Technical How much to charge ..

Well when I am having *erectile dysfunction I almost always get in a hurry to hit it. I get I want it and I want it now syndrome. So I can totally understand when someone wants to screw you being in a hurry.

*when I get an erection I get dysfunctional as hell

 

I did some simple fab work for a neighbor...cut, bend, weld a bracket...took it to him 1 hour after he dropped off the sketch. I asked for 60 bucks, he said "60 bucks an hour?" I took back the part and told him it would be ready for pick-up tomorrow...

 

My name is Billy and I'm a capitalist. Whew, feels better admitting it. You don't run a charity, nothing wrong with making money off your talents and knowledge. But an adage I keep in mind always in business is "you can sheer a sheep many times, you can slaughter it only once".

 

I like that Billy, I try to live by that code, just sometimes I think I cut myself short.
You know its bad when a customer actually tells you that you dont charge enofe ...

 

A lot of the cars I work on are cars that people do not have to have kind of like a boat for the weekend at the lake. I don't feel bad for charging them. And I don't have problems sleeping at night.
If it is a person that needs a car to get to work it is the standard flat rate that they would have to pay at any repair shop in town.

 

I should add that my 70 per flat rate hour is cheaper than all the shops around.

 

I hope with some of the rates you guys charge you are licenced and contributing to IRS..

 

Everyone thinks they deserve big money.. But then when they need something alway chisel you or go bargain hunting... Fustrating

 

we no need no stinkin licence...

 

You say that you have had 3 customers tell you that you don't charge enough. When you have at LEAST that many tell you that you are overcharging, then you will be getting closer to the right amount.

 

Amen Brother....

 

the TIP can is ALWAYS ready for those FREE WILL (donations) tips...
and i actually HAVE gotten a few...
usually a c-note.....
Twice (so far) in this lifetime (2) different 500.00 tips one was
absolutely blown away with the paint results...
the other was SHAKING in his boots after he came back from *his test ride* ,
i built his VETTE engine, JUST like he asked... bla bla bla...

 

I learned how to spell the word "theirs" from a business professor who said it was a combination of "the" "IRS", so literally what is not your is "theIRS"

 

Labor charts. BOO!
Charge what you want but don't over charge. Seems to me that you are more than helping people out. Seems to me that you mostly do it because you want to.
I have a buddy who will charge only for parts and never his time because he likes to help. I have another buddy who charges an agreed flat rate/price for jobs such as body work and paint and will also take trades for his services.
Myself, I'll stand around and ******** while I watch them work and all I charge is a diet soda. My mere presence is not cheap.

 

I usually charge flat fees for certain services. I don't make any money on parts other than a small % just to cover insurance and taxes. Everything gets put up in the air and a complete look over before any job is a necessity. There is almost always a small buffer with every job to cover any small hard parts or snags caught along the way. Diagnostics are completely different especially on the older cars. On the late model stuff I have 10k + in computer software and scan tools I have to cover than portion on my business to. I don't know about anywhere else but people will gladly pay for jobs done right the first time around here. That's why I stay so busy because when someone brings whatever car to me they know that it will leave my shop better than it came in.

Now for my loyal customers that have followed me all over North Carolina I will gladly give them a break on certain things just because of their loyalty. For example one of my customers has a beautiful M38 military Willys. I don't charge him for any time doing small jobs, i.e. Oil changes, carb tunes, etc. because I know that when he needs something big, he will drop the keys off and say call me when it's done and no hurry. Most of the time he does the sourcing for the parts and 98% of the time they are either NOS or very high quality reproduction parts.

It's all about the job and the people to me. I've been in the business long enough to know when I shouldn't deal with a person and I'm not afraid to tell them.


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Uncle Sam doesn't need to know or get a cut out of everything.

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Labor rates are a regional thing so I think that is irrelevant. I know they charge more per hour in say southern Ca then we do here but then I know our overhead is much less.
In my shop it's strictly time taken, no way to know on an old car if it will take an hour or 6 till you get in it. Whenever I have a customer insist on a quote I tell him he doesn't want me to do that because I'll figure high so I can't lose but he'll end up paying too much if it's easier. I'm in a good position however, got 40 years experience and good at what I do, have a good, long time clientele that know that and are very comfortable with it. New customers that don't know me will often run away but I don't care, I have all the work I need. What new customers I do get are generally referred by my normal customers that tell them I'm fair, doing it this way has worked well for years. If your just starting out it will be tougher but you got to be fair to yourself, just because you want to work on old cars does not mean you should get paid less then you're worth or for the skills/ equipment you already paid for. Might take a little back and forth till you hit the numbers you and your customers are both happy with.
Watch out for the low ballers, plenty of them out there. If you know a job is worth $300 don't do it for $250 because that's all the guy wants to pay or says he can get it done elsewhere for $250. You don't need that type of customer, trust me on that. If I have someone even try to low ball me I'm done with them, won't work for any price.

 

And that brings US to an OLD saying
"If ya gota ask the price then ya can't AFFORD it"

 

I do a fair amount of sheet metal repair ( floors on up ) and would be a fool to charge by the job. Most every job on a 75-80 year old car has it's surprises. I'm at $35-40 an hour , work on only what I want to , when I want to and only take cash. Probably could charge a bit more, but then, I go at my own pace and when it gets done, it gets done. If your in a big hurry go somewhere else. This approach has worked for the past 20 years.

 

Mark,
I did the same thing for years. Side work depends on many things like location and overhead costs.

If you renting a shop, utility's, equipment rental or purchase prices these things all come into play. If you got a nice setup at home, already have what you need for equipment to do the job then your rates can be lower.

