Lee Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 In this topic http://www.shoerepairer.info/bb/viewtop ... 8&start=20 Combination prices we all charge combination prices on shoe repairs(dont we?)cheaper to get soles and heels done at the same time as opposed to individualy?so tell me do you charge combination prices? or do you charge full price on all repairs? carry on! Since this was off topic, I Thought I’d carry it on here! My Thoughts! Price of a gents Heel £8.00 Price of a gents Leather ½ Sole £20.00 Combination price £28.00 Here’s my reasoning! First, you have to remember I am in a very different market place to most of you. I am in the corner of a housing estate with 8 other shops. The High street has a very different performance strategy to mine. In order to maintain a customer base I have to do things very differently other wise my customers might as well head into town. My business is build on trust and understanding. I never combination discount, my customers know when I state a price that’s it! I never add sales on the back of a request. An example is many customers ask me “Do they need soling yet?†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Price of a gents Heel £8.00Price of a gents Leather ½ Sole £20.00 Combination price £28.00 Why should I discount for it? Lee You shouldn't at those prices Lee, same job from me is £39.50 already discounted by £3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 There are many variants which determine the "list price" and probably the biggest are overheads, location & competition. Fortunately for me, my overheads are peanuts! this helps for a competitive price list! My prices are based loosely around our own December price survey where the price of gents heels averaged out to £8.12 per pair & leather ½ soles came out at £22.50 giving an average surveyed price of £30.62 Again given my low overheads my price is in-line with the survey. Its also interesting that ¾ of those who filled out the survey offer combination discounts whilst ¼ of us follow my philosophy! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 my overheads are peanuts! this helps for a competitive price list! Mine too, around 10K per annum rent & rates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 As much as that!!! I only pay £6000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Mine too, around 10K per annum rent & rates As much as that!!!I only pay £6000 Blimey, I can see why you both have to charge so much more for your repairs! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh-Candoit (ENG) Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 If I was trading I would set my stall according to the area. Keep my price structure as simple as possible, display it so that the customers can see it without getting a stepladder or magnifying glass.If the price is too dear then offer an alternative that could bring less cash but more profit. My golden rule would be. "Dont confuse the customer". make their visit a pleasurable one, not one where they go out feeling as if they have been duped into paying for something they dont want. (personal view). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lee. Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 It seems that too many customers expect a discount if they are having more than one job done at the same time , probably due to the BOGOF offers that the supermarkets like to push all the time, often trying to make you buy things you do not want . Some outlets seem to offer discounts to entice customers into having an extra job done that they did not want in the first place , just to try and squeeze as much out them of as much as they can whilst they are in the shop , never dreaming to do a "combo" offer if both jobs had actually been request to start with. Our price for Leather half sole and rubber heel is £19.99 or £15.99 for just soles , and £6.99 for heels , our prices are held down by the cheap shoe shops nearby whose prices for mens shoes start at just £9.99 ! , and to top all this our rent alone is over £20,000 a year for a very small unit just 16ft by 10 ft . We too , like Lee rely on regular repeat buisness , often advising customers to put the money towards a new pair ,sooner than repair a pair of shoes that have obviously seen much better days , worn out uppers etc , also reminding them that it is a rich man that buys a cheap pair of shoes ,due to the fact that they will need to be replaced much sooner than someone who invests in a decent pair that can be repaired several time giving many years of faithfull service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 your overheads are twice as much as mine, but you repair charge is half of mine. (scratching head) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 £19.99 You can't tell me you can buy a decent shoe with Leather soles for £9.99 so why do you compare your charge for that repair with the price of a cheap pair of plastic shoes. In my opinion there is no relevance between them. I assume you open 9 hours a day, 6 days a week too!! NEVER undervalue your service, EVER!!! