Tuning price

[Cy Shuster]

The proper value of anything is simply what someone is willing to pay for 
it.  Think pricing in terms of what the value is to the customer, not (just) 
your cost of providing the service.

That said, I keep my eye on the hourly rates of car mechanics, plumbers, and 
other tradespeople.  Most new customers don't even ask me about price, but 
for those who do and hesitate, I invite them to consider how much it would 
cost for them to arrange to have a mechanic drive 40 miles to their house 
and spend two hours tuning up their car in their driveway for them.  And 
what if the car hadn't been serviced for two (or 5 or 10) years?

I spend a lot of time educating new customers.  If I find a piano a 
half-step flat, I let them know that the more the pitch raise, the sooner it 
will need tuning again.  If they tune it every two years for the next six 
years, they'll have spend a lot of money, and the piano will be "in tune" 
for only a few weeks each year.  If I tune it two or three times over the 
next three or six months, it will get up to pitch and stay there much 
longer.  I let them know that the piano will go flat whether it's played or 
not, and that there's a consequence for not tuning it for several years.

I do a pitch raise and fine tune on the same visit (unless it's off by more 
than 80 cents or so!).  I explain this as two tunings, but I only charge 50% 
more, because the computer assists me on the first pass (TuneLab-calculated 
overpull).  An analogy that works is that you can't start with 1000-grit 
sandpaper if the wood is rough.

When gas hit $2.20 out here, I started a 20 cent per mile surcharge (for 
customers over 20 miles away).  I divide that among the customers I serve 
that day, to encourage them to help me find other nearby customers (since I 
service rural West Virginia).  I often drive 150 miles a day for three 
customers.

Most of my customers call me because of some major life event: they're 
retiring, and want to learn piano; they want to give the piano to their 
grandchild; they just inherited their mother's piano.  In each case, they're 
aware of the deferred maintenance, but they've set a goal, and are willing 
to pay what it takes to achieve it.  Institutions are often the opposite... 
;-(

--Cy Shuster--
Bluefield, WV