Pricing

[Def110TDi]

For all you welders who do repairs for beer tokens, how do you all go about working out your costs? Like patching someone's chassis or fabrications

 

[chunkolini]

I just say no.

 

[norlander]

If I do it, they pay for the materiels,and I get to keep whats left over, I figure out summat for gas and consumables, 25 euros a day for me, and whatever it comes to, they buy food for the animal rescue centre.
I don't touch vehicles normally as you find what looks like a lil hole is a bleedin big un and I can't be doing with crawling about and all that stuff.
I do what I think will be satisfying for me.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Car welding is very rarely comfortable work, unless it's for a really good friend is relativeI found it was not worth doing, Folks that run cars that need patching do not want to pay a reasonable charge.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I don't bother anymore, fed up of someone on £35k a year expecting you to work for £5 an hour.

Unless you are desperate for the cash then work it out at £25 an hour plus cost of consumables, that will still be cheaper than most places and at least it will be sort of worth your while.

 

[julianf]

I never charge friends for work.

I find that if you do people favors, they generally do favors for you, that are worth more to you than whatever you might have charged them.

People I dont know all get the same rate.

I have also found, in the past, that trying to undercharge to get a job generally leads nowhere.

My work is in a different field, but its still fixing things for individuals.

 

[Jim Davey]

Close mates I tend to work for free, members of car forums I'm on I tend to charge £25 an hour and anything MOT related I tend to say £75 an hour and hope like hell I don't get the job.

 

[Richard.]

Pricing your job is a personal assessment of what you believe your time is worth. You need to first work out what it's going to cost you in gas, materials, filler/wire, grinding discs, electric if it's yours your using, even allow for a couple of tip changes after all they all cost money. What I then tend to do is put 20% on top of that cost but I'll take a slightly lower hourly rate (tends to look better when you hand over your bill) the hourly rate needs to be worth while but it also needs to save your cilent money than if they were to go to a professional outfit. Don't take less than you would work for unless it's a favour or family etc. I look at it in the respect that your doing them the favour and saving them some cash so you shouldn't see yourself out of pocket if it's a paying job.

 

[Richard.]

I charge £20 per hour usually and 20% on top of my costs. I do not and have no interest in welding rusty motors any more but I do quite a few bike jobs and this is my rate.
I don't make a fortune I certainly don't do it to make a living but I enjoy it and it pays for some extra little luxuries.

 

[Richard.]

It's not always welding I do with them either. I fit a power commander on a cbr600rr the other week. Took me one hour and cost me nothing. I charged the guy £25. He was chuffed as a garage quoted 2 hours @35perhour without a dyno run. He'll still need a dyno run to set it up perfect as I just loaded up the base map. For me it was an easy and fun £25 for him it was a cheap installation. Win win.

 

[711jrp]

I normal quote four times what I feel is a reasonable rate, if they walk away you win as you didn't really want to do it in the first place, if they take up the offer you win as you are on good money.

 

[Spark plug]

Depends what the person will do for me. I will try to help anyone who will help me.

 

[dannyp]

spent to long been a busy idiot working on cars.

for randoms, basicly if it's an old sheddy daily driver you don't want to do it, by the time cars need welding now they are worthless anyway and they will bitch no matter how littel you charge so don't even bother turnign the welder on the job will be 10x more involved than it ever looks.

for friends its a bit diffrent if they've helped me with my clutter it's foc tho they usally chip in for consumabales and beer.
but if its an intresting motor it is expected that i get to have a play with it

 

[Def110TDi]

The job is filling a hole in a work colleagues brothers van where an object has pierced it so no rot or rust in it

 

[premmington]

I own a car repair workshop! I charge about £60 per patch for MOT repairs.

I don't fit complete sills.

If a car is really bad rotten car, £60 per patch writes it off, if it needs one or two patches plus a few MOT repairs, it is a affordable total bill mostly.

(Brake pipes at £40 each and welded patches at £60 each, thins out the really bad cars).

Big holes or little holes, don't differ in workshop time too much. A little more tin, A18 MIG wire and underseal. At £60 it is swings and round-a-bouts for material costs, some you win some you loose some.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Well, that should be a rare welding job on a motor - where you can actually see exactly what is involved before starting.
So, materials and what you feel your time is worth plus a margin - are you an experienced welder who will do the job to the right standard as quickly as anybody half decent, or is this something where you can do a decent job but might take twice as long?
The price shouldn't change, but it might be the difference between charging £30 for an hour, or £30 for the job if it'll take you twice as long as it should.

But don't go in too cheap unless you have a good reason to, it rarely pays off.

 

[Kent]

I don't do anything for beer tokens as such. My hourly rate depends on what I am doing, old rusty cars honestly need to be a project car in a stripped down state, I had one bad fire years back and called time on cars generally (the car was ok but I nearly wasn't).
You cant charge just one hourly rate it has to be in relation to what your doing and using. A lot of stuff I price up front and sometimes you win, sometimes you loose but you always learn from it and its hard to be truly out of pocket.

I should advice you to think twice if you haven't adequate insurance welding cars and vans etc.

 

[dannyp]

i have been know to say, i can do it properly and take the car apart to do the job, or we can take a chance and see if we can put it out when it catches fire,,, what do you want to do ?

only ever had one catch alight properly but was sort of expecting it so we were prepared for a fire

 

[F.J.]

I've had friends and public come in with rotten vans that have failed MOT's (mainly transits around 2000-2004 model), the **** drops out of fords that age but the engines are great. I quote everyone the same but to make it easier for me I charge a day rate and an estimated time of completion. Some pals get £50-£100 knocked off but I make sure I tell them in great detail just how bad it is under ther, I even get them on their backs to look under the van most don't even know how bad it is just so they know I'm not making it up. I charge £300 a day which sometimes people get a good deal, sometime I get a good deal but as welding rusty vehicle are generally cash jobs I go away with a chunky pocket once the job is done

 

[premmington]

I have a few cars full of smoke! I have never had on a light myself. But years ago I worked somewhere , they burnt out a mini traveller gas welding on it.

The big risk is, welding then going home!

We have a "no hot work in the last hour" at work rule.

I am not sure if an hour is long enough though?