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Hi all,
Having worked for a manufacturer for a good number of years I now find myself thinking about the cost of parts.
I thought this forum would be a great place to get opinions on average parts cost.
I’ve read somewhere on here that a decent percentage of faults either don’t actual happen to be a fault or can be fixed with under £15 worth of spares.
Do you think this is a reasonable statement? Obviously the age and condition of appliances can have an impact but I’m looking at the more general picture.
Thanks for your time.Re: Average material cost.
Thanks for confirming.
I suppose I need to hope for the easily fixable ones then 🙂
Do you think there are certain brands I should be more cautious with?
It’s difficult for me because I was brand specific for so long but I’m still figuring that a good chunk of whitegoods will go by the same principle of customers thinking there’s a problem or, if its fairer to say, thinking the problem is worse than it is?Re: Average material cost.
Sorry, maybe I should’ve explained my situation better.
I’m dipping my toe into being independent but I’m worried about cost implications and as I was tied to a certain brand for so long, I was also looking for opinions on brands that may be more troublesome that others.
I know it’s not easy out there but it would be a gradual thing anyway and my first aim is to figure out if there would be enough work to make the switch permanent. Given that many customers don’t want expensive repair bills and would rather buy cheap new products, I have to be sure that that there would be enough blocked pumps and worn brushes to make a go of things.
I don’t mean that to sound naive as I know it’s not as easy as that but I just mean there would be enough jobs out there to make sure that parts cost doesn’t escalate until the customer decides it’s not worth it.
Hope that makes more sense.Re: Average material cost.
yes there are still plenty of easy fixs out their – blocked pumps etc , but equally there are plenty of cheap pieces of Chinese rubbish that cant be repaired due to cost of parts and customer perception, and lots of high end built in units with high cost parts .
it depends where you are and how much marketing you do – as im sure you will agree they wont just phone you without knowing what you do ..this is the hard part – you will need a buffer budget to find your feet and customers …
good web site £300 – 600 you can get cheaper .. monthly seo to keep you on google etc … £50 -100
other forms of marketing to get you started could be at least £200 per month
getting yourself a contract would of course helps – rates not that good – anything from £30 to £60..
i would say that it all depends on what you want .. self employed can seem great and it is great when you get it right – but it also has pit falls re holidays pensions etc ..
i would say if you are clearing 2k per month with and average working day – stay where you are ..
you can make big bucks on your own – or make a decent wage for less hassle – but you wont do it over night ..
ally
Re: Average material cost.
Thanks for that Ally.
I’ve always done the odd job for mates and mates of mates and they’ve never really been too troublesome to get going again but I wasn’t sure if I’d just dropped on some easy jobs. I also know that over the years I’ve been in whitegoods my material costs have never been too high but being brand specific, I had a good backup and knowledge of the products I was faced with.
I get the point about cheap chineses rubbish…. I started to see more and more of it unfortunately! The integrated dishwashers that no independents would touch but we had to were a pain to say the least! I guess you have to choose your jobs wisely to a point?
So is it wise to have exclusions? Maybe over a certain age or certain brands or maybe specific models?Re: Average material cost.
crowdog wrote:
So is it wise to have exclusions? Maybe over a certain age or certain brands or maybe specific models?Certainly not by age, most of my really profitable work is on Hotpoint/Hoover machines between 8 and 25 years old.
I won’t list them here but there are several brands I won’t go near. 😉
Re: Average material cost.
crowdog wrote:So is it wise to have exclusions? Maybe over a certain age or certain brands or maybe specific models?
Starting out in this trade from scratch you cannot be selective. You just have to take what comes along. Your competitors will already cover all products and brands anyway. Your gently toe dipping exercise is understandable I suppose but in order to venture out in this business you will need to be a good swimmer in a force 9 gale. Choppy waters dead ahead matey!
Re: Average material cost.
Certainly not by age, most of my really profitable work is on Hotpoint/Hoover machines between 8 and 25 years old.
I won’t list them here but there are several brands I won’t go near. 😉
Really Iadom, that’s interesting. Can’t imagine either of those lasting anywhere near 25 years these days but having said that, most of the customers I’d see would have multiple children doing 2 loads a day with little to no maintenance, then complain that it had broke down after I’d cleaned the filter of things that had been left in their pockets
Maybe you could pm me some of the brands you don’t touch?
I understand why you wouldn’t post them on here, I don’t believe it’s the done thing too.I’m not sure how to quote someone correctly by the way but I will figure it out I’m sure!
Re: Average material cost.
Martin wrote:
crowdog wrote:
So is it wise to have exclusions? Maybe over a certain age or certain brands or maybe specific models?Starting out in this trade from scratch you cannot be selective. You just have to take what comes along. Your competitors will already cover all products and brands anyway. Your gently toe dipping exercise is understandable I suppose but in order to venture out in this business you will need to be a good swimmer in a force 9 gale. Choppy waters dead ahead matey!
I did everything but gas (cooking) before so I’m willing to keep it like that but would I really want to tackle something that could become a saga? I suppose it could be a case of judgeing a call on it’s value and deciding if it’s really worth fixing something that isn’t in great condition and hasn’t been kept very well?
Do you never take enquiries that you turn down because your experience tells you it’s just not worth it?Re: Average material cost.
crowdog wrote:
I’m not sure how to quote someone correctly by the way but I will figure it out I’m sure!
Easy Peasy, just click the QUOTE button, top right of any post you want to quote from, edit out the bits you don’t want and add your comments, Simples. 🙂I have been self employed for around 36 years after just under 12 at Hotpoint. This has allowed me to build up a considerable customer base. This week alone I have fitted two ARM20 armatures to one 12 and one 20 year old Hotpoint machine, five sets of motor brushes and one drum support spider. All of these on machines over 10 years old.
I can afford to be choosy at this late stage but as Martin has said, if you are taking the first steps into the ‘wilderness’ then you should not limit your options. It will soon become obvious which machines are of dubious quality or in other cases very difficult to obtain spares or tech info for.
That is why UKWG’S is such a valuable resource. 8)
Jim.
Re: Average material cost.
crowdog wrote:
Do you never take enquiries that you turn down because your experience tells you it’s just not worth it?All the time, the important word in that sentence is EXPERIENCE. 😉
Re: Average material cost.
iadom wrote:
crowdog wrote:
Easy Peasy, just click the QUOTE button, top right of any post you want to quote from, edit out the bits you don’t want and add your comments, Simples. 🙂I have been self employed for around 36 years after just under 12 at Hotpoint. This has allowed me to build up a considerable customer base. This week alone I have fitted two ARM20 armatures to one 12 and one 20 year old Hotpoint machine, five sets of motor brushes and one drum support spider. All of these on machines over 10 years old.
I can afford to be choosy at this late stage but as Martin has said, if you are taking the first steps into the ‘wilderness’ then you should not limit your options. It will soon become obvious which machines are of dubious quality or in other cases very difficult to obtain spares or tech info for.
That is why UKWG’S is such a valuable resource. 8)
Jim.
Well I’ve been a member on here for some time but for the last 8 years I’ve not really had much input… worked too many long days and as I worked from home, I’d often be sat finishing work up at this time… at least now I can look at this site in more depth but I already knew it’s worth is invaluble 😀
Interesting how you said you’ve replaced 5 sets of motor brushes, it amazed me in the field how some guys would try and get away with fitting a motor ‘because it was quicker’! I’m sure they wouldn’t do it if it was their money… in fact I’m certain!
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