This is the old Locksmith business info area and will be broken down to fill in the new sections below.
by Daniel's » 15 Jan 2007 16:59
Hello,
I've recently completed a locksmithing course.
I've had a few jobs through, But I don't really know what to charge customers.
I had a job last Satarday... Gain entry and change three Euro Profile Cylinders,
I was thinking I should charge about £45. to arrive and open 1 door, the three locks will be at extra cost at £35. total.
But how much should I charge for changing the two other cylinders on double opening doors?
Any Info you guys could give me on a average price giude per job would be great
Many Thanks in advance....... Jonathan
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by toomush2drink » 15 Jan 2007 17:11
Ring the people you did the course with and ask them, or ring all the competition in your area.It seems like you havent got a business plan so maybe thats a starting point then you would know what to charge.
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by UWSDWF » 15 Jan 2007 17:15
from what i understand it all depends on your area and your competition as well as distance from the job.
Could always try the good old research of calling other lockies in your area pretending to be a customer and get a quote over the phone.
note: i am not advocating some sort of sneaky thing to to lure your enemies in to a false sense of security just simply the first thing that came to mind on how i'd find out the prices in my area
 DISCLAIMER:repeating anything written in the above post may result in dismemberment,arrest,drug and/or alcohol use,scars,injury,death, and midget obsession.
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by Daniel's » 15 Jan 2007 17:39
Thought of calling other locksmiths in my area (only two of them) But i may sound as if i know a bit about locks and they start to have suspisions on why i'm calling for a price...
I've only advertised in one edition of the local news paper, not stared trading as of yet!! just wanted to test the water so to speak,
i'm working on pricing as i'm typing this... price's of locks mainly, because i'm stuck on how to price for my time.
I'm a Carpenter of 9yrs, I've done private work for around £12. per hour
In my locksmith training, I was told an average locksmith should go out and charge £25. per hour on top of the £45 for additional work?
Would this seem fair??
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by UWSDWF » 15 Jan 2007 17:42
again it would totally depend on your specifics, distance traveled, competition, ect... supply and demand...
 DISCLAIMER:repeating anything written in the above post may result in dismemberment,arrest,drug and/or alcohol use,scars,injury,death, and midget obsession.
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by lockey1963 » 15 Jan 2007 18:13
if your talking of £45 call out just for turning up, then you have been poorly advised, almost no one charges a call out charge, an average charge for an average area would be;
£45 for an opening or for labour up to 1st hour, then araound £20 an hour labour thereafter, or a half day rate or full day rate on larger jobs.
for the job you mention i would charge £45 labour and £15 per euro changed, so a total of £90 all in if 3 euros to change, or £75 if 2 euros all in, and i cut as many free keys as they need on site for these locks within reason.
many of us on lockouts charge per job now, ie a lock out would be £45 all in, no matter how long it takes, and many now offer a free like for like lock if the drill is used or the lock damaged.
hope this helps.
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by Shrub » 16 Jan 2007 10:15
Just a word of advice, its easier to drop prices then raise them,
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by Al » 16 Jan 2007 15:15
Phew, you need to do some training about running a business. Don't worry too much about what others are charging unless you're Tesco. Set up your pricing in a way that works for you - Hourly/call out/trip charge/fixed price etc. as long as you can give a close estimate of the total job cost on the phone before you set off.
Charge list for locks not what online or discount warehouses do, you can only sell so many and are delivering them!
How much is it costing you to run a business on a daily basis? Liability insurance, advertising, interest, bank charges, wastage, phones, office products, accountants, postage, fuel, running costs, parking tickets, asset devaluation and replacement etc etc etc. The money just disappears.
You need thousands of pounds of tools and to carry thousands of pounds of stock.
How much do you need to make per day to cover this and earn a wage? How many calls do you predict? of what type of call? and how to make enough profit from them?
When you have worked this out you can start to set prices.
If you want to do comparisons try calling a plumber or washing machine repair.
Alan Morgan Master Locksmiths.
Experts in Locks and Safes.
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by Raccoon » 16 Jan 2007 15:51
I disagree. Worry about what others are charging, and charge slightly less. Customers shop around ALL THE TIME. They'll call you, you'll quote your price, and they'll say "Ok, let me call you back." After 20 minutes, they call back because you were a buck cheaper, and probably closer.
