Pricing Advise

[Jack Clague]

Hi Guys,

Just need some advise, I have an urgent job request for a well known distributor to do 10 products by tomorrow, not a large job but could lead to a good client long term client lead, I know i can get the work done in time and I know what I will charge for the work but unsure what I should be charging for an urgent fee, any advise would be appreciated before i send off the quote.

Jack

[Steven Cox]

I for one hate tacked on fees, you've stated you know you can get the job done so just do it, do a great job and you'll be rewarded with future work. The only time I'd charge an "urgent fee" would be if I had to pay extra staff to get it done on time but I'd be upfront with the customer and make sure he's aware of the extra expence involved to get his job done. Again though the PR on getting the job done without the extra charge should return you a loyal customer.

Regards Steve.

[Dave Sheldrake]

^^^ yup, the repeat work could easily end up being a lot more worthwhile than a one off fee Jack

[Tony Lenkic]

One has to be very careful in case like this........ doing urgent/rush job without being upfront with customer of surcharges may lead to same request down the road.
Urgent charges can be added or removed but it serves purpose.

[Bill George]

I would just say normally for a Rush job that gets pushed ahead of other customer orders I add on a extra charge but you will make an exception this time.

[Jack Clague]

thanks guys, i quoted half of a normal rush fee advising that normally it would be x amount but did 50% to both obtain business and future relations

[Kev Williams]

I never ask customers if they're willing to pay for rush service, and the ONLY time I charge a rush fee is when they tell me upfront they will. And most times I don't charge one anyway. Goes to why I have so many machines, there's pretty much no rush job that I'll ever have to break down a machine to do, almost always a machine available.

FWIW, what I DO try to avoid is "while you wait" work. Most times I can, and will if absolutely necessary. But I've found that, human nature being what it is, once a human gets while-you-wait service, they expect it the next time, and sometimes get persnickety when you tell them you can't. EZ fix is 2-3 hour service...

[Matt Schrum]

For my day job, we generally tack on 10-20% and call it out as a separate line item. That way they see the real price of the item (and don't think "Boy, he sure charges a lot for...") and know the overnight delivery is not standard and they should not expect it on all future orders unless they are okay with the expediting fee every time.

[Jack Clague]

The quote was accepted which is great and I was happy to charge one as the job will eat into some of my family time over the weekend.

[Bert Kemp]

Does anyone ask for ask deposit for 1 offs. I had a women ask if I could make a round cribbage board with an engraving in the middle and I asked for 15% deposit for materials since I don't stock anything for cribbage boards. I haven't heard back from her LOL don't know if it was the deposit or the high price of $30 I was charging her + shipping. 30 dollars OMG.... I have to drive 25 miles to get the wood, then do the cutting and engraving like 40 to 50 min's in the laser (cutting 250 peg holes takes time ) +the engraving which I had to find the art work for, Then sand off all the residue and 3 coats of clear poly and poof its done then print shipping labels and drop it off at the post office. Seriously folks does anyone not think I need my head examined maybe the women who wants the board. Kinda glad I haven't heard back fro her, I wouldn't want to put her in the poor house.

OK so most of you know I'm just a retired hobbyist give away most of the stuff I make to Vets just my thing but hey this was a stranger asking for me to do work and I felt like I had to charge something to at least cover the wood, poly and gas back and forth to the store. Well I hope she finds someone who not so expensive to do it for her, she told me it was a birthday present for her grandson.

[Ross Moshinsky]

My advice is not to guess what people are thinking. You have no idea why she didn't place the order with you. This week I landed an order that I thought I lost 8 months ago. I quoted, did artwork, ect. Emailed it all over and they ignored me. Emailed again, and still no response. Last week they walk in the door and the order has gone from a nice sized order to a very large order. I thought I lost the original order due to pricing but the reality was, they had to hold off 8 months on doing this project and for whatever reason, they couldn't tell me that.

As for deposits, our store policy is 50% deposit and 50% when picked up for the most part. A lot of customers just pay in full if the order is less than $100. Some customers are on "net 30" and if they want their stuff, we need a purchase order. We also have select customers that are able to walk out the door without paying but for the most part these customers are organizations which we've been dealing with for a long period of time and have serious roots in the community.

[Keith Winter]

50% up front sounds reasonable. Bert I wouldn't worry about a 15% deposit. I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over the $30, she probably just changed her mind.

[Bert Kemp]

No I won't lose sleep LOL . I have little to no experience with customers and I really didn't know if most shops ask for a deposit. But when she emailed me asking to do a job it just seemed like I should get a deposit thats all.