Up charge on alloy's....

dynamisoz

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Hi.
I can see how this may be a sensitive question.... but what is a good percentage to up charge on noble and high noble alloys. My lab has only been opened for two months, and im not sure how much to up charge. Right now im up charging $5 per gram of high noble. i buy it for $33 per gram and charge $38.

But the other day I heard another lab friend that would up charge about $15 per gram. If i were to do that it would come out to $48 per gram of high noble.

Im not trying to make money off of up charging the doctor on alloy's, but dont want to be on the lose either...

Thanks
 
TheLabGuy

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30% By the time you add in the time it takes you to order it, the knowledge to know what you're ordering, the loss of metal (regardless of the scrap you might save) especially when casting you don't make hardly anything on the metal even with 30% added to it.
 
sidesh0wb0b

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I'm with lab guy. 30% minimum.
bearing in mind jewlers up the price on their metals by 300-5000% and the Drs don't bat an eye buying that new tennis bracelet or ring etc.
don't cut yourself short. as lab guy said, figure in all your time, hassle, expertise, loss, and recovery costs
 
doug

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I use an excel file to calculate my alloy charges. John Collins out of PA offered it few years ago on the IDF Very handy. If I was allowed to upload .xlsx file I would give it to you guys. BTW, I start at 40% markup.
 
jthacke3

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We do things a little different because we use Argen Digital for our alloy. We mark it up enough to cover the alloy, scan fee, and shipping, plus a little to cover potential loss. The markup amounts to 20-25%--we carry little to no inventory in our lab, just enough to cover emergencies.
 
dynamisoz

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30% By the time you add in the time it takes you to order it, the knowledge to know what you're ordering, the loss of metal (regardless of the scrap you might save) especially when casting you don't make hardly anything on the metal even with 30% added to it.

I use an excel file to calculate my alloy charges. John Collins out of PA offered it few years ago on the IDF Very handy. If I was allowed to upload .xlsx file I would give it to you guys. BTW, I start at 40% markup.
Wow..30-40%.. i didnt know that.. i guess i did my calculations wrong. Doctors dont complain about the up charges?.. and dont you get some $ back when you send it to refinery?.. how much do you get back? I always wondered...

This forum is becoming really helpful for me because i really dont know anything about the business side of dental labs... got a lot to learn
 
TheLabGuy

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Wow..30-40%.. i didnt know that.. i guess i did my calculations wrong. Doctors dont complain about the up charges?.. and dont you get some $ back when you send it to refinery?.. how much do you get back? I always wondered...

This forum is becoming really helpful for me because i really dont know anything about the business side of dental labs... got a lot to learn
Yeah, you can get seriously burnt from waste of alloy and no, the docs don't complain, the price is the price. I don't count the scrap/refining because you might get 1% back of what you actually lose. Every lab is different on how much you get back from refining because really it depends on how much scrap you usually have. Naturally if you don't do much casting or finishing anymore (like us),you're not going to have much scrap. I think we turn ours in once a year and get a few thousand...that's from 900K in total sales.
 
aidihra

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I charge metal around double for what I get it for.
 
sidesh0wb0b

sidesh0wb0b

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Wow..30-40%.. i didnt know that.. i guess i did my calculations wrong. Doctors dont complain about the up charges?.. and dont you get some $ back when you send it to refinery?.. how much do you get back? I always wondered...

This forum is becoming really helpful for me because i really dont know anything about the business side of dental labs... got a lot to learn
also be sure that every time you purchase alloy you calculate the percentages again.
 
doug

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I talked with Travis and he has fixed whatever needed to be fixed to upload Excel files. I gift to you guys, for Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating, an Alloy Calculator file from John Collons. Have fun, let the price comparisons begin.
 

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Tom Moore

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Like all materials you buy the price you pay has something to do with what you charge it out to the customer.

Alloy is so expensive now its a line item for almost everyone.

Had a large account that wanted to furnish their own alloy until the found they could not buy it for what we sell it to them by the case.

Look at what you pay, how much capital is tied up in inventory, what are your losses in manufacture, how much you get back in scrap and what you want as a profit margin on a line item bill out.

That will not be the same for everyone.

Doug's spread sheet is great place to start. Thanks Doug.
 
Mrs.galfriday

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I buy an ounce, add the extra fees. Multiply that amount by 30%. Add the 30% to original fees; divide by 20 dwt. That is your charge. Multiply the weight by that charge.

I varies every time you buy gold. Excel is great for this kind of stuff. I do not have complaints. but then the H cuts the sprues off near the coping. You will never get the full return rate for your scrap metal.
 
Tom Moore

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I've used grams for many years. How many still use dwts?
 
doug

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I've always used penny weight (42yrs). I'd have a hard time changing now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
CatamountRob

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I use dwt's and grains because that's what we've used for 30+ years and change is bad. President Carter tried to make me learn the metric system and I still won't use it out of spite.
 
rkm rdt

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Give him a millimeter and he'll take a kilometer I always say!
 

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