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hi guys & girls

new to this site, i bought a existing business 6 months ago which has been there for some 25years, having worked for Mr t for many years, there prices are high and depending in which town you are in do vary some charge £2.99 for a yale but have seen some branch charge as much as £6.00.

when i took over my shop they were chargeing £2.75 for a cylinder key and no deal for the second.

i instantly put these up to £3.50 and did a second half price.turnover was averaging £500 per week now it up around the £1200 what can i say seems to work here, and there is 4 other key cutting places it town includeing one of Mr T's

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Totaly agree with my" Boss " Matt Bunce but he fails to mention that when a customer returns with a key that fails to work and has put them in a difficult position (3 oclock in the morning and drunk with a key which is as much use as a chocolate fireguard) the normal customer practice would be to apologize, recut the key and except that "the customers always right". Not all establishments abide by these practices and some so called exprienced key cutters can get quite upset with the customer "Ive been doin this job 20 years love I know what i,m doin" you usually find out these types have been in the job 10 minutes and have no pride in there job whatsoever. I,m sure most outlets including large companys like Mr T have knowlegable staff and know the pitfalls of cutting from a bad copy or damaged or bent original and prewarn the customer to try the key at the earliest opportunity and return the key if there is a problem.

Our Key stock is well organised and we have a massive range, rarely do we find a key that we have to special order, the back-up service we give to the customer is another reason why we can justify our prices.....joe bloggs down the road from us cuts keys as cheap as chips but his range of keys are limited and his knowledge even more so, he,s not a competitor he,s a guy who wants to make a quick buck and then scarper like so many do.

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yeah, we have one o' those those guys on the outdoor market, we charge almost twice as much as him but our customer service is a 100% better.

 

he absolutely refuses to deal with any returns he may get, blaming the customer's lock and generally belittling them!!!

 

as you say, a guy just trying to make a quick buck.

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i can't agree with that, we set our prices to our market, not to what we'd always really like to charge.

because we're generally cheaper in the key section we find that that we have a hell of a lot of repeat customers who also bring their shoes in for repair, have their engraving done and return to buy our sundries.

doesn't sound very foolish to me......

i've worked in shops that do charge more and i can say from experience that the majority of custom doesn't return.

i'd also rather be that little bit busier for it than be stood around half of the day waiting for the next joe that i can relieve of his arm.

 

Sorry mate your wrong there. I charge as much if not more than mr T,

My customers always come back. Ive got quite a lot of busy fools around me too :D

It's the way you go about your business that counts, Profesional all the way,

smart staff, clean and profesional shop = Customer

confidence

Dirty old flee pit = Customer think's it's cheap cus it looks cheap

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hi again, this story i put on, has created quite a lot of different attitudes - great that your all saying charge top price for keys, but if that is so and assuming your right why dont you charge timpsons price?

in my town they are the most expensive and apart from one price war have never reduced there price, my turnover is very steady - i am happy what i charge - have 3 staff, V.A.T. registered, and am not looking to charge more as i am in a secondry position. i have more key machines than any one i know ( even timpsons local to me, ) my turnover has increased with every machine i have bought -

thing is you can charge as much as you like, but your customers will either always be loyal to you or talk about you like they always talk about timpsons,, before that remember how they talked about minit! there long gone, who is to follow them?

 

Don't agree with any of that k4mrc, If timpsons weren't there you'd charge more. really your only doing what your other competitors around you are doing to you. If you charged the same as mr t your turn over would go up, and you'd keep all your customers. Cus your better than them. :wink:

I had them charging £1 for any key for 12 months, No effect to me whatsoever. :D

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  • 3 weeks later...
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hi uk900 -

i didn't say that i have 2 other independants local to me!

they charge 1-99 yale type and vat registered!

the other one charges 1-50.

yes maybe that if timps were not there i might but with 2 other independants around price is important!

incidendtly was over at dav, burgs - you cant get a better key cutting operation than them, they dont charge as much as mr T'

strange but true....

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i ain't no busy fool :twisted:

i'm a man who knows my own market through a lot of trial and error :!:

 

a lot of it being adjusted, updated and revised since i joined this forum 8)

 

if you read some of my earlier posts then you'll know that i've taken a lot on board since joining, even to the extent of upping my prices, but i still have to do so with what i know about my area dynamic.

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Well done Lee, charge what you can for the quality of service you provide. If you're on a market stall then a couple of quid might be acceptable, however, in a shop, maybe high street position, the other end of the scale applies in my opinion. Christ, I was charging £3-95 in my shops for a 1a when I was trading some 4 years ago! Also, I put a pound on top if it was a double glazing blank!

 

Keith

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Guest blank

sorry 4 delay in response, had problems loggin on and a holiday!

 

:smt009 wholesale retail

dont think that's right either -

wholesale is key blanks to you and me etc;

they have customers who call at their "retail outlet" and have keys cut!!

 

to admit i am wrong about some things

i have recently put my prices up!!!

will monitor it and let you know how that goes.

:P

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Also davenport burgess are stuck in the middle of nowhere not on the High street :roll:

 

Their Wholesale premises are out of town but their Retail shop could be and maybe, in the forseable future, anywhere.

 

They would also get referals to the chosen location of the retail shop, they would not have to rely on passing trade as most do.

Remember, they are in an area well known for Lock manufacturing and are very well known already within the community, plus they have the best UK Chipshop nearby :wink:

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If or when Davenprt Burgess's profits fall unexpetantly due to International competition or lost accounts, what is to stop them from opening retail shops in an area near you!!

 

Get it now?

 

 

Now I'm not saying that this will happen, just that it could. They wont sit on their Laurels if trade takes a downward spiral.

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If or when Davenprt Burgess's profits fall unexpetantly due to International competition or lost accounts, what is to stop them from opening retail shops in an area near you!!

 

Get it now?

 

 

Now I'm not saying that this will happen, just that it could. They wont sit on their Laurels if trade takes a downward spiral.

 

Yeah I get it...I was just takin the urin cos I had to read it 3 times to work it out. :lol:

You sound like Tony Blair, all round the houses just to say summat simple :lol:

I happen to know davenport burgess have never been so busy, Quality blanks, quality backup service, and the range of blanks in stock is second to none :wink:

 

what if gravograph, suregrave,mastergrave,signature see a dowm turn will they all start opening outlets...It aint that easy.

 

We all know CB has been opening outlets, personly I don't agree with it.

Opening outlets, with good knowledge of there customers accounts???

Bit sneaky if you ask me, Nobody at CB's talks about it "quietly does it"

Who's to say if and when they think they're big enough, they won't start opening up randomly all over the place.....sleeping giant......Not davo's :wink:

 

so if you need summat to worry about. theres a threat just around the corner, and we're all helping them along the way, myself included :smt028

 

I'd like to know what Chris Wilson's comments would be on this subject :shock:

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