How stuff is priced

[TaftCoach]

Weird juxtaposition.

I'm looking to have a vinyl stripe installed on my truck. Went to a good shop with a solid reputation and was quoted $1,200.

I'm also looking at a Sea Eagle 380x inflatable kayak. Comes in at around $1,000.

Hmm. Single piece of vinyl stuck on to my truck versus manufacturing a kayak with accessories.

I'm certain it makes sense on some level.

[DocBrown]

The kayak no doubt has anywhere from a 40% to 75% markup vs. custom work from a small shop with an overhead. I've done lots of stripping and decal work. Tedious and labor intensive.

[TWP723]

This is my trike for my paramotor. It's made of 4130 chromoly and weighs less than 30lbs. $1995 + shipping.

[Jagiven]

I had a small accident a few years back. When I picked up the truck I inquired about were I could get some pin stripping done. The truck was still in the detail shop, and the young man told me and said they could do it if I just wanted some vinyl. He installed two strips, with a small gap in-between. It took longer to pick out the color, size and location than it did to put on. Start to finish maybe 20-30 minutes, no charge. He made it looks so easy, I have been thinking about trying it on my wife's new car.

I do agree that pricing seems odd at times. I look at some of these cheap electronics and I just wonder how they can manufacture and ship that item for such a low price.

[Marcm157]

As Doc Brown said - Labor and overhead are dramatically different in the situation you posed. When you are tapping someone's talent, experience, training and their cost of doing business you will pay a premium. I tried to save a few hundred dollars by vinyl wrapping my truck bumpers myself. I knew it was a bit out of my wheelhouse but I thought I could do it. I ended up paying twice for the materials and then the labor on top of it...

[RPR]

We had a service tech ask why he was only getting X number of dollars a hour when we were charging the customer Y number of dollars. We showed him on paper what he was costing. Wage, medical, workman’s com. , company share of SS, service van, vehicle insurance, etc.

[Happy wife / happy life]

Originally Posted by RPR

We had a service tech ask why he was only getting X number of dollars a hour when we were charging the customer Y number of dollars. We showed him on paper what he was costing. Wage, medical, workman’s com. , company share of SS, service van, vehicle insurance, etc.

It’s a darn shame that most employees don’t understand that becoming a “ rich and famous “ independent business person take a lot of guts and cost a lot of money. I have the utmost respect for someone willing to take that chance.