Price of Ivory/Dave Nereson's reply

[Farrell]

I think the key is how busy you are. If you have down time during the week when you would rather be servicing/rebuilding pianos, then of course be as competitive as you need to be to get the job - this is part of how you determine what your time is worth. But if you have more work than time, then there is no reason to lower your rates - in fact, if you have more work than tiem, you may currently be undervaluing your services.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 2:03 AM
Subject: Re: Price of Ivory/Dave Nereson's reply



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joseph Garrett 
  To: pianotech@ptg.org 
  Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 8:35 AM
  Subject: Re: Price of Ivory/Dave Nereson's reply


  Dave,
  If one thinks cheap......!? Cheap..Cheap! (Dat's what da birdy said<G>) If
  you don't properly value your SKILLED work, then your client sure as hell
  won't.
  The original question was clarified, in "how much to charge for the Ivory. I
  charge $5 per piece of Ivory, (used or new Ivory). Why? Because I took the
  time to sort/clean and grade each piece that I salvaged. I've been doing
  Ivory for my entire career. I'm very good at it. It still takes me at least
  1/2 hour to do the job CORRECTLY. Am I slow? Doubt it! Do I do excellant
  work? Damned right! I charge accordingly for my KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL.
  The problem with most Techs is they think CHEAP, when they should think of
  the piano and all the "allied arts" as a luxury item. "If you have to ask,
  you can't afford it", comes to mind. Yes, more than 3 Ivories, replaced, is
  more costly than doing a full set of Plastic. Once the Ivory starts to fall
  off, it's time to bite the bullet, one way or another, because the GLUE is
  FAILING! If the customer doesn't want to go the PROPER replacement, then
  just rip em all off and do plastic! (Flack Jacket/Flame Suit in place!) BTW,
  after 20 years +/-, plastic will start to come off also! What to do? What to
  do?
  Bottom line: I get so tired of techs debasing themselves in this
  realm!!!!!!! Quote the correct price and let the chips fall were they may!
  (Who knows, you might make a good living out of it!<G>)
  No Regards Here,
  Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)

  Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}

  _______________________________________________
  pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives

      Yeah, I know.  I just remember quoting a customer "about $5 a key" once, for replacing ivories, when they were a little more readily available  (this was at least 15 years ago), and her jaw dropped.  She said something like, "Well, at that rate, I'll just glue them myself."
      Yes, tuners do often underrate themselves, or sell themselves short.  But sometimes if you quote less than you're worth, you at least get the job, rather than quoting what you should and not getting the job at all, thus making NO money because the rates were too high and the customer couldn't afford it.  
      I just reconditioned an old upright action this weekend for about $250.  She said she could put about $300 into improving the piano.  So I make $250 to $300.  If I had told her $500 or $700 (what I really should be charging), I wouldn't have gotten the job at all.
      --David Nereson, RPT