Dear Member Stringers, Like to get your inputs on interesting thought just came up. I usually string at home with drop weight machine. Once a while I take a friend's racquet to a pro shop to string with ECP machine (the W he just got and I pay for the badminton kits) with no extra charge on labor just because they are my friends. 1) Anyway, I would like to ask you is should you and will you open up the option to other customers if they want you to string with ECP or regular machine (drop weight or crank) 2) If your answer is yes for #1, should you and will you charge more for the person request ECP string job? 3) If the answer is yes for #2, how much more should you and will you charge? Thank you for your opinion. SH PS: For those how is getting special treatment now, don't worry, you will still get the same price for ECP.
This is really a tough call. The local market usually dictates the price. Since the customer is a good friend, it's very difficult to differentiate another price point for a different service.
That is my question. Currently, I only do it when I visit my friend in the pro shop. What is the proper price for my time and gas to drive 20~30min to pro shop and string a racquet? The issue here is most of the place (almost all) here locally use crank or drop weight for badminton. What is the more accurate tension with pre-stretch worth to people? I do not know. For few very lucky people in West Lafyate, IN, they are getting great string jobs with ECP for very very low price. Even lower than my price with drop weight and some kids still complain ablut the price (Sorry Mark and Alex, I have to use Hiroko as example) If no one other than Peter the Greatest want to add opinion, I will just scrap the idea of giving that option.
It seems the market is saturated! Normally, I would price DW (takes a long time to do a string job) and ECP (very high capital cost + cost of electricity) in similar price range. Single pull per string LO should be the cheapest.
Labor price should be the same regardless of which machine it was done on. Price, probably would be fair to say 10 USD. Even better if you go by $10 CAD, whichis normally charged over here.
Per Peter the Greatest, Back to my original post, what would you do? Open up the option or not? Per Matt, $10 USD for labor is about right for labor charge in my mind. However, there are others charge more in my area. I will not comment on how much I charge usually. I think you for the vote of "NO" since it will cost me extra on the gas to drive to pro shop to wok on the racquet.
Per Greatest GrandMaster SH, I would open up that option for the customer and state clearly how much it will cost and why. If the customer finds the price to be too expensive, recommend an alternative (stringers who will do a lower price point and with ECP).
Well I did not really look at the vote questions. But to the customers's view, they would not think in inconsideration about the extra gas to go there to work on the racket. What he or she would take in the account would mainly be how much they paid to get the string job done and the results (workmanship).
Personally, I do not see the need to give different price per different tool usage. Different tool is to benefit the worker mostly, rather than having great impact on the final product. The determine factor for the product quality largely depend on the worker's workmanship, rather than how great the tool he purchase. Actually, most workers purchase better tools mostly to benefit himself (i.e. easier usage, shorter working time, etc), rather than necessarily benefit the customer. So, if I visit a local mech. to fix my car. Will I feel better if he charges me more becuase he claims all his wrench and screw drivers are brand new from craftman or blakc and decker, rather tahn some other no name brand? Same as should the crank machine users charge more than DW, as crank machines are usually more expensive, however, has lower accuracy for tension and more prone to tension loss if done incorrectly? Of course, all the above assumption is based on both sets of tools are within reasonable usable shape basis.
For me, the cost will be the same if I have access to different tools. (at the moment only ECP and crank). I think if crank machine calibrated properly and the stringer really know his machine well, he can produce good result as well. Sometimes hard to tell difference.
Any well made and maintained tools should yield acceptable results, if there's good enough workmanship. That's the purpose for the "tool making".
I think this is better to look from customers' point of view as LazyBuddy mentioned. After all, it is all demand and supply determine the price. Which type of tool used is transparent and irrelevant to customers, as long as the outcome is comparable.
