I do ding repair for 3 different shops and was about to add a fourth. The first three shops use me as a customer service and receive not compensations except that they get to advertise that that have a repair person.
The new shop that I was trying to pick up wants to add $15 dollars to every ding I repair for them to cover “expenses”. The only problem I have with this is that I am noted for my quality and fair prices and if this shop adds a $15 dollar charge to a ding repair that I am charging only $20 bucks for that is a 75% increase in the price. In my mind it is no longer a “fair” price.
For the other Swaylockians that do ding repair for Surf Shops: Does you shop add an extra charge to your service? If so how much is it? Is it a flat fee or a percentage of the price?
I am all for the shop making some cash because they keep me in business but not a the cost of my good name.
15% maybe, but $15 on top sounds a bit steep, especially for smaller repairs.
Try and explain that the others do it as a service, that alone is good marketing for them and their shop, and at a very cheap price.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the greed of others. Doing dings in-house the worst I got was 50%, the best 75%, and occasionally the boss would be generous and give me 100%. A small price to pay for me to bring collateral business into their shop direct from the beach.
Just an observation, but take the 4th shop and let the market dictate where people will take their boards. Once word gets out that Shop X is $15 more than Shop Y for the same ding guy, then people are just going to take their boards to Shop Y for repairs. For those who $15 is no big deal they won’t care but for those groms who $15 is a big deal you’ll still get their business, just through Shop Y instead of Shop X.
The flat fee seems a bit steep though, ask them to do it on a % basis.
I have ding repair in several shops. Where I am located shops take a 25% to 30% cut period. I cant find a shop that wont take a cut. This is due to the quantity of factorys ect. that are im my area and WILL offer them a cut. So the only way to get business is to do the same…
Howzit Gregg, Just what expenses is the shop taking on for your repair work. If you’re using their materials and shop space then they deserve a cut but $15 is way to much, I think 15% is right. Now if you are picking up,fixing the dings at home, using your own materials and then taking the board back to the shop then you are the 1 who’s putting out $ for expenses for materials, gas and time. You could drop the shops, post some cards on bulletin boards and the repairs will find their way to you. When I did repairs for Hanalei Surf Co. they didn’t ask for any compensation since they were happy to have a ding repair service for their shop which gets people in to the shop and they usually buy something. I don’t do to much repair work these days because of all the new boards I glass but I have the local repair guys cards tacked to the wall and when somebody asks for a repair I show them the cards and let them pick who they want.Aloha,Kokua
As I am trying to get out of the ding biz… and have run a surf shop for a while -
It’s a service that a shop can provide to get traffic in and out, which is a Good Thing. If all the proceeds stay off their books and they don’t have to pay a credit card percentage, say, or claim them as part of their gross or generally mess up the accounting, all good. The shop’s percentage? Zero.
If you are getting your repair materials from them, they should be selling them to ya at cost. I had a deal going once where I got my materials free, I just had to keep the shop’s stable of rental boards in reasonably watertight condition.Plus I was getting a percentage of dings anybody else did through the shop. Was starting to think the Sherman Anti-Trust laws applied to me, it was such a scam deal.
So - this fourth surf shop. You already have three sending you work, all within reasonable pickup and delivery distance, as I will assume this other one is too. They are all serving the same market. You don’t need another shop. And you definitely don’t need the hassles when somebody finds out they could have got the same job by the same guy $15 cheaper down the road. Plus, if they are grinding their customers, sooner or later they will grind you.
Had a job offer once, doing woodworking, years ago. The guy wanted me to do his better-quality woodworking, but he also wanted to mark it up 100%. When the customers balked at the price, not unreasonably, he didn’t try cutting his markup, he tried getting me to drop my prices. That one went down the tubes fast… sounds like this shop could pull the same on you. Shine 'em on.
When I did dings the shop would take 20%. When things went sour I ended up taking alot of customers w/ me b/c I started charging 20% less than them. 5 years later I still have people knocking at my door.
All materials are bought by me. I pick up the boards and delivery them back to the shop when they are repaired. I wanted the ding repair from this shop because it was located in another city (about 25 minutes away) and thought this might be an untapped source.
I think your woodworking job might be the way this whole thing is headed.
Yeah, the thing is that doing dings isn’t that profitable in terms of $ per hour unless you have some volume going. If there are, say, a half dozen lined up, you catalyse your resin slow and just go down the line. You can reasonably buy your resin by the gallon and cloth in 10 yard pieces and such, sandpaper bythe box, boxes of throwaway china bristle brushes without worrying about 'em going bad before you use 'em. And you set up for 2 or 3 ding nights a week, work flat out and make some good dough in minimum time.
On the other hand, it is nearly the same time involved to do one ding on one board, what with setup, drying time and all. A $10 repair that eats half your evening or more, uses a couple of bucks worth of materials and such, it’s no more than a bother.
So more is better, but you need to ask yourself if you need it, or if somebody will aggravate you beyond what it’s worth. Tack on two hours for each set of boards as your labor time. You gotta go 25 min out, 25 back to get 'em, 25 out and 25 back to deliver 'em, and then there are the shop dweebs to deal with. Your labor rate per hour just took a hit. Let alone gas, wear and tear on the truck and so on.
Look at it this way. Ya do good work, or else you wouldn’t be getting 3 shops sending boards to ya. Let the customers make the drive to the shops you service.
I do repairs as a service for several shops in south Orange County, and also a lot of direct business. One shop doesn’t want to waste space by storing in and outgoing repairs (it’s not uncommon for people to take 3 months to pick up their boards), so I give them 50 or so flyers a month. In return, I repair their personal boards for free. Another shop pays us directly for repairs that they take in. I don’t care what they charge their customers, and I don’t give them any different pricing than anyone else. I did find out that they charge anywhere from 15-40% over what I bill them. There isn’t a standard formula that you can use for pricing repairs, it’s what your time and quality of work is worth. If you can do almost invisible repairs that will last, charge accordingly and add to it the margin each shop wants. There’s always somebody who will do crappy work cheaper; refer him to those who think you’re too expensive - they’ll be back soon. Nobody will value your work unless you price it to match the quality. If your repairs are exceptional, you won’t get any complaints on the pricing. If your work looks and lasts like everybody elses, then you’ll have to go along with what each shop wants to give you.