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Last year I decided I'd fallen behind a bit with my shoe repair prices and put everything up by 10% across the board.

I expected a few comments, but got almost none, and didn't see any drop in repair numbers either.

I am lucky in that I'm the only repairer in the town, otherwise things might have been different.

As long as you know your market, you can put up prices by more than you'd think, but 30%? I'm not sure about that much...

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I have now tried this on 4 customers, and at £5.20 the first did cough and splutter, so I made an excuse to incorrect Identification and got my standard £4.00 BUT the 3 others all said yep with out question (one wanted 3) and seamed pleasantly surprised when I told them I had said the wrong price and charged them my standard price.

Only question remains would they have come back? Since they didn’t bat an eyelid at the price I think probably…………… :idea: So am I to cheap, perhaps I should do a price review :wink:

 

Lee

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hi guys, sorry but been having computer problems - nearly sorted and will be on line this week at work so hope to put more posts on then.

lee you chrge £4 a cylinder key and thats great but i charge "2-99 and 2 for £4-50 - ex special keys of course, thing is how busy are you with keys - how many different machines do you have, cause if your only cutting 30 or 40 a week i can understand why u charge so much. if your cutting 3 or 4 hundred a week i'm putting up my prices.

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not really - i can cut nearly 2k of keys a week. but have lots of competition but winning as i offer more types of keys than every one else.

i think there is a fine line between price / being good value for money -

but if any one has lots of competition and still charges £4 for a 1a - and takes lots of money - perhaps i'm wrong, still willing to listen and learn.

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each time my prices have gone up above £3 it seems to dampen my turnover, gave it a month last time.

i'm well established 15 yrs,

market traders have come and gone.

in fact hardware shops seem to be the biggest competitors one i know of charges less than 50p for a 1a.

i'm not crying but you have to appreciate if you have serious competition you cant charge £4 a key! i'm middle of the road i think on my prices - best thing i do is keep investing and carrying the best range at a reasonable price,

friends of mine charge higher prices but there turnover almost always is behind mine - despite my shop being the smallest!

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I have a very different strategy to my business than most, I like high profit margin work. I would rather cut a key than stitch a shoe for the same money. I have tailored my business to meet this need.

What ever your turn over there is only so much work one person can produce in the time given. If you have several people working for you then sure, you can off set overheads and costs between you & your work force.

But if you’re a one man operation (which I happily am) then you need to cut you cloth accordingly.

 

I have a 306-A mill machine, Fothringham mortice, 103 tubular key machine, jakey link tibbe, Retro cylinder & RW-2 with tex code.

 

Key cutting accounts for 28% of my turn over. And you have to also consider that my business is very, very different to the majority of yours. I am tucked away in the corner of an estate of middle class houses and bungalows. My marketing is very different to the considerations of a high street or multiple concern. This was something that took me quite few years to fully appreciate or begin to understand.

 

Lee

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  • 3 months later...
I completely agree with Keith's post

 

I've been self-employed over 15 years & my key machine set-up was just two units then, a Silca Record Plus & a Jakey MKII, which have long gone

 

Within my small town there were seven other key cutting outlets, and all were cheaper than me, but I offered a full service, if a non-stocked key was required it would be order for next day delivery & supplied at a premium price, I never missed the opportunity to make a sale

 

Today I boast a bench full of Silca machinery

Record 2000

Delta SA

2 x Delta FO & Multicopy carriage

Lancer plus

Bravo Maxima

Matrix S

RW 2 + TEXCODE

Also an AD100 Vehicle programmer by Advanced Diagnostics

 

Oh, & still got a Jakey Colt & that little Model 103 Tubular cutting M/C

 

My starting price for a key today is £3.25 & I don't do a second key deal, although I do offer quantity discount. I turnover in excess of £50K per annum in keys alone

 

And guess how many of the other seven places are still trading............. Non

 

Tel

 

Absolutely bang on tel. I charge £3.99 Cylinder £5.25 Mortice. No second key deal, I too offer quantity deals.

The competition are always trying to slyly undercut and rubbish us. But we have a top notch setup whilst one of them still uses a MANCUNA :lol:

They can't understand why we're always buzi.

Drives round in a beema and cuts keys with a old mancuna.

As I've said before on this forum "No investment No future" :smt089

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I moved in on a minit shop, 3 doors away. Priced all my services to match theres. Immediately to my supprise they started doing all shoe repairs for £1 soles,heels the lot, All keys £1 the lot. They advertised in the local paper every week with a further discount voucher :o

I thought s#@t I'm finished.

I knew I couldn't match this ridiculous offer. And thought I'd be gone in a few weeks. I didn't alter my prices took a deep breath and hoped for the best. 6 months later they were takin £30 - £80 per day and they closed the store.

Top quality service, Nice looking shop, polite and friendly staff & putting everything back into the business was the key in my oppinion...NOT the PRICE.

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