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Cost difference between Polished Solid Brass and US15 Satin Nickel plating

Greetings,

I am an Import Buyer for a hardware Company. I currently buy a group of Brass items from a couple of different sources. What should I expect (If any) as a % cost difference between the same items in Solid brass (polished) and Satin Nickel Finish? I have heard that I should expect no more than 15% more for Satin Nickel. But the quotes that I am getting back vary greatly (From 6% to 26%).

Kurt Schindler
import buyer - Gelndora, California, USA
2004

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I'm surprised the cost range is that small :-)

The cost of the mechanical prep and the plating is theoretically proportional to the surface area (in terms of chemicals, electricity, and other consumables). But in reality it's more proportional to labor cost. Depending on the peculiarities of the shop where it's plated, and the sophistication of their cost estimating system, their quotations may bear little relation to the surface area of the parts, and be more closely related to weight, or a fixed price per small lot regardless of its exact weight or surface area, etc. Also, satin nickel is not a universally accepted description of a finish; to most people it means a scratch brushed finish, but to some it means a 'pearlescent' finish obtained with plating additives rather than through mechanical pretreatment. An additional point, of course, is that you shouldn't expect a good match on satin nickel from multiple sources unless you provide samples they are expected to duplicate.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003

I would only like to add that a comparison between a "solid material" versus a plated one might be totally misleading. Whereas the later depends, at least in some degree, on surface, the other would depend on volume in some degree.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2004