<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3132" name=GENERATOR><o:SmartTagType name="PlaceType" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PlaceName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PostalCode" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType> <STYLE>  </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=blue link=blue bgColor=white> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Dean,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Your comments are well taken (especially the "specialized work" and "quality repair" type stuff - I love it! More! More!!!!). I did a similar repair a couple years ago on a small grand piano that maybe included a few more notes and both rows of bridge pins. I remember that I charged them a little over $500 including the tuning. So I'm not too shy about charging.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This repair was for a long-time customer of mine. She is real nice and we discussed price thoroughly prior to the work. I told her I wouldn't exceed $300 on the repair. The job simply went really, really smooth - much smoother and faster than I expected. The first visit was only about 20 minutes. The repair itself was about a half-hour. And then when I went to put the strings back on - they didn't even get tangled up - they just went on easily.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The epoxy I keep around all the time - ever since 1980, when I started working on boats, I have always had a gallon of West System resin on hand - so just having the stuff is no big deal on my end.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And the $1K for an expanding action bracket job - that includes a full action regulation. I think most of my bracket jobs with full regulations have run between $700 and $1000 - and that's two or three site visits and somewhere around 15 hours in the shop.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But still, your points are good. And yes, I think in most situations I would charge closer to $300-$400 for what I did. I guess this time I was just so surprised that everything went so fast and easy that I just felt like passing the benefit of that on to my sweet old client.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for your thoughts.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hi Terry,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I would encourage you to rethink your pricing for the following reasons:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">1. you have “saved” the piano with a repair that you have perfected, one that many many techs would not attempt so they would just condemn the piano.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">2. You have a considerable investment in the West System epoxies, and have developed a significant knowledge base on how to use them. That alone is worth more than a $20 flat fee. I often charge a $20 flat fee for anytime the CA glue comes out. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">3. My thinking is $60/hr is an average fee for average work that most tuners would be able to accomplish: changing bridle straps, gluing on a broken hammer shank, etc. Highly specialized work should command higher rates. You might not think what you did highly specialized, but consider, how many other techs in the country would do the work you did? You’ll find lots that would epoxy, but I dare say you’ll find very few to use or stock the caliber material you use and very few of the finished jobs anywhere close to the quality of repair you did. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">You should consider that perhaps it went incredibly smoothly because you had all the problems figured out in advance, you knew what steps to take, in what sequence, what to pack from the shop so you had everything you needed, etc. That’s the kind of efficient expertise that we forget to charge for. We’ve done it long enough and well enough, that we forget what it cost us to get here. $60/hr is a good rate to charge for the amount of time that it used to take.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For a guy that has no problem getting $1000 for an expanding action bracket job, I’d think any job that required 3 service calls, utilized expensive repair materials, required specialized knowledge skills, that saved a piano most techs would condemn, I’d think that job should be worth closer to $300-400, plus the tuning.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I’ve looked at the West System web site a couple of times. It looks pretty overwhelming plus the start up costs didn’t look too cheap. Think about your investment in the product and your investment in learning how to use it. Then don’t short change that knowledge. I think you are worth more. ;-)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoAutoSig><B><FONT face="Bradley Hand ITC" color=navy size=6><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 22pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Bradley Hand ITC'">Dean</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U1:PERSONNAME u2:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Dean May</U1:PERSONNAME>             cell 812.239.3359 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U1:PLACE u2:st="on"><U1:CITY u2:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Terre Haute</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"></U1:CITY> <U1:STATE u2:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">IN</U1:STATE></st1:State>  <U1:POSTALCODE u2:st="on"><st1:PostalCode w:st="on">47802</U1:POSTALCODE></st1:PostalCode></SPAN></FONT></st1:place><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2> </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <P class=MsoNormal> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We had a recent thread on repairing cracked bass bridges with epoxy. </SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">SNIP</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Terry Farrell<BR></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>