Laser & CNC Job Cost Calculator
Industrial calculators (LaserCalcPro, A-Laser) target fab shops with $1,000+ jobs. This one targets the Etsy laser hobbyist running a Glowforge or xTool on $15–$60 personalized goods.
Enter your machine, materials, runtime, setup, and post-processing time. The tool computes machine-hour cost (depreciation + electricity), labor, design amortization across expected re-sells, and platform fees — then solves for a defensible quote at your target margin.
Educational tool only. Machine presets are typical capital costs and power draws for the named class; substitute your actual machine specs for accurate output.
Laser/CNC Job Cost Calculator
Your job
Enter materials, time, and your machine. The right-hand panel shows a defensible quote.
Picking a preset fills in typical wattage, capital cost, and life-years below — adjust if yours differs.
Used to amortize the machine cost into a per-hour depreciation charge. Estimate honestly — overstating hours undersells depreciation.
Stock used, with offcut allowance. 1/8" basswood: ~$0.05/in². Anodized aluminum: ~$0.30/in². Leatherette: ~$0.10/in².
Setup = file prep + jig alignment. Run = machine actually cutting. Finishing = sanding, masking removal, paint, packaging.
One-time design time amortized across the units you expect to sell of this SKU. 1 = custom one-off; 50+ = catalog product.
Etsy ~9.5%. Own site ~2.9%.
Quote breakdown
Below is what to charge to clear your target margin after all costs and fees.
Per-job cost stack
- Material
- $2.50
- Machine time (20m × $0.64/hr)
- $0.21
- Labor (13m × $28.00/hr)
- $6.07
- Design amortization (2h ÷ 20)
- $2.80
- Platform fee (9.5%)
- $2.72
- True cost / job
- $14.29
Machine hour cost
- Depreciation ($2,500.00 ÷ 5yr ÷ 1000hr)
- $0.50/hr
- Electricity (800W × $0.17/kWh)
- $0.14/hr
- Total per machine-hour
- $0.64/hr
How experienced laser shops actually price jobs
The most-cited industry rule for craft laser engraving is $1–$3 per minute of run time for diode and CO2 lasers, with established shops charging $60–$120 per hour. That's a useful sanity check but it hides the math behind machine-hour cost: depreciation + electricity + maintenance.
This calculator unpacks the per-minute / per-hour rate into its real components so you can defend it to a customer who pushes back. A $2,500 CO2 laser running 1,000 hours/year over 5 years carries $0.50/hour of straight-line depreciation. Add 0.8 kW × $0.17/kWh = $0.14/hour electricity, and your true machine-hour cost is $0.64 — before labor, before design, before profit.
The line item most hobbyists skip is design amortization. Hours of CAD work that go into a new SKU should divide across how many you expect to sell. A 2-hour design for a custom one-off carries the full $40 (at $20/hour). The same 2-hour design for an SKU you'll sell 50 times carries $0.80 per unit — a different conversation entirely.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per minute for laser engraving?
$1–$3 per minute is the maker-shop standard, with $60–$120/hour for established shops doing custom commissioned work. The number depends on machine class (diode < CO2 < fiber), region, and customer segment. The calculator's machine-hour cost gives you the floor (depreciation + electricity); add labor and target margin on top.
Should I include electricity in the price?
Yes, but it's a small line item. A 60W diode at full cut draws ~0.2 kW × $0.17/kWh = $0.034/hour. A 100W CO2 at 1.5 kW draws $0.255/hour. Most laser-shop pricing math under-counts depreciation (because it feels free until the tube fails) and over-emphasizes electricity (because it's visible on the utility bill).
How do I handle setup time versus run time?
Charge labor rate (your hourly) for setup and post-processing, not machine-hour cost. The machine isn't running, so depreciation isn't accruing. The calculator separates them so the math is correct: machine time = depreciation + electricity, labor time = hourly rate.
What's the typical margin for an Etsy laser shop?
40–60% is healthy for catalog products. 60–70% is achievable for custom commissioned one-offs (where you can't compete on price anyway). Below 30% means you're working for free after Etsy takes its 9.5% + $0.45.
How should I amortize a 1-time design fee across multiple units?
Divide design hours × hourly rate by your honest expected re-sell count. For evergreen catalog SKUs, 20–50 is realistic. For seasonal one-offs, use 1–5. The calculator surfaces this as "Design amortization" so you can see how aggressive your assumption is — and adjust if you're not actually re-selling that many.
Track machine wear across every job, automatically
Ardent Seller's equipment tracker logs every laser hour against the machine that ran it, computes straight-line depreciation continuously, and rolls per-job machine cost into your product recipes. The calculator's math, but always live across the catalog.
Sources & verification
- OneLaser — Laser Engraving Pricing: Smart Guide to Profitable Quotes (opens in new tab)
- OMTech — How Much Should You Charge for Laser Engraving? (opens in new tab)
- The Maker's Chest — Laser Engraving Service Pricing (opens in new tab)
- Creality Falcon — Laser Engraving Cost Breakdown 2026 (opens in new tab)
- U.S. EIA — Average Retail Electricity Prices (opens in new tab)
Sources current as of 2026-05-18. Electricity rates vary 2× between US states and 10× internationally — replace the default with your actual utility rate for accuracy.
Related resources
Product Pricing Calculator (Live)
Live web version of our Excel pricing calculator. Materials + labor + packaging + platform fees → defensible retail at your target margin, with batch-pricing tiers.
Maker Hourly-Rate Pricing Calculator
Pick a target hourly rate, enter your materials, hands-on minutes per unit, and platform fees — the calculator returns the minimum price that actually pays you that rate after fees and costs. Maker-business specific, not a "freelance day rate" tool.
Should I Raise My Prices? Decision Tool
A live web tool that runs the +10% / +20% / +30% price-hike math for one product — including the volume drop that comes with each — and tells you which scenario clears the most monthly profit.
Inventory Tracker Starter Kit
A working Excel inventory tracker for makers — raw materials, finished goods, packaging, and a purchase log. Reorder thresholds and a status column do the math; conditional formatting flashes red when you are below the line.
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