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iain Cheall Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 ah i see you have committed the ultimate offence on the forum smmultiservices , you have dared to quote your price which is lower than the rest. They will be telling you not to be a busy fool soon when will you all learn not everyone has the perfect location and clientel, if the lad is making a living and he is happy leave him and his pricing structure alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Carry on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 your overheads are twice as much as mine, but you repair charge is half of mine. (scratching head) If your overheads are high, its usually because you have an excellent High Street position, More passing trade, More custom, so in theory you could go cheeper. If your in a small community shopping area, low overheads, less passing trade, less custom, you could charge higher prices. Its called convienience shopping. You always pay more in corner shops for groceries. I've given up on the price argument, I charge a Top price because I always do a Top job. And I couldn't care less were my shop was positioned. You know I'm right ........ Unless your Daft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perplexus Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Instead of offering combination discounts, we offer 10% off single repairs over £22.00, if paid in advance. Our repair pricing and the qualifying price are carefully engineered to ensure that only 'worthwhile' repairs qualify for this discount! We've been doing this for over 20 years, and have found that not only does it help to enhance cash flow, it encourages customers to call back and collect their repairs . . . and if they don't come back for weeks, then at least the money for the repair is in the bank, and not sitting on the shelf! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 I did this for 1 year,then took away the discount and everyone stills pay up front,no arguments. I dont do combination discounts any more,there's the price if it's cheaper down the road go there. My prices are set to what I think is reasonable for my standard of work. 90% of people will pay the price because they appreciate good workmanship.....the other 10% usually come back tail between legs eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Just trying to help Iain. There are occasions when people operate a business with little previous business experience. Many come from a multiple backround and are too focused on running their new business from a managers point of view rather than a businessmans point of view. Most of us know that there is a major difference between the two but many fail before realising that there is a diffence! I certainly did for many years untill I started taking notice and advice from other people. We all need a little of help from time to time, even UK900 Lets face it, many members of this site, I'm sure, have tweaked their price lists using the price survey as a guide. It's not to say that you were wrong before the adjustments, just a little out of line with the average. this is one example of looking at what others are doing and making a judgement as to whether you can apply that help to your business. It's very easy to become out of touch, especially over pricing. In my opinion, too many get caught up with what they have done in previous years and the fact that they have competition down the road. Price is only part of the package you offer, make sure you educate your customers in understanding that. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Say for example someone brought in a job costing £27.50. And you said "There is a 10% discount if you pay up now", And they refused to pay!! Wouldn't that make you suspicious that they wouldn't collect them at all. But then you have set out your stall, and couldn't really ask them to pay in advance. I ask for payment on most stuff over £10 If they say they haven't got that much cash on them. we ask for a deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Calm down Mark, calm down mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Say for example someone brought in a job costing £27.50. And you said "There is a 10% discount if you pay up now", And they refused to pay!! Wouldn't that make you suspicious that they wouldn't collect them at all. But then you have set out your stall, and couldn't really ask them to pay in advance. I ask for payment on most stuff over £10 If they say they haven't got that much cash on them. we ask for a deposit. Calm down Mark, calm down mate Hey Keith I am calm Its just my opinion on a thread, same as your opinion And shouldn't be taken as "the Law" as I said its just an opinion. carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobblers Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 for once i'm on both sides of the fence on this one and i can actually agree with all parties involved. on combo discounts we generally offer one with soles and heels combined. it's only usually about a quid or so which isn't a huge amount to bite us in the arse and this little quid can usually guarantee us extra work. say for instance, a lady comes in with a pair of stilettos and asks for just heels, we check the shoe over and recommend a sole or a toepiece if they need it. now the majority will ask if it's urgently needed and in some instances we tell them it's not but it's cheaper if they have the job done combined instead of having to return a week later to have the work done anyway saving them some time also. keith it may surprise you to know that the TJ Hughes' here for a good few years were selling mens' brogues and oxfords with full