How this laser engraving price calculator works
Five layers, one true cost.
The formulas are the same as in our free Laser Lite spreadsheet, and the defaults are its sample settings. They are examples, not a going rate: replace them with your own.
- Material
(pack price ÷ sheets or blanks in the pack) ÷ pieces per sheet - Machine + power
laser minutes per piece ÷ 60 × (laser price ÷ life + tube cost ÷ tube life + maintenance + watts ÷ 1000 × price per kWh) - Labor
(hands-on minutes + setup minutes ÷ pieces per job) ÷ 60 × your hourly rate - Scrap allowance
(material + machine and power) × scrap % - Packaging and extras
whatever you type: box, bag, card, hardware
Laser minutes per piece = job run time ÷ pieces per job. The five lines add up to the true cost. Profit at your price is the price minus the true cost minus the selling fees (price × fee % + fixed fee per order + fee per item).
What “earned per laser minute” means
Earned per laser minute is your price minus the selling fees, the material and the packaging, divided by the laser minutes one piece takes. It is what each minute on the machine brings in. That money still has to pay for the machine time, your own minutes, scrap and profit, so it is not profit per minute. It is the figure to hold against the rule of thumb that a laser should earn “$1 a minute plus material”.
It is most useful for comparing products when the laser is your bottleneck: if two products sell equally well, the one that earns more per laser minute makes better use of the machine.
Why a flat $1 a minute misleads
With the example settings (a $2,999 laser over 6,000 hours, $0.40 per hour of maintenance, 700 W at $0.16 per kWh), a laser minute costs about 1.7 cents to run. Almost all of a per-minute rate is therefore your time and profit, and your time does not follow the laser clock. The sample products of the Laser Lite spreadsheet show it:
- Photo engrave on acrylic, 30 laser minutes, at $25: earns $0.65 per laser minute, under the rule, yet keeps a 48.9% margin. ON TARGET.
- Bamboo board with a name, 10 laser minutes, at $20: earns $0.89 per minute and keeps a 28.2% margin. BELOW TARGET, because its 8 hands-on minutes, packaging and fees weigh more than its laser time.
- Birch ornament with a name, 2.5 laser minutes (15 per sheet), at $12: earns $3.93 per minute, almost four times the rule, with a 70.2% margin.
The per-minute number alone does not tell you whether a price works. The margin does. That is why this calculator shows both. Our guide how much to charge for laser engraving walks through the same numbers in more detail.
How to read the verdict
LOSING MONEY: profit at your price is below zero after costs and fees. BELOW TARGET: you make a profit, but the margin is under the target you set. ON TARGET: the margin meets or beats your target. A line with a ⚠ means a number the calculation needs is missing. If your target margin plus the fee percentage reaches 100%, no price can reach it, and the calculator asks you to check the settings.
The line under earned per laser minute says whether the figure is at or above, or under, one unit of your currency per minute. It is there for comparison with the rule of thumb, not as a target.
When one product is not enough
You priced one piece. Now price the whole shop.
The same formulas in a spreadsheet. Start free, and move up only when you outgrow it.
Free spreadsheet
Laser Price Checker (Lite)
Up to 10 products and 5 materials on one laser, each with its true cost, the price that reaches your margin, profit, margin, earned per laser minute and a verdict. Excel and Google Sheets.
Download the free Laser LiteFree · Opens on Gumroad · Excel + Google Sheets
Laser spreadsheet · $14, one-time
See what every product earns per laser minute
The calculation on this page for up to 200 products: true cost with sheet yield, the price that reaches your margin after fees, and what each product earns per laser minute. Also inside: a quote tab for 1 to 100 pieces, blank and sheet inventory, orders and a profit dashboard. Excel and Google Sheets.
Get the laser spreadsheet$14, one-time · Opens on Gumroad · Instant download
Questions
How do you calculate a price for laser engraving?
Add up the cost of one piece: the material or blank, machine time (laser wear, maintenance and electricity per minute times the laser minutes), your hands-on and setup minutes at your labor rate, a scrap allowance and packaging. Add the fixed selling fees and divide by 1 minus your target margin minus the platform fee percentage, then round up to the next price ending in .99. Dividing, instead of adding a markup on top of cost, is what makes the margin survive a percentage fee.
What does earned per laser minute mean?
It is your price minus selling fees, material and packaging, divided by the laser minutes one piece takes. It is the money each minute on the laser brings in to pay for machine time, your own minutes, scrap and profit, and it is the number to hold against the common rule of thumb of $1 a minute plus material.
Is $1 a minute a good rate for laser engraving?
It can be right for one product and wrong for the next. In the example settings on this page, a 30-minute photo engrave earns $0.65 per laser minute at $25 and still reaches a 48.9% margin, while a bamboo board with a name earns $0.89 per minute at $20 and stays below a 40% target. Hands-on time, packaging and fees do not follow the laser clock, so check the margin, not only the rate.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your numbers are kept in your browser’s local storage so they are still there next time, and they never leave your device. Our pages set no cookies and run no trackers. “Reset” clears the saved numbers.
Example material prices are the sample settings of our Laser Lite spreadsheet; times, packaging and selling prices are illustrative. Works for diode, CO2 and fiber machines. Not affiliated with any laser manufacturer. Etsy is a trademark of its owner. A calculation tool, not tax or financial advice. Built with AI assistance; read how we work.