The cost of doing business?

[Mr. Kurtz]

Originally Posted by Jerrinator

but the last part of your statement, "profit on sale"...they wouldn't have made any profit on a tire that they would have replaced whether they sold it or not. If they replaced my tire that I bought online, they would have still paid THEIR cost,...if they replaced a tire I bought from them, they STILL would be out their cost..either way, it would be a wash...they still would be out what ever price THEY PAID for the tire originally...

If they damage your rim, the cost may be the same whether you bought it from them or not(the risk), but if they do it correctly, they didn't make any profit on the tire itself(the reward), which is what makes it a less worthwhile liability to take on to mount a tire you brought in.

Originally Posted by palanon

This is one of my favorite true stories dealing with these scenarios.
...
Needless to say, the happy customer has never brought his own parts to my mechanic friend again. And yes, our happy customer and restaurant owner cooked up a very nice meal and my mechanic friend gave the waitress a $40.00 tip.

I've joked about that countless times, even giving the restaurant example to customers, but I've never heard of anyone doing it. \

Originally Posted by ultraTwist

Assuming that the rent, salary and utilites are all paid for, and there is an open slot in the garage and a free mechanic the shop should take this business each and every time even for as low as say five bucks and that is just on basic numbers ( as long as the variable cost is covered which has to be tiny ). It says nothing of the good will it generates and the fact that the customer did not spend any money accross the street ( market share ). Sorry.

Again, risk vs. reward, any service a shop performs on a bike(or car) carries some risk of damage(within or beyond their control), that's part of doing business. If your tech breaks a bolt(for lack of a better example) on a job where you're collecting your normal labor rate, normal markup on parts, you might break even or lose a little bit of money, accidents happen. If you took in a job for $5 in labor, customer supplied parts, and accidentally break the same bolt, you're taking a major loss. It's literally not worth doing the work for a lesser amount. All the reasons Degsy stated also come into play, as does(in the shop example) the chance that you will now commit to doing a job for next to nothing, then have a normal paying customer come in and be turned away.

[ultraTwist]

Again, risk vs. reward, any service a shop performs on a bike(or car) carries some risk of damage(within or beyond their control), that's part of doing business. If your tech breaks a bolt(for lack of a better example) on a job where you're collecting your normal labor rate, normal markup on parts, you might break even or lose a little bit of money, accidents happen. If you took in a job for $5 in labor, customer supplied parts, and accidentally break the same bolt, you're taking a major loss. It's literally not worth doing the work for a lesser amount. All the reasons Degsy stated also come into play, as does(in the shop example) the chance that you will now commit to doing a job for next to nothing, then have a normal paying customer come in and be turned away.[/QUOTE]

This again is very simple, the shop knows what percentage of times they brake something and they also know the cost to fix that. It is a very easy calcualtion to take this percent times cost and add it into the price, even put a small premium on it like normal insurance companies do. Again, this will be a very small increase, or this might already be included in the fixed costs assuning the shop is bonded. I can't make you do this, but I'm only stating what any business consultant will tell you for free, if your fixed costs are covered and you have open capacity, then you should take any business down to your variable cost.

[richw]

When I contract my machine shop I pay by the hour

I may get hosed or if a mistake is made but then the rest of the time I pay for actual work not work plus some just in case money

[seth399]

I would be annoyed by the simple fact I called and said "how much to mount a tire please" and they responded with a price, then you show up and the price is different because they ASSUME you were buying a new tire from them yet you never asked what they have in stock or mentioned buying a tire?

Personally I am gettin sick of the whole once you show up in person things change and don't seem all that sunny....that goes for businesses in general, not motorcycle shops specifically

[jwm2k3]

Originally Posted by seth399

I would be annoyed by the simple fact I called and said "how much to mount a tire please" and they responded with a price, then you show up and the price is different because they ASSUME you were buying a new tire from them yet you never asked what they have in stock or mentioned buying a tire?

Personally I am gettin sick of the whole once you show up in person things change and don't seem all that sunny....that goes for businesses in general, not motorcycle shops specifically

Yeah, I wouldnt want a price change once I get there either...

I will say that maybe 1 out or every 200 tires changed at the dealer I work at are bought elsewhere. So youre correct in saying the price should be quoted correctly and the dealer should have made sure to be clear on the difference, but the orig poster, knowing he had bought his tire elsewhere, should also have mentioned that too.

