Help with pricing on part please

[Charlieboy]

Had a guy come to me with this part, hopefully the attachment works , said that he is needing 100 of these parts out of 14 gauge steel,,,, I quoted $6.25 per piece on the part, let me know what yall think

[I Lean]

Had a guy come to me with this part, hopefully the attachment works , said that he is needing 100 of these parts out of 14 gauge steel,,,, I quoted $6.25 per piece on the part, let me know what yall think

That's quite a bit less than I'd have quoted. I'd be closer to $12 each...I might knock the price down a little just because the quantity is fairly high compared to what I normally do.

[Charlieboy]

That is exactly what I was thinking, that is why I asked, this customer is trying to beat me up on the price and I was trying to get my foot in the door with some work but I'm not trying to wear my table out to just break even....

[m79b01]

Yeah I was looking more like $15. Maybe I am out of line????

[weldor2005]

Just roughly thinking, you get about 24 on a 4x8 sheet, so 4 sheets minimum if you can find room for one more, or you have a large drop on the fifth sheet. Very rough figures, I reckon 4 sheets will work. You could figure out your kerf and if he is giving decent tolerance, use of common lines will help reduce wear on machine quite a bit, and loads on cycle time. I saw if you aren't painting them and all he wants is cutting, then I would be in that area as well. Guess material for this to be 1/3 of the cost, I roughly figure 2 times cost of material when only cutting.

[Charlieboy]

2 times the cost of material is what I generally use, and when he mentioned a lower price I was beginning to think that I was over bidding the job,,,, I appreciate the insight and a second opinion

[beefy]

You aren't really making anything at all when you factor in everything, price of material, cad time, material collection and handling, table wear & tear, compressor, air dryer, workshop, utilities, the list goes on.

I think the worst thing you can do is give yourself the title of "cheap guy" because that will be what is expected of you every time, and word of mouth will be all about how cheap you are. It's also very demoralising. Of course cheap is great IF you are making a decent profit after all your costs are paid.

Sit down sometime and write down all the costs that are involved, that allow you to bring this service to people. You'll be surprised at how it all adds up. That has to be paid for PLUS profit added on top. Then remember taxes come out of any company and personal profit / wages, and that's what is left in your pocket.

When I get those blood suckers wanting me to give them my investment for free, I'm happy to lose them. I'll even tell them to check out the business phone directory and shop around. Let them go and drain some other poor guy dry.

Keith.

[kbenz]

I was closer to $20

[Charlieboy]

Indeed beefy

[Gamelord]

Another thing to keep in mind is that rare instance when it all hits the fan...

Example, some power glitch sends your torch diagonal across the entire sheet, destroying a large section of steel that you can now not use. Your customer is not going to pay for that, you will have to eat it. Of course you could use the larger pieces for other projects, but you will still have to pay for another sheet.

Accidents happen, if you are barely covering your costs, eventually you will bid a job and lose your butt. Not to mention that over time you will need to replace the slats in your table or maybe even your Plasma Cutter should it ever burn out over the years. You must make a decent acceptable profit to cover the times when it all hits the fan.

[mdwalker]

That part would be $25.14 for one piece or $18.39 for 20+ at my shop.