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Misc. ketchup

Nice to see all of the traffic transpiring since I left for the outback.  Best
thing on the trip was Mt. St. Helen's blast area.  Have to be there to
appreciate it. Couldn't stop saying "DAMN!!!" And my Uncle tells me that the
Shasta explosion was about 7 times bigger....DAMN!!!!.  Reading about 670mph
rock winds... RIGHT!

 Anyway,  good to see all of the talk about pricing and that we are all in a
similar boat.  Personally, I like to see open discussion of pricing so that
the newcomers can see where the pricing structure is related to them and the
old timers can too.  I find that 2 things happen over time.  One is that
people forget that costs around them change without notice. I call that living
in the past. And the other is that when threatened by competition, a lot of
people lower their prices in response. Neither approach is healthy for a
business in the long run.

 I always tell beginners not to under price just to get the job.  A 20 year
veteran is bending much more efficiently than a beginner could possibly bend
and  has much more experience at setting prices than a beginner could.  Figure
that he is probably living in the past and he knows his efficiency will make
up any differences as well, then his prices are probably a little low.  I am
just about to raise my prices having not changed them in a few years (and
finding out that my competition charges as much or more than me!).  I like to
be out of sight when it comes to bidding wars (usually not giving prices
unless "referred" by someone).  Lately, my prices are coming in under others
(no wonder I'm not making any money). Good thing I don't do this for a living
<g.>.  I would much rather have people say " He's not cheap but his work is
worth it " than " his work is not that good but you get what you pay for ".

 I can sympathize with Ronnie Downs in SC. Some areas of the country are simply
out of touch with pricing.  I find it great to go to a bar in places like SC
to have a few drinks. Hard to spend $20 (after buying drinks) and come out
straight. I also repair a lot of glass from that area that has been put
together with silicone glue and kits for do it yourself installers. (Heaven
forbid!) I once met with a person from the beautification committee about
doing some neon theme thing and he asked me " what's with all these neon open
signs anyway".  I said " cheap ". The only thing cheaper is the Taiwanese
license plate neon. But cheap sells. ( to the cheap )

 I see that neon dave AKA Dave Ablon of Technolux fame made on the list with
us. He is a wonderful source of information being just another one of us neon
nerds since we can remember.  I figure he probably didn't want to come out of
the woodwork (since he is a major player in the supplier wars) but it is nice
to know we have our voices at least heard from some of the suppliers.  It's a
start.
 ...Welcome Dave.  Maybe when the others hear you're here they will have to
get in as well.  If not...

 Since there is a FTP site starting that would probably be the best place to
put my archives about lead and merc, etc. I think John is right about venting
the pump to outside air.  Also there was mention earlier that the same goes
for the source for the combustion air. Especially if there are any volatile
products in the air in the shop. Both areas need to be addressed in my shop. I
am especially sensitive to that sort of thing but at a small enough scale over
time one might not notice.

 To Be Continued...











  E-mail from: Tom Biebel, 10-Oct-1995
 

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