So the vast majority of tires changed are purchased at the place that changes them. Not trying to make an excuse for your dealership up there, but just saying that it might not be regular course of daily business to install customer supplied tires.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU GOT NEW TIRES ON YOUR BIKE!!! Congrats!

[csmutty]

Good responses to this thread. 35 is a good price.

[Jerrinator]

Originally Posted by jwm2k3

Yeah, I wouldnt want a price change once I get there either...

I will say that maybe 1 out or every 200 tires changed at the dealer I work at are bought elsewhere. So youre correct in saying the price should be quoted correctly and the dealer should have made sure to be clear on the difference, but the orig poster, knowing he had bought his tire elsewhere, should also have mentioned that too.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU GOT NEW TIRES ON YOUR BIKE!!! Congrats!

Agreed, NOW that I KNOW what to ask for, I will get the correct, unchanging price...I understand that I have some ownership in this as well,...it just pisses me off when I take the time to call around, to get the best price for something (to save gas) and then show up, and things change, this has happened enough times in the past, that it is really starting to make a difference in where I will to take my business.
Afterall, I bought my tire online because it was a MUCH better price than the shop. Why wouldn't I think that EVERYONE buys them online too, to save as much money as I did? I would think that is a normal practice and would assume that the shop knows this too....

I guess no one can make ANY assumptions anymore....

[richw]

Assume ass u me

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

My favorite is how many MC store owners have never ridden one.

[DuncanMoto]

There is a local dealer (names will not be mentioned) that recently quoted a price to my customer of $90 to change a set of tires he bought from me. (we don't change tires yet) When he got there (6 days later) they said $160 to change the pair. The justification given was that they were too busy and that that is what the price is now.

That's BS. No wonder more people are coming to buy their tires from me at internet prices and then driving to BostonMoto for a $40 installation.

Great thread and $35 is a fair price.

[BCT748]

Whenever I do a side job I do the same thing. I will charge a minimum of an hour. If I finish in half the time because I am good at what I do then it works out for both of us. I get paid more per hour if you break it down that way and you get me out of your house sooner with full use of what I was working on. If you want me to swap a faucet that you bought from Home Depot I'm going to charge you more because I don't make any money on it and I have to deal with the crap Home Depot sells. If I have to work on something expensive, like a control board for a boiler or some fancy crap that was made in Europe, I'm going to charge more just in case I brake it.

Originally Posted by DuncanMoto

There is a local dealer (names will not be mentioned) that recently quoted a price to my customer of $90 to change a set of tires he bought from me. (we don't change tires yet) When he got there (6 days later) they said $160 to change the pair. The justification given was that they were too busy and that that is what the price is now.

That's BS. No wonder more people are coming to buy their tires from me at internet prices and then driving to BostonMoto for a $40 installation.

Great thread and $35 is a fair price.

Ted, do you sell Bridgestone? If you do you might be my new best friend

[Kham]

Originally Posted by BCT748

Whenever I do a side job I do the same thing. I will charge a minimum of an hour. If I finish in half the time because I am good at what I do then it works out for both of us. I get paid more per hour if you break it down that way and you get me out of your house sooner with full use of what I was working on. If you want me to swap a faucet that you bought from Home Depot I'm going to charge you more because I don't make any money on it and I have to deal with the crap Home Depot sells. If I have to work on something expensive, like a control board for a boiler or some fancy crap that was made in Europe, I'm going to charge more just in case I brake it.

another view is how long does it take the average pro to complete the job. if it's half hr then only half hr should be charge. you need the business as much as they need the job done. depends... sure you can do the job half the time and charging people double as long as there are no alternative for customers. i really dont care if you can do the job half the time. just tell when will it be done and when i get there i expect to be done.

[Kham]

oh yea. if haven't already said, honesty is best way to go.

[Kurlon]

Originally Posted by Kham

another view is how long does it take the average pro to complete the job. if it's half hr then only half hr should be charge. you need the business as much as they need the job done. depends... sure you can do the job half the time and charging people double as long as there are no alternative for customers. i really dont care if you can do the job half the time. just tell when will it be done and when i get there i expect to be done.

Find a pro that will charge by the half hour...

I won't be holding my breath on this one btw. Even if the 'work' takes 15 minutes, you're still going to be there an hour or more, plus travel time, etc.

[Kham]

Originally Posted by Kurlon

Find a pro that will charge by the half hour...

I won't be holding my breath on this one btw. Even if the 'work' takes 15 minutes, you're still going to be there an hour or more, plus travel time, etc.

that's true. hard to find honest business that's why i learn to do my own shit. if it breaks then i have no one to blame.

