Why

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/26/00 8:25:58 AM !!!First Boot!!!, richardb@c2i.net 
writes:

<< Grin.  Because the tuning / technical community as a whole allows
 continually themselves to find themselves in this situation. The power
 to change this is and always has been in our hands.
 
 Richard Brekne >>


To take this one step further, I think there are a lot of technicians who 
undersell themselves. There is a mentality, (and I used to have it), that 
customers will not pay to have their pianos tuned and repaired. We as 
technicians are afraid to charge what we are really worth fearing customers 
will say no. Then when one tech does charge the right amount for the work, 
other techs will yell "unfair"  "rip off" "gouger", Or customers will 
complain that one tech charges way more than another, wondering why that is. 

I know it is against the law to talk about how much we charge. But there is a 
way around that. And that is to discuss how to determine how much to charge 
per hour for your work. I have a class on this subject, as does Vivian 
Brooks. It's actually quite simple. Add up your expenses, including a salary 
for yourself, and divide by the number of hours you actually work. Don't be 
surprised to find that figure to be in $60 - $75 range. Now if you are 
charging $75 for a tuning, but it takes you and hour and a half, you are 
actually making $50 per hour. If you need $75 per hour to make a living, 
you'll never make it. 

As Jon said, don't be afraid to raise your rates 30%. If you're worth it, 
people will use you, and pay what you charge.

Wim