how much do you charge

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This is a question for all you full time welders, how much do you charge for stainless steel fabrication, how much do you markup the material and do you charge by the job or hour?
Reply:I would tell you but then others would charge that much and we would all get hauled into court for price fixing.
Reply:One thing that I have seen people do is x3 or x4 the cost of doing it in steel. Alot of times that is what is needed considering all aspects of working with the stuff takes longer especially if it needs polished.
Reply:Price is dependant on location.    I charge $70/hr for stainless, $60.00 for Aluminum, and $45 for carbon steel.   In my area that's top dollar.  In some areas that would be the beginning of the scale.  As far as pricing goes, I have priced by the job is someone wants a quote.  Otherwise it is by the hour.    As far as materials go I generally mark up 30%  I quit trying to make money off of steel years ago.  I charge the 30% extra to cover my "handling" time.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Marine work (stainless/aluminum) 75$/hr ($200 minimum)
Reply:If a guy walks into your shop and wants part of his stainless sailboat stuff inspected and repaired, and you know from being a WELL READ welder that he is an ex-CEO that got a $85,000 a month retirement package not including all the other stuff.....How much would you charge??If a young boy WALKS into your shop and needs the expansion chamber for his dirt bike welded how much would you charge?See what i mean?And when i make out my bills i include INSPECTION, CLEANING, FITTING and PREP.Then there is materials like welding gas,electricity,consumables and finally labor.I include that in "attended to all other details"Last edited by Donald Branscom; 06-18-2008 at 09:45 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald BranscomIf a guy walks into your shop and wants part of his stainless sailboat stuff inspected and repaired, and you know from being a WELL READ welder that he is an ex-CEO that got a $85,000 a month retirement package not including all the other stuff.....How much would you charge??If a young boy WALKS into your shop and needs the expansion chamber for his dirt bike welded how much would you charge?See what i mean?
Reply:My prices vary.  Ironic,  I visited a client yesterday and posted info.  He told me I didn't charge enough.  Told me people in the neighborhood he worked didn't think the product could be good if the price was low. In inner-city Nashville the same simple rail-- same simple design would not sell for same price as the suburbs. I would suggest this regardless of price you have the same responsibility for results and safety.  So always price work to make money.Keep track of metal prices prior to bidding.
Reply:Originally Posted by Hammack_WeldingI hope you would charge the same thing.  Doing a kid a favor is one thing, but the quickest way to lose business is to be screwy with your prices.  A job is worth what it is worth.  Don't make a habit of overcharging just because someone can afford it.  It will come back to bite you eventually.
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald BranscomIf a guy walks into your shop and wants part of his stainless sailboat stuff inspected and repaired, and you know from being a WELL READ welder that he is an ex-CEO that got a $85,000 a month retirement package not including all the other stuff.....How much would you charge??If a young boy WALKS into your shop and needs the expansion chamber for his dirt bike welded how much would you charge?See what i mean?And when i make out my bills i include INSPECTION, CLEANING, FITTING and PREP.Then there is materials like welding gas,electricity,consumables and finally labor.I include that in "attended to all other details"
Reply:I think it will depend a lot on the job.  Pick your fair labor rate from what the other guy is charging and make sure you can at least make double on your materials.  You also have to take into account the consumables you are going to consume, and the fact that Stainless frequently involves more sanding, grinding, wear and tear on your grinders, and polishing and polishing compounds, depending on what you're doing.You really don't want to accidentally eat your butt in consumables.Hopefully that's not an idiot lesson.
Reply:Tough call, How long have yo had the cust.? How do they pay, ? alot of the times you jave to take the Junk jobs to get the gravy,,Kind of Like calling a mechanic on the phone and saying my car wont start,How much to fix it,,I think moest will agree,till you see it,,Not to many  jobs,Unless repete work,Theres no 2 together. But always more for SS,,All depends on above,IMO,Thanks,Jack
Reply:If you don't get a down payment, then you are extending a loan to the client.  Hence, charge higher than with a down payment.  I went through a couple of years where I thought it was not good to charge a down payment It the material cost was under $1000.  Then as business grew, I was alway short money for material because the money was tied up in material waiting to be built.  Some jobs worth doing won't pay a down payment, so recover your interest on the back end.
Reply:$75/hr, I don't weld foe a living but do jobs that require it sometimes. "Cu$tom" Regardless it's $75/hr, if you want me to do a service for you.  Materials 20% mark up to cover my time of figuring, ordering, returning, and dealing with crap.Me!
