things are getting outa hand

[James Jaragosky]

I have a bunch of 6x6 1/4' birch cutouts and after getting photograv I used one with a photo of my son and his girlfriend under our willow tree as my first practice run, all I did was crop it, and lowered the speed that photograv recommended,and it turned out fine.
anyhow my kid took it into work to show his buddy's and came home with 4 orders for more ( I hadn't expected this) he quoted $12 each (he new I only paid 54 cents for the wood and the photos take about 10 minutes and he also new that I wanted to make a target price of $1 a minute for laser time. $12 is not huge money but if I don't have to do any photo work I can live with that. the problem is He came home from work with 40 more orders last night
Now I need the work don't get me wrong but I think that my price may be so cheap that its generating all this work ( not good) so how do I raise my pricing without ticking off my new found customer base? and the second problem about 1 third want them done by Monday, that shouldn't be a problem. Just awful rude of them to expect instance service for custom work. well I told my son no more orders before Christmas ( jeez the wife keeps adding to my work load of Christmas jobs. and I can't say now to her
or can I :eek: no that was a bad thought strike that:eek:.) and I also told him that any touch up work that takes more that a few (very few like 3) minutes, is a dollar a minute. so hopefully I will be less likely to get any nasty photos:rolleyes: well back to Santa's work shop no rest for the elves this weekend!
JIM J

[Eric Allen]

I don't think I'd let him do the quoting any more:) I charge industrial customers $1/ minute, individuals pay $2 at minimum depending on what they want. I suspect the market would bear $24/$25 for something like that pretty easily, it's not even remotely expensive for the type of work. Hearing what I have from some people here about actual vs. claimed laser longevity, I've been guestimating $.50 per minute cost on the thing, just to be on the safe side and hopefully bank the $1500 or so that a laser issue is expected to cost. God help me if it's anything other than a recharge:)

[Bill Cunningham]

I charge $1.15 per sq. inch for 1/4" birch. This includes all the setup, wood prep and first sealer coat, photo prep, engraving, and a final couple of spray coats of laquer to seal the finished piece..a 6x6 = $41.40.. On a bulk order I will drop it to $30.00 each.. Not all photos engrave well, and you sometimes have to spend some time 'buggering' around with them to get what I call a acceptable result. My wife says I'm far to critical of my own work, but it pays off.. I did a bunch exactly that size last month for a Equestrian group. The final pieces were mounted into 8 x 10 shadow boxes, with a gold plate attached below the engraving...

[Ray Uebner]

Hi
I just thought I would put my 2 cents worth in. If I want to increase the price thinking I was to low to start I let my new customers know that the stock I had is gone and the new stock I just ordered has increased in price so therefore I will have to increase my prices. For the most part they will accept this, at least I have had no problems with it.:cool:

[Larry Bratton]

James:
Tell em it was a Xmas special. You had a special price on the raw material so you thought you would pass it on. Xmas is over, material is gone, price has changed. Son should have told you that.

[Kim Haubert]

How about telling them your son quoted too low and you went along and gave out a great deal cause a 'contract was made and you stuck by it. ' Sometimes people see through the phony stories.

Kim

[Jim Watkins]

I agree with Kim. If you level with them, it shows you have a reputation for honesty and would likely provide return business.

I was doing 8x10's and charging a flat $50. Now I am just starting up and don't have a lot of business, but I sold enough to pay for my copy of photograv.

my 1.5 cents. lol

Merry Christmas everyone.

[James Stokes]

I charge $75 to do a portrait. That is the only thing that pays for the time on crappy photos.

[James Jaragosky]

I have decided to take the cowards way out and left the pricing alone on the 6x6 birch photos, with my sons coworkers. I have told him to let everyone know that is not my standard pricing, and any future orders will be at the normal fee of $1 a sq inch for birch. (photo work and sealer included).
on a positive note I just got 3 more orders for 8x10's in birch at the proper pricing from that same group. I would appear that the price increase did not hurt that much. hope you all had a wonderful holiday.:)

[Jim Watkins]

James,
Are you using Baltic Birch ply?

What DPI rate are you using?

I usually do a rate of 300 DPI with a speed of 100 and power of 80.
It takes about 13 minutes to do at that rate and usually comes out well.

I figured at about $4 per minute, I thought my prices were too high. I may have to rethink and go with the $1 per sq. inch.

Thoughts?

[James Jaragosky]

James,
Are you using Baltic Birch ply?

What DPI rate are you using?

I usually do a rate of 300 DPI with a speed of 100 and power of 80.
It takes about 13 minutes to do at that rate and usually comes out well.

I figured at about $4 per minute, I thought my prices were too high. I may have to rethink and go with the $1 per sq. inch.

