how much labor do most of you charge to replace a guide? I am slowly starting up my buisness, and want to know if I am too cheap, too high or what? same price for single or double foot? underwraps? discount for more tham 1 guide on the same rod?E-mail me direct if you want, I don't want to start a price war or anyting,just seeking advice.

I usually charge the cost of materials, plus $5. So this would say that it is a little cheaper per guide the more that need re-wrapped, because you have to charge at least two batches of finish wether you are wrapping 1 or 10 guides. The same goes for thread, you have to charge one spool (or two if underwrapped, I don't charge for the material used in a trim wrap unless doing the whole rod) whether you do 1 or 10. The only other thing to throw into the mix is intricacy of the work. If you are redoing a custom rod with 5 single-wind inlays and trim bands adn you are having to do alot of them, that may differ in price for a single color, no-inlay wrap.
I usually consider the quality of the rod, if it is a "walmart" special, then I know the customer is not wanting to spend half of what the rod costs, so I may suggest just plain "functional" wraps and charge less.
Consider your proficiency and the time it takes you to wrap a guide. I can wrap, position, burnish and be ready for finish in a couple of minutes. If it takes you longer, take that into consideration.
Looks, costs more than function.

I think "Elrod" hit it right on the nose. I charge based on what the customer will pay - ie the walmart special. but a flat rate of 3 to 5 dollars per guide plus the price of the guide is what I usually do. And I always end up throwin in more cause I dont like to send a rod out that looks like crap!!

Go with the flow!!

Elrod does what I do. You always want your material price plus. I add 20% to materials (guides,thread, finish and clean up materials). Cleanup materials don't sound like vary much but just add up the cost of a few razor blades, denatured alcahol and a little soap after a month and you well have spent enought to buy a good dinner.
Bob

sounds like so far I am right in the money, I have been charging about 5 per guide, plus the price of the guide, usually I will round that up to the next dollar to make a few pennies there, but I really hadn't thought much about cost of thread. ELrod, do you charge for a whole spool for each repair? or has anyone ever figured an estimate for how many guide wraps you can get out of a spool and do it that way?

I would say most here are on the low end. Won't mention names, but the big name store that had rod repair services was charging $8 U.S. dollars plus the cost of the guide. This could be more the going rate, and it doesn't matter if you had a GLX high end rod or a wal-mart special. The rate is based on the job and the material.

I know it can be tempting to charge less based on the value of the rod, but in comparison with other repair shops, do they base their service on the value of the car, watch, shoe, or whatever comes in the door for repair? They are paid in accordance to a fair value for the service provided, and I would think $5 per guide repair is extremeley reasonable to get back on the water with your favorite fishing stick!

my opinion.

Rich
Solyrich Custom Rods

Pricing according to the quality of the rod can lead to big headaches,people talk and you will want them to far better to set up a price for a job $5-single ft- $6.50 double ft plus extras trim bands underwraps all would be extra irregardless of what the rod is.It also pays to find out what the competion is charging for the same jobs, if you do better work you could charge more but if they average out the same you would need to charge about the same price.
John

Here are my current labor rates for repair work if you wnat to use it as a comparison basis.

THREADWORK
Single guide wrap, small guides up to size 16 $ 6.00 each $ 5.00 more than one
Single guide wrap, large guides over size 16 $ 7.00 each $ 6.00 move than one
Double wrap $ 3.00 add each
Underwrap $ 2.00 add each
Hookkeeper $ 5.00 each
Tops $ 3.00 each

OTHER SERVICES
Replace or install butt cap $ 5.00
Replace or install gimbal $ 7.00
Install Unibutt $20.00
Replace or re-form grips $ 1.50/inch*
Install chuck or glue-in handle $10.00
Replace reel seat $10.00*
Replace ferrules (includes trim wrap $15.00*
Install new ferrules (includes trim wrap) $10.00*
Replace standard top $ 3.00
Replace roller top (includes trim wrap) $ 7.00
Refinish split cane $15.00/foot*
Refinish and paint standard blank $10.00/foot*
Refinish standard graphite blank $ 7.00/foot*
Repair broken rod, bottom 1/2 rod, NO WARRANTY $15.00*
*PLUS REINSTALLATION OF REMOVED COMPONENTS.

Forgot the dreaded email address and I don't want to type it again.

Hi,

If you are an accomplished rod builder DO NOT UNDERSELL yourself!!! Time, experience and fine workmanship = $$$$$$$.

Some areas command a higher fee than others. You have to take that into consideration when you read these posts.

If there are tackle shops or rod builders in your area find out how much they charge.

Since I know most of these shop owners in my area I try very hard not to be in direct competition with them. I will not under cut their prices. If anything I am more expensive across the board.

In my area to remove and replace a guide the charge is around $15.00 plus cost of component.

A while back I rcvd an email about giving a quote on a custom rod. For an unknown reason I did not respond quickly. After talking to a couple of rod builder friends we determined that we were all contacted by the same person. So I finally responded with a price that was $75 higher than normal to protect my friend.

Friendships are more important than a sale.

That was very good of Mike Bolt to supply his labor list.

Capt Neil

Jeff,
We are pretty much on the same page as Capt. Neil as for rates & protecting other builders! We are on the east coast in NJ if you want to compare areas.

Tom W.
Last Cast

If you leave off your email or full name, the post gets deleted. Nothing we can do about it. It's automatic.

I have been doing this as a business since '86. My rates have steadily been increased to what they are now. I basically charge what I think the market can stand. If I was in a different location, in full time, or owned a storefront, the rates would probably go up 25%. I am comfortable at what I am making as a profit for a part-time business.

What you have to consider in rate development is cost and profit per hour or per item. These are the only two things that matter in the end. It costs you a certain amount of money for overhead to run the business and do the work and you have to have a certain amount of profit to stay in business and pay your salary.

For stricty labor with no guide sale involved, all of your overhead comes out of your labor, ex: you re-wrap a guide/s. If you don't charge a material cost for thread, finish, etc. (which I am doing this year) all of that including overhead comes out of your labor rate.

Your repair rates give you a basis for custom rates. It is very easy to price a custom rod using a percentage over you repair rates for each task of work. I will normally charge 50-75% over the repair rates for custom work adding what I think is a good rate for decorations. The additional percentage labor is used for is 'thinking/designing/hassle' time.

A good way to increase profit and decrease cost is to batch rods. Wrap a group one night, finish the group the next night.

With the greatest of respect, is there something special in the trading area that can command about *twice* the national average for a guide replacement? (The post quoting 15.00 a guide) Is this a plain jane no trim tab wrap,or a fancy surf rod intricate wrap? And are we talking about a full-blown retail operation with expenses to match, or the kitchen table.