Repair pricing

[charlesv842]

I'm still working on setting up a saw repair business. I have worked in a shop before, and they were very arbitrary with their pricing. We kind of just liberally decided whatever the labor charge would be based on how long the work took, but there was really no set time for certain repairs. Is that how its really done? How do I decide what my labor rate should be? How do other people set up their pricing system?

 

[Esker]

Figure out how much you need to make. If people won't pay it, you're in the wrong business.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I'm still working on setting up a saw repair business. I have worked in a shop before, and they were very arbitrary with their pricing. We kind of just liberally decided whatever the labor charge would be based on how long the work took, but there was really no set time for certain repairs. Is that how its really done? How do I decide what my labor rate should be? How do other people set up their pricing system?

You are wrong from many points of view. The charge for labor in many cases is not relevant to any thing unless the labor charges is your only source of income. If you want to set up a business with many services including saw repair and saw rebuilds then you will just have to arbitrarily start with a number like $50 an hour. Some people understand that labor charges are only 25% of their business so they do not concentrate solely on their labor markup. If you offer chain sharpening, chain sales, parts sales, new and used saws and firewood bundles then what ever you mark up labor is not as critical. It will take some time to establish a business in your community so you will just have to jump in and start. As an example you advertise labor at $15 per hour and that causes many people to come to your store that are buying all kinds of other stuff then what you charge for labor is not very important. Good luck Thanks

 

[sand sock]

Our local stihl dealer shot themselves in the foot. It used to be $50 a hour, but had some room to fudge the charges. Now its. 100 minimun plus parts.
Under the old way if you had. $13 fuel line go out and you can change it out 20 minutes. They may of charged 40 total. Now it would be 113. I can do that for myself thank you.
Now with the mtronik and autotune stuff. That stuffs going to need just checked and updated. Idk how you can justify the 100$ rate for just that.
When i bought a new saw.they would check the carb adjustments on a tach , it was part of the sale. Now they want to hose me.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Our local stihl dealer shot themselves in the foot. It used to be $50 a hour, but had some room to fudge the charges. Now its. 100 minimun plus parts.
Under the old way if you had. $13 fuel line go out and you can change it out 20 minutes. They may of charged 40 total. Now it would be 113. I can do that for myself thank you.
Now with the mtronik and autotune stuff. That stuffs going to need just checked and updated. Idk how you can justify the 100$ rate for just that.
When i bought a new saw.they would check the carb adjustments on a tach , it was part of the sale. Now they want to hose me.

Several issues you have not mentioned. One thing you did not address is inflation and labor costs which is beyond high. The Stihl dealer makes money on each customer or closes their doors. I do not blame any or all of the saw dealers as they need to make a living. If you can not make repairs to your own saws regardless of how simple or complex then you go to the dealer and expect to buy a new saw which is cheaper than having a saw repaired. This is one reason why clone saws are popular. I do not know if all my saws are the best or not because some of them are clones. They meet my needs right now. Thanks

 

[sand sock]

The husqvarna dealer is a new start up.
The stihl dealership was a forced sale by john deer, insider forced sale. Their rates doubled over night. Since then 90% of the large and small engine shop rats have quit. $100 a hour is the i dont want to fix anything. I only want to sell you new stuff

 

[Okie]

IMHO:
Saw repair business vs repair and labor charge, you ask?
Probably need to keep a day job (so as to buy groceries and beer) and have saw repair as a back-up hobby.
Most generally a used piece of equipment, especially if it's not running has more problems than what is reported by the customer when you open it up for their complaint, therefore a minimum charge to analyze their reported issue should probably be quoted FIRST.

I would think about what type, brand, etc of NEW saws I had available to sell ALSO.

Lots of saws now days are not worth the effort to repair and then offer any type of warranty repair.

That is why I work on my own saws.

Now days most people just whip out the plastic and buy NEW instead of having repairs done.