European hardware -lever locks, profile cylinders specific for European locks. European lock picks and European locks.
by Shrub » 6 Oct 2005 10:21
Evo, Rocky, CJM,
I definatley see your point, as you say a product price review is in order,
Although there has to be some sort of cut off point in time if its around the sort of time the price goes up i will charge the lower rate although i have yet to charge the £100, i guess im being to nice to the punters, i did have it so between 6pm and 9pm it was £55 but i dont seem to get called out at night so i took that off thinking it may get a bit more trade in but it hasnt,
I set the £100 because i was getting people coming in from the pub and decideing they would call me out to install new locks for no reason other than they were drunk, i thought if they wanted to do that i would charge them big for it as they are just taking the mick,
If i was to up my lock charges i could obviously drop the callout charges at night to somthing like £70,
Would £15 for Profit and £20 for Invincible be better, i dont have a local B+Q and the 2-4 local hardware stores only carry a few lock items in and they seem to still be selling the old non BS locks or 2/3 lever ones, i find it hard to sometimes explain that a 3 lever lock on the front door means an insurance claim may not be paid out and the security is quite low on them, there is only one of them that sell euros and they have 3 sizes in made by sterling and they are £8.99 each.
Ill have a look on the B+Q website and adjust things a bit
Thanks guys, i wasnt having a go at your prices, your situation is differant than mine, there are still a supprising amount of people who have a 3 lever lock on the front door and a bit of bailing twine holding the back door shut round here and i just dont seem to get my point accross very well that this isnt acceptable.
I also have a lot of places that all the housing is under restrictions and the owners cant be bothered to find out if a new lock in the door will affect those restrictions,
The fact i love the work and picking locks keeps me at it on the prices i charge at the moment.
-
Shrub
- Moderator Emeritus
-
- Posts: 11576
- Joined: 23 May 2005 4:03
- Location: uk
by gazzaull25 » 6 Oct 2005 11:31
hi there we charge £20 for ur euro and ovals any size we use sterling cheap locks only £2 to £3
call out 9 to 5 £35
5 to 12pm £45
12pm to 9am £60
era profit £20
era bs £25 3inch £35
union 5 lever £20
union 3 lever £17
-
gazzaull25
-
- Posts: 52
- Joined: 24 Jul 2005 12:17
- Location: uk hull
-
by toomush2drink » 6 Oct 2005 13:27
I charge £25 for a euro after seeing what b&q get away with and all my prices now are simlar to b&q's as that way the customer can go and check them out and not feel ripped off. I charge £45 daytime rising to £70 evening and £90 nightime. I get a fair few night time jobs here in london as they ring around then call me back after a few shock prices
.Pricing isnt so much about what you pay for the item its about what the customer is prepared to pay without feeling ripped off. Take a pizza for instance they cost about 50p to produce a large one but you can pay £12 easily, its all about market conditions.
I do deals to get jobs by lowering the prices but customers hate it if you put your prices up.
You have to be strong and believe in your skills and what they are worth but draw the line at being greedy for your local market conditions. It will vary all over the country and lets face it everyone knows london is dearer than most places.
-
toomush2drink
-
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: 26 Mar 2004 15:56
- Location: UK london
by chrisjc33 » 6 Oct 2005 14:12
What about mortice locks? I charge £10 for a profit and £13 for an Invincible regardless if its a sash or deadlock, how does that compare with you all?
Far too cheap Shrub you sould charge at least £20+ for era profit/invin
and if it's 2am £35+
I mean are they just gonna nip down to B&Q for an era
-
chrisjc33
-
- Posts: 135
- Joined: 12 Sep 2005 3:42
- Location: Australia
by pinky » 6 Oct 2005 16:14
I would agree with evo paul, your lock prices are low and night call out is high.
