Work pricing questions

[Trey Tull]

Question 1

Lets say you get a call from two different customers and each has a knife that they want to engrave "Sam" on the blade. The size is about the same and both blades are stainless so we will use cermark. The knife for customer 1 retails for $40 and the knife for customer 2 retails for $100. Would you price both the same?

My thought is to price the $100 knife higher in case I mess it up, it won't hurt so bad when I have to buy another one.

The reason I'm asking is b/c I'll have a customer call and want a price to engrave something but I don't really have any set pricing. I usually price each job individually but that's hard to do on the fly when they want a price.

Questions 2

Lets say you do a job for someone and really under price the job. You don't do it on purpose but once you get into it, you realize that you aren't going to make a dime on this job. Then the customer calls you 3 months later and has the same job again. Would you do it again for that price or would you raise the price.

I just had that happen and the customer got sort of hot when I told him the price wouldn't be the same due to the amount of time. I'm not too worked up about it but I'm curious how others approach this.

[Andrew Holloway]

1. I would charge a bit more on the $100 knife just because it will cost you more to replace if you stuff it up - I wouldn't charge more just because they can afford to pay more.
2. I would tell the customer when you finish the first job that you underpriced. Then you can talk it up as if they got a great deal on it this time and they will already expect a higher price if/when they come back. Even if it's too late for that, I would not continue to offer the lower price as it's obviously just not sustainable for you to do so.

[Keith Downing]

Question 1

Lets say you get a call from two different customers and each has a knife that they want to engrave "Sam" on the blade. The size is about the same and both blades are stainless so we will use cermark. The knife for customer 1 retails for $40 and the knife for customer 2 retails for $100. Would you price both the same?

I think it's personal preference. I've worked with people who set a price per hour for their work, and simply had anyone bringing in anything valuable sign stating you're not liable for any damage or mistakes. Others, know they'd want to replace it for a customer if something went awry, and are forced to charge a little more for higher priced items when they engrave. I could make arguments for both strategies. Though I will say, in today's day and age of information sharing and online marketing, the first strategy is generally easier to execute.

Questions 2

Lets say you do a job for someone and really under price the job. You don't do it on purpose but once you get into it, you realize that you aren't going to make a dime on this job. Then the customer calls you 3 months later and has the same job again. Would you do it again for that price or would you raise the price.

Unless it is a huge discrepancy in time spent, I'd be tempted to honor my previous pricing; possibly adding a note when he places the order again that it might cost more in the future.

While it's not ideal to work long term at less than your desired profit margin, you also have to remember that the customer may have planned (or purchased, or pitched the idea) based on what you quoted him it would cost previously. So you should give him some advance notice before changing the pricing when at all possible IMO.

[John Lifer]

The problem with pricing for a difference in value of two say knives is that how do YOU know what the customer will bring in? I've pretty much a set fee for a knive. If they want several things done, such as on blade, on handle or on case/scabbard I add on accordingly. Had two women bring in two pocket knives last week. One was to engrave initials in handle, the other a note and date on the clip. Both charged the same...

I would have for sure let him know that he got good price and would be more next time if I had underbid and thought he would return. If you didn't, I'd have told him up front I'll hold to this or go up slightly and next time it would be Y cost

[Mike Null]

My price would be the same on the knives. If the value of the better one scares you, decline the job.

On the second question, I would explain what happened on the first job and price the repeat at a price that's fair to you. You are not obligated to repeat mistakes.

[Kev Williams]

Well-- it's very easy to not fubar a knife with Cermark, just test mark it first

Last week-for the second time (someone messed up my first engravings) - I engraved a pair of Ferrari fenders. I can only imagine what they're worth, probably more than most knives ... The engraving was to deepen the factory stamping of a "1" along one edge of each that had been sanded away during the restoration-

I haven't billed them yet for the second run, which they needed next day. What should I charge?

[Bruce Volden]

Well-- it's very easy to not fubar a knife with Cermark, just test mark it first

Sorry Kev!

