Discount for friends [Archive]

mgmelec

08-12-2007, 05:27 PM

How much do you discount a friend? A builder that i've worked with for a long time is now adding on to his own home. He and i have become friends, and his wife and kid hang with my wife and kids.

The job consists of 70 openings, a jacuzzi tub, furnace, and air cond. unit. My normal price for this job would be 7 to 8k.

As a side note i wire maybe 6 small additions a year for him.

mdshunk

08-12-2007, 05:28 PM

mengelman

08-12-2007, 05:59 PM

All my customers are my friends. I give them all the same discount.
Dont forget, you are his friend also. Do you expect him to give you a premium?

satcom

08-12-2007, 06:00 PM

For friends and family, it's either free or it's full price. Anything in between invites trouble, in my experience.

I certainly wouldn't want a person who's otherwise a customer knowing exactly how cheaply you can do a job, if you know what I mean.

Charity is best reserved for those who can't otherwise afford it.

Once he cuts a deal for him, friend or not, the price is etched, and he will be looking for a better deal, down the road.

I agree, it's either free or it's full price.

hardworkingstiff

08-12-2007, 07:07 PM

If he is truly your friend, he won't expect nor accept a discount. This is how you make your money. He makes money off of you every time you wire an addition.

480sparky

08-12-2007, 07:26 PM

As a side note i wire maybe 6 small additions a year for him.

Ask him what his discount is for an addition for one of his friends.

brian john

08-12-2007, 07:30 PM

For friends and family, it's either free or it's full price. Anything in between invites trouble, in my experience.

THE ONLY WAY TO GO.

At a party recently a woman asked a group of us "Ok which one of you is an electrician?" no one answered she asked 3 times till I finally answered I am a electrical contractor, but I know nothing about electrical work. "Then you could not hang a fixture for me?" my answer, I do do that type of work. Two negative responses to her request, plus my no answer I was hoping she'd take a hint!

I also get asked do you do side work, my response "This is my side job and my full time job"

cadpoint

08-12-2007, 07:51 PM

THE ONLY WAY TO GO
"Then you could not hang a fixture for me?" my answer, I do do that type of work. Two negative responses to her request, plus my no answer I was hoping she'd take a hint!
...

Got about the same meeting the the mother of my new daughters suiter, "oh your an electrician, my spa's broke", "I bring in the power", 2x's ...:rolleyes:

ITO

08-12-2007, 08:35 PM

Make him furnish the material then go help him wire it one weekend for free.

Friends make terrible clients, you are better of just keeping him as a friend.

peter d

08-12-2007, 08:48 PM

I always do electrical work for friends and family for free. The good thing is that my family is small and I don't have that many friends. :D

satcom

08-12-2007, 08:58 PM

Make him furnish the material then go help him wire it one weekend for free.

Friends make terrible clients, you are better of just keeping him as a friend.

That sounds like a plan, that would work.

emahler

08-12-2007, 09:02 PM

Make him furnish the material then go help him wire it one weekend for free.

Friends make terrible clients, you are better of just keeping him as a friend.

i do that as well....typically I tell everyone that if I get to drink beer and supervise, it's free...if I have to get my tools, it'll cost an arm and a leg.

I just realized years ago that it wasn't fair to my family that I was working nights and weekends, doing favors for "friends", while they spent time with their families...

celtic

08-12-2007, 09:11 PM

My wife's cousin owned a restaurant. My wife and I were "regulars" there. We paid full price every time.
My BIL is an architect. I wired his his basement remodel...he insisted I charge "full price".
I need a set of prints for my own home. BIL charged me full price.

We all remain friends/family.

Bob Kraemer

08-12-2007, 09:43 PM

For friends and family, it's either free or it's full price. Anything in between invites trouble, in my experience.
Marc,
Those were the exact words I was going to post!!!!

brian john

08-12-2007, 09:47 PM

When I was younger and all my friends weer building or remodeling I did do trades, I have honest fair friends and it worked out. Nothing like having a carpenter on hand when replacing windows or a brick layer when installing a fireplace. Now we all hire a contractor when we need work done.

tonyou812

08-12-2007, 10:20 PM

DONT DO IT, like Marc said its free or full price. Ive been there too many times and it sucks. Here's whats gonna happen, your gonna bust your ass for little money and your "friend" is going to expect you to jump through hoops for him. He start saying crap like uuuhhh me and the wife were thinking and ..................(which really means, my wife wants) and since were such good buddies would you mind adding this and that and uh does that light look centered to you or uhhh my wife wants only on sconce in the bathroom now is that a problem "Buddy"? Dont do it, would you ask your lawyer or accountant friend for a discount? and would they do it? And you know how the "Ill supply the material thing is gonna go..... Free or full price your a professional and people shouldnt expect you to bust your ass so they can save a few bucks. If they were your own blood than maybe but a builder?

macmikeman

08-13-2007, 01:16 AM

I am an electrical contractor. I no longer have friends, I have customers.:grin:

infinity

08-13-2007, 06:01 AM

I have a friend who's a plumber. Both of us were doing additions in the same year. His was first. Deal was I would do his work for free and vice versa. If I spent 100 man hours at his place he barely spent 50 at mine. His job got finished, mine only got finished when I became a plumber. What sounded like a good idea turned out to be a lopsided disaster.

