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Baseline markup for plating

Re: Brass, Satin Nickel, Bronze plating.

Can anyone give me an idea of what I should "expect" to pay to take plate a raw zinc item?
e.g. If the item cost in raw zinc $0.60 should I expect to pay $1.20 for the plated item?

Perhaps you should, but on the other hand, maybe you should not, most surely, who knows? Ambiguous questions get ambiguous answers.

There is no particular relationship between the cost of a zinc diecasting and the cost to plate it. As in many other fields, labor is the highest portion of the cost, and it may cost quite a bit of labor to process a small handful of parts, and almost no extra labor to process a thousand. Sometimes each part must be individually racked, in other cases they can be barrel plated (electroplated in bulk). Also, if you are paying a lot for the diecastings they are probably well prepared mechanically, thus limiting the work the plating shop must do, and minimizing defects like cold shuts; whereas is you paying a minimal amount for the castings, you may have moved much of the prep cost to the plating shop.

I'm sure you'd like just a rough rule of thumb, but I don't think you'll find one. Sorry.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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