If you charge even $5 more than the competition, odds are the competition will get a lot of your work. However, if you are very prominently listed and you get several customers a day, the few that you lose to competition may not be worth the profit you earn from the dozen you take.
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by Raccoon » 16 Jan 2007 15:59
FYI: I charge $45 for lockout calls now, and increase it to $55 when it's really late, dark, holiday, etc. The most I've charged was $75 on Thanksgiving, and the lady gave me a $25 tip for $100 total.
To break this down, to justify my fees when doing other types of lock work, I charge $15/hour (2 hour minimum) service fee, the base charge for showing up, with $0.80 a mile. Then $15 for a lockout, or I'll charge $10 for the lockout if they want me to do additional work like re-key all of their locks. I charge $7.50 a cylinder if they have keys, or $10 a cylinder if they don't have keys or they wan them to match a master key. I usually throw in 4 keys for free, otherwise I just figure out what it's worth for their keys at the time.
On a large contracting job though, I charged $10 a cylinder and $10 a key. Though, the keys were each DND and code stamped, and cut to code. Others have told me I should have charged more.
Prices are highly regional. I recommend calling local locksmiths to get quotes. What would cost $35 in my town would cost $150 in Chicago.
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by Al » 16 Jan 2007 16:36
Raccoon wrote:However, if you are very prominently listed and you get several customers a day, the few that you lose to competition may not be worth the profit you earn from the dozen you take.
Bingo.
If you want to price check call Drainolocks, Reactfart, Able? and Absolute Emergency. They all seem to be able to get enough work at any price. Don't try to go £5 cheaper than the latest independent fool down the road that will be out of business in twelve months because you'll be broke in six.
Asda value loaves at 37p or Hovis at £1, both types sell but which do you want to be?
Build your business trying to provide the best service not the best price.
Alan Morgan Master Locksmiths.
Experts in Locks and Safes.
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by Daniel's » 16 Jan 2007 17:31
This is a second call I've had from the same person for another one of thier properies.
They were obviously happy with what I've done on the first job and pricing.
Just don't want to mess them or other people about by pulling numbers out the sky,
Like I said before I'm not trading yet. only advertised in one edition of the local paper. I'm still employed as a Carpenter with my employer of 6 yrs.
I'm hoping to go out on my own arond about April time, not set in stone though.
Was after some idea's on how other locksmiths charge, not just how much, but how would you get the price figure for a particular job.
i.e £x for lockouts £x replacement of faulty lock £x for labour in general.
Had some help of you guys... so Thanks to all !! 
Daniel's Locksmiths
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by Raccoon » 16 Jan 2007 18:20
Call the phone number on the cover of your local yellow pages. Ask them when the book prints in your area, and when is the latest to submit your listing or advert. If you don't get in on this year's book, you can end up waiting 12 months before you get listed, and you wont receive any calls in that time.
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by lockey1963 » 16 Jan 2007 19:05
as al has said, you need to sit and do some serious costing, ie ,
if advertising costs you £400 a month and you get just 20 jobs from it, then each job has already cost you £20, so this must be factored into your price, then the cost of;
fuel
vehicle wear and tear
tool depreciation
card charges bank charges on transaction
accountants fees
admin and running overheads such as phone etc
all has to be factored in, if all you earn is £45 off of 20 jobs you earn £900 , if your costs to run the business for the month are £900, you will be in business 5 minutes.
do your costings, research your area, formulate a business plan etc etc , plenty of help is available from local start up agencies often free, so here is your starting point to survival .
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by toomush2drink » 17 Jan 2007 3:41
Cheap isnt good, i know this from experience starting up 3 years ago. The moment you put your prices up you lose customers.Theres something customers cant handle and its price rises. I charge a little more than most local independent competitors on lockouts but my hourly rate for everything else isnt expensive but not cheapest either, I still get the work though. Lets face it if you went to buy a car would you go for the cheapest or the better one at a bit more ? Also if you go too cheap you get lots of messers who will wait until youve done the job then ask for even more off, something else i learnt from experience.
As i said before work out your costs with a basic business plan, without it you wont have a clue how much your actually making just as Al has said. My overheads are fairly high due to my advertising but as i work 7 days a week it works out, now if i went down to 5 days a week i wouldnt be earning enough. Remember its easy to drop prices but not easy to put them up and also if your getting every single job your prices are high enough.
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