How are you monetizing your laser?

[Jay Selway]

Just curious what most people in the forum are doing to monetize their investment. Or, if it's just a hobby, that's cool too.

[Kevin Gregerson]

For my Customers I point them at the High Value Materials Database subscription and say that pays for the building, employees, and your machine. Some of my customers make 1300-2600 an hour off just that. Though, there is the other side of the equation like Aerospace that use them for very specific and important tasks like stripping PTFE wire coatings.

It really depends, out of all the customers I've worked with so far. Every one of them paid for it in less than a year with the only exception being the dude who bought it as a toy.

[Jay Selway]

For my Customers I point them at the High Value Materials Database subscription and say that pays for the building, employees, and your machine. Some of my customers make 1300-2600 an hour off just that. Though, there is the other side of the equation like Aerospace that use them for very specific and important tasks like stripping PTFE wire coatings.

It really depends, out of all the customers I've worked with so far. Every one of them paid for it in less than a year with the only exception being the dude who bought it as a toy.

What is the High Value Materials Database?

[Jay Selway]

Are most of you guys just doing for-hire engraving work (awards and stuff like that)?

[Kevin Gregerson]

What is the High Value Materials Database?

It's an add on to the materials Database of Universal Lasers Systems that customers can purchase and pay a yearly subscription fee for. It's only for the VLS, PLS, and ILS, XLS models, it does not work with the older VL, V, X, M, E models. Essentially it provides you with the ball park settings for cut, mark, and kiss cut on a large number of high value materials.

Most of the people here I've noticed are doing trophies etc.

[Mike Null]

Kevin

You neglected to mention that there are a lot of people with machines who are getting $30 an hour and can't pay the bills and a precious few who command the rate you mentioned.

[Kevin Gregerson]

Kevin

You neglected to mention that there are a lot of people with machines who are getting $30 an hour and can't pay the bills and a precious few who command the rate you mentioned.

It's really all about materials in the higher end. A lot of those guys tend to buy bulk in a material for better pricing so they can get 40%+ on the materials + pricing machine/labor time at 30-160/hr for the customer. Pricing per hour really depends on tolerance. If it's half a thou, then you can charge a bit more as setup takes a bit more time, machine runs slower etc. If it's 30 thou well you can charge a bit less.

You can also charge setup fee's, etc. I've seen setup/tooling fee's ranging from 20-600 dollars depending on the volumes, materials, and what you want to do with them. Ie marking, kiss cuts, full cuts, noble gas assist required.

When the numbers add up at the end of the day it's about making employee's more productive than anything else which pays for everything.

[Jay Selway]

It's really all about materials in the higher end. A lot of those guys tend to buy bulk in a material for better pricing so they can get 40%+ on the materials + pricing machine/labor time at 30-160/hr for the customer. Pricing per hour really depends on tolerance. If it's half a thou, then you can charge a bit more as setup takes a bit more time, machine runs slower etc. If it's 30 thou well you can charge a bit less.

You can also charge setup fee's, etc. I've seen setup/tooling fee's ranging from 20-600 dollars depending on the volumes, materials, and what you want to do with them. Ie marking, kiss cuts, full cuts, noble gas assist required.

When the numbers add up at the end of the day it's about making employee's more productive than anything else which pays for everything.

Kevin, what kind of service are you performing with your laser? What kind of high value materials are you referring to?

[Scott Shepherd]

It's really all about materials in the higher end.

You do realize that in order for their to be a high end, there needs to be a low end too? That's Mike's point. It's easy to say "Marking Medical Devices is Insanely Profitable! You can make $1000 per hour". Well, that's true. But it's also true that people already have existing relationships with vendors and simply buying a laser, picking the phone up, calling a medical device maker, isn't going to get you a 6 figure contract. It takes a lot of work, years to develop relationships. I've spend 3 years trying to get an opportunity to quote for one customer.

I feel like I'm at a trade show listening to a sales pitch. Out of the 1000's of people that have been on this engraving forum over the last 7-8 years, I can count on two hands people that I think have really hit home runs and gotten to the golden goose. In reality, I agree with Mike, there's a lot more people making little to nothing than it is making the money you're talking about.

[Pete James]

Unfortunately, Kevin's comments are what you get when the responder is more interested in selling lasers and subscriptions for "ball park" settings for high value materials than answering questions. Posts of this nature are no more than advertising.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Turning $2600 an hour in sales isn't that hard Kevin, what that leaves out is the ancillary costs. I've done marking and cutting work on sealing rings for unspecified nuclear facilities and sure they can pay $2,000 a time to have something processed but to get those kind of contracts requires far far more than a material database or a ULS laser set up in a garage.

I'm more inclined to think that those turning $2600 an hour are doing it with a laser, the fact it's a ULS is academic at those pricing levels as the laser is just a very small cog in a very big wheel.

Extensive, field tested material databases come with just about every industrial laser at no extra cost and are available online from them without a subscription fee. Without exception they are all successful start points and never a definitive answer to the materials question as there are quite simply too many variables involved.

As to high value materials....gold, platinum and such like may seem like high value but when compared to some of the exotics they amount to little more than pocket change and most of those exotics are materials that NO ULS laser ever made will cope with.

cheers

Dave

[Tim Bateson]

So where we are going with this thread is if I had wanted to live life in style and retire early I should have bought a different brand of laser?

To answer the original question and to agree somewhat with Kevin's last post.... I diversify. Some days the laser is a money printing machine (not the pie in the sky stuff like above, but $120-$300/hr). Other days it's idle. That's why I do more than use a laser. If one machine is idle, another is likely busy. Unless you are one of the lucky few with a mega contract, it's the only way to survive.

Now specifically to "monetize" - Learn your machine, it's capabilities and just as important it's limitations (it does have limits). Also your capabilities and limitations.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I don't think the question should be "how do you monetize your laser?" but "do you think I can make money doing X, Y, Z?"

The laser is a tool. You're the business.

[Jay Selway]

I don't think the question should be "how do you monetize your laser?" but "do you think I can make money doing X, Y, Z?"

The laser is a tool. You're the business.

Yes, I understand that. I know how I'm going to use this tool as part of my arsenal, I merely was curious what other people were doing.

Sheesh.

[Doug Griffith]

Turning $2600 an hour in sales isn't that hard Kevin, what that leaves out is the ancillary costs. I've done marking and cutting work on sealing rings for unspecified nuclear facilities and sure they can pay $2,000 a time to have something processed but to get those kind of contracts requires far far more than a material database or a ULS laser set up in a garage.

Don't forget the ISO and AS certification requirements that come with accounts like that. Certs don't come cheap and I'm not just talking money. Also, the costs and risks when working with high end materials.