Well that was depre$$ing

[electricmanscott]

Talking to a local EC yesterday morning about business stuff. Of course we went down the "what do you charge" road......"$65.00 an hour" was his reply. This is in Massacusetts not some rural far off land where that may actually be considered good money.

I almost barfed. He is one of the good guys, does good work, has good employees, NOT a butcher etc. What was more troubling was when he went on naming some other guys and what they are charging...even less than him.

His rationale was that the builders he works for will not pay more and if he tries to get they will just use the other guys. Sure that is logical. My answer is find better builders.

It is hard enough trying to convince customers to value us and what we do, trying to convince us seems to be impossible.

 

[shmuckman]

Talking to a local EC yesterday morning about business stuff. Of course we went down the "what do you charge" road......"$65.00 an hour" was his reply. This is in Massacusetts not some rural far off land where that may actually be considered good money.

I almost barfed. He is one of the good guys, does good work, has good employees, NOT a butcher etc. What was more troubling was when he went on naming some other guys and what they are charging...even less than him.

His rationale was that the builders he works for will not pay more and if he tries to get they will just use the other guys. Sure that is logical. My answer is find better builders.

It is hard enough trying to convince customers to value us and what we do, trying to convince us seems to be impossible.

sounds like here in md. our boss cut the price of a 55 and older community by 1700.00. when i said how does that leave us? his reply was he was going to use our latino sub-contractors to help off-set the profit issue. huh? where does that leave me? or my co- workers? do we start saying please cut our pay to keep us employed?

 

[peter d]

Thanks for making me want to barf too, Scott.

 

[JohnJ0906]

sounds like here in md. our boss cut the price of a 55 and older community by 1700.00. when i said how does that leave us? his reply was he was going to use our latino sub-contractors to help off-set the profit issue. huh? where does that leave me? or my co- workers? do we start saying please cut our pay to keep us employed?

Why I decided to leave new residential.

 

[CopperTone]

I'm in massachusetts and I charge $75/hr for a lic. guy and $120/hr for a lic. guy and an apprentice. I want to got to $125 for the 2 guys with gas prices and all - plus I think it would be fine. I lose work all the time for cheaper guys - how can I charge more? I'd love to but I also have to land some work.
The plumbers in my area - MetroWest, MA - they all talk through the supply house of their rates - they all stick together on what to charge and when someone gets multiple prices they come in within $100 or $200 of each other. And I'm talking for a $5000 - $10000 job.

I'd love to hear from all the guys here from Massachusetts (and what part of Mass. and what they charge) I'm not suggesting price fixing - that would be illegal - just sharing of information thats all.

 

[ItsHot]

me too!

me too!

Thanks for making me want to barf too, Scott.

Me too! It is official! Guys "cutting grass" now make more than ECs! Why can't we think like plumbers?:-?

 

[peter d]

I'm in massachusetts and I charge $75/hr for a lic. guy and $120/hr for a lic. guy and an apprentice. I want to got to $125 for the 2 guys with gas prices and all - plus I think it would be fine.

That sounds awfully low for your location considering greater Boston is one of the most expensive places in the nation to live.

 

[emahler]

And I get chastized for calling us bass ackwards simpletons.

 

[peter d]

sounds like here in md. our boss cut the price of a 55 and older community by 1700.00. when i said how does that leave us? his reply was he was going to use our latino sub-contractors to help off-set the profit issue. huh? where does that leave me? or my co- workers? do we start saying please cut our pay to keep us employed?

That's a very good example of the "race to the bottom."

 

[iwire]

And I get chastized for calling us bass ackwards simpletons.

Yes and I will not stop giving you a hard time about it.


From the forum rules

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive,

 

[emahler]

Yes and I will not stop giving you a hard time about it.


From the forum rules

In this case defamatory is a matter of opinion.

But based on the facts and experiences of this thread it is not inaccurate, knowingly false or abusive.

It's a general, yet factually correct, about the state of industry. And I'll continue saying it whether you want to see it or not.

And when the facts start to run contrary to that statement, I'll revisit it

 

[iwire]

In this case defamatory is a matter of opinion.

And the in the opinion of the AHJ is it's defamatory.

Nuff said.

 

[emahler]

And the in the opinion of the AHJ is it's defamatory.

Nuff said.

Well played

But we are gonna appeal to the board

 

[iwire]

But we are gonna appeal to the board

I would not expect any less. :grin:

 

[cschmid]

alright a clash of champions..is this going to be on pay per view and or in a cage...

 

[hardworkingstiff]

It's a free market society. In weak economic times, it gets worse. Buckle up gents, we are just getting started.

 

[emahler]

It's a free market society. In weak economic times, it gets worse. Buckle up gents, we are just getting started.

I don't think we are just getting started. I think we may be on the way up.

 

[mivey]

alright a clash of champions..is this going to be on pay per view and or in a cage...

Well, we need a picture of emahler for the billboard, we already have iwire's:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showpost.php?p=874418&postcount=24

 

[Minuteman]

I'm in massachusetts and I charge $75/hr for a lic. guy and $120/hr for a lic. guy and an apprentice.

I'm in OKC and I charge $75 for a journeyman and $112.5 for a jw & a helper. We are very busy, I hired 2 guys this month.

 

[quogueelectric]

I think we need a subject section that is called OCTAGON RING. it is no holds barred only no eye gouging where members can be nasty as they want .