Across notts and derby average rates are;
7am to 7pm £45
7pm to midnight £60
midnight to 7am £80
euros range from budget at £10 , assec at £15 andhigh security like R11 at £30
BS mortice range from £15 for an ERA Profit to £60 for a chubb 110,
as to rates im £5 dearer at all times than the average, but im the only one to guarantee NDE or a new lock free if drilled or destroyed, obviously safes are a higher rate.
Though i tend to offer OAP and student discount of about £10 on most jobs, and rarely charge more than £40 to slip a yale regardless of time of day or night localy.
I would do lock outs at cost to kick the cowboy operators in teeth .
Your charges are your charges guys, you should have worked out your costs, ie how many jobs a week you do divided by your ad costs, as this needs costing in, ie if it costs you £100 a week to advertise and you only get 4 jobs a week then each job costs you £25, all your operating costs should be costed in this way even down to the interest you lose on dead money sitting in stock, wear and tear on your tools etc, everybodies costs to do a job will differ greatly based upon what it costs you to do the job so everyones rates will also differ slightly.
Paul, you cant listen to all of us and base your charges on our say so, you need to cost your costs out, decide what is a fair wage to add on top and you will arrive at the figures you need to charge.
I dont see any reason to exceed manufacturers RRP by any more than the a few pounds at most on any locks though depreciation may need costing in.
Simple economics really, you cant charge less than it costs you to do plus earn you a living wage and turn a profit for your business, what you charge comes down to your economics and your concience.
Prices will vary greatly due to operating costs differing across the country, though they shouldnt differ wildly like aaron/ phoenix, or the rip off charges by many of the nationals.
what you charge is what you charge, you decide and its a personal thing dependent on concience and costings which are also personal, as long as what you charge is fair and not a rip off then its fine, your in business so no one blames a business for turning a fair profit, only for scams and rip offs.
-
pinky
-
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: 3 Jun 2004 12:15
- Location: nottingham
by oldlock » 6 Oct 2005 17:08
It does not matter that euros only costs a couple of quid, I used to stock 28 different sizes, at least three of each (sometimes more) and all the same sizes in registered all of which adds up to a hell of a lot of money in the van to ensure the best possible service for the customer. So yes, 20 - 30 for a std euro is not unreasonable, offering registered at a small premium (you make the money on the extra keys in the future).
Talking of keys, common blanks cost pennies, but as you are stocking thousands of blanks in 100's of profiles you are not going to be charging 25 p a key are you ? of course not, you need to recover your investment & make a profit. Profit is not a dirty word.
Paul
-
oldlock
-
- Posts: 325
- Joined: 23 Oct 2004 16:48
- Location: Adelaide, Australia
-
by CJM » 6 Oct 2005 18:22
never ever slip a lock in front of a real customer full stop
-
CJM
-
- Posts: 83
- Joined: 12 Sep 2005 6:18
- Location: Bedfordshire
by jongir » 7 Oct 2005 4:11
You mean you have customers that are not real? That must be scarey 
-
jongir
-
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 25 May 2005 17:48
- Location: staffs
by Shrub » 7 Oct 2005 4:54
Thanks Martin and Paul and the rest,
My new prices are going to be £40 8am-7pm, £60 7pm-11pm, £80 11pm-8am,
I dont like mornings and i dont like the drunkards coming in from the pub.
My locks are going to be, euros £15 (i only stock the zone's in both finishes, thats all i can seem to sell round here and i dont do any cheaper options) Profits £15, Invincibles £20 with Chubb's etc coming in to line, i normally sell/fit ERA's so mostly stock those for new fits,
I sell keys at £2.50 i dont think that will change, if 6 or over are required i drop to £2 a key, the locals charge £3.50 and never cut them right first time unlike me, i dont go out to cut keys but cut them once a lock is fitted if the customer wants extras,
Security checks etc have always been free and will remain free unless they wish to donate to the local RSPCA centre,
Im not getting any work at the moment but i dont think its down to price, its very quiet round here and people dont tend to upgrade their security unless they relly have to and most seem either very careful with their keys, almost everybody has a spare with the neibour or leave the place unlocked.
