have you ever encountered a business that won't give a quote?

>or examples of what they have charged in the past

This is bare minmimum, IMO. Business is not legit. or perhaps run by morons. or both.

Are they a monopoly? If so they're just trying to gouge your ass.

Give them a quote from a competing business (or a fake one) and see if they'll match or beat it. If not, find somewhere else.

Not giving pricing or previous history is a red flag for shady business.

>>965662
I've had this problem before trying to find some cheap metal gears. called all places, and it was either "well it will cost you $3,000" or. "sorry you have to order 30 units or more" and that always pisses me off. especially the "minimum" orders. even worse when its local and they aren't even mailing it. a lot of steel yards pull that shit around here so they don't have to sell to non-business related people. they don't want billy joe coming in, buying one piece and never coming back. for some odd fucking reason or another.

>>965664
yea I was worried they might even be a front set up to farm artists work

people's designs are worth money, and they could just steal them all then sell them as stock prints on another site

but then where I live business competency is not a requirement to own a business, most are handed down in the family so it can be a nightmare getting anything done if you don't know good people

my butcher doesn't know parts of a cow
the hardware store can't order in springs of specific dimensions and has no idea who could
orders are always late, frequently rushed, sometimes entirely wrong

>>965667
I figured it just wasn't worth their time giving quotes, a lot of places in a push for efficiency will give literally nothing to a non-confirmed purchaser now
maybe too many people must be getting quotes from them to leverage someone else

>>965668
well that's just a part of buisiness, it's often not worth their time sorting out a small order

and good luck if you want a small, non-standard order

>>965662
>have you ever encountered a business that won't give a quote?
Many businesses have wanted full documentation before giving me a quote.
While I'm not familiar with laser cutting, I'd assume the price depends largely on the time the machine spends cutting it and that in turn is very dependent on your design.

Laser cutting works directly with dxf files. How do you need days to make one

>>965678
I need to convert my work from pixel (which I am very familiar with) to vector

which means I'm going to have to learn how to use vector imagine

I've used CAD before, but only for basic 3D designs

it will be more learning to use the new program that will take the time, having a go with inkscape atm

>>965688
You're setting yourself up for pain.

Inkscape is a great FreeHand clone for what you pay for it, but don't try to learn on it. It's not finished, it's got a bunch of annoying bugs and design features, and you will hate every minute of the experience.

I remember finding a bug report from a user who couldn't work out how to draw a line, with 'help' from a cadre of inkscape knights who were all "it's simple, you idiot, you just do X,Y,Z,J,F,Q, and there's your line. Dumbass.". When I looked, sure enough, Inkscape does not in fact have a straight-line tool.

>>965720
Ah, here it is: http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4918

My favourite bit is the oscillation between "RTFM" and "Hey, guys, it's not actually in the FM".

>>965721
GIMP had the same problem with lack of simple usability

I think it comes from having the developers vet the finished product

already I'm having pain with it, maybe it's just one of those pro-only tools

>>965662
>have you ever encountered a business that won't give a quote?
>they got mad when I asked for a quote on a 20cm circle

This is flaky as fuck.

>>965668
It costs lots of money to setup some things for a one-time run. Like the people making it need to be trained how to make one part on their machine because they are a button monkey who doesn't know how and isn't allowed to experiment. They have to have some IT guy do it for them.

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have you ever encountered a business that won't give a quote?


Every wedding venue ever. Why does this shit have to be so stressful?

>>965731
I used to make giftware for bridal parties, I think I can tell you why

A. they want to suck people in before giving them the price
B. people organising weddings are often impossible to work for, worse then paupers, drug addicts, foreigners; they are literally the worst

>>965731
same reason jewelers say, "the one that speaks to you the most." because only a woman is stupid enough to spend 30k$ on a ute full of flowers. when it comes to wedding floristry, there is some convention that says the flowers need their stems cut off right at the bud. this means all the flowers need to be prepared in only a few hours before the wedding.

that said, cunts and weddings are ridiculous. knew someone who rented out a function room in a pub in fremantle. cost 30k$ just for the function room for 3 hours. absolutely harem.

