Wanting to buy laser cutter for craft markets/wedding favors...worth it?

[Scott Marquez]

I purchased my laser in April of this year, as a supplement to an existing business, designing and sewing custom nylon gear, it is a huge timesaver for cutting complex patterns. The machine is just another tool, the real magic is in the design work and your ability to create unique items. Besides cutting my own fabric, I am also contracting out to others, as I explain to them, the real work is in the design, and once they have the design they can use me or anyone they want to cut their product.
I would suggest building your own library of designs and reach out to others to cut your product and when you build your sales enough, purchase your own machine.
Enjoy, Scott

[Ron Sleeman]

Hello Jeannine: check your P.M.

[Mayo Pardo]

I too thought I would try making and selling lasered things at craft shows.
I've probably had a booth at about 6 shows so far - 5 of them small shows at schools and churches, and one large show just last Friday at a park district. There were over 110 vendors of various products at this last one.
Granted, it's not a lot of shows and most were small, so my results may not reflect what other people have experienced.

I have not made any money and have actually lost money if you factor in cost of materials, labor for the time processing and finishing the products, cost of booth space, and the cost of running the laser.

I do have design experience - other products I make with my CNC machine do sell online, so I don't think my design skills are the problem. Consumers are just too bombarded by tons of imported crafts and even though yours will be locally made, the vast majority of people don't seem to care.

How unique will your ideas be? If you are doing what everyone else is doing or trying to do, it's going to be an uphill battle until your sales savvy builds up your business. Are you a good sales person? There are hundreds (if not thousands) of promotional products companies selling items including the laser or dye sub or pad printing or screen printing that you can't purchase blank for the same price. They buy in the thousands of piece quantities and get much better price discounts on the blanks. They have high speed decorating equipment. You can't compete with them if they are already in your area unless you become a promotional products distributor, and then you're just a salesperson - you're not being artistically creative at all.

Can you make it work with one off personalized items like for weddings? Possibly if few or nobody in your area is already doing it. Get some samples made and see what response you get when you try selling your service.
The products are pretty much already defined - it's what you bring to the table that will set you apart from the crowd. Quick service - puts you under deadline pressures. Quality - this is a question of getting the right technique for a given product, in addition to purchasing quality made blank (whatevers) and making sure you spell things correctly and position them attractively on the pieces. Low prices - don't do it. You'll wind up working for nothing and regret it. Dependable service - do what you tell the customer you will do and do it on time or ahead of schedule. If you can't meet a deadline, don't take the job or subcontract it to someone you are sure can deliver ahead of schedule.

Long winded here, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it...

[Steven Cox]

Hi Jeannine,

Firstly as others have said don't dismiss the idea of a Chinesse Laser, I bought one nearly 6 years ago & never regreted it. I was the first one in Australia to make it mobile by permanently placing it in the back of a light truck (Ford Falcon 1 ton utility with custom built canopy). We towed a caravan behind the vechicle and travelled with the laser for just over 4 years spending 8 months of the year on the road doing weekend fairs, festivals, swap meets and weekend markets and had an apsolute ball. Design wise, I'm a Graphic Artist and have worked in througout the graphics industry in Advertising, Printing & Sign Writing industries. There was a learning curve when I got the laser but I had a head start with CorelDraw, I've been using it since Version 3 so that helped.

When we first went mobile I had grand plans of all the products I was going to sell, but within a few months we realised we had to break that down to less than 20 products & keep them small but have enough variety in the designs to make it seem like we had more than we actually did. The products also had to be quick to set up & engrave on the spot and where it had to be cut, we needed to precut them before an event & ensure we had enough "blanks" for the event. This meant making templates & jigs for every product.

After the first 6 months, we where just breaking even from week to week everybody loved what they saw but sales were very slow. We realised we needed a product that would be our bread & butter then the other stuff that we'd already been doing would be the cream. So we got into Anodised Aluminium Pet Tags...... then we started to make some real quick easy money!. We'd found our "Bread & Butter". We had a ball for 4 years traveling the country side and just over 12 months ago we retired & sold the business. One of the greatest "Toys" I'd ever owned was my Chinese Laser and I didn't think I'd miss it as much as I did. If you look at my profile & search for my previous post you'll see some pics of my old set up & some tips & ideas I've shared here over the past few years.

In our travels we found a delightful country town in another state that we fell in love with, so we sold up everything & moved here to retire. A few weeks ago I joined a local Men's Shed and was real happy to discover that they had a new Chinese 50w Laser amongst all the equipment, whilst a bit lower in capacity than my old machine I'm in my element now teaching the other members how to use it.

My point here is, You need to find a Bread & Butter product that's quick & easy to produce that everybody wants or needs, it needs to be cheap & quick to produce and priced so people say "I've gotta get one of those now" as opposed to "I'd like one of those.... one day". It might be boring but that's what will put food on the table, everything else will be the most enjoyable, satisfying & very profitable to do so it's the Cream.

