Help Guys Please, Price of installing.

[2loud4uboyz]

If there is a thread on this ,someone post it please so I can study it. O.k , My question is what the cheapest you would install for ? I have people listen to my truck, and my truck moves air pretty good and gets somewhat loud. Then they say how much for you to do that in my car ??? I'm like I I I I'll do it . Butt don't thro out a price. I 'm not going to do it for free I know that much guys. I have a guy right now who wants door panel for 2 6 1/2's in each door and a box for subs.. I want to be fair but not free, no one can do it for free unless they,real rich and money to burn . Boy oh boy I'm not rich. What's a fair price per hour ??? I was thinking may be 20 hr but feel that's on the low side. Are price by the job . I was a car tech all my life and made 20 a hour. Any help will be thankful on my part. And so you know I can't spell that good. For some reason that runs on the boy side of my family lolz at me again. Please someone help me out PLEASE ..... N8 please move this if it is in wrong place. Fab prices $$ on Running Wire $$$ and custom work $$$. Are a flat rate per hour . Any help I'll be very thankful from me people. For the one love of car audio. Thanks so much.....

[Watch the bass]

Think about the http://youtu.be/d4t8uY1MuCE lol. And for assholes 35.

[David Bailey]

I would price it by the job. I mean, if it is gonna take you all day, then you better at least get over $100, and that's cheap. I mean, I always think about things as if I can either be making money or spending money.. Time is money.. Ass, gas or grass, nobody rides for free!

[skittlesRgood]

go to your local audio store and ask them what they charge. that would give you an easy reference.

[bbeljefe]

If you're planning to warranty your work and you're going to supply all the incidentals such as heat shrink, crimp connectors, shop, etc., then you need to charge a shop rate for your time and expenses. When you were a mechanic making $20.00 per hour, the shop was probably charging customers between $45.00 & $75.00 per hour. That might seem like a lot but when you consider utilities, payroll for non mechanic staff, insurance, building rental, advertising, warranty and come back costs... it isn't so much.

Given that you're not a full blown shop with all that overhead, you can afford to be a lot less than that but you also shouldn't cut yourself short, particularly if you plan to warranty your work. In that case, I would charge a minimum of $35.00 per hour flat rate. If you want to figure out how to price amp installs turn key, then figure out what the average length of time it takes to do is and then multiply that by your shop rate or the minimum you feel like your skills are worth if you are not paying for incidentals and aren't warranting the work.

It all really hinges on what you think you are worth and what the market will bear. If you're a supertech in an area where market prices are really low, then you won't be able to command the pay you desire but if you're in an area where market prices are high, you can make a good wage. But in the end, no one can really tell you what you're worth.

[kingsuv]

First of all, if you don't know EXACTLY how long it will take to build it, then DO NOT charge by the hour. It's not fair to the customer to say it will take about 4 hours then come back later and say it will be more because you spent 20 hours working on it.

Charge by the job. if it takes you longer then it should, then maybe next time you will know better what to charge.

Most jobs I do have a 100 min for my labor. If I can't make a 100 bucks in a day, then it isn't worth my time. Sometimes I can bust out the work quick and make pretty good. Other times I do the job for 2 bucks an hour by the time I am done.

You should have a good idea on material costs. If you don't then maybe you should pass on the work and let others do it.

Lastly, Are YOU really good enough to charge others for your work? If you think you can do as good or better than a shop then you better ACTUALLY produce like your mouth sells.

I stand behind every job I have done. If there is EVER an issue, I correct it. On my dime. I never quote some ridiculous expectations on performance or SPL numbers. I also try to build where if another shop or person goes behind me, they have nothing to pick at in my work.

[bbeljefe]

First of all, if you don't know EXACTLY how long it will take to build it, then DO NOT charge by the hour. It's not fair to the customer to say it will take about 4 hours then come back later and say it will be more because you spent 20 hours working on it.

Charge by the job. if it takes you longer then it should, then maybe next time you will know better what to charge.

Most jobs I do have a 100 min for my labor. If I can't make a 100 bucks in a day, then it isn't worth my time. Sometimes I can bust out the work quick and make pretty good. Other times I do the job for 2 bucks an hour by the time I am done.

You should have a good idea on material costs. If you don't then maybe you should pass on the work and let others do it.

Lastly, Are YOU really good enough to charge others for your work? If you think you can do as good or better than a shop then you better ACTUALLY produce like your mouth sells.

I stand behind every job I have done. If there is EVER an issue, I correct it. On my dime. I never quote some ridiculous expectations on performance or SPL numbers. I also try to build where if another shop or person goes behind me, they have nothing to pick at in my work.

It's not possible to know exactly how long a job will take in a vehicle you don't know anything about. Sure, you can estimate and quote turn key prices and that's wise. Until you find yourself in a basketcase that someone else had been hacking away at under the dash.

Of course, you can always bring that to the customer's attention and then work through it at a flat rate. Which is why I would hesitate from advising someone against ever charging flat rate prices. Blanket truth statements are almost always incorrect.

[kingsuv]

of course there is some risk in charging a flat rate. Actually making money at it is the art of accurately quoting a job. If you can't foresee issues that come up in a build before you dig into it, then maybe you need to NOT charge like a pro until you can.

It's in no way fair to tell someone you can put together a whole system in 8 hours and then come back later saying it took the whole week so now they need to pay more. How do you justify something twice as long in hours then you quoted?

My blanket statement is this: If YOU can not build as good OR better than all the other shops in your town, then YOU have no business charging people for your time. Period.

[bbeljefe]

of course there is some risk in charging a flat rate. Actually making money at it is the art of accurately quoting a job. If you can't foresee issues that come up in a build before you dig into it, then maybe you need to NOT charge like a pro until you can.

It's in no way fair to tell someone you can put together a whole system in 8 hours and then come back later saying it took the whole week so now they need to pay more. How do you justify something twice as long in hours then you quoted?

My blanket statement is this: If YOU can not build as good OR better than all the other shops in your town, then YOU have no business charging people for your time. Period.

How does one go about seeing that which has not been seen? Can you see a hacked up radio harness from outside the car?

I think you mean to say that you should have enough experience to be prepared for common issues. That's true and, it's good advise. But that is not knowing, as you said, EXACTLY what the issues will be. For one to be exact, he would have to know how many problems the vehicle has and what those problems are before ever starting to work on it.

Maybe you can read chicken entrails or something to find those things out but I have, for ~25 years in electronics, been continuously learning and finding new and different issues on most of the work I do whether it be in car audio, home audio or any other construction related endeavor.

[IBleedMusick]

What he is trying to say is 9 times out of 10 when you look at a potential customers car you can tell what audio work has been done. As for vehicle issues you ask for anything that could hinder your work. Plus whenever I work on a customers car if it has prior audio I always charge to rewire automatically especially if I can see the need just from an overlook. I agree with King I don't charge by the hour because you really never know how long something is going to take. There is a disclaimer that each of my customers get that the job estimate can come out to more if any problems arise and I always contact them for approval before proceeding with the job.