Machinist's Minute: On 'Price Gouging'

A small job shop will never profitably beat the price point of a large scale commercial manufacturer. However, that does not mean the customer would be unhappy at the higher price. Always make a fair bid, even if you don't think they'll take it.

[wildcatmahone-mdme]

Society largely as a whole is out of touch with the cost of low volume manufacturing, McDonalds and Walmart will do that.

[rexmundi]

Years ago a guy came in the shop with a part for an excavator that needed welded and machined. My boss told him it would be about $300. And he could have it in a week. The guy freaked out and said it was too much and he’d buy a new part for that. He came back in later that week and said he’d like to go ahead with the repair but he needed by the next Monday. Imagine his reaction when my boss told him it’d be $1000 if we needed to overnight the material and work thru the weekend. That was 1996 money

[jeffnevius]

I do that all the time . I even tell them if they can find it they can buy it cheaper than I can make it.

[benjaminzedrine]

Honest dollar for an honest days' work. Never underquote in any industry. I'm not talking about pushing prices up either. But if you cheapen your work, you cheapen any industry and the skills involved in that work. Freebies are different, but never charge less than what it's going to cost you plus the correct industry rate for your hours.

[tedjones]

I once fixed a lathe where I worked. An old Cincinnati. No parts available. It had a tag on ot the paint was approved by the war board of 1915.

[DaveElectric]

The same is true for woodworking. IKEA has ruined the customer's awareness of how much it actually costs to do proper joinery.

[jodygarcia]

Its like hiring a wood worker to hand carve a tooth pick with his bare hands

[ykxj]

I needed a 6” long shaft 2” diamachined down 1/8 off... called 5 shops all said no we don’t do things like that.. found one small shop.. said yeah.. show up at 10 am with 4 large coffee and box of doughnuts... it took the guy 10 minuts...

[jkdad]

Customers also forget that these machine shops have other customers' jobs being worked on that get put on hold to do these custom rush jobs.

[mackdog]

LoL yeah, I have a small hobby shop and am learning about machine work and black smithing. I recently bought a mini lathe, hoping to learn something about that skill. I've spent at least as much on upgrade parts and tooling for the machine as I did buying the thing. Before that, I purchased an oxyacetylene setup. Between the bottles, materials for making a dolly, and the torch kit itself, I've spent $1, 100 and that doesn't include consumables. Same with every other thing in my shop. All that expense and we haven't even touched material cost. If I made a part for an acquaintance, and we said that my time wasn't worth much, the part is still going to be expensive due to material, tool, and machine cost. Then you add in how urgently the person needs it, and you've suddenly discovered capitalism. I just payed $200 for a machinist to scotch brite my lathe spindle, and I was happy to pay it because I couldn't do it myself. Anyway, getting something made isn't like going to walmart.

[procrastinator]

Never Screw anybody,
especially not your self.

[argentorangeok]

We, in the west, have been living like rich people without knowing it. When globalism finally collapses, it will be truly shocking for many.

[bmanfubmanfu]

Thank you for making these videos, even if I did already know this it’s great positive reinforcement! I hadn’t thought about it that way and it’s true, especially in Alaska… I’m from a small town in Quebec, these people walk in and are looking for help, it’s definitely a service!

[dans_Learning_Curve]

Sure wish I knew how to fairly price jobs! I'm sure I've given many away!

[jonschick]

I made a small gear sector on a lathe once for a good customer. Cut the teeth with a form tool I hand ground, hand cranked the carriage like a shaper. Did it for a case of beer, it was a really good customer!

[jeffreykindron]

This can also apply to standard parts, I recently paid an extra $1500 on top of the $200.00 regular price for a pneumatic cylinder for overnight delivery. It was a standard offering for a made to order cylinder. And yes, I ordered a spare.

[sparksmobilerepair]

Don't sell out.of your pocket in other words! Great videos keep them coming some people need to hear this

[OntarioBearHunter]

Have had many talks like that with potential customers..
. " ABC is cheaper"..
" when can they deliver it?"
" 2 weeks"
" and I can deliver it tomorrow... how much a day do you lose in those 2 weeks?"
also had one customer, complained that labour rebuilding a gearbox was more than parts.. so next time I charged him 500 dollars for a 3/8 rod for an input shaft they'd bent and 30 dollars labour.

[jonschick]

Our customers were asked: How do you want it… Good, Fast, Cheap? Pick two!

[boostedengineering]

Agreed. Precise work isn’t an easy task and one off parts take a long time to make. Why take on a lot of responsibility for something that will only pay you less than what you’d make working at a drive thru