What are your rates?

by **EvoRed** » 3 Dec 2004 12:24

I don't want to know how much you charge but roughly what are the rates you set?

I charge time and half from around 9/10pm until 6am weekdays and all the time weekends... I've not charged double time for anything as yet but I can't help wondering if I should and if I'm being rather favourable to the customer with my rates...

by **toomush2drink** » 3 Dec 2004 12:33

Im not sure i should answer this in case reactfast are watching .

after all thats what market research is for

I normally charge double in the evening but not weekend daytime. The best thing to do is ring around your competitors to find out what they charge, ive done this loads of time to get an accurate picture of local pricing so when that akward customer rings up and says "so and so does it for this much" to try and get a discount you know when to negotiate or stand your ground. One guy tried it on like this and when i quoted my price he mentioned so and so was cheaper so i told him he better use him as hes cheaper than me, at that point he decided to use me, Why if so and so is cheaper ? I always negotiate a price to get a job if its an easy one like a euro, after all its better to earn Â£30 than nothing in my eyes.

by **EvoRed** » 4 Dec 2004 6:37

Yeah I've got their invoice sheet too. To me this says that if you called them out at 10pm then you would be paying Â£120 unsociable hours rate, doubled, then doubled again for 2 hours labour, so a minimum of Â£480.

I know I wouldn't like to be presenting that bill to the customer. And if they quote this over the phone, who in their right mind is going to call them out to do the job?

by **Varjeal** » 4 Dec 2004 13:02

Since this doesn't seem to be a Euro specified topic, I'll chime in a bit.

My day rates are a fixed $40 service call. 7 a.m.-midnight.
Evening rates (midnight-7 a.m.) $60. I do not have holiday rates, nor weekend extra charges. My justification is this, if I don't feel like getting called on a particular day or for a few hours, I shut the phone off. (I have an answering service). The only added fee that is discretionary is the "jerk" charge. All safe work starts at $60.

Of course, any labor over for the first 10minutes, parts, etc. is additional as well as travel outside of a 5km radius of the town.

by **Peaky** » 4 Dec 2004 13:12

I dont know much about the charges you have over there but that seems very reasonable, almost too cheap, i suppose you get loads of work through people shopping round for the cheapest. Definitely somthing to think about.

by **captainsawdust** » 4 Dec 2004 13:40

Varjeal wrote:Since this doesn't seem to be a Euro specified topic, I'll chime in a bit.

My day rates are a fixed $40 service call. 7 a.m.-midnight.
Evening rates (midnight-7 a.m.) $60. I do not have holiday rates, nor weekend extra charges. My justification is this, if I don't feel like getting called on a particular day or for a few hours, I shut the phone off. (I have an answering service). The only added fee that is discretionary is the "jerk" charge. All safe work starts at $60.

Of course, any labor over for the first 10minutes, parts, etc. is additional as well as travel outside of a 5km radius of the town.

Varjeal

are you saying that:

My day rates are a fixed $40 and anything over the first 10 minutes is charged as at extra ?

by **Varjeal** » 4 Dec 2004 15:03

Correct. My initial service call is $40 and basically covers an in initial service such as unlocking a door, etc. After that I have flat rates for all jobs (with the exception of safe work) regardless of time actually spent. I feel this saves the customer bugging me about how long it takes to do various jobs. The 10min thing is somewhat flexible, but as mentioned only covers a single "service".

My rates are relatively inexpensive compared to some big city places, but are in the middle of the pack when it comes to my particular area. I don't have to try and beat other prices most of the time because I am first in the YP's.

I charge a fair rate for a fair service.

If this seems confusing, I'll give an example.

Customer calls to have apartment door unlocked and rekeyed. They live 10km out of town during my "day rate".

$40 service call (includes opening the door)
$12 to rekey lock (I provide first 2 keys n/c)
$8 Travel ($0.80/km)
Total: $60+GST (7%)

That should make more sense now.

by **captainsawdust** » 4 Dec 2004 15:54

So thats around Â£45.00 gbp then ?

by **Adam** » 5 Dec 2004 11:03

excuse my ignorance as i'm new to this industry but who are B*A? and how on earth can they charge Â£480 for a call out? i'd love to be able to charge that!!! :lol:

by **Adam** » 5 Dec 2004 11:16

Cheers Peaky,

We've been going for 6 months now. 2 of us trading and really enjoing it. I take it that BLA sub contract work to locksmiths?

by **EvoRed** » 5 Dec 2004 11:34

No, the BLA is a training school and these charges come from the head instructors own company invoice sheet.

by **EvoRed** » 5 Dec 2004 11:47

That didn't appear to be the case when I went on the course, although it was some months ago now... The three instuctors traded individually, as well as helping out training, and the head instructors company is the one named on said invoice sheet.

by **EvoRed** » 5 Dec 2004 11:58

I am on the website, although even after 8 months I'm not aware of any work it has brought me...

by **Adam** » 5 Dec 2004 12:00

crikey that's me being stupid.

i trained at the MLA in daventry as well as three other courses (my work paid for it all so why not!)

I'm now a BLI student.

by **mbell** » 5 Dec 2004 12:09

Adam wrote:I'm now a BLI student.

You mean this BLI - http://www.locksmiths.co.uk/MLA/howToJoin.asp? run by the MLA?

What are your rates?

What are your rates?

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