Price of Ivory/Dave Nereson's reply

[Joseph Garrett]

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}