# Pricing Bulk Pen Orders



## kaiulani (May 27, 2014)

I have a local rotary club asking me to price a bulk order of 50, and 100 pens. 
They'll be Slimline Chrome twist pens made from Corian, and I'll use a decal process to put their club name on the pen.
The cost of the materials is fairly low.  
I was thinking double the materials cost plus add in some labor.
Would love to hear how some others have determined pricing for bulk orders.
Thanks!!


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## zig613 (May 27, 2014)

I have done a couple  of larger 75+ pens (7mm euros) orders and I didn't provide any volume discount.  I don't discount my time which was the largest part of the cost.  Besides, I'm glad I didn't because by the time I got done turning 75 pens of the same style it was pretty boring.

Wade


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## plano_harry (May 27, 2014)

Be careful, decals can be labor intensive.  I wouldn't do them for less than $50 each.  Unfortunately, you are in the plastic and advertising zone - similar logo pens could probably be ordered for maybe $10 each.


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## vtgaryw (May 28, 2014)

I've done a lot of costing in a previous life.  There are no "correct" formulas, but it's important that everyone has one that works for them.

Let's start off simply - what would you charge for qty 1 of a 7mm Euro with a decal?

Gary



kaiulani said:


> I have a local rotary club asking me to price a bulk order of 50, and 100 pens.
> They'll be Slimline Chrome twist pens made from Corian, and I'll use a decal process to put their club name on the pen.
> The cost of the materials is fairly low.
> I was thinking double the materials cost plus add in some labor.
> ...


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## Carl Fisher (May 28, 2014)

Honestly when I do bulk work or even wholesale, my normal calculations get set aside and I have an hourly rate that I bill.  I know how many pens I can batch in an hour and my price quote reflects this.

It's important to know how much time you spend on a given piece based on the type of pen, the material, and the finish work as well as how much time you save doing the steps in batches.


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## JohnGreco (May 28, 2014)

I'm in Rotary, each week we give a pen to our guest speaker. The pens are Cross pens with the RI logo and come in a pen box, they order them for around $9 each. They know none of my pens are anywhere near that and thankfully they have not asked me to make pens for a similar price. This is also approaching Changeover time where the new Exec Boards come in, so maybe their Board voted on spending some $$ for their members to have something nice. But knowing all of the efforts that go into fundraising and how those funds are dispersed, I doubt they have the budget to pay you what your time is actually worth (or rather, what you *should* charge them, whether or not you do is of course your choice).

Don't burn yourself just to get the sale, you will regret every minute of it while working on that order. It will not take you any longer per pen to make 50 or 100 than it would to make maybe 10 (there is -some- time saved in batch operations but not that much). 

My 2 cents


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## BayouPenturner (May 28, 2014)

I agree with the statement don't discount your labor.  A you have to consider you may mess up one or two pens for various reasons due to assembly..  Athens putting decals on Corian does not always look the best.  I worked on some and it seemed like no matter how careful I prepared the waterslide decals you could see the edges no matter  what color the corian.

Make a sample completely before both committing and pricing.


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## Carl Fisher (May 28, 2014)

Forgot to add, for my batch and wholesale quotes, my hourly rate is tacked on in addition to the cost of hardware as well as a fee for shop supplies.


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## Chasper (May 28, 2014)

This is the Polls, Surveys and Votes sub-forum.  Any member or guest who visits the site can view this sub-forum.  I don't discuss price in any forum that a guest can visit.


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