Maybe one day some company will start restore pianos overseas where qualified labors are available. It really doesn't cost much to ship pianos in a container. Two way trip shouldn't cost more than a grand and labor won't cost you more than $500 per piano. Here in the US it costs at least $5k to fully restore a piano because of the labor cost (sometimes a lot more). I can see problems with quality control and customer confidence. But if you only restore your own 20 Steinways and M&H you will only have quality control problem. Kuang -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of J Patrick Draine Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 5:36 PM To: Pianotech Subject: comparative labor rates ... List, We just had some heating system & plumbing work done at our home. Now, the guys we chose for the jobs were much more professional and skilled than the ones who we have previously used. It's not surprising that they expect to be well compensated for work well done. But .... $175.00 per hour, Master Plumber $ 85.00 per hour, #2 guy (presumably Journeyman plumber, quite young) Using "cheeper" contractors in the past only lead to the problems that these guys had to fix. So, $6K later, one reflects ... perhaps it's time to adjust my own rates (or tune more pianos). Meanwhile, zillions of jobs (software, banking, customer service) are going overseas thanks to this cool internet technology I'm enjoying at this very moment, and considerable numbers of previously well employed past customers are downsizing their employment expectations. Hoping for a Happy New Year, Patrick _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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