Do you post repair pricing in your shop?

[Rob Gray]

I recently started doing service at a local lesson studio. I worked for a local retail/repair shop for 5 years previous and although we did not have pricing posted we did have a book available with "general pricing". I also noticed GC posts their prices right up front.

I plan on talking with the customer directly to quote the repairs per basis, but, there are some things that are pretty standard like cleaning, restringing, basic setup, etc... So in short do you post your prices? If you do, what information do you include? I was thinking if did post prices it would be something with a disclaimer of sorts, just an example:

Restring & Cleaning

Pricing does not include cost of strings or materials unless noted.

Cleaning and fingerboard conditioning is included in pricing of service.

Excessively dirty guitars may be charged and addition cleaning fee.

Restring Electric Guitar                                                                                              $18

Restring Electric Guitar                                                                                              $18

Restring Electric Guitar                                                                                              $18

Setup & Adjustment

Pricing does not include cost of strings or materials unless noted.

Pricing is subject to vary based on the level of service required.

Setup Electric Guitar                                                                                                   $45

Setup Electric Guitar                                                                                                   $45

Setup Electric Guitar                                                                                                   $45

[Ian Pender]

I like the upcharge for excessively dirty instruments. I've been considering a bodily fluid upcharge, for all the times I get instruments with blood spatter around the soundhole, or cat crap in the F hole (yes it's happened).

The retail music store where I do work posts prices on the wall by my bench, and they have prices for full setups, as well as individual truss rod or saddle adjustments. But when I do work out of my own shop, I prefer to work largely on an hourly basis. I don't much like telling customers than I can adjust their truss rod for an additional $15 on top of whatever else I'm doing when it's a quick and easy adjustment that I can just throw in for free.

[Russell Vance]

Hi Rob,

This problem has been around for ions,  I  eventually settled on doing what the rest of the trades do and individually quote on the spot  for just about everything.   Endless lists and permutations to take into account that every guitar is different and in a different state of repair and has a different requirement due to the owners level of use (bedroom or soundstage/recording) are just too hard and too confusing to everybody.   If we were selling icecreams it would be different.

My suggestion - put up some basic "from" xxx bucks to give the walk-ins or web-shoppers a bit of an idea of what level you charge at and leave it to them to ask further if they are interested in going ahead.

Historically, my colleagues and myself have all tried to run detailed lists in the early days and virtually all of us are back to a spartan list of basic charges or none at all.  

On the subject of "dirty guitar" cleaning fee:  if a motor mechanic said he was maybe going to charge me extra to fix my car because it was dirty or had coffee cups and junk on the back seat I'd just ask him to fix the problem he was paid to fix and forget about the domestics.   If he doesn't want the job their are plenty of mechanics around who do.  If on the other hand he politely asked me if I wanted my car cleaned and detailed for a reasonable sum I would probably consider  buying the additional service.  

Wear gloves and a mask if you don't like the fingerboard grunge - I hate it myself but it comes with the turf.

Rusty.

[Paul Verticchio]

As our 'overheads" increase, so must pricing.

Like Rusty said, the best posted prices of mice & men......

If posting prices is what you wish to do, consider adding "MINIMUM" or "STARTING AT" behind each service posted. It will give you a bit of much needed psychological wiggle room when you tell them that their nut, tuners or frets also need replacing or serviced.

Although outside of the purview of the instant question, might I also add that it's NEVER a good idea to address a previously undetected issue you may uncover once the service item is started without getting an OK from the client.

Simply being honest and up front about "Based upon my initial evaluation, here's what it needs, here's what it will cost and this is when I project it will be ready for pickup,", will tickle most folks pink. 

Best of luck with your new gig :)

BTW: we all should be cautious of using ANYTHING GC does as an example of a prudent business practice. ESPECIALLY when it comes to service. ;) 

[Donald A. Fortune]

Hi Rob- everyone that has a repair business gets to know what their time is worth. Some shops charge more and some charge less. If a prospective client says that they can get it done cheaper than what I am going to charge then I toss

this saying at them... ( the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten)

the only price that I post is for set up . That's it....

best of the best to you and do a good job in what ever you do....

