Hi all,

i usually do relatively simple models for my company, i work with, for in house usage (3D printing),
because it is also part of my job. We also have clients which give us their 3D models for
3D printing. So far so good.

Now we have a client who brought in hand drawn construction plans, for relatively simple
CAD parts, which i have to model... (with MoI of course! :-))

Curious that i am, even if it should be not my business, how much do you charge a client
for that, when you hand out the model(s) - a) only as .stl files for 3D printing, or b) as .step
or .iges files for proper manufacturing? Or do you charge projects like this only on an hourly basis?

Any insider tips would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. If you can't or don't want to discuss this openly i would also appreciate a forum PM!

Regards
Stefan

Hello,

Plenty of problems come from hourly rates, the relationship is adversarial from the beginning.

Define the scope of work with the client and provide a time frame and price. File type shouldn't matter, you have to model it one way or another.

When the clients gets a deliverable and you get paid appropriately everyone is happy. If the client wants to endlessly iterate charge for iteration. It doesn't sound like the client wants to do that initially if they are bringing prints and specs, leave that as an opportunity for v2.

Hi OSTexo,

thanks a lot for your reply and advise, much appreciated!

Regards
Stefan

Hello,

Just remember it's always easy to decrease price, nearly impossible to increase once the tone has been set with the client. Reward loyalty and ease of working with a client, not low balling price to get work, that's a race to the bottom.

Secure your clients intellectual property, that alone will put you ahead of the vast majority of similar services and will separate from the cheap at all costs crowd. If a client is able to trust you with their IP that is a powerful incentive for that client to stay with you for the lifetime of the project.

Thanks again, OSTexo!

I will keep that in mind!

Best regards
Stefan