bad, bad resto

[Clinton1]

I decided to test the waters on 'paid for service' resorations... normally I buy, and then resell after restoring the item myself.

I deliberately made the decision to let the customer decide the cost, so that I could find a 'minimum cost per service' before deciding if I wanted to take on commissions or private work.

For a bedside cabinet, I did the following:
- stripped off 8 layers of different colour oil and enamel paints,
- stained the timber for an antique finish (using age appropriate techniques), including colour matching on different species timbers in the piece of rubbish 'antique',
- french polished the piece,
- waxed,
- cleaned the marble cabinet top,
- stripped paint off the brass fittings,
- 'antiqued' the brass fitting, and
- made structural repairs to the cabriole legs and door, and
- refitted the 'pierced' door with new stuffed fabric coverings for the piercings.

The 'highly paid' professional 'customer' gushed over the work, and then decided it was worth $50, which covers @ 70% of the consumables. $50... thats not even a meal and a glass of wine for the customer, or a second hand plane for me.

Bite me.
I'm going back to buying pieces, restoring and reselling.... expectations are rather low and I prefer being on the resale/retail side rather than interact with customers.

[jimbur]

I decided to test the waters on 'paid for service' resorations... normally I buy, and then resell after restoring the item myself.

I deliberately made the decision to let the customer decide the cost, so that I could find a 'minimum cost per service' before deciding if I wanted to take on commissions or private work.

For a bedside cabinet, I did the following:
- stripped off 8 layers of different colour oil and enamel paints,
- stained the timber for an antique finish (using age appropriate techniques), including colour matching on different species timbers in the piece of rubbish 'antique',
- french polished the piece,
- waxed,
- cleaned the marble cabinet top,
- stripped paint off the brass fittings,
- 'antiqued' the brass fitting, and
- made structural repairs to the cabriole legs and door, and
- refitted the 'pierced' door with new stuffed fabric coverings for the piercings.

The 'highly paid' professional 'customer' gushed over the work, and then decided it was worth $50, which covers @ 70% of the consumables. $50... thats not even a meal and a glass of wine for the customer, or a second hand plane for me.

Bite me.
I'm going back to buying pieces, restoring and reselling.... expectations are rather low and I prefer being on the resale/retail side rather than interact with customers.

It's a real problem, the belief that other people's time is not worth much. Just try telling a doctor that you've only been in his room for five minutes (and wasted an hour of your time in the waiting room) so five dollars should cover it.
The best way is to break the job down into the time needed and tell them how much you charge an hour plus materials. You'll probably find you've been undercharging for years.
If you want to see professionals froth at the mouth mention plumbers
Cheers,
Jim

[RufflyRustic]

yep, friends of mine have the same problem up here, Clinton. I don't think some people have ever realised just how much slog it can be to restore a piece, especially a chair, for instance.

[munruben]

The 'highly paid' professional 'customer' gushed over the work, and then decided it was worth $50,.

What an insult! Some people have got a nerve that's for sure.

[acmegridley]

My next door neighbour(when I lived in Sydney )was a female migration agent who had a live in boy friend ,a builder,top bloke used to help him on the odd ocassion when he neeeded two sets of hands,he was in the process of renovating the house, used to go in and shoot the breeze with him over a couple of reds when she wasn't home, anyhow one day he produces a sheet of paper shows it to me, on it were about two 4-5 line paragraphs,he said you know what she is charging some poor b for that,I replied no idea, $1800 he replied and she gets upset when I charge her for my time ,its peanuts compared to that.
I renamed her contraceptive after that ,she had no conception. whatsoever.

[bajsy]

That suck hey.i have just made some 200mm balls out of blackwood for the top of entry posts 6 all up and charged $ 480.00 for the job just covering the cost of the wood.Customers are happy and asked me to restore six old oak chairs for them.When told my hourly rate they thought twice but asked me to try to stay in the $500.00 range .We as wood worker's we need to educate the public about the worth of our labour ( its not just for love of wood )frustrated

[China]

You learnt the first lesson of succesful buisness you set your price not the customer, most customers have no Idea what's invovled. that is why they come to in the first place. Set your price if they are not happy let them find a better deal

[Chris Parks]

Next time try this approach. Work out what materials you need and give the customer the list and tell them to go and buy them, then when the job is finished give them the bill for your time. All of a sudden they then work out what the real costs are.

[Sturdee]

- french polished the piece,

A retired french polisher told me that the difference in restoring an item with lacquer or french polish was only a zero.

If the cost of lacquering was say $ 250 then french polishing was $ 2,500. On that basis you should have at least got $ 500.


Peter.

[Waldo]

Clients not realising the how you value add and take into account 20 years of experience, and what that might cost are the type I quickly refuse to do work for.

If they don't want to pay I won't work for them. Never under-quote to get a job (not that you did), a client will always come back wanting the same again next time.

In your case I wouldn't have let them out the door with the furniture. A good story I once heard, was someone didn't want to pay full price from something from the bakery and asked if they could pay less for it. The baker said yes he could do that, but what ingredient did they want him to take out?

[chowcini]

I would have told him to get f#$%@d

[Clinton1]

Thanks all... I was a little frustrated.

Its my fault, I did want to 'test the waters' after hearing many bad stories on this site.
Before I've always controlled the price of what I got for restos... buy at auction, sell at auction with a reserve. This time I wanted to test the 'customers pricing' concept.

So, I'll not complain too much, I did set myself up for the fall.

I'll go back to the auction method... I can't see that dealing with customers will add any real value... would not feel comfortable charging a "putting up with you" fee.

[Horsecroft88]

I too know what you all mean re this. I normally restore antiques for myself, but on occasions have done this for others, and/or made use of professional restoration services in such situations where the work required was beyond my skills, or tools available to do the job.

The difference being given I know what is involved in terms of time, effort and materials (including their cost), to bring something back to life, I have never quibbled at the price charged when I have sent work out. Similarly and perhaps luckily, on the jobs I have taken on for others I outlined what would be required to ensure that the customer knew what they would be up for. If happy with this, then I would proceed to take on the job.

However, I do know that in many instances, the true cost of your time, effort, let alone materials is unlikely to be recouped. The same is true for the restoration efforts I have expended over the years on my historic houses I have been restoring.

In the end for me it is about the pleasure of bringing something old and tired back to life for not just me to enjoy but to have saved it for others to enjoy in the future.

[Wongdai]

Its not just restoration. You should try removing a virus from someones computer for the hundred dollars they are willing to pay.

[jimbur]

Clients not realising the how you value add and take into account 20 years of experience, and what that might cost are the type I quickly refuse to do work for.

Experience plus having the right tools can make a job look easy especially if you don't have the mystique of wearing a white coat.
A lot of head shaking can go a long way and saying things like, "Now I haven't seen anything like this since 1985 when I was called in by the Museum".

Cheers,
Jim