I want to put in my 2 cents worth here. Where I live, in Oakland, CA, I went to have my VW serviced at the dealer. Their shop rate is _$135_ per hour. I take that as an indication of what skilled technical service is worth. Is anyone's life at stake in piano work? Not usually, perhaps, but for professionals, at least, our work is vital to their livelihood. How long does it take to become an automotive technician? I'm guessing 2-4 years. (Forgive me if I'm wrong). Does the automotive technician come to my house to service my car? Ha! Is he/she available at odd hours/off days/short notice? Not bloody likely. Does he/she have an overarching aesthetic sense of how the nuances of my car's adjustments will affect my driving experience? Uh, not really. Tuning a piano for $60? Let's see, 1/2 hour to drive there, 1.5 hours there, 1/2 hour to drive somewhere else, that's 2.5 hours per piano, and out of that fee I'm supposed to pay taxes including self-employment, gas and upkeep and insurance on the car, pay for health care, put aside something for retirement, pay my mortgage and insurance, eat, take a vacation, be sick a few days, and put my kids through college? Yeah, you do the math. Not where I live anyway. When I can charge as much as my auto mechanic charges me, I'll have it made. -Mark Schecter Joseph Rosenberg wrote: > Hi, > > I'm a relatively new tuner in the urban/suburban > Northeast. I would appreciate hearing from some of the > members of this fine group as to what is a fair price > to charge for a basic piano tuning. > > FYI, I have heard from a number of piano tuners that > they felt that for the most part piano tuners > undercharge. Whe I facture that sales tax, car > expenses (tolls, gas, etc.) and travel time are > deducted from the gross fee, I do not see how I can > charge less than $100 for a basic tuning. > > Thanks in advance for your comments. > > Joe Rosenberg > _______________________________________________ > Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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