That is where my problem comes from. I have a drop weight machine (M140) at home and I have been stringing for friends and other people for the last few years with it. almost 99% of people are happy with my work and I do adjust according to special request. A close friend of mine in a tennis club got a new Wilson machine (some of you saw the other post earlier) and we were able to get a great deal on the badminton kit from Wilson. I have been stringing a couple of my racquets on it and found given the same tension on my M140 vs Wilson, the Wilson racquet is more consistant and feel about 1 lb tighter (combo of pre stretch function and fix clamps). I would not charge extra if I do not have to drive 20 min to my friend's pro shop. It is the driving time plus the gas cost got me thinking should I charge extra $2 for the extra driving time and gas money. In addition to that, should people pay more if they like the string job better on the ECP machine? At what extra price you think it is fair. I do not want customer's view because majority of the customer will say, I want the ECP with no extra charge. Sorry bud, there is no such thing as free lunch and I am not going to spend extra money and time to not make money. I think it is better to get the view of stringers and not the customer. After all, I am thinking about giving the option of DW or ECP. I am not forcing them one way or the other.
Well, you are the seller, so you surely can make the final call. Whether customer's support this idea (i.e. enough demand for ECP with higher price), then it's really down to them. Also, what's the price difference? If $1 or 2, why even bother to create an issue. If significant, say $5, it either give them impression of your DW work is "not good enough", or many may not support the idea, as they can not tell the difference of the two. The reason I prefer from the customer point of view, is how you get the final product done, has nothing to do with them, and they have no way to verify (if they do not trust you, or least, not close to you to begin with). The only thing they can exam is the final product. Just for arguement sake, I can create a messive price chart to factor in all kinda "combo": 1. String with DW with big reel 2. String with DW with single pack (unit price is higher, but string is fresher) 3. String with DW @ 7pm 4. String with DW @ 3am (rush services) 5. String with DW @ 22lb (normal) 6. String with DW @ 28lb (usually requires more care and experience) 7 - 12: Repeat all the above, changing DW to crank (drive to friend's house) Then, total of 12 x 8 choices, as each one come with different strings (BG65, 65Ti, 80, 85, 95, etc). So, you can see I can charge all difference prices (lower or higher within a reasonable margin) all I want. Whether it's going to confuse and scare the hell of customers, it's another story. Personally, I suggest to use your normal practice (DW) as the price. The ECP is considering doing them a favor (luck). You have your choice for doing it, and you have your rights not to do it. Just like my above case #4, if I am willing to rush out a few rackets @ 3am, to do a big favor for friends (they need to use on 2nd morning practice, tournament, etc), I do it. If I think it's impossible, or not worth the extra effort, I can simply say, "i can not". At the end, I will charge the same, not becaus it's passing my sleeping time, I need to charge them extra $10. I did it because I am willing to help, not because I need to compensate my lost sleeping time.
Thank you Master LB. You hit the nail right on the head. I think it is just not worth it to create the pricing differential at this point. In fact, I cut off the string choices to focus on the labor only difference. And that is my point too if I look from customer point of view, the difference between DW vs ECP is prob worth $2~$3 more (better control? tension stays longer). I am struggling to justify the extra charge of $3 and anything else will not worth the trouble (driving time, gas and risk of hitting a deer in the night). And yes, if you bring it into the tennis pro shop, it would cost $20 labor and I will get a call and be there to string that badminton racquet.
Oowwhh.. ..gee, for that fee to do a stringing job, i'd rather take & treat you to a nice steak dinner as a compensation... Master silentheart, personally if i'm the customer, i'd choose the cheapest labor string job. Esp. if i know the stringer does a good & acceptable job. And if it's 1 lb. tighter on the ECP machine, then IMO, it's not worth paying more; also i don't want you to spend that extra time just to drive, waste time to and fro where you can spend that time with your SO (to be cuddled or to get an earful)..
The key is to differentiate that individual's willingness to pay for ECP . Peoples' willingness to pay is dictated by what is valuable to them. As an example, Master Chris already stated what values to him. Now, it is your turn to know your customer(s). Are they super duper lawyers and doctors who make US$500/hr or more and US$20 for a string job is totally a speck in the bucket?