leather insole boards, stitched soles and leather uppers for £14.99 - £19.99. To the trained eye they weren't brilliant but the customer doesn't have a trained eye most of the time and all they see is a smart looking pair of shoes, apparently well constructed, made almost entirely of leather at a cracking price. fortuntately we're not that close to TJ Hughes but i feel sorry for the local multiple which is in the same area as them when they're charging prices like that. i'd love to know how much they buy them for if they can turn them out at that price smmulti, the majority of our ladies' repairs are done on shoes they bought fairly cheap at any number of shoe shops in our town but they seem to rather want to get them mended and keep them rather than go and buy another new pair for a fiver or a tenner. i've never understood this but i suspect it's because cheap crappy shoes are a bugger to wear in and the customers are just saving themselves the pain of having to break in a new pair. anyway, we were stuck in a rut for years with keeping our prices down and due largely to the forum and it's bunch of self opinionated ingrates (just kiddng guys sorta ) we bit by bit started to increase our prices to a level better suited to the convenience, workmanship and service that we offer and it's worked. on the way we managed to lose the moaners and whingers who would see your business go down the drain just to save a pound for themselves and instead got a whole new load of clientele. it's still an ongoing operation as we don't want to scare everyone off by hiking our prices up too much in one go. try it those of you who who are like what we used to be, if it doesn't work then you can always go back to running your business the usual way with hopefully no loss but a little wiser as to how you can best run your operation. a bit of advice that hugh once gave me and which has always stuck with me: have a good look at your shop, see where you can improve it from a customer's point of view, lay things out in a nice simple way and try to look as clean and professional as you can afford. this alone can allow you to increase your prices over a period of time as people nearly always know or expect that they're gonna spend a litle more in a place that looks professional and is going to offer them good service, workmanship and a smile. another piece of advice which is probably irrelevant to this post but i'm gonna give you anyway as i'm on one now, get me, ooooh: never ask a closed question such as ''can i help you''? or ''are you ok''? this gives the customer a chance to immediately say 'no, i'm fine'' because a lot of the time they think you're gonna give them the hard sell. always try to phrase it in such a way so that instead of dismissing you they have to respond directly to you such as: ''what can i help you with'' - ''what are you looking for'' - ''what can i do for you''? none of the above statements can be met with a ''no, i'm ok'' from a customer and will always encourage the customer to tell you what they want. never pounce on a customer as they just walk in unless they approach you directly, give them a small while to have a quick look around your shop then approach them to see how you can help, this gives them breathing space and time to think about what they want. who coined the phrase busy fool? it's the worst example of the english language that i've ever come across, people who use it and abide by it should be taken out the back and beaten with a piece of orthopaedic foam till they relent. seriously, that phrase is a pile of crap and it's bandied about as a natural defensive mechanism by some folk. think about it like this: joe bloggs does two grand a week on keys and is running around like a twit trying to keep up. obviously, he's too cheap and he's gonna run himself into the ground having made little or no money for his endeavours. so, he ups his prices by about 30% and finds he's still just as busy, albeit making a bit more money, regardless, he's knackered. so. to try and ease the workload he ups his prices again and still he's running around........ this is just one scenario that contradicts the phrase, there are some that will support it but they wil never hold water as far as i'm concerned. (incomiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 joe bloggs does two grand a week on keys and is running around like a twit trying to keep up. obviously, he's too cheap and he's gonna run himself into the ground having made little or no money for his endeavours. so, he ups his prices by about 30% and finds he's still just as busy, albeit making a bit more money, eer No, he ain't making "a bit more money" He's making 30% more money.........Hence he's no longer a "busy fool" he's just "busy" making good money. He is no longer a fool 1, Busy making no money = FOOL 2, Busy making good money = NO FOOL Old saying: "Its not easy being a fool". regards uk900 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Mark, I was merely quoting your signature for a laugh which I had not noticed before, my comment had no reference to the debate Carry on................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironplanet uk900 Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 come ea ya bleeda I read my post back to myself, thinking....whats he on about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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