Reply:Risk to reward.Good exampleI charge by the value. If my work saves you 10k dollars I expect to be compensated. if it is a commodity thing like line boring a bucket or relining  abucket then you have to be @ what everyone else in your area is charging unless you are special.For one of my products ( 3D design and engineering/ manufacturing drawings) I get 4x what the " going" rate is . i have invested a huge amount in Computers, software, custom programming to be hugely more productive than the typical by the hour contracter.but usually quote a fixed price for these jobs . When the customer asks me what my hourly rate is I tell the 300 per hour with a 10 hour minimum. but i can do 40 hours of work in @ 6 hours ( the 40 being how long the other contractors in my field charge for the same item)" they would have paid whatever I asked...... If only I had asked.insert thoughtful quote from someone else2000 Thermal Arc 300GTSW 3.5 hours1946 Monarch 20 x 54 Lathe1998 Supermax 10x54 Mill2004 Haco Atlantic 1/2" Capacity Lasernot mine but i get to play with it
Reply:When my business was in a small town and the business was smaller, I had aa advertising salesman drop by. He told me that at the size of my business I should be spending $1500 a year in advertising. I told him I agreed. I said I would do $1500 worth of free work every year as everyone knows, the best advertising is word of mouth.That was 20 years ago and I still do a lot of free work every year and it has worked out very well for me. A few months ago I made a 2" weld on an antique gate for an older gentileman from Sun City. I told him it was free, but tell your friends wher to come. I ended up getting $12,000 worth of work and am now on their preferred contractor list. It seems like it has always worked out like this.I charge $80 an hour for mig or stick, $100 an hour tig and equal to material costs for weld up metal buildings. I never work by the hour for farmers or ranchers, nor will I tell them my hourly rate. I'm afraid hearing it would cause them to have a heart attack. They just dont keep up with rising costs. But you can almost bet you will get paid in cash right there. The interior decorators I work through say I dont charge enough and that I should put an art charge on top but I never do. And anything that takes less than 15 minutes is usually free, unless the customer is an a$$hole.
Reply:I do a few jobs "on the side," and have learned a bit from it:1)  If you give them an hourly rate, they always wonder if you will drag your feet doing it, or will often question you on why it took as long as you said.2)  If you let them watch, and you do an hour of work, they won't want to pay you more than $30.3)  If they drop off the part, and you call when it gets done, then charge them $30, they don't ask questions.4)  If you go to a shop and do work for them, at their shop, it will always be a short lived relationship.  They will bird-dog you on the time it takes you to do the job, calculate what they pay you on an hourly rate, and be upset.  5)  If you do work for a shop, you're best off to do it at YOUR shop, and charge by the job.In other words, if you're good and can do a job in 20 minutes, they want to pay you 1/3 what they would a crappy worker that took an hour to do it.
Reply:I charge 75 an hour for mig, tig or stick in the shop or in the field regardless of material involved with a one hour minimum for a business in the shop and a 2 hour minimum if I have to crank my truck up. If I have to cross any bridge other than the one here by the shop it's a 4 hour minimum. I'm in this business to make money just like they are in theirs. Now some of us do work on trade and I don't have any problem with that. An example is the guy next door. I do small jobs for him in exchange for a little use of his skidsteer or excavator. Another is the guy who owns the yard I work out of. If something breaks I fix it for him and in exchange he doesn't charge me any rent. I have a couple of really good customers that I occasionally do things for at no charge, but what's a hundred dollar mailbox post built out of paid for scrap compared to a 10 or 12 thousand dollar trailer. Little stuff in the shop for private individuals varies. If I like you it might be free or just enough to cover my costs (this can sometimes bring in some very good work later on). Anything but mild steel and stuff such as electrodes, wire, grinding wheels, etc., are extra. The extra time involved is charged at the hourly rate. The kid with the dirt bike would probably walk out the door at no charge. I used to be a kid and I also have a fondness for bikes. I'll even let him watch and explain what I am doing. Just might inspire a future welder that way.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:When I do side work...I charge $45  just for showing up...then $25-$45 per hour depending on the job...I do alot of work in trade though...guys bring me parts for there race cars and I weld them together for them...in return, they fix my cars!!  They pretty much make out better than I do but I hate paying $85 per hour to a machanic just because I don't know squat about cars and motors!!  But when I make custom there race cars...They tell there friends and I get more work from them...They bring me pictures of parts...Probably patened Im sure...they bring me the material and I weld them together...I get payed and they race there cars and mention that I built there parts...And then they call me some more...Its nice having a welder in your garage and disposal of all sorts of equipment from work!!  heheheJonesy