How this calculator works
Most underpriced engraving work comes from the same place: a price built on the blank cost plus a comfortable-sounding markup. The blank is usually the smallest line in the job.
Enter your own numbers below. The calculator totals every cost, then solves for the price that leaves your target margin after marketplace and payment fees — and warns you when the numbers do not work.
The formula
- Materials = quantity × (blank + other material) ÷ (1 − waste %)
- Labour = Σ (stage minutes ÷ 60 × that stage’s hourly rate), with design and setup charged once per job
- Machine runs = ⌈ quantity ÷ items per run ⌉, rounded up to whole cycles
- Machine cost = runs × minutes per run ÷ 60 × machine rate
- Failure allowance = (materials + machine + hands-on labour) ÷ (1 − failure %) − those costs
- Total cost = materials + failure allowance + labour + machine + consumables + packaging + overhead + order costs + replacement risk
- Price per item = (cost per item + fixed fee ÷ quantity) ÷ (1 − target margin − marketplace % − payment %)
- Profit = net revenue − total cost − fees
What to watch for
- The price is solved for, not marked up. Both your margin and your percentage fees are shares of the final price, which is the unknown — so the cost is divided by what is left over, never multiplied by one plus the margin.
- Design and setup are charged once per job. This is why a single item can cost several times more to produce than the same item in a batch of fifty, and why a minimum charge is arithmetic rather than greed.
- Machine time steps up in whole runs. Thirteen items at six per run is three cycles, not 2.17 — so quantities just past a boundary cost disproportionately more, and suggesting a round quantity is a real saving you can pass on.
- Waste is applied as a replacement cost (÷ by 1 − rate) rather than an additive markup (× by 1 + rate). If 5% of your stock is unusable, you must buy enough to replace it, which costs slightly more than adding 5%.
- Effective hourly earnings is usually the most decision-useful number on the page. A 40% margin on a job that pays $14 an hour is still a bad job.
Common mistakes
- Pricing from the blank cost. In the worked example the blanks are $44 of a $110 job.
- Charging by machine minute alone, which leaves design, setup, finishing, failed pieces and customer email unpaid.
- Confusing markup with margin. Adding 40% to cost yields a 28.6% margin, not 40%.
- Setting the labour rate to zero because "it is just me". That converts wages into imaginary profit.
- Leaving the failure allowance at zero on slate, glass, stone or anodised metal.
- Multiplying setup time by quantity, which inflates every batch quote.
- Discounting without checking the profit column. A 20% discount on a 30% margin removes two thirds of the profit.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for laser engraving?
There is no universal rate, because the answer depends on your material cost, labour rate, machine cost per hour, and target margin. Total the true job cost first, then solve for the price that leaves your margin after fees. In the worked example a $3.50 blank produces a price around four times that, once design, setup, labour, machine runs, packaging and fees are all paid for.
Should I charge per minute of laser time?
Machine time belongs in the cost stack, but it should not be the whole price. Charging by the minute alone systematically underprices design, setup, finishing, failed pieces and communication — which is where most of the time on small custom orders actually goes.
What profit margin should a laser business target?
Many makers work between 30% and 50% on custom work, but the right figure is the one that covers reinvestment, slow months, discounts, returns and mistakes in your business. Test several margins and watch the projected profit and effective hourly earnings, not just the price.
Why is the price for a single item so much higher per unit?
Design and setup are fixed per job, so one piece absorbs the whole of them. That is exactly why a minimum order or setup fee is worth having: without one, the orders that feel easiest to accept are the ones that lose money.
How do I handle engraving on a customer’s own item?
Turn on the customer-supplied option. That removes the blank cost but adds a replacement-risk allowance based on the item’s declared value, because ruining an heirloom is a cost you will actually bear. Many shops also ask the customer to supply a spare.
What machine rate should I enter?
A fully loaded figure covering depreciation, maintenance, consumables, software, workspace and power — not the electricity cost. Electricity is typically under 5% of the real total. Work it out once with the machine cost per hour calculator and reuse it everywhere.