>>965662
normally when i simply don't want to do a job i'll quote a fuck-off price.
i'd only outright refuse to give a quote to obvious scumbags like slumlords, gypsies or buy here pay here car lots.
there must be something seriously flaky about you that's tingling their spider sense.
do you breathe heavily into the phone, use memes in your emails, perhaps you rolled up on a skateboard smelling of spraypaint and weed?

>>965662
Have you showed them what you want them to cut in scale and how soon you want it?

did they ask you to pay anything up front?

OP, where are you located, and what do you want cut?

I'm assuming since you were worried about them being a art farming front, it's not metal. Have you looked to see if any anon has access to a laser cutter around you or if there is a makerspace with a laser that you can gain access to.

I've cut some small pieces for other anons before.

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>>965720
>Inkscape does not in fact have a straight-line tool.

>vector image program
>does not have a tool for what is literally the simplest possible type of vector

How the fuck do people even get away with this?

>>965760
Ayyy small world. Minnesota here, just went to Freemantle. Place smelled like fish and was filled with white trash and hipsters.

Why anybody would rent a place there for that amount is absolutely beyond me.

>>965662
A tip would be to look at wargaming terrain companies. Very often they are willing to do laser cutting work that isn't their normal stock.

>>965730
This, sometimes the set up cost is too much, 1 piece for $3,000, 30 pieces for $4,000

I work in a big shop, foundry, fab shop, and machine shop, we do a lot of custom stuff, but when someone says "I just want something simple" is a big no, they think is simple, and that the cost would be low, but is not.

you need to find another business that is smaller or nicer and take smaller jobs.

One time i send 4 bracket to galvanize, they usually run by the ton, they didnt know how to quote and just throw a number, and they throw our parts with some big grill they were running. It was expensive by the pound, but didnt have an option.

Same problem here, on a shitty little island in Northern Europe, rapist have more tact and grace than laser cutters here
Order from neighbouring shitty little island in Northern Europe cost less for 5 as 1000 at home
Support local my ass, Google that shit, you can order out of state etc.

>>965662
>have you ever encountered a business that won't give a quote?

Yep, and you avoid businesses that don't like the plague. They're going to try to fuck you as hard as possible.

>>965662
Why would you consider doing business with someone who won't give you a quote? Fuck, even the chinks on Alibaba will give you a quote and DHL you a product sample before moving forward.

>>965662
Yes, and i solve it by adding fake footnotes in my emails.
I always put an invented company name that may relate to the quote that i need
It still works for me

>>966113
What? Something like "This email is the property of Anon Incorporated and may contain confidential and/or privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this e-mail in error please
notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail. Any unauthorized copying, disclosure or
distribution of the material in this e-mail is strictly forbidden. "?

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>>965731
I've worked at major hotels for over 15 years. When I worked in accounting at one place I sent out wedding bills from $5000 to $150000+. same damn room. They will charge you as much as you are dumb enough to buy. The best thing you can do is tell them you are on a budget and ask if they have any cheaper days on the calendar. They usually have some worthless days on the calendar they are happy to sell for cheap. Most venues will want to cater it so if they give you the room cheap they make up for it on the catering. Or decent deal on food and charge a lot for the room. Also pretend to be very excited about the wedding so you have some control over the expenses. But you should defiantly be able to get a quote.

>>965851
I had both a plumber and electrician basically just tell me they didn't want the job. Not even a fuck off price. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. And a chimney sweep who wouldn't repair a competitors chimney linear only would quote me a price for the entire linear. I know they all do good work but I guess its a luxury of owning your own business. I can kind of see where the chimney sweep was coming from but the electrician I was surprised.

>>965688
>I need to convert my work from pixel (which I am very familiar with) to vector

ezpz

Look up "Vector Magic". Should still be available on the bay of pirates. Will convert anything to vector or .dxf format with a lot of options and decent editing.

