For laser engravers

Personalization is the product. Price it that way.

An engraving business sells the burn, not the blank: a 62-cent basswood ornament leaves at $14 because it has a grandkid's name on it. The economics are blanks by the case, laser hours with their quiet lens-and-power cost, and the misfires nobody invoices. MadeKeeper counts all three so the personalization premium stays a premium.

The app is live. Free during the pilot. Founding rate $19/mo, locked for life.

Start free — the app is live Try the free fair calculator

No card to start. Use it free through the pilot, and lock the $19/mo founding rate for as long as you stay.

How MadeKeeper maps to your laser bed

Blanks by the caseOrnament rounds, tumbler blanks, cutting-board seconds, slate coasters — every blank logs at its case price and pulls per job. The blank shelf is your raw inventory.

Laser time as a real costSet a per-hour rate for power, lens wear, and machine life; every job carries its bed time. The three-hour deep engrave stops pricing like the eight-minute one.

Misfires in the mathThe burn that wandered and the blank that scorched log as scrap. A batch's true yield is what survived — your prices should be built on that number.

Custom orders with proofsEach personalized job logs with its art approved, its blank, and its due date. Christmas-name-ornament season becomes a queue you can see, not a pile you fear.

One ornament run, to the penny

Say you engrave 24 personalized ornaments:

24 basswood ornament blanks @ 62¢$14.88
Laser time, 3.2 hrs @ $2.10/hr$6.72
Ribbon and poly bags$2.40
Test pieces and misfires$1.86

Run cost — $1.08 an ornament$25.86

At $14 personalized, each ornament clears $12.92 — the whole margin is the name, which is the point. The ledger keeps it that way when blank prices creep and December gets loud.

One calm note for the engraving trade: team logos, characters, and brand marks belong to their owners. MadeKeeper keeps your order and design records tidy; what's safe to burn stays your call.

Straight about what's live

Materials and true cost per piece, products (in bulk or one-of-a-kind), sales that drain stock, the was-this-fair-worth-it event math, mileage, expenses, and the year-end tax packet — all in the app today. Etsy and Square sync, your own storefront, a booth card reader, and shipping labels are building, shaped with founding makers. Nothing above describes a feature that doesn't exist without saying so. See the full live-vs-building list →

Questions laser engravers ask

How do I put a number on laser time?

Estimate what an hour of your machine costs — power, lens and gantry wear, a share of the machine against its working life — and log it as a per-hour consumable. Jobs then carry bed time honestly, which is where deep engraves earn their premium.

What about engraving customer-supplied items?

Their tumbler logs at zero material cost on a job that's almost pure labor and laser time — often your best per-hour work. The books will show whether supplied-item jobs deserve more of your calendar.

How does bulk pricing work for corporate orders?

Cost one unit honestly — blank, bed minutes, packaging — and the 100-piece quote is arithmetic with a volume discount you choose on purpose, not one you discover at the end.

Ready to see your real numbers?

The app is live and free during the pilot. Lock the $19/mo founding rate for as long as you stay.

Start free Open the fair calculator