Cost advice

snakemanStoo

A friend asked me to have a go at fixing his guitar, the truss rod was siezed and the neck resembled a bow ready to loose an arrow.

I fixed it, and now I am at a loss, as I normally do this stuff on my own gear I have no idea what to charge for my time.

How much should I charge, bearing in mind I've saved him from throwing the guitar away, also mate's rates etc.

I'm not the greatest at putting what's in my head down into text, so if this seems to be random wordings and nonsense I do apologise.  Try your best to understand it.

Thanks.

Iamnobody

How good a friend is he?

I’d probably do it free for a mate...

If you want to put a value on it then £10 an hour seems reasonable for mate’s rates.

Majorscale

For a friend? I wouldn’t charge!

richardhomer

Iamnobody said:

How good a friend is he?

I’d probably do it free for a mate...

If you want to put a value on it then £10 an hour seems reasonable for mate’s rates.

And if he doesn’t pay, reintroduce the bow....

rlw

Bottle of decent wine?  Bottle of spirits?  gram of coke?

breakstuff

Majorscale said:

For a friend? I wouldn’t charge!

Yep, this. 

I'd just take satisfaction from knowing I'd sorted it for him. 

Kittyfrisk

Charging for helping a mate?
Why don't you just deny all knowledge of ever having laid eyes on it, then sell it to cover your costs 

johnl

Another vote for just doing it for free. Isn't that what mates are for?

JerkMoans

+1 for the freebie

a decent chap would buy you a bottle of something refreshing, you say he needn’t have bothered but thanks anyway, and honour is satisfied allround.

zepp76

I wouldn't dream of charging a mate for doing a favour, if he buys you a pint or bottle of wine then that's a bonus.

Sassafras

rlw said:

Bottle of decent wine?  Bottle of spirits?  gram of coke?

Have you seen the price of coke these days?!?

pintspiller

It's a favour for a mate. He'll do something for you later, maybe did in the past. Don't say no if he offers to buy you a pint.

steveledzep

pintspiller said:

It's a favour for a mate. He'll do something for you later, maybe did in the past. Don't say no if he offers to buy you a pint.

Careful not to spill it though ! 

Maynehead

I did this for someone recently, for the husband of one of my wife’s friends, so not even a “mate”.

I charged nothing, and next time I saw him he unexpectedly presented me with a bottle of whiskey.

Sometimes karma works.

thegummy

Glad to see the replies so far.

Personally it would never cross my mind to charge a friend for fixing something. Must have fixed over 100 computers and never charged anyone.

If a friend fixed something for me I might buy him a pint or a wee present as a thank you but if he tried to charge me he wouldn't be a friend for long.

rlw

Sassafras said:

rlw said:

Bottle of decent wine?  Bottle of spirits?  gram of coke?

Have you seen the price of coke these days?!?

Unfortunately yes.

PonchoGreg

The satisfaction of getting a setup right (on a guitar you don't know so potentially learning something from it) and of helping out a friend would be ample reward I'd think

PonchoGreg

It actually once cost me money to completely clean up and set up a guitar for my best mate (was away from all my supplies). It was worth it, if only to witness first-hand that a well maintained PRS SE is indeed a fine guitar

tony99

£20-£25 pr hour plus parts

you can't pay bills with a pocket full of favours mate

SlopeSoarer

snakemanStoo said:

A friend asked me to have a go at fixing his guitar, the truss rod was siezed and the neck resembled a bow ready to loose an arrow.

I fixed it, and now I am at a loss, as I normally do this stuff on my own gear I have no idea what to charge for my time.

How much should I charge, bearing in mind I've saved him from throwing the guitar away, also mate's rates etc.

I'm not the greatest at putting what's in my head down into text, so if this seems to be random wordings and nonsense I do apologise.  Try your best to understand it.

Thanks.

He can't really be a mate or you wouldn't be asking: )

Funkfingers

Ideally, the friend appreciates how much trouble you have gone to, getting his guitar right. Some day, in the future, that friend can assist you free of charge.

Try showing the friend a brief explanation of what you did. Maybe, then, he can suss out how to do it for himself.

What you do not want is to create a relationship of dependency in which people imagine that it is no trouble at all for you to fix their gear, free of charge, at zero notice - possibly at their home address, with no contribution for your fuel costs.