Small Market Engraving Seller Checklist

Before the Market

Decide exactly what products I’m bringing

Make enough inventory in different designs and price ranges

Inspect every engraving for defects

Clean and finish each piece

Package or bag finished products

Add price tags

Prepare a few premium/display pieces to attract attention

Bring examples of custom engraving work

Decide whether I will take custom orders at the market

Pricing

Know my material cost for each product

Know approximately how much machine time each product takes

Include finishing, packaging, and market fees in my pricing

Have clear prices customers can easily see

Offer products at several price points

Decide whether I want bundle deals, such as 2 for $___

Decide whether custom engraving costs extra

Booth / Table Setup

Table

Tablecloth

Display stands or risers

Small shelves or crates for different heights

Product holders for plaques, tags, signs, or engravings

Business/shop sign

Price signs

Custom-order sign

Good lighting if the market allows it

Extension cord if electricity is available

Tape

Zip ties

Scissors

Pens

Paper/notepad

Cleaning cloth

Taking Payments

Cash box or money pouch

Small bills for change

Card reader

Phone fully charged

Portable battery pack

Venmo/PayPal/Cash App QR code if I use them

Receipt option if needed

Branding & Customer Information

Business cards

Etsy/shop QR code

Social media QR code

Contact information

Small cards explaining how to order custom work

Packaging with my business name when possible

Custom Engraving Orders

Have an order form ready

Record customer name

Record phone/email

Record exact text to engrave

Confirm spelling with the customer

Record product/material

Record dimensions

Record design/reference requested

Record price

Record deposit/payment

Give an estimated completion or pickup/shipping arrangement

Photograph or save the approved design/details

Products Worth Having at a Small Market

Low-cost impulse-buy items

Keychains

Dog tags

Small engraved signs

Coasters

Magnets

Ornaments

Personalized name pieces

Gaming-themed engravings

Fantasy/mythology designs

Pet-themed items

Local-themed designs

Medium-priced decorative pieces

A few large premium pieces that show what my machine can do

Things to Track During the Market

Which products sell

Which products people pick up but don't buy

Designs customers ask about

Requests for products I don't currently make

Most popular price range

Number of custom-order inquiries

Total sales

Cash sales

Card/digital sales

Market fee

Approximate profit

Best-selling design

Slowest-selling design

Personal / Comfort Items

Chair

Water

Snacks

Sunscreen for outdoor markets

Jacket/rain protection if needed

Hand sanitizer

Trash bag

Extra phone charger/battery

After the Market

Count total sales

Subtract market fees and other expenses

Record what sold

Record what did not sell

Restock best sellers

Follow up on custom orders

Save customer requests as ideas for future products

Take photos of the booth so I can improve the setup next time

Note what I forgot to bring

Decide what to change for the next market

Most Important Things to Learn From Each Market

1. What actually sells?
Don't judge only by what looks coolest. Track what customers actually spend money on.

2. What price sells easiest?
Figure out your strongest impulse-buy price point and keep several products in that range.

3. What attracts people to the table?
Use your most impressive engravings as attention pieces, even if they aren't your biggest sellers.

4. What do customers keep requesting?
Repeated requests are potential new products.

5. Are custom orders worth pushing?
A small market can generate sales after the event if customers know you offer personalized engraving

IT was about a 7 min runtime with my 5w OMG UV laser - 100 mm/sec speed / 50 freq and 16 pulse @ 420 dpi - Kasia dither in Imag-r , Engraved in Lightburn 1 pass

So here is the video instead of a picture.

Brass dog tag

8-bit greyscale design

2222 / 85% / 110 / 150 @ 400 passes

60w OMG mopa fiber

2 hour 40 min runtime

8-bit greyscale

2222 / 85% / 110 / 150 @ 400 passes with my 60w omg mopa fiber laser

2.5 hours

Poplar wood engraving 5.5" x 4" @ 318 dpi

I bought my 5w UV with the intention of using it to up my wood engraving game, but man the cold laser is incredible on ALOT of materials!!! I still love wood engraving, but I think canvas is one of my new favorites!

This is a 200mm slate from Amazon. I sanded it smooth using a disc sander, starting with 80 grit, then 150 grit, and finishing with 320 grit. After sanding, I applied a coat of lacquer and then engraved.

I prepare my slate the same way every time: sand it to 320 grit with a disc sander, wash it thoroughly, blow-dry it, apply a coat of lacquer, blow-dry it again, and then engrave.

200mm Slate from Amazon

Sanded to 320 grit and lacquer coated

420 dpi

200mm slate from amazon - sanded down and lacquer coated.

15 min engrave time using my 5w OMG UV laser.

depth map was run at 847 dpi - 5 passes --- Imag-r / Norton dither

engraving was run 1 pass at 254 dpi --- Imag-r / Marcin dither

engraved using my 5w OMG UV laser

2 hours for all 6 passes

Brass coin - 1 hour 20 min run time - 400 passes
Engraved with my 60w OMG Mopa fiber

Yesterday, after running a bunch of tests, I was convinced that images from most AI apps were simply 8-bit images saved in a 16-bit format. At this point, I'm no longer 100% confident that's always the case.

For this latest test, I exported one of my own 8-bit depth maps as a 16-bit image and then processed it with Gigapixel. I also created a small Python app that counts the number of unique grayscale levels in an image, and the results were interesting.

The depth map from Sculptok still measured only 256 unique grayscale levels, but the Gigapixel-processed image measured 62,963 unique grayscale levels.

At the end of the day, I still don't think this is the biggest issue with AI-generated depth maps. In my opinion, pixel distortion has a much greater impact on engraving quality than the number of grayscale levels. That said, I wanted to correct what I wrote yesterday based on the new information I found. If the evidence changes, I'm happy to update my conclusions.

For those testing 16-bit depth maps in Lightburn 2.1 AI images made with apps like sculptok claiming to be 16-bit are not actually 16-bit in terms of shades of grey, they are actually still only 256 shades of grey just saved as a 16-bit image. So, if you think you are testing a true 16-bit image in Lightburn, check again. I made a greyscale image that is 2048 shades of grey which ChatGPT found exactly 2048 shades of grey, then I tested a "16-bit image" from sculptok, its just an image with 256 greys saved as a 16-bit image to make people think they are getting something better. It's actually just an 8-bit ( 256 greys ) image that has been exported as a 16-bit image. it's still 256 greys either way.

5" x 4" mirror from Hobby Lobby!

I will have to think of a cool way to display these for markets. Most likely shadow boxes with changing color lights behind it.
I used my 5w OMG UV laser engrave it.
450 dpi - took about 7 min to engrave because I have only tested it at 100mm / sec so far. I am going to adjust setting an move it up to 200 or 300 mm/sec and run more tests.

Depth work in Eastern Red Cedar wood.

Using Imag-r Norton wood dither

5 depth passes and 1 engraving pass with my 5w OMG UV laser

• 60w OMG mopa fiber laser
• 600 passes - 3d slice in Lightburn
• Settings : 2222 - 80% - 110 - 150
• 360 brass
• Runtime 3 hours

200 mm slate - sanded to 320 grit and lacquered before engraving

engraved with my 5w OMG UV laser

10 min engrave time

200 mm slate round - 600 dpi - 5 watt OMG UV laser - run time was like 12 min - slate was sanded and lacquer coated. Settings : 50 freq / 12 pulse / 100 speed , but I know my settings are a bit off still.