Hourly rate

[donnysparks]

Hi folks, I'm an approved spark & a member of SELECT. Just wondering if any sparks out there from Scotland could tell me what the going rate is? I'm currently charging £25 per hour & an average day rate of £200. Do you think this is reasonable? Just don't want to be undercutting myself or over charging clients.

Cheers D

 

[telectrix]

that 's a reasonable rate. problem is, in the present state of the country, is getting a decent rate for the job. joe public is qite happy to fork out £90/hour to have their BMW serviced, but gets tight-arsed when it comes to making the electrics safe.

 

[shagbite]

you might struggle to get more than 25 quid. there's just too many 'recent additions' to the workforce that are willing (and able) to work for a pittance.

your average customer will probably be earning less than £10 an hour, so when you mention £25 an hour, they think that you're ripping them off. they don't understand that you're only pocketing about 50% of that (give or take).

 

[dan86]

I charge £30p/h

 

[donnysparks]

Thanks very much for your replies! I stay in quite a remote area, it's an island in the Hebrides so I wouldn't want to push for anymore! One bonus is there's not a lot of competition so I want to keep it that way & same time I don't want to seem as though I'm robbing people!

 

[shagbite]

I charge £30p/h

not bad. think i'd knock off at 1 o'clock if i were getting that.

 

[dan86]

I wish.mega busy just now. that said, I am off for a week starting Monday

 

[shagbite]

steady away for me. taken a couple of days off 'cause i'm waiting for a part - bit stumped without it. i could go in and install the cu, but i'm a lazy sod.

 

[onions1066]

I charge £30p/h

£30 an hour in Scotland. I didn't realise it had a posh part :tongue3:

 

[dan86]

the cheek!

 

[MDJ]

The state of the economy in your area will dictate the Rate, you have 2 choices, sit at home and wait for work at the rate you want or work and add the extra bit missing onto the materials, Domestic around here is around the £160-£180 a day at the moment, if you want say 30 an hour be prepared to not work much and spend time in the garden.

 

[trev]

There's a mate of mine lives up in the Shetlands, he reckons the very few sparks up that way are pulling about £30ph.

 

[dan86]

I never really get much complaint about the price tbh. it is what it is. the customer is paying for a trained and competent professional to do a professional job. if they don't like it, they can pay some monkey peanuts to do it. I'm quite happy to come along and fix someone else's mess if needs be.
about 60% of my work is commercial, the remainder domestic. oddly, it's usually the commercial clients that complain about the price if anyone.