Regards Steve.

[Bob A Miller]

Jeannine,

I am am just down the valley from you... Let me know if there is anything I can help with.

Bob

[David Somers]

Jeannine,

Dont be afraid of a Chinese laser. Just remember the difference between buying direct from China like a Shenhui or a Gweike, and buying a Chinese machine sold and supported from within the US like Boss or Rabbit Laser USA. Rabbit Laser even delivers your product and helps you with the setup and trains you in how to do various maintenance on the machine. These machines cost more than direct from China purchases, but far, far less than the Western made lasers like Epilog and ULS and Trotec. Not saying to buy one necessarily. But don't be afraid of them either.

Keep pondering and researching. And seriously, go talk to folks at fairs. It is often not what people think it is.

And keep asking questions here too.

Dave

[Jerome Stanek]

Are you planning on taking the laser to those craft fairs is so I don't think I would want to take a $25 to $30 thousand dollar laser bouncing around

[Keith Winter]

I too thought I would try making and selling lasered things at craft shows.
I've probably had a booth at about 6 shows so far - 5 of them small shows at schools and churches, and one large show just last Friday at a park district. There were over 110 vendors of various products at this last one.
Granted, it's not a lot of shows and most were small, so my results may not reflect what other people have experienced.

I have not made any money and have actually lost money if you factor in cost of materials, labor for the time processing and finishing the products, cost of booth space, and the cost of running the laser.

I do have design experience - other products I make with my CNC machine do sell online, so I don't think my design skills are the problem. Consumers are just too bombarded by tons of imported crafts and even though yours will be locally made, the vast majority of people don't seem to care.

How unique will your ideas be? If you are doing what everyone else is doing or trying to do, it's going to be an uphill battle until your sales savvy builds up your business. Are you a good sales person? There are hundreds (if not thousands) of promotional products companies selling items including the laser or dye sub or pad printing or screen printing that you can't purchase blank for the same price. They buy in the thousands of piece quantities and get much better price discounts on the blanks. They have high speed decorating equipment. You can't compete with them if they are already in your area unless you become a promotional products distributor, and then you're just a salesperson - you're not being artistically creative at all.

Can you make it work with one off personalized items like for weddings? Possibly if few or nobody in your area is already doing it. Get some samples made and see what response you get when you try selling your service.
The products are pretty much already defined - it's what you bring to the table that will set you apart from the crowd. Quick service - puts you under deadline pressures. Quality - this is a question of getting the right technique for a given product, in addition to purchasing quality made blank (whatevers) and making sure you spell things correctly and position them attractively on the pieces. Low prices - don't do it. You'll wind up working for nothing and regret it. Dependable service - do what you tell the customer you will do and do it on time or ahead of schedule. If you can't meet a deadline, don't take the job or subcontract it to someone you are sure can deliver ahead of schedule.

Long winded here, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it...

Sound advice, the wedding crowd are the most demanding of any customer. It's their wedding and it has to be perfect. Definitely price in the extra time, rush, and possible redos.

[jeannine kas]

Hi David, I have been using a vector program called Inkscape, it works pretty good, but I think Corel is something I will invest in. I have a bit of experience with Full Spectrum, but it's not my favor machine. Whatever I buy, I will need some phone support for a while to get going. Thanks for your input, I think I will go through the forum a bit more and read up. Thanks !

Jeannine,

Before you embarked on a craft fair/wedding favor endeavor I would definitely do the rounds of craft fairs this summer in what you consider your traveling area. You can hit craftmasters.com or Festivalnet.com and get listings of craft fair/art shows in your area. For a relatively low annual fee you can get detailed information on each. Spend a season checking out fairs, talking to vendors, looking at what is being sold, what is selling, and what prices are. That can help you determine your possible income from a fair. For wedding stuff, talk to wedding planners and services about what they see in the market. Do your research first.

Do you have experience with programs like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator or other vector art packages? Are you artistic at all? Unless you buy stock patterns to make you will need to create your own items which is time consuming to develop. And you obviously need to know the software.
Do you have experience with lasers at all? Or at least are you comfortable with modest electronics and mechanical repairs of things? If not, stick with a machine that has US support. That could be lower priced Chinese machines that have been modified in the US and are resold by companies like Rabbit Laser USA, Boss Laser, etc. They can give you support by phone and have local parts stocks. You would save money buying direct from China, but you need to have a fair amount of independence to do that. You are largely on your own other than what a site like ours can give you. Machines like Epilog, Universal (ULS) and Trotec are exceptional machines but pretty expensive. They would be at the high end of what you would look at.

Lastly, have you spent lots of time going through this forum? A lot of answers can be found here, as well as questions you may not have thought of asking yet.

Hope that gets you going for the next round of questions!