Cermark DOES NOT come with auto correct. I spelled Tucson Az. incorrectly on a bunch of custom knives.
Lucky for me I knew of another bladesmitty and had him resand them all down
Now I have a Baldor grinder/buffer and can correct my own mistakes
Hooked on spelling didn't work for me as well as hooked on phonics I guess.

Bruce

[Bert Kemp]

I think Kev mentioned at some point about using blue painters tape to test mark before engraving. I have never tried cermark and really don't intend to so that info wasn't stored in my folder but I think I remember him saying something like that a while back.

[Kev Williams]

Sorry Kev!

Cermark DOES NOT come with auto correct. I spelled Tucson Az. incorrectly on a bunch of custom knives.

Bruce

No, no spell check with Cermark, but test engraving does give you a chance to check it first. Twice.

and Bert, you can test engrave Cermark using Cermark- it turns black when hit with very little power.

And painters tape for everything else.

Test-engraving with the fiber, that's a trick...

[Carlos Alvarez]

I don't do any wood or other mechanical work for a living, I run a couple of tech companies. I absolutely do charge more for environments where a failure would cost a lot, or where we have to be extra careful. There's time involved, in say, having a second tech double-check all work before applying it. Or the potential cost of taking down a mission critical system during work hours, so we work after hours. And I definitely have changed the price for a job that we learned takes more time/equipment than previously expected. And we outright refuse to work on life-critical systems while they are live (your equivalent would be working with a piece that is impossible to replace).

All sales and engagements are a two-way street. I'll be fair, and expect the customer to be fair. If either party is unhappy with the other's version of fair, we should part ways.

[Jeff Watkins]

Question 1... I looked at the major knife makers sites and saw what they are charging to engrave from the factory and worked from there. I would probably charge the same for both except where setup would make a difference. If I needed to take extra precautions, lets say for a fragile or delicate piece, I would by all means add a little extra to the cost. Sort of like a special handling charge.

Question 2: I had to chuckle a little when I read this thread and though to myself, "I've done that!". This past December a neighbor approached me about engraving half a dozen Whiskey glasses that came as part of gift sets and a set of wine glasses. Since I rarely have customers bring glassware and I usually provide my own, I gave him a on the spot quote without really thinking about it. I blurted out a price and later realized it worked out to about $3.50 per glass. He picked them up a few days later and loved them. Later in the month he came back and asked what glasses I had on hand. I happened to have a set of Rocks glasses that weren't selling and offered them. Again not thinking I blurted out a price... the same price I quoted for the first set that he supplied, Ugh! $3.50 per glass! Fortunately I bought the glasses on sale in a set and they worked out to a little more than a dollar a piece. January rolled around and he came back again for something on the opposite side of all the glasses. I figured I'd quoted him the same thing each time so I again told him $3.50. Now each piece worked out to $7 per glass in the end. Had I quoted $7 per glass up front I don't know if he would have asked for as many and or come back for the other side. In the end it worked out but I'm in the process of making a Friend/Neighbor price list so I have something to at least work from without being put on the spot.

I've looked at other knife and personalization sites and like the base price plus x dollars for each character or line pricing. On the Fiber it's seems a lot easier to follow this type of pricing. For the CO2, there's more time and setup involved plus tube replacement to consider. I think I'll factor in a per minute rate plus the base rate from now on.

With Cermark, I had a hiccup on the rotary while doing a Stainless tumbler last year. I pulled the tumbler out and put in a blast cabinet with glass bead and aluminum oxide. 40lbs later the Cermark is still visible. It's more of a ghost image but It's now become a test tumbler.

[Kev Williams]

To fix Cermark on SS tumblers, I use a 120 grit combo scotchbrite/sandpaper flapper disk, sand in the direction of the grain, feathering out a bit, till the image is gone. Then I hand-finish with a red scotchbrite (for metal) until it the finish matches up (which sometimes involves the whole thing). Takes a few minutes but beats buying another one