[BCT748]

Originally Posted by Kham

another view is how long does it take the average pro to complete the job. if it's half hr then only half hr should be charge. you need the business as much as they need the job done. depends... sure you can do the job half the time and charging people double as long as there are no alternative for customers. i really dont care if you can do the job half the time. just tell when will it be done and when i get there i expect to be done.

Lets say it takes the average shop an hour to pull your wheels, change the tires and remount them on your bike and they charge you $100. Now there is this other shop down the street that does all that and charges you the same $100 but they get it done in half the time. Are you going to bitch that they did it too fast and you want $50 back or are you going to be happy that they just saved you a half hour of sitting in a shop with your thumb up your ass when you could have been doing something better with your time? Sorry but my time is worth something and if I can pay the same rate and get it done in half the time I'll do it, I'm not going to bitch about an hourly rate to the guy that just saved me time.

[Kham]

Originally Posted by BCT748

Lets say it takes the average shop an hour to pull your wheels, change the tires and remount them on your bike and they charge you $100. Now there is this other shop down the street that does all that and charges you the same $100 but they get it done in half the time. Are you going to bitch that they did it too fast and you want $50 back or are you going to be happy that they just saved you a half hour of sitting in a shop with your thumb up your ass when you could have been doing something better with your time? Sorry but my time is worth something and if I can pay the same rate and get it done in half the time I'll do it, I'm not going to bitch about an hourly rate to the guy that just saved me time.

then your not average pro. that's not what im talking about. if you can do it half the time with no better equipment than the shop down the street(unless they're busy) then i dont know if i can trust. and if you tell me half hr then finish in half not an hr. in most cases it'll come down to "the only game in town".

and you're right. nobody charges by minutes. well it's 60minutes. to answer your question, a deal is a deal. im not going to bitch unless you screwup and no compensation.

[richw]

Standard rate pay scale
otherwise known as the quick schmear

[DuncanMoto]

Originally Posted by BCT748

Ted, do you sell Bridgestone? If you do you might be my new best friend

I do sell Bridgestone. I also have a decibel meter you can borro........ Oh wait.... No I don't have that anymore.

[breakdirt916]

aside from old tires/bargain blowouts and supporting your own vendor, do you, and why don't you dealers buy from the online shops?

[Kurlon]

Quality control and support. Buy tires through a normal Dunlop (for example) channel, you know you're getting recent tires that were stored properly, they're able to support volume and will deal with returns/faults in a reasonable manor. Buy from a discount online dealer, who knows what you're getting, if they can get it to you in a reasonable time, and if they'll stand behind it.

[richw]

Yeh like no one has ever been screwed locally

[TheIglu]

Originally Posted by Kurlon

Quality control and support. Buy tires through a normal Dunlop (for example) channel, you know you're getting recent tires that were stored properly, they're able to support volume and will deal with returns/faults in a reasonable manor. Buy from a discount online dealer, who knows what you're getting, if they can get it to you in a reasonable time, and if they'll stand behind it.

I buy from a place that sells hundreds, if not thousands of moto tires a month.

Never had a problem yet. Saved enough money to buy myself a nice used Coats tire changer if I wanted to.

I buy my parts locally now, which is new for me. But tires? Same product, same service, different price local or online. Mount'em yourself and learn while saving money.

[Kurlon]

Originally Posted by TheIglu

I buy from a place that sells hundreds, if not thousands of moto tires a month.

Never had a problem yet. Saved enough money to buy myself a nice used Coats tire changer if I wanted to.

I buy my parts locally now, which is new for me. But tires? Same product, same service, different price local or online. Mount'em yourself and learn while saving money.

I was referring to why dealers don't buy from the discount houses. And half the time 'same product' means much older tires from the discount houses. Rubber does age, and many of the discount houses don't have the same environmentally controlled storage that the Tire mfgs and primary distributors do. The discount houses are buying their tires from these guys when they get too old... hence the discount.

It's one thing to save some cash yourself, and deal with an older tire if thats what you get, imagine the crapstorm that would start on this forum if a dealer ordered a tire in for someone and it was two years old...

[Pestilence]

After dealing with some shenanigans myself over mounting costs I started changing my own tires on nothing more than a 14" car rim bolted to my workbench

[TheIglu]

A two year old tire?

Is there something wrong with that?

If anyone here gets a two year old set of tires, please PLEASE save yourself by giving them to me to be destroyed properly. As in riding on them for a few additional years.