Thoughts?
Yes I use Baltic birch. I use 400 dpi at 300 speed and 87% power it takes me about 16 minutes to do a 6x6.
Photo grave recommends a speed of 600 but everyone likes the results of the 300 speed setting with my machine. I feel I get a much better contrast at that speed for my machine. I use 400 dpi because my machine is based on the even number dpi’s. up to 800. As for changing you’re pricing. You should really think on that, if you are getting more for doing the same thing I am, no doubt I would say I am under priced. I am very new to this and my pricing is based on some strange cosmic math that may or may not wind up working. I will say this I believe that if you have an American made machine you will probably need to charge slightly more to cover your higher overhead. I got a lower price for my china laser than the American made machines, heck for the cost of two American tub recharges I could replace my entire machine. That said I get no support and that is priceless in this industry, I feel like I am very much alone with this Chinese laser, and if it wasn’t for this forum I would have given up in despair.
Stay in touch I am always glad to hear from others in the same field as I am trying to make my way in.

[Leigh Costello]

Sounds like the photo engraving niche is where you need to be at this one moment in time. I am so glad the laser is working for you. I kicked around getting a Chinese laser, but was very skeptical about the whole business. Overall, I wouldn't change a thing that we have done. Except maybe had less of a learning curve to cut down on waste. But, everyday, I learn a bit more. By the way, I have had fantastic results making "first Christmas" ornaments for new babies and new couples. I use the wood thins from Colorado heirloom. Try that angle next year. Good luck.

[Arthur DeMarco]

Hello everyone, I am very new to this and have gotten much help from this forum and others. I got my laser the end of October and have spent several weeks working out the bugs and barely had enough time to get some christmas work done. If someone needs any help with there asian lasers i'm willing to help.
I would like to know where everyone is getting there 1/4 Birch and other woods. I made several boxes I cut and engraved from cherry and the wood alone cost $12-$14 for each one.
Thanks Art D

[Bill Embrey]

Howdy all... I'm a woodturner primarily, but I've been fascinated by and wanting a laser engraver for a while. I saw this thread and noticed the "Rabbit" chinese lasers... did a quick Google on it and found some information... what I didn't find is - Where do you get 'em and what do they cost?

Thanx,

Bill (in OK)

[James Jaragosky]

Howdy all... I'm a woodturner primarily, but I've been fascinated by and wanting a laser engraver for a while. I saw this thread and noticed the "Rabbit" chinese lasers... did a quick Google on it and found some information... what I didn't find is - Where do you get 'em and what do they cost?

Thanx,

Bill (in OK)

Well the east coast has a distributor that you must use if you live out that way. But if you live in OK. The manufacturer’s rep lives in Texas. You will get a better deal from him. Ill sent you a pm with his info because I am not sure it’s ok to post it here.
I will say that if you can afford a usa (made sold supported assembled) laser you will have much more support than with a rabbit or the other Chinese lasers. You pretty much get it, check it out, and if everything works ok, your cut loose to make your own way. But I couldn’t afford the 13 to 20 k needed for a local made one so I am doing the best I can. Do your research; listen to others that have lasers, and what they have to say. If you can arrange a demonstration to see more that one type that would be the best. Now if you do choose to go with a rabbit, I would recommend that you get the highest watt laser that you can. The higher watt rabbit lasers have a better interface software package and auto focus and deeper cabinets.
And it’s always best to get the highest watt laser you can afford no matter what brand you get.
Good luck
Jim J.

[Tim Bateson]

Author, I use nationalbalsa.com

[Allen Isakson]

was wondering if anyone has heard of brightstar lasers. They are a chinese laser with a usa rep. The glass tubes scare me tho. Also heard that stepper motors do not work near as well with photos

[Allen Isakson]

Im in the market for a laser and tho the chinese seems to be about half the cost of the other guys, it seem in the long run the other guys would be a much better deal.

Any advise:confused:

[Mike Null]

Allen

Try doing a search on Chinese lasers and I think you'll come up with a lot of reading.

It does seem that Chinese lasers require considerably more hands on effort to get them up and running than the well known brands. Sometimes this can drag out into weeks. Parts may have to come from China. Tech support is spotty and often not in understandable English.

Software is also a hit or miss proposition. Most people use CorelDraw but that is not necessarily compatible with the Chinese systems.

That said, we have a number of members who are quite happy with their machines and there is no doubt a lot of money to be saved especially if you're a hobbyist.

[Ray Uebner]

Hi
Just thought I would put my 2 cents in. There is an ARA Show in Las Vegas the week of Feb 25 to 29th. I looked at every laser there and gathered info for about 2 years and last year we bought one. I feel if you would like to know what you are getting you need to be at one of these shows and do some hands on and see for yourself the likes and don't like of each laser presented. I know that most all of the laser companies are at this show, it is one of the biggest in the Awards and Recognition area. Anyway that is what I did and am not sorry I checked them all out before I bought.