In sandcarving, a solid pricing structure comes from a rigid wholesale price. You may have to provide discounts off of your retail price to remain competitive, but you should stand firm on your wholesale pricing. Do not demean the value of your service by pricing too low. Remember that a personalized product has a high value in the marketplace and should be priced accordingly.
A pricing rule of thumb is that you can generally set the price of your sandcarved product at 3.5 to 5 times the cost of the blank. You should consider establishing two pricing structures, however, one that governs production pieces and another that governs single-unit pieces.
- Production pricing. For a single stage carve, the national average for making photomasks and engraving them is $1 or more per square inch. The exact price you charge will depend on what the market will bear, the type of piece being carved, and the intricacy of the carving itself. In addition, you should double the cost of the blank. See below for examples.
- Single-unit pricing. If you intend to produce custom, one-off items, take the time to establish pricing minimums that make sense for your business. You’ll need to determine a minimum order size, set-up fee or minimum, per-piece carving fee. You can usually charge a minimum of $1-plus per square inch for masking and engraving; this covers your masking and engraving costs.
Marketing | Pricing | Profit Potential