Peace, Donald 

[nathan clark]

I post pricing for the most common repairs on my website.  That keeps away most of the tire-kickers, sets realistic expectations for new customers before they call/email and cuts way down on the "can you give me a quote for x?" emails.  Other common repairs have set prices but remain unlisted such as bridge plate repairs, new bridges, etc...  For infrequent repairs (like fixing a strat body crack by the trem-stud or installing a cookie cutter classical bridge, etc...) I usually issue an estimate and simply bill hourly at $54.12 per hour.

 

Rather than listing the endless permutations of add on charges, I have the caveat of "Repairs to highly collectible and boutique guitars cost more.   Pricing for repairs not listed are determined by an in person inspection."  Which is vague enough to cover time consuming work such as refretting a 60's Gibson with nib retention or an old round lam fender neck which requires grinding the fret tang in the upper registers.

[David Collins]

We've discussed posting pricing, but I'm leaning toward the argument that in general it can cause more confusion than it helps to solve. Our general approach today is this - bring it in so we can look it over with you, estimates are free.

Beyond that, post a price for a setup, a fret dress, a neck reset or bridge reglue, and you set an expectation which can often be inaccurate or misleading. Most owners in general are not familiar enough with the details of a particular case to reliably appraise the scope of work necessary to achieve their goals for the instrument, and this can lead to more problems than open posting of prices attempt to solve.

If someone thinks their guitar just needs a setup, reads over your list and sees that a general comprehensive setup is $XX, there has been an expectation established before it has been properly evaluated which may be completely inaccurate. When you see it needs a neck reset, refret, bridge reglue, bridge plate repair, etc, before a setup can even be considered, then your $X,XXX quote can easily be perceived as a betrayal of trust or bait and switch.

Conversely, if someone thinks their guitar may need a refret and new saddle and is turned away by your listed price of $XXX, they may never bring it in to find from a professional that all it needs is to be rehumidified and set up.

Either way, quoting jobs is often based on complicated and extremely individual assessment, and as much as I've tried assembling price lists ranging from simple basics to comprehensive guides with drop-down variables, it always seems to leave more opportunity to misguide than to deliver reliable self-appraised results.

When a client calls and describes their problems and goals, we can often offer an approximate range with clear disclosure that estimates are entirely dependent on first hand inspection and appraisal, as well as better describe the value they would receive in the work, and prepare them for realistic contingencies which may come in to play upon full inspection. Without the opportunity to have even this verbal exchange however, listed prices for generic jobs can often set unrealistic expectations before they make the decision to bring an instrument in.

For every job you can list a price on, I can think of dozens of variables which may affect that price, and dozens more ways in which the owners appraisal to the work they think they need can be misguided. You may want to do clients a favor with what you see as open disclosure, but in the end I find this can do more to cause conflict and even resentment or distrust when expectations fail to agree with the actual appraisal.

My auto shop doesn't post prices for all their variety of jobs, but unlike them, we can usually say that inspections and estimates are free. It's a win-win, and I find leads to better relationships and happier clients.

Those example prices, by the way, are way cheap!

[Rob Gray]

It seems the general consensus confirms my gut feeling to not post prices. At the previous shop the other technician or I would speak with the customer directly to quote repairs, but, as that's the only shop I've worked at I figured I'd ask.

As far as pricing is concerned, I typically quote at $60/hr. The pricing in the example is just that, an example.

I'm actually quite surprised at the suggestion to not charge more to clean a excessively dirty guitar. I'm not talking fingerboard gunk. I've encountered guitars, usually nitro, that require a good buffing with mild abrasive to clean the gunk off. Time is money.

Thanks for the replies. This form is just about the only reliable resource for this sort of stuff.

[David Collins]

A quick clean and polish is one thing, but for a major cleaning there are cases that can add up to hours of labor (try cleaning a banjo from a heavy smoker some time). I'm certainly with you on this one - if the scope of "cleaning" should broaden to "detailed removal of heavy surface contaminates", you have to bill for your time (sometimes it's all in how you detail it on the bill ;) ).