Why don't I just give it all away

I really enjoy this post as we have had the same problem with locals here in Peoria,Il. Peoria,Il is a small city but has an unbelievable number of hotrod builders. With the surrounding communities we have a population of 456,000. Out of that we have 26 Professionally run Hotrod shops and several that are considered high end hotrod shops. This is not including the hotrod builders out of the garage at home. I have had people tell me "Man you are too pricey" or "you pay too much attention to body gaps and finish". These people usually come back after Joe Schmoe butchers the living hell out of their ride and then I have to charge double to fix his screw ups. I have one in the shop right now where a body shop guy glued the rockers on this 1970 chevy short bed truck with Liquid Nail and three spot welds that I broke through with a paint scraper. I guess he thought structure glue for the house would work like automotive structure adhesive. Stick with the price you feel is fair for the skill level and area that you are in. You will sleep better at night and your business will grow outside of your local area as the word of yoor quality and price gets around.

Liquid nails huh? I like using the old Elmers paste like from grade school.....but I just end up eating it all.

Hell Devildog, people want to be cool but they don't want to pay for cool.

I am in the excavation business when it comes to dealing with home owners I do all I can to avoid giving my hourly rate. I get $90 an hour for a 14,000 lbs excavator and have found that home owners always think it is way to high. However I can give that same home owner a bid based on $110 an hr and they are more than happy with the price as long as I don't mention an hourly rate so the only ones I give an hourly rate to is another contractor who hires me.
People are so funny not that I like the price of gas but have you ever conceited the guy at the gas pump that is having a coronary about the price claiming that everyone from the station owner to Bush and the oil companies are ripping him off at $4 a gallon gas but walks in to pay for his gas and buys a bottle of water paying what ads up to $7 a gallon and says nothing about it going on his way perfectly happy with his water purchase?????? WTF do people ever use their heads????

No, nobody uses their heads. That's a given.

A very good friend of mine is a mechanic and he rolls his eyes on when a customer wants to bring/buy(unless he knows them) their own parts.Now his response is..Do you bring your own food when you go out to eat?I own and run a security company and get the same shit.I need to eat too!
BTW Lou nice site,1st post

Good post, problem is people complaining will probably not read this. Next time ask them what there job is and if they would do it cheaper?

One time I had a doctor complain about me rebuilding the rearend in his car. I charged him $300.00 The reason he complained was the rear end was rebuilt 100 miles before the guy who built it didn't put oil in it. He would not stand behind his work. So the doctor wanted me to cut him a break because it was just done. I asked him when I go for follow up appointments are they free? He said no, I said what is the diffrence "oh I went to school that is worth something" My reply was simple $300 or I sell the car!

I've learned over the years that even if you don't charge them a dime, they are going to complain and if you charge them, they will still complain. So charge what you think your skills are worth and feel proud that they think your to much. Your work will always speak for it's self.

Jeez, a doctor carping about $300? What a douchebag. Some people just need a kick in the jimmy.

Bro, you are looking at it the wrong way in my opinion. Your services are (all total) worth more than that, I realize, but you got to get a bite so to speak, to keep food on the table. Project (limited to the scope of requirements) estimates work far better for you and what you are trying to do. Make sure you follow some sort of PC based system, and keep track on that PC and get every "change order" signed . . . may be a little more trouble initally, but far better in the long run. Shops (good ones) only charge per hour for "those extra issues" and an open ended per hour charge will scare the hell out of a typical gearhead. I wish you great luck in any event, and hopefully you will find the key to success soon or Tina will throw your ass out of the house (LOL).

Oh, I bought a cherry 71 (the year I turned 21) 455 GTO with a 4-speed. Just what an old retired Chief needs huh.

SCC

One time I had a doctor complain about me rebuilding the rearend in his car. I charged him $300.00 The reason he complained was the rear end was rebuilt 100 miles before the guy who built it didn't put oil in it. He would not stand behind his work. So the doctor wanted me to cut him a break because it was just done. I asked him when I go for follow up appointments are they free? He said no, I said what is the diffrence "oh I went to school that is worth something" My reply was simple $300 or I sell the car!

-lou-santiago

And your years of experience, training, and tools are not worth something as well? people pull this crap all the time on my Dad. I hate people that think because they are "professionals" (Dr, lawyer, etc etc etc) that skilled people are somehow lower. I can assure you, Dad has as much wrapped up in his shop and equipment as they do in their education. Neither is any smarter necessarily, but both have their areas of expertise. I wouldn't go to Dad for surgery, and I wouldn't go to my Dr. for a custom kitchen...

Why didn't he just sue the dork who did the work in the first place? I know that's what I'd do if I went in for a vasectomy and the doc botched the job.

That is what I was getting too people just want to know what they are going to pay in the end most of the people I give bids to are happy with the price and could have had it much cheaper by the hour. I jack the price up a lot to bid the job because if I am wrong I have a lot to lose. I have found that you are rather safe when it comes to construction if you figure your cost and double it you are pretty safe.

To hell with them Lou and I want it at $74.99 an hour and I'll toss in a box of biscuits

People really have no clue in what is involved in running a shop and the expenses involved, had a customer that was griping about the cost of his car, so i had him come in for a little while and help just to see some of what is involved and how much work was going into the project even though it seemed to be progressing slowly in his opinion, full rotissorie restoration that we had for about 4 months, we did body and paint, including replacing floor pans, quarters full floor, rockers, firewall, dash, and just about every bolt on piece on the car.
Well to make a long story short, he helped us out for about 40hrs or so.

At the end of that we had a talk and he said he couldn't believe how much effort goes into a project like this. He said without experiencing it himself he would have never known, and said that he was glad that he had a shop do the project as it would have never got completed by him. He never said a word about cost or the time for the remaining month the project was in the shop.

My point is that people can't justify the cost because they don't know the expenses of running a shop, or the labor involed in doing a project, i have a shop and have to sit back and think about it at times..

All in all you just have to train each customer as to why it is what it is, and stick to your guns, otherwise you will get ran over time and time again.

Petty Officer, get your ass movin and start to work . . . or Tina will throw your butt out in the cold! (LOL)

SC/DCC

When I had my restoration shop open I was charging 100 bucks an hour! And that was in the mid to late 80's. And I would get the same crap from customers. And I would reply if you want it done correctly with no mistakes and looking like it just come off the show room floor and if you want it done with quality and precision that comes with a cost. But, if ya want it done by earl shives for 20 bucks then take it there!! Ya gotta admit a full ground up restoration depending on the damage, type of car etc.. can take 6 months up to 2-5 years. And that goes into the point if parts are availible and if not ya gotta make them, or ya gotta look for those certain parts to make any project look killer. Most people just don't know or understand just what a person goes through on a restoration project and the amount of work involved. Then you go into the expenditures like LB stated earlier. And at 75 buck hourly rate if it all breaks down it comes to about 25 bucks an hour after expenses. Alot of folks just look at the costs and don't look at the end result when it looks better than showroom condition when it's completed. And the last thing would be some folks figure that a restoration would only costs this amount when in actuality it blows the doors off of that set amount. Cause, we all know just how much of a blackhole any project is sucking funds left and right and then some before it's ever finished. And to qoute forest gump "that's all I got to say about that" hehehehe!!!

That's the heart of the matter, the fact that people don't have any connection with the job they want to have done. My mom and dad constantly gripe about how the doctors are gouging them. So I asked what they would charge. Well, they don't know. It all boils down to not knowing why people charge what they charge. That's one of the main reasons I don't open a guitar shop. Everyone wants to pay the same as they did 20 years ago. Oh, really? Would you work for the same place for 20 years without a raise?