I always used a chitons labor guide book for job times, just like at the shop, every garage uses them. Find an old one that covers what your working on, year range is about 7 years or so on the books. Use this to figure time as an estimate and let them know if you run into snags it could go up some.

Pick a labor rate you like that lets you make some money without screwing the customer and they will come back and recommend others to you. I did this for 15 years, I'm not rich but I had a loyal customer base, I still use the same labor rate as them for the occasional side job, $35.00 an hour which is low today.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

Exactly. Word.


To the OP: it sounds like you either own or work in a transmission shop where you service newer cars. You should use the same criteria to price jobs out as you do on the trans work.

If you are just an employee working there and are doing side work, this may be your first try at "running your own business". Any business that serves individual customers is going to be the same, take my word for it, NEVER GIVE ANYONE A DEAL, it seems like this would be smart to generate business, but it's really hard to start charging more once you've established a baseline. When I work for friends and family I make sure they know that it's a completely different rate, more like a favor, so they don't think they are paying full price, everyone else gets raked over the coals, no exceptions.

 

Model A Mark,
People likely are coming your way for your experience & quality of work. If you provide an estimate of time and come in under to charge for the actual time then that is integrity that will bring customers back. Getting someone who knows what they are doing and getting it right the first time is priceless. I take my truck to a shop that does good work, are efficient and will put the American made or better parts on so I will not be back for that work again.

A friend once told me that his dads advice was to "charge a price that worked for him and if a customer accepts it both people are happy. If you do not want to do it charge higher so if you get the work that it does not hurt." I have used that for my motto most of my life. My peers were working on the side for low money and always busy. I did like you and charged a good rate for my work to work less hours and made the same or more in the long run. I have a reputation for good quality of work and work was (is) always coming my way. I turned down a lot of work and some did not like my price and walked.

We have only one life so it is to set a life work balance. If you are happy at $65 then stay happy if it gives people quality & you are doing it on the side. If the hours are full sustained effort without waste then it is good value. People who charge less may put in more hours so the net cost may be the same as one at a higher rate that gets it done in less hours.

The income is good in the off hours and worth your time. Occasionally I was making such good money on the side that I felt work got in the way but I really appreciated my full time job as it was my anchor. The money on the side should be that and not be blended in to ones life so that they live at the level of their full time work and side work. Becoming dependent on side work to maintain ones life can become a trap and sets one on a life treadmill that is hard to get off. Side work should be used to build savings, buy the occasional thing that makes a difference, special vacations or to pay down ones mortgage. Fewer hours at a better rate is better for ones life.

I designed buildings on the side and I occasionally did house plans for friends for free as part of my contribution and pounded nails to help them get into a house built. Recently I gave about 80 hours designing a park structure for friends in a club working to make their community better. It feels good to give others a leg up along the way.

I can tell by your tone that you are modest and care about others which are good characteristics. Stick to your rate if work is steady, charge by hour for actual hours and you will be happy. If someone walks it bothers us but someone is always chasing a better price and they are looking after themselves. Some will never be happy at any rate. Don't take people walking as personal as satisfied customers will send others your way. We need to look after ourselves and families. One life to live.

 

LOL that's rich.

Some people don't understand that the work is worth what it is worth no matter how long it takes. I look at it this way off the shelf ladder bars run about 250-300 dollars. They probably have about 2-3hours manufacture time in them. I build a set in the shop. they are identical and it takes me all day. They are still not worth any more then the off the shelf ladder bars.

 

X2

 

It seems to me that you can't visit a "corporate store" repair business for less than $1000 bill today. All their focus is on "upsell" for stuff that you don't really need, and they gouge you on stuff that you do need. Then, they force their mechanics to "beat the book" while charging book rate for multiple jobs even if that means double (or triple) profits for example--- a combined brake/shock/wheel bearing job charging book on all three. Then, there's the mark-up on parts.....
It's rare to find an honest mechanic. If you're that guy, you should be charging about half what the corporate stores charge and you'll still make a good living and grow a nice customer base.

 

Thanks guys, all of you, for taking the time to respond.
A lot of good advice and experience on here..
Ive decided to set my rate at 65 a hour, like a lot of you, I do set some of my job prices by the job, not the hour.
I just recently started actually logging my time, so I will really know how much time I have in something.
I talked with the guy with this 37 5 window, showed him my log book, and told him I charged 65 dollars a hour, and he was quite happy with that.
I do do good work and pride myself on it, haven't advertised in a couple years, and yet Im so busy I have a waiting list..
Just not sure how to charge some of these people, but now I have a better idea, feel a little more comfortable ..
Thanks again guys ..

 

The store front business shop that I take my daily drivers to charges $80.00 and go according to the labor guide. If the guide says 2 hrs. for a ball joint that's what he charges. He has salaried employee's workers comp, insurance, rent, sales tax etc. A guy I know works out of his barn and charges $45./hr

I don't do jobs on the side anymore dealing with some people really ****ed. Now if someone I know wants me to do something I have them help and buy me lunch.

Pat

 

There is an old joke about a young guy getting into a business and he asked an old pro the same question. The old guy says tell them a quote of $100 and if they don't flinch say each and if they still don't flinch say down.

 

The thing to remember is to get the job in the door when you have time to work on it. Do a quality job in a reasonable amount of time. Don`t let jobs sit for long periods of time with nothing being done to them. This is most peoples pet peave. Then people will beat a path to your door. That 32 Ford coupe in the cl***ifieds still costs the same for the guy who lives in a $130,000 house as it does for the guy who lives in $1,300,000 dollar house.

 

Send me your social security number so I can deduct you as a dependent.