The pricing formula
Most laser engraving pricing advice gives a per-minute rate or a markup multiple. Both hide the cost that changes most with batch size: setup. A transparent formula separates the costs that scale with each piece from the costs that happen once per batch.
Cost per piece = B + C + M + L + S / N
| Term | What it is | How to measure it |
|---|---|---|
| B | Blank cost | Supplier invoice divided by quantity, plus inbound shipping |
| C | Ink and consumables | Ink, primer, masking tape, packaging per piece |
| M | Machine time | Run minutes per piece times machine hourly rate |
| L | Handling labor | Load, QC, unload and pack minutes times your hourly rate |
| S | Batch setup | Jig registration, template, merge file, test piece, cleanup |
| N | Pieces per batch | Pockets in the jig that are actually filled |
Then:
Price = Cost per piece x (1 + overhead buffer) / (1 - target margin)
Margin and markup are different. A 50% margin means price is double the cost; a 50% markup means price is 1.5 times the cost. Decide which one you mean before you set prices.
Building each cost line
Blanks (B)
Use your landed cost: the unit price plus your share of inbound freight. IRS Publication 334 treats freight-in as part of cost of goods sold, alongside materials and supplies, containers that are an integral part of the product, and allocable overhead. Add a spoilage allowance if you scrap blanks during setup or QC.
Ink and consumables (C)
UV printer cost per print varies with printed area, white underbase and texture height. eufyMake publishes its own “costs and profits” examples for the E1:
| eufyMake example item | Material | Ink | Listed retail | eufyMake’s listed profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic fridge magnet, 50 x 70 mm, W + CMYK | $0.43 | $0.63 | $6.00 | $4.92 |
| Same magnet, 3D texture, 2 mm thickness | $0.65 | $1.04 | $15.00 | $13.31 |
| Tumbler wrap, W + CMYK | $9 | $0.21 | $29 | $19.79 |
| Tumbler with 3D texture | $9 | $2.45 | $49.00 | $37.55 |
These are manufacturer marketing figures, not measurements. Their “profit” column subtracts only material and ink, with no labor, machine depreciation, maintenance ink, packaging or selling fees. Treat them as the starting point for C, not as a price list.
Maintenance also consumes ink. eufyMake notes that the first ink set and cleaning cartridge run out faster because initialization primes the lines, and recommends keeping the printer powered on so it can run regular maintenance. Spread that maintenance ink into the machine rate (M) rather than ignoring it.
For lasers, consumables per piece are usually small: masking tape, air-assist and extraction filter wear, lens cleaning supplies and packaging.
Machine time (M)
Set a machine hourly rate: purchase price divided by the productive hours you expect before replacement, plus maintenance and power per hour. Multiply by run minutes per piece (plate run time divided by N). Keep the rate honest: idle months count against the machine’s working life.
Handling labor (L)
Time yourself loading, checking, unloading and packing one plate, then divide by N. Use the hourly rate you want to earn, not what is left over. In the US, a sole proprietor pays self-employment tax of 15.3% (12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare) on net earnings of $400 or more, so your target rate needs to cover that as well as income tax. Note that on Schedule C, the cost-of-labor line excludes amounts paid to yourself; pricing and tax reporting are separate exercises.
Setup per batch (S / N)
Setup is everything you do once per plate regardless of how many pockets you fill: registering the jig, loading the alignment template and names file, height check, a test piece, and cleanup. The jig itself is a small one-time cost; spread it over the number of batches you expect it to last.
This is where jig capacity changes price. The more pockets you fill, the smaller S / N becomes. To find N for a blank, enter its size, clearance and plate margin in the free jig generator and read the pocket count; it also reports plate area and filament grams, which gives you the jig’s own cost. A partly filled plate still pays the full setup, so use the number of pockets you realistically fill per run, not the maximum.
Worked example: personalized 2 in keychains
Every number here is an assumption chosen to show the method, not a market rate.
- Blank B = $0.60, ink C1 = $0.40, packaging C2 = $0.50
- Machine rate = $5.00 per hour, run time 1 minute per piece, so M = $0.083
- Labor rate = $25 per hour, handling 1.5 minutes per piece, so L = $0.625
- Setup = 15 minutes of labor ($6.25) plus one test blank with ink ($1.00), so S = $7.25 per batch
- Overhead buffer 10%, target margin 50%
| One-off (N = 1) | 12 per plate | 30 per plate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| B + C | $1.50 | $1.50 | $1.50 |
| M | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.08 |
| L | $0.63 | $0.63 | $0.63 |
| S / N | $7.25 | $0.60 | $0.24 |
| Cost per piece | $9.46 | $2.81 | $2.45 |
| With 10% buffer | $10.40 | $3.09 | $2.70 |
| Price at 50% margin | $20.81 | $6.19 | $5.39 |
Three things fall out of this table:
- One-offs need a setup fee. The single keychain costs over three times as much to make as a batched one. Charge a setup fee, set a minimum quantity, or hold one-off orders until they fill a plate.
- Capacity is a pricing lever. Going from 12 to 30 pockets per plate lowers the batch price from $6.19 to $5.39 in this example without touching blank or ink cost. On a 330 x 420 mm UV bed, a 2 in round keychain fits 35 per plate in a grid (see the eufyMake E1 jig guide for the arithmetic), so the generator’s layout choices feed straight into price.
- Labor dominates after setup. Once setup is spread thin, L is the largest controllable line. Faster loading and pocket-order packing (see the batch personalization workflow) are worth more than shaving ink.
Check the price against break-even
The SBA’s break-even formula gives a sanity check: break-even units = fixed costs / (price per unit - variable cost per unit). Fixed costs are monthly costs that do not change with output, such as rent, insurance, interest and depreciation (the SBA’s examples), plus software subscriptions. The SBA also suggests adding about 10% to cover unpredictable expenses, which is where the buffer above comes from.
Example (same assumptions): if fixed costs are $600 a month and the 30-per-plate keychain sells at $5.39 with $2.45 of per-piece cost, each sale contributes $2.94, and break-even is 600 / 2.94 = 205 keychains a month, about seven full plates.
Pricing rules of thumb that follow from the formula
- Quote per batch tier, not per piece. Offer prices at 1, 12 and full-plate quantities so customers see the saving.
- Price by blank, not by machine. Two blanks on the same machine can have very different N, so they need different prices.
- Re-measure after any jig change. A new layout that fits more pockets changes S / N.
- Include selling fees. Marketplace and payment fees are a percentage of price; add them as a percentage before applying margin.
To see how many pieces a jig holds for your blank and machine, enter the blank size in the jig generator and compare grid, rotated and staggered layouts. Then plug the pocket count into the formula above. For tolerance settings that avoid scrap during setup, see jig clearance and tolerance, and for preset layouts browse all machine and blank combinations, including the eufyMake E1 2 in keychain jig.
This guide explains a costing method; it is not tax or financial advice.