I used it a lot to convert scanned drawings to .dxf for plasma cutting.

>>965986
>>965721
>>965720
In Inkscape, straight lines are just specializations of Bezier curves anyhow.

>>966178
Maybe you're a prick. Did you remember to shower that day?

Pure cutting time we charge $1/minute. You add materials, any labor set up on top of that.

Pro-tip: if you're making multiple of that image, stack a few sheets each time you cut (faster throughput).

>>965723
>pro only
No, that would be Adobe Illustrator... and it's quite easy to use if you just want to scratch out some lines and curves.

>>965986
>"that's so easy to implement, we'll just do it later--let's get the hard stuff out of the way first"

>>966117
not even that complicated, more like:

_______________________
Anon Anonymus
CEO
Anon Corp. ILL
USA, California

>>966117
>>966579
I meant Signature, more than footnote, i didn't remember how it was called.
Gmail add it automatly if you want

Thanks op, you just gave me an idea.

>start general cnc, fabrication, protyping, 3rd printing yadda yadda business
>name it something generic like "commercial prototyping" or "commercial manufacturing" to make it hard to find on Google aside from the main website
>charge $25 for a quote, half an hour of our intern engineer's time
>wait 3 days
>send detailed email explaining why the job will cost some exorbitant amount
>get told to take my quote and shove it
>Make $25 for setting up a PayPal and copy pasting an email
>don't even own the equipment I'll claim to be using
>if I ever get called on the scam I'll say the price of the work factors in the price of the equipment that needs to be purchased to perform it

>>966581
>no website
>$25 for a quote

Good luck getting business

>>965986
>http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4918
did nobody read the post? is reading comprehension not a thing anymore? I don't even know what this fucking program is and I can draw a straight fucking line using it from teh instruction provided in that thread... its fucking easy...

How the fuck does this happen? do you read?

>>965662
I hate this gay ass shit
>"Hi I'd like to make X, it will be around Y dimensions made out of Z material, around how much will it cost roughly?"
>"Sorry we can only give you a quote based on the file you send us"
>"But I haven't made it yet, all I want to know is if it's within my price range to even bother because this is a very complex drawing"
>"Sorry we need a file to quote"
>"God damn surely you can tell me if it will cost tens, hundreds, thousands, millions??? You know the rough dimensions and materials, how can you not know if it will cost £50 or £5,000?"
>"I don't want to make a rough quote and you complain if it's wrong"
>"Jeez I know it's gonna be rough, Why on earth would I complain, I am not going to complain." Even if it's £1000 out it doesn't matter all I want to know is if this is gonna be in the hundreds or tens of thousands
>"Sorry sir I can't quote without a file"
>RRGH

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>>967974
size doesnt matter. its largely inconsequential. it's the number of operations required to complete it. each cut takes time. each fixing takes time. each operation that needs to be completed takes time. some operations are more costly and take more shop space and time to complete.

your question is the equivalent of asking a computer salesman how much you need to spend on a computer to run a 1mb executable file.

>>967974
You're the retarded faggot here, you can ask for a 20cm by 30cm piece perforated all over with a few hundred 5mm holes, or a piece of 50 by 100cm with just a slit and a box-joining edge. I'd say the latter is cheaper because of the simpler cutting work. You should at least specify the number and total length of cuts before asking for a quote. If you disagree I would like to ask you: for how much will you work for me? It'll take about 8 hours but I can't say what you'll have to do.

>>966605
So you're saying that instead of creating the thread, he should have just read the thread?

>>967979
And he would say around £300 because that is his cheapest computer.
>>968599
Well I know that whatever it is isn't going to cost more than £1000 an hour because not even lawyers charge that much. I'm assuming it's labour or else you wouldn't be asking a random guy on the internet therefore it can't be more than £50 an hour. See it's not hard to make up ball park figures is it?