Hi, I’m being asked to make some simple stuff eg laser cutting logos into wood, cncing some shapes. Assets would be provided but I’d have to vectorize them and make my own files and stuff. How much would you charge hourly to do so? I have no reference for this.
It is recurring work and a larger volume, not a one time thing.
Thanks!
It’s really hard to give a number. It depends on a lot of factors, including your current and future relationship with your customer. Somewhere between $50-75 hr is where I would start for most production work depending on the difficulty of the job and if you’re free to do other work while it’s running. For some products or rush orders you can go significantly higher. But I would quote them for the project/order, not an hourly rate. As a reference, MakeATX charges $1.50/minute for standard laser cutting jobs, and $3/min for rush jobs.
Retail CNC time is $60-90 an hour. Laser time I haven’t had quoted but I would probably charge about $30-50 an hour. Design time you can bill at cutting time rate or a different rate, up to you. I’d also probably charge a 1 hour or 1.5 hour minimum to make sure the job is worth your time.
Don’t under estimate the potential for vectorizing to be a time sink! It’s not uncommon to have a setup fee of some sort (think file prep, dialing in machine setting, etc). If they become a repeat customer for the same job, subsequent runs become cheaper for them and simpler for you.
This is where I always start heh, works for 90% of what I need vectorized