Shop guide
How to quote Cerakote jobs (without underpricing your booth)
Most underpriced Cerakote jobs die at the quoting stage, not in the booth. The spray time was fine — the quote just forgot the disassembly, the second color, the stencil time, and the three phone calls describing what 'kind of a fade thing' means. Here's a framework that prices the whole job.
Start from a base rate per part class, not per hour
Customers compare flat prices, not hourly rates. Set a base price for each class of work you take — small parts, complete handguns, rifles, knives, automotive sets — that covers your prep, masking, spray, cure, and reassembly time at the shop rate you want to earn. Quote from the class price, then adjust for condition: pitted or previously-coated parts earn a strip/blast surcharge, because they cost real media and hours.
Charge for color count and pattern, separately
A second color is not a small favor — it's a second masking session and often a second cure cycle. Price each additional color explicitly. Patterns stack on top: a taped stripe job, a stencil camo, and a freehand multicam are entirely different labor, and your quote should name the pattern so the customer knows what they bought.
- Solid, one color: base price
- Each additional color: fixed add-on (masking + cycle time)
- Stencil patterns (stripes, hex, topo, splinter): pattern fee + per-color fee
- Freehand work (fades, multicam, battleworn): highest tier — it's skill you can't tape
- Customer-supplied logos/graphics: setup fee for stencil production
Lock scope with a visual proof
The most expensive words in this business are 'that's not what I pictured.' Send a mockup of the customer's actual part with the exact colors and pattern on it, attached to the price, and have them approve it in writing. When they approve a picture, mid-job changes become a new quote instead of an argument.
Take a deposit — every time
A deposit filters out ghosts and covers your materials if the part sits unclaimed. 25–50% at approval is standard. Tie it to the approved mockup: deposit received means the pictured scheme is locked and materials get ordered. If your quoting tool can take the deposit right on the approval page, you'll collect it the same minute they approve.