it for years (I started with ver.2 on 5" floppies) and a week hardly ever goes by before learning 'something' new.. As for no competition.. Click this link (http://www.google.ca/search?q=Laser+Engravers+in+Williamsport) When you get your machine, take at least a month to experiment on just about anything you can find (Spare the cat...old creek joke) Anyone can make a namebadge.. YOU on the otherhand want to make a GREAT namebadge.. When you make your first one, put it away someplace (we'll get back to this later). For the first while, your going to be running in full 'geewhizz' mode, this is not going to be your most productive, and creative time.. It's going to be your 'fun' time, your experimental time, and the very baseline for your educational time...Go back to page one of this forum, and start reading. There is a incredible amount of information, projects, files, ideas, and techniques. Make use of the information here, do some of the projects posted, take your time, wow your friends and family (their gonna say everything looks great anyway, after all, their your friends and family).. Now, after you have been doing this for a year and hopefully making a few bucks too, remember that first namebadge you made? pull it out and critique your work. Try not to be too harsh on yourself when you do this, because you will be able to recognize junk by then .. And like everybody here, your going to make your fair share of it during the learning process..

Dee Gallo
09-27-2011, 9:49 PM
Right on, Bill! Is this where I get to say Truth to Power? Whatever the heck that means, you speak the honest truth.

:) dee

Mike Null
09-28-2011, 6:35 AM
The internet can fool you as to pricing structure. Most of your business is likely to come from your local area so the price there should be the basis for your pricing.

For example, here in St. Louis anytime I quote $10 or more for a name tag I can kiss the business good bye. But I've had guys in California tell me they regularly get $15.

One more consideration, be sure you're happy with the price you quote.