Im going into car keys with the local garages wanting me to code keys so that should up the turn over, what do you all charge for those sort of services ie to copy a chipped key or to program one from the ecu?
I was thinking that to go to a car, get in and then program a new set of 2 keys it would be around the £130 mark is that ok? im not to sure on just copying an existing key (one that can be done without plugging the programmer in)
-
Shrub
- Moderator Emeritus
-
- Posts: 11576
- Joined: 23 May 2005 4:03
- Location: uk
by Shrub » 7 Oct 2005 5:00
Also what do you charge for supply and fit of a standard yale night latch with cylinder?
-
Shrub
- Moderator Emeritus
-
- Posts: 11576
- Joined: 23 May 2005 4:03
- Location: uk
by pinky » 7 Oct 2005 5:11
car keys are another ball game, especialy when a lost key situation, ie with a ford on an old pats 1 system, i would gain entry to the vehicle, remove the ignition or decode door lock with safe ventures decoder, then cut a new red master key to code, once the red master is cut i would program it on the vehicle, once programmed, i would cut 2 more standard transponder keys and program them from the red master.
You dont need to supply 3 keys, but on a ford you must cut the master and program it, you then need to program at least 2 more keys to the car to ensure the system works properly. for this service ive seen prices from £150 to £450
the next scenario is easier, the customer has the red master but has lost standard keys, if no chance of theft of keys, you could cut 2 new keys from the master and program from the master, if stolen you would need to reprogram master and change access info so old keys wont start engine.
then customer may also require all locks stripped and rekeyed or totaly changed.
each would command a different price as alot of different labour charges and time involved, again, you need to fully cost out your job, work out your wage rate and full costs to complete the job.
prices change per model due to different requirements.
-
pinky
-
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: 3 Jun 2004 12:15
- Location: nottingham
by pinky » 7 Oct 2005 5:13
generaly i would charge between £50 and £60 to supply and fit a standard nightlatch, more for higher security ingersoll , pbs1 etc.
-
pinky
-
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: 3 Jun 2004 12:15
- Location: nottingham
by Shrub » 7 Oct 2005 5:31
I suppose my £15 for a p1109 with night latch is too low then is it?
On the car keys ive heard of people who change the chips in keys that they cant program to ones they can, is this exceptable practice or does it affect the secuirty, by that i mean the local pug garage has a simple copier, they cant copy some of the chips that come in the balnks so they swap them for ones they can copy and then go from there,
Ive got a Tibbe machine that cuts to code for Ford and Jag so im srted with Tibbe keys but the instructions had the sheet on Fords missing, im getting a little mixed up, they say the jag has 3 cuts (depths) do the Fords have 4?
-
Shrub
- Moderator Emeritus
-
- Posts: 11576
- Joined: 23 May 2005 4:03
- Location: uk
by pinky » 7 Oct 2005 5:54
£15 is fine for the latch, but labour too when chopping in a new nightlatch?
i charge £50 to supply and chop in a new night latch from scratch, id say yes £15 is low, especialy if you would charge £40 to pick it open, as there is far more labour involved in chopping in a lock.
as to swapping chips, this is often possible, not always and sometimes will screw up the immobilser, dependent on chip, though all sorts is possible, but as a whole i like to provide correct chips..
some copiers say they cant copy a chip, but actualy can with a bit of tinkering, though not 100% reliable.
-
pinky
-
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: 3 Jun 2004 12:15
- Location: nottingham
by Shrub » 7 Oct 2005 8:26
some copiers say they cant copy a chip, but actualy can with a bit of tinkering, though not 100% reliable.
I take it you mean the dip switches on the inside?
If not do you mean software 'tinkering'?
-
Shrub
- Moderator Emeritus
-
- Posts: 11576
- Joined: 23 May 2005 4:03
- Location: uk
Return to European Locks, Picks and Hardware
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests
|