Dave

[David Somers]

Jeannine!

If you are comfortable with Inkscape you might want to continue with it and get really proficient. Although concepts are the same there is a clear learning curve moving to Corel, along with a cost that you dont encounter with Inkscape.

And although you dont see it mentioned here that often, there are a modest number of Inkscape users here who can help you in a pinch. And also very active Inkscape forums elsewhere that can be even more helpful. Also, if you are in a decent size town with a college/university you will likely find Maker shops around. Those are shops where you can rent time on devices like lasers and CNC's and sewing machines and wood working equipment, etc. They are geared to folks who either dont have the room or the $$ to invest in the machines like they would like to play with. Aside from these being a good point of introduction to a laser, they also tend to offer classes in their devices and often use Inkscape for their lasers. The ones here in Seattle seem to have settled on that for what it is worth. You might look around for a shop like this and see what they offer. It might be a good way to dip your toe in the water on using a laser before committing, as well as getting more proficient with Inkscape.

Once advantage to Corel is that a high percentage of laser users seem to use it so you have a large base of support for it that relates directly to its use on a laser. Inkscape would serve you well however and cost you nothing unless you take some classes somewhere.

You probably noticed that not too many here have a high opinion of Full Spectrum. I happened to be in a Rockler Woodworking shop a few months ago and noticed they are now carrying Full Spectrum and I have to admit I cringed. The owner of the shop is a laser user at home and had experience with a full Spectrum and was moaning about this corporate decision.

I know this is a bit of a busy season what with the holidays and all, but there should be a ton of high quality art and craft fairs right about now. At least here in Seattle there are. Then there tends to be another bundle of them in Feb/March in preparation for Spring/Easter/gardening season. Also wedding shows. Go hit em and talk to the vendors and be a fly on the wall.

Dave

[Keith Sherwin]

Hi Jeannine,
I just purchased a Chinese 80W RECI 6040 unit with rotary & auto focus etc. It was in Richmond today clearing customs, heading toward its home in the South Okanagan. You can get a unit sent by ship to the port of Vancouver for very little freight cost. I can't tell you how well my unit works just yet, but I did get a decent price on it and believe it will be a good unit. This is not my first rodeo, having built at least 5 CNC machines, so I feel fairly confident in my ability to figure it out.

What the folks here have said is all so true. Myself, I am retired and after selling my last 5 x 8 CNC decided I needed some more Magic in my life, but not necessarily more money. However, it would be nice to make a few dollars to pay for consumables so I will be looking for my niche in our area. My being in the heart of wine country should have advantages as far as product sales and good spirits. Anyhow, send me a PM if I can be of any assistance to you. I see there are others in your immediate area that have offered assistance also.
Have a Merry Christmas.

[Kev Williams]

Finally got around to reading this one...

Echo what Gary said

Then I'll add this:

You need to do what my dad did in 1966, which was just go out and buy an engraving machine (laser in your case) just because he wanted one. He had no plans to make anything but a couple of bucks with it here and there. He bought simply because he loved to engrave! With that mind set, there were never any stress issues with whether it made enough money or not. It was a hobby, and it was another monthly payment, which he could afford at the time. He never looked for work, it always found him, via his old Litton co-workers mostly. Simply because they knew he had the machine...

Next year is our 50th anniversary. I started doing this full time in 1975, and it's been 'my baby' since 2007. And after 50 years in this business, just like in the beginning, we have still never had to look for work. Our number in the phone book is the extent of any advertising we ever did.

So my advice is, eliminate the stress of worrying about making money. Just think of it as 'something you owe yourself', like a boat or an RV. If you can afford the payments, buy it! And have fun with it! Get the hang of your new toy, and do a few freebies for your friends, family and co-workers. They'll start talking, and your phone will start ringing...

[jeannine kas]

Thanks Kev ! I love your story ~ !

Finally got around to reading this one...

Echo what Gary said

Then I'll add this:

You need to do what my dad did in 1966, which was just go out and buy an engraving machine (laser in your case) just because he wanted one. He had no plans to make anything but a couple of bucks with it here and there. He bought simply because he loved to engrave! With that mind set, there were never any stress issues with whether it made enough money or not. It was a hobby, and it was another monthly payment, which he could afford at the time. He never looked for work, it always found him, via his old Litton co-workers mostly. Simply because they knew he had the machine...

Next year is our 50th anniversary. I started doing this full time in 1975, and it's been 'my baby' since 2007. And after 50 years in this business, just like in the beginning, we have still never had to look for work. Our number in the phone book is the extent of any advertising we ever did.

So my advice is, eliminate the stress of worrying about making money. Just think of it as 'something you owe yourself', like a boat or an RV. If you can afford the payments, buy it! And have fun with it! Get the hang of your new toy, and do a few freebies for your friends, family and co-workers. They'll start talking, and your phone will start ringing...