What Would You Charge? Lurking? Please Post.

[MicahR]

Some of you may be following the post over on the ICS board about the 16K velvet sectional and what should be charged to restore it.

If you haven't let me give a hypathetical situation and let me know how you would handle it.

You are called by a home owner to fix a problem created by her four year old daughter. Her $20,000.00 custom made sofa was ravaged by over zealous crayola marker. Lets say the material is whatever your expertise is in. Leather, cotton velvet , rayon, acetate, heck be creative. It doesn't matter who is footing the bill. It's up to you the "Expert" to restore this piece or it's going to cost them now 25k because of inflation to replace it.

What do you charge and why is it "ethical"?

 

[WISE]

I would say for Restoration of a high value piece-- 10% of value.

Just went and looked at the post you were talking about. The charge he had was 10% of the stated value. I think that is fair? If saving an otherwise ruined piece.

WISE

 

[harryhides]

As an Inspector corrector I can tell you that it is common practice in the Inspecting community to charge the Mill that will have to replace if the carpet in question cannot be successfully restored at least 10% of it's value.

I also do a fair bit of corrective work for Insurance Companies where, again if the item cannot be satisfactorily restored to a pre-loss condition the Insurer will have to replace it. One job that I did for Queen carpets saved them 30k and took me 4 hrs to repair and they had no problem with my 3k estimate.

I have often charged $500-$800 to remove a stain from a carpet and the Insurer has been happy to pay, sometimes I think a little too happy.

The other angle is of course, how long this will take and what your time is worth. One gent from UK John Bolton told of a couch from the 1700's that he was paid to drive to Germany to clean for around 5k - simply because no-one else would touch it.
It is not just about your time to do the job but also about all the time and money you have invested in acquiring the skills to be able to do the job plus a little thing called experience.
Hope that helps.

I'd suggest that you come to MikeFest and tour Tallisman where they work on fabrics for collectors and investors and charge thousands to work on a few square feet of fabric from the 400 AD.

 

[MicahR]

Harry Thank you! Go take a look at the most recent post on the subject @ ICS. It's enough to drive you to drink....excessively! I knew I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

 

[kmdineen]

I would charge an hourly rate. I am not a restoration expert, I charge $125 per hour to try to remove spots and stains that don't come out in regular cleaning. If a situation required more expertise and I was confident in my procedure I would try the removal and I would charge more per hour.

 

[Chris Muetterties]

What this post is about is this guy charged what he is worth most of us don't do it !! He took a job most would pass on. Why in the world would he risk 16000.00 replacement on 180.00 cleaning fee ? Makes me think back to my instructor in my class on color. He taught us that a bleach stain in the kids room is not nearly as profitable as the bleach stain in the middle of the living room. He also showed us a copy of a 45k check for fixing a side match. It took him 2 days and 1800.00 in dye but the mill loved him for saving them 450k.

Chris

P.S. leaving tool marks was a joke

 

[MicahR]

Yup I'm with your Chris.

I was prepared to write another rebuttal at ICS about the posts but decided that what good would it do. All the "unethical" talk was hurting my head. I'm glad there is somewhere to go where like minds think alike.

No one could wrap their minds around charging a what your worth fee for restoring something and essentially saving thousands of dollars in replacement cost.

And yes leaving the tool marks ruined the whole job.

 

[Guest]

I do this all the time. I go into the customers home...and say get your camera out. They go..Why? I'm good, but I won't be owning your problem, the INS. Company will be. What is ruffly the value?


Start playing and see what magic I can do after I write up the paperwork. Last month (Nov) 1 store in town gave us 13 jobs to do to save their asses.



Chad

 

[Eric Scofield]

Are we talking about a trophy wife? u know they can be your best cheerleaders. So ask your self do i run down that hill and bag one of those cows or do i walk down and bag them all
P S don't believe everything u read on the red board.

 

[griffinbrothers]

the real question is

What are you competent to clean?
Can you fix our problem?
It is not just about your time to do the job but also about all the time and money you have invested in acquiring the skills to be able to do the job plus a little thing called experience (copied from a previous post).

The real truth is WE ARE THE ONES WITH THE HANG UPS ON PRICING. Our customers just want to know if we are competent.
It's really pretty ridiculous, the customers JUST WANT THE JOB DONE, we are the ones who care about the price.
Focus on the customers needs and the results of your work, make the cheerleaders, they will GLADLY PAY you, if you fulfill their expectations.
Mike Griffin

 

[Gary T]

I agree with Mike's comments above, especially about pricing hang ups. Why can't guys charge what they want or what they are worth. What is wrong with that? Other professions do that. If you've taken the time and made the investments to better yourself, why not charge for it? I did it as a tile installer. I went to the seminars, classes, training. Purchased the better equipment. Took the time to take care of my clients. And charged for it. I was 3-5x what some of the other good installers were. And the custys did not mind paying it either. I'm doing the same thing cleaning tile and grout and stone. I've read posts stating that the prices for t&g will come down, because its easy work. Not mine. Work smarter not harder. Charge what you are worth, not what someone else in this business thinks you are worth.