LawnGuyLandSparky

08-13-2007, 09:51 AM

charlie b

08-13-2007, 11:11 AM

For some reason, I don't seem to have this problem. None of my friends try to get me to design or calculate stuff for them. :confused: :confused: ;) :grin:

kkwong

08-13-2007, 11:31 AM

I am an electrical contractor. I no longer have friends, I have customers.:grin:

Mac so damn true. I once did a job for a friend and for whatever reason charged them half price. They went and told their friends how much I did the job for and I ended up irritating a lot of people.

Save the discounts for chairity work or people who really need it. If you want to give him a discount, tell him to furnish his own material and you'll just charge him an hourly rate.

emahler

08-13-2007, 11:36 AM

when we were doing a lot of resi service, sometimes I would use the friend/acquantance for corporate espionage.

I would have them call in a few other EC's and get quotes on the job...these would just go into the "now ya know" file. I would then do the job for the lowest quote they got (usually in off hours)

This way they knew what was really going on in my world. And I learned how to sell beyond price for actual customers.

ITO

08-13-2007, 12:09 PM

Seriously if this guy is your friend and your families spend leisure time together then there is a potential for hurt feelings here. Sort of a damned if you do, dammed if you don’t, type of deal. Don’t worry about what he will do for you, don’t compare yourself to a doctor or a lawyer, just take a look at how much you enjoy being friends with this guy and his family and decide if its worth a weekend of helping him do his addition.

Besides if your wives are friends then the decision has already been made for you, so might as well make the best out of it.

dab

08-13-2007, 03:36 PM

kiss,kiss,hug,hug....to what extent fo your friends offer to help you. if they never offer or turn down requests to help you then you should politely say that you are too busy at this time. if you do work for free then make them pull the permit and buy all the materials. if they can't agree to that small a part of the job....

mattsilkwood

08-13-2007, 05:20 PM

i do that as well....typically I tell everyone that if I get to drink beer and supervise, it's free...if I have to get my tools, it'll cost an arm and a leg.

...

my thoughts exactly. kinda like when i was a teenager and dad would " help" me work on my junk cars . all you got to do is this this and that, but before you start get me a beer.:grin:

tonyou812

08-13-2007, 06:34 PM

Do what I do, when you think some one is going to ask you for free or discout work try to pre empt it by rubbing your head and chin and tell them how your so busy and no time to do it all and if that doesnt work just play dumn....... oh was that next week .......theres no way ill make it im just buried with work (as you take a sip from your mint julip, in your back yard with your feet up, maybe keep a hammer close to you so you could bang it when "those" friends call.....:D

dduffee260

08-13-2007, 06:47 PM

I used to have the best friends money could buy till I ran out of money.

satcom

08-13-2007, 07:08 PM

I used to have the best friends money could buy till I ran out of money.

It takes some years to learn that lesson!

celtic

08-13-2007, 07:35 PM

It takes some years to learn that lesson! ...and some money :D

benmin

08-13-2007, 07:45 PM

Besides if your wives are friends then the decision has already been made for you, so might as well make the best out of it.

I used to get wired about that. But now I realize they plan a function around it and after the works done, I get plenty of free beer and food plus play time on my buddies expense.

2 hrs of work free and the buddy pays the play bill. Works for me

mgmelec

08-13-2007, 08:04 PM

Thanks for all the feedback! The reason i posted this thread is my carpenter friend and i have allready been down this road in the past. He built my addition, and i wired a house for him for cost. As far as i'm concerned were even, as far as working for beers and bbq on the weekends no way, it seems every three months or so i end up working a week for free. Friends, family, and a few customers who reffer a lot of work my way. I guess you all answered my question, full price.

ceknight

08-13-2007, 10:20 PM

The reason i posted this thread is my carpenter friend and i have allready been down this road in the past....

I have a good friend who is a GC. I don't work for him on his jobs as a matter of policy, but I do work on his houses. I sometimes hire him to work on my jobs or my house. We do all of our work on what I guess you can call the "full invoice credit system" -- I bill full price for work I do on his houses. He bills full price for work he does for me. We put the invoices on a clipboard and every few months get together for lunch and see who's on the losing end of the balance ledger. At that point we either settle up or decide to keep the credits floating, depending on how in-line or out-of-whack the balance is.

The important thing is we can always be sure that nothing has been discounted and we know who owes who what, even if no money changes hands on a per-job basis. It's a pretty good way to stay friends with those you have both a business and personal relationship with.

charlie tuna

08-13-2007, 11:02 PM

now that sounds like a very good way to do it!!! it's natural for people to think their time is more valuable than someone elses !!! i have always felt i was on the losing end of the stick when trading labor with another trade. i got to the point that i would do it for free, rather than try to work out a trade. that way, it would really have to be someone special for me to get involved. people who know me, realize i'm busy and thats the best excuss i can give them. although, i'm in the middle of wiring a house for a very good friend, who is busting his butt building this house. he has no skill to trade when i built mine (just finished last month) and his wife is very particular on their entire house. satruday i brought my ditching machine over and dug all the underground feeds for them. i have warned her to select her fixtures and trim for over three months. this week i plan on trimming it out as the painters are finishing up --- today i picked up the trim (i selected) and i have made my mind up to blank-off any fixture outlets as i trim out the house.. when i finish trimming out --- i'm out-of-there!!! i have my own things to do ---- some people just don't understand that........................