mobile welders

[Portable Welder]

I called my competitor today to ask him if he got the job and he said thanks for the referal.

While talking to Him I told Him about the type of work I specialize in and He said He will remember me for the bigger jobs that He cant handle.

I give him a few little jobs and He gives me the big jobs. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

[urch55]

I find that the auto repair welding is the absolute pit of welding profitwise.
They never want to clean or let you clean anything and just want you to drop everything. I blow them off almost instantly unless they are friends or refferals. They broke it when it was perfect but now they want a scab job

Yes FK: I find that alot in the heavy and forestry equipment repair that I do. Some thing perfect from the factory that is 3/8" or 1/2" thick and it's broken, cracked, ripped or even missing. They want it like brand new and 80-90% of the time it can be done. But the question in back of my mind is how did it break in the first place.? I try to solve that before repairing it, then I let the customer know my findings. You know they hardly ever voluntarily tell you what happened, but I kinda make it a requirement if they want it fixed..Their answer is don't know.!! That way I know to make it bullet, bomb or nuclear proof..

[seattle smitty]

How much you charge for your Art?

Right. Also, why did your weld break, Cat? Possibly the guy who ground it out and re-did it feels he is justified in including his knowledge, ability, and experience (not to mention his craftsmanship) as part of his hourly rate, just as any other professional does.

[JSFAB]

Live with it. I have to haul a forklift around,,,,, $100/ per hour right now, lowboy and tractor plus driver. Two hour minimum. I drive my truck out,,,,, it's a class 7, same deal. I don't even like starting it up, unless I'm gonna make $200. Yeah,,,, I probably will cut the regular customer a break, for just a quick grind and weld,,,,, but the person who calls me out of the blue??? never gonna hear from them again????? If the truck's out there,,, they pay. It's a PITA,,,, I will tell you right now,,, driving a truck anywhere,,, it is work, and I expect to be compensated for that.

Now,,,, say, a person unbolted everything,,, and brought it to me??? Did everything possible to make it easy for me? JUST a quick grind and weld? Depending on my mood,,,, could be anything between "free" and $50.00. Or more, depending on how honest the person was on the phone. And my mood at the time, of course.

[Powerstroked]

Maybe I sound rude or close minded but my opinion is this: If they can afford custom art work, they can afford to get it repaired.

[urch55]

Maybe I sound rude or close minded but my opinion is this: If they can afford custom art work, they can afford to get it repaired.

PS. That was not the thread starter. The art work they bought, and was damaged in shipping. It's the artist that is complaining about the repair bill.

[Powerstroked]

PS. That was not the thread starter. The art work they bought, and was damaged in shipping. It's the artist that is complaining about the repair bill.

Oh I know, that still doesn't change the fact that they can probably afford it. It's nice that the artist is looking out for his/her customer(s) but either way, art isn't cheap. So while I'm sorry that the weld broke on their brand new piece, I'm sure it isn't a problem paying to have it repaired.

[CarbedNotch]

The shipper needs to call ups and file a "claim" for a damage during ship. every package has $100 insurance.

[m.k.swelding]

I get $85.00 hr. from the time I leave the shop.

[cat]

Thanks for the responses about pricing. If someone were to bring me this particular piece to fix the weld I would have charged them about $35 (and that includes $7 for the spray paint). I'm a metal artist who works out of my garage. I would never charge more for a piece just because I know someone has a lot of money but if someone really wants a piece and it is too expensive, I will figure out how I can do it less expensive for them-within reason.

The art piece sold for $1300 and was a combined metal/fused glass piece. This included metal, $800 for the glass part, 2 60-mile round trips to powder coat to deliver and pickup, the price for 2 different colors powder coat, welding supplies, a 25 mile trip to deliver it to the shipper and labor. The packer was the husband of my glass person who has worked in moving for, well, forever and knows about packing. He packs $4000 glass pieces to be shipped all over.

I'm guessing that the metal portion of the art piece was dropped from a decent height-it was bottom heavy with a 3/16" steel plate- by UPS. It probably weighed 40 pounds. We asked the client if the box was damaged and she said it was perfect (although admittedly the box had already been tossed). The clients could not assemble the piece with 2 screws and had to ask for help so we're not sure we believe her answer. With no carton, it's hard to go after UPS. My glass person and I were guessing about $50 max for the repair so we were very surprised when we received the bill for $155. At least we had made a profit on the art-if it had been $155 repair for a $400 piece, we would have had a loss.

I would have liked to go after UPS because we also paid extra for the insurance on the piece but my glass person (who does UPS shipping all the time) thought it would be too much of a hassle. So we just split the repair bill.

Thanks again for the info. cat