What is the best way and a reasonable rate to charge customers for work…by the hour, by the sq ft?
DeltaMaker usually does a small setup fee, plus like 2.00/hr + material @ retail cost. But that’s for 3D prints which take a lot longer than a laser cutter/engraver.
“2.00/hr” wow that’s a super cheap hourly rate, hope they are making up the difference on the other charges…
Depends what you’re doing/offering. I just looked up the competition, noted what they were charging and charge accordingly. Most of them have serious laser setups, commericial rent, etc, so have much higher overheads. I decided not to undercut them as I’m not interested in creating a race to the bottom. 
@I_Laser , we do mandatory 48hr burn-in / testing, so it’s really just fitting someone’s needed print into our testing
Ah okay, so it’s 2.00/hr with a minimum 48 hours up front regardless. I was wondering how you could possibly cover costs at $2 per hour!