Hi All,

Im relatively new to laser engraving (about 1yr)

I'm in the process of doing my first plaques as awards for a powerlifting competition (will bring in my camera tomorrow to post some pics)
I'm based in Ireland and have searched the forums to try find some advice so thought I'd ask directly to my current situation.

I'm doing two plaques 10 for 1st Place 8x10
10 for 2nd Place 8x6

on Cherry Finish MDF plaques (relatively cheap) with black/brass plates.

Considering my parts prices (euro converted to dollars)
8x10 Plate/Board  approx $6.00
6 x 8 Plate/Board approx $5.00

Now the million dollar question whats a fair price to charge
and also should I supply the plate stands to and charge extra again

I'd appreciate any feedback and I'll post some pics of the finished item

Thanks

Rob

Rob

For the product alone, consider charging the common keystone method, which is, cost of product doubled plus 10% for freight. As for lasering, we charge $.75 - $1.00 per square inch of engraved area. Engraving is always flexible, but you want to make 100% on the product. Just a method I have used for years.

Depending on the items I am engraving, I multiply the cost of the item by something between 2.5 and 3.5. Then I add in $1.00 per minute for laser time - for a single item - add the two together and I have my price. My setup time, prep time and cleanup is also billed at $1.00 per minute. Sometimes that doesn't work, you might want to check other engraving websites for their prices to see where you stand. I am almost always at the high side of what I find elsewhere but I haven't had any complaints so far - partly because of the lack of quality of other laser engravers here. There are great rotary engravers, CindyM (Cascade) for example, but nobody else really excells at laser engraving.

Be the best at what you do and the price will not be an issue...

Hey Gang,

I did some calculations from the suggestions
Double price on supplies + 10% shipping
=€11.00

Laser time per sq inch ($1 = €.77)

6 x 8 inches x .77 = 37.00 + 11.00 gives me a price of
about €47.00 per 8x 10 plaque, thats seem about fair to me
does that count for single plaque or must I give a qty discount for multiples of the same item say 10%

Advice aprpeciated

Rob

Rob:

That sounds quite high to me but I would check the internet to see what your competition is charging for like work.

I do solid cherry with plate for about $35-40 U.S. I include felt pads on the back, a plastic bag and a gift box.

Im the only laser engraver in my area as far as I know, a few trophy shops but they are using rotary, In fact Ireland is a pretty untapped market for laser engraving with not two many machines in the entire country.

At least at 47.00 I can discount quite well and still make some money

Although we're still rotary engravers - and quite happy being so and with no plans to upgrade - we NEVER discount our engraving charges. When asked for a discount, we will discount the materials, but never the engraving. The main reason is that this would be discounting our labor as well as our skill - a skill which we had to take lots of lumps to learn through the years and a skill that not every one has.

The price breaks we use occur at the case quantities of whatever we are talking about. If plaque boards come in cases of 12 pc, we'll discount anything above 12 pc. Since our retail prices are already based on piece prices, this is a win-win. For the amount - we don't tell customers what the discount amount is - we use 16%. Not sure how we came up with that, but subtracting 16% tends to leave an amount that because it is expressed in dollars and cents (not rounded to the nearest dollar like most of our retail piece prices) sounds like more of a discount than it is. The $47 (not euros for this example) becomes $39.48. Sounds like a big discount, eh? And in reality, 16% is not really that much considering our sales tax is 8¼% here.

Thanks guys, I love a healthy debate, I'd like to start my pricing by making a decent profit, We've been open since 1985 not engraving obviously!,
I guess my €47.00 is a bit on the high side but our sales tax is also @ 21% so the 47 less the 21% brings me down to 38.80 which for single plaque including the design is I reckon on the money for a fair price for a single item.

My costs/options for supplies are quite limited, Sterling is so expensve and shipping from the US also expensive.

At least I can now approach a few quotes with some decent suggestions to get my pricing fair but without being a busy fool,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Keep up the good fight mate !

dont lower your standards or your prices, carve your market based on quality and service...

Then charge justifiably for it !

regards

Peter