pricing lettering

[michaelp]

This maybe a touchy subject , but I have been asked to do a lot of lettering jobs , I've been doing friends for free,{amazing how many I have} but when they show people the question is always how much. I was just looking for input on what some of the cafe members charge and how they base prcing. I hope this question doesn't put off many people. thanks-Mike

 

[Ranchman]

Did you come up with an hourly rate for yourself? That's where I'd start first. I know that sounds simple but at least it gets you started.

Regards,
Jeff

 

[monk]

depends on the quality of your work, and how much lettering the job entails. how long will the job take you?is your customer rich, middle, poor ? how advanced is your skill ? a certain engraving chain can get close to 20 bucks for a machine engraved, 3 letter monogram that takes a couple minutes to crank out. the ranchman is right. you must be paid for the total time on the job, for the materials you use, utilities, lots to think of here.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Mike I'm going to throw some retail prices at you. There is allot to pricing your work not just asking what others charge. A good reason of why not to charge what others charge just because they do; is what if their not making any money. That means you probably won't either.
But here are a few retail prices do what you wish.
Monogram flat surface:
1 letter $75.00
2 letters $100.00
3 letters $113.00
Flat items:
$50.00 min up to 12 letters
$5.00 each additional letter
These are for some of the simplest flat items. Difficult or curved surface would be much more.

 

[michaelp]

thank you all for your input it is gretly appreciated, your right about finding your hourly and time needed. just trying take the temp of the market as a range then fine tune it. thanks again.

 

[deedubbya]

Engraving Prices

On a signet ring I get between $10.00 and $12.00 wholesale for a single script letter by hand, and closer to $20.00 for fancier fonts or interlocking. Some sores double up and some triple.

 

[michaelp]

Dave, thank you for that , that was the info I needed , Between you and Mike I have a small understanding of how the business works. and thats what I was looking for thanks guys for taking the time

 

[Ron Smith]

And now imagine trying to make a living at 8 cents a letter and monograms about $1.50 to $3.00. (1970) In about 1980 I had a minimum price of $20.00. When I started, I would do a whole gun for about $200.00, but was pretty poor work and probably didn't deserve any better. Ha Ha! To be an occupational engraver you had to engrave for the jewelry trade on a wholesale basis to get a volume of work. The only ones working on a freelance basis were firearms engravers with big reputations. Those were the prices of competative hand engraving when I started. You had to be fast and efficient. Wow, we have come a long way baby, and mainly because of individuals, FEGA, and engravers, educating the public and potential engravers. It is about time we were able to take part in the economic welfare of the rest of the country. Ride on!!!!

Hooray for the improvements!!!

Ron S

 

[KCSteve]

Ron,

To be fair, minimum wage (was there a minimum wage in 1970?) would have been around $2.00 an hour so today that would be about 25 cents / letter and $4.50 - $9.00 per monogram. Still just barely above unskilled labor levels - glad you guys did the ground work for people to recognize that engraving is a skilled occupation!