Shop supplies, waste disposal, torches, nuts & bolts, abrasives.... 4% sounds fair to me.

 

3-4 % is pretty normal.
Start charging for the brake cleaner on the invoice,as well as the 3-4 %
I also charge to service calipers and the price of lube (synthetic) is included
As far as all the BS with that fool and his oil change, just raise the price to include all that shit and be done with it.Charge him an Oil disposal fee....LOL asshole. When he starts to bark, give him a brake on the disposal fee. He will be happy, even though he is paying more.
Psychology man, use some
Fuck them oil changes , you will go broke on oil changes, unless you heat the shop with a waste oil burner
Extra little charges piss some people off. Just figure out where your shortage is and add it to the job accordingly

 

Yeah, I would rather not do oil changes, but I've been doing them forever and I'm in a pretty small town and have a very loyal customer base and don't really want to refuse their oil change and send them to Walmart. I do about 15 to 20 of them a week on the average and I am basically a one man operation with a part time guy. It was getting to where I was wasting half my day on them, several days a week. I finally started doing them on Fridays only and make sure have both lifts open and my helper here, it has been really helpful to have them in one day instead of spreading them through the week.. By the time I pay the help and overhead, I probably break even on Fridays.

 

We started charging a percentage (on labor I think) in the 70’s at the dealership. I went from mechanic to Shop Foreman and then Service Manager around the time they started that. I got called to the cashiers window several times to explain it to customers. Some kinda accepted it and others didn’t. A shop can loose a lot of money on chemicals, small hardware, rags, oil dry, oil and oil filter disposal if they aren’t careful.

 

shop supplies charge illegal in california

 

Auto shop workers/owners, what kind of shop supply charge are you charging customers? I usually charge a minimal charge (Brake clean, RTV, ect.) with repairs that use supplies. Typical pad & rotor job, I been charging $3 for brake clean, caliper slide lube, engine work usually $10 to 12 for a few cans of brake clean, RTV, ect. I know that there is probably no way to recoup all of your expenses, but I am a small shop and probably spend 3-400 dollars a month on brake clean, towels, ect.

I recently started charging $2 on every oil change and had a customer totally come uncorked on me today for it and refused to pay, called it a bullshit charge. I politely told him that I cleaned the mess the filter made on his subframe with brake cleaner, the oil change stickers cost me about 35 cents also, put a disposable floor mat in the car too. He pissed me off so I told him next time (If I even will work for him again), I'll go ahead and let used oil leak in his driveway for a few days, put no sticker in the window, get greasy footprints on his floor mats, and not wash my oily hands when I pull his car out of the shop, then I can waive the charge!

Just curious what others do? My friend that works at another shop said their charge is 4% of the total ticket no matter what the job is..

Every now and again when a customer pulls that cheap shit on me, I tell them the disputed cost will be awarded as a parting gift.

Don't come back!

 

If the oil changes work kind of like advertisement for you, then maybe don't charge them for it. Put it on the invoice but discount it off with promo language or something. Or just raise your price. Probably not very profitable just doing changes but the stream of customers that get to know you will spread the word.

 

Since I WFH on rebuilding the transmissions I do I just raised my rate by $5 an hour. Helps pay for the beer/RTV/Paper Towels/Simple Green/Roloc discs. etc.

$250 (roughly 8 hours) to rebuild and clean one of these easy transmissions and another $50 to have the cases hot washed (shop only charges $20 for the washing) but the extra time involved stripping the case out. I do factor in the gas used to pick up and deliver when it is not local (under 25 miles). I looked into renting out shop space but I'm not busy enough to warrant the over head.

 

You rebuild transmissions for $250 labor?

 

I charged 5% (up to $50) of Labor rate-

 

It is part of the cost of doing business. Up your labor rate a few bucks to cover it all. Or bill for each item separately.
A blanket shop fee looks bad to many customers and may not be legal in some places.

 

Call me old fashion... or what ever... But I too believe its cost of doing business... Nothing pisses me off more than being charged an extra 25 cents for a packet of Ketchup when buying food... Cleaners and shop towels fall into the same category...

How would you like your Doctor charging you $2 for using sterile gloves... Or an electrical adding a surcharge of 25 cents to tape up wire.... Or maybe you think its ok to be charged for staples the next time a cashier staples your credit card receipt to the purchase receipt..

And probably the worse one ever is fucking Processing Charges... thats where companies like AT&T, Credit Card and Insurance providers charge YOU money for sending out the monthly invoice... and it doesnt matter if its USPS or email invoices...

Blatant in your face GREED has gotten out of control these days... Resort Fees, fuel surcharges, tire disposal fees...and etc... If you dont like the costs involved with owning a business, then maybe you shouldnt own a business..

 

And probably the worse one ever is fucking Processing Charges... thats where companies like AT&T, Credit Card and Insurance providers charge YOU money for sending out the monthly invoice... and it doesnt matter if its USPS or email invoices...

Print invoicing can be a big expense. Invoices and envelopes have to be printed. Postage has to be paid. Second and third notices have to be sent out, doubling or tripling the cost to collect the same money from that customer.

I've worked with clients who, instead of increasing everyone's rates to cover the costs of paper invoices, added a surcharge for the 40% of their customers who can't or won't enroll in auto-pay or e-billing. Keeps the costs down for the 60% of their customers who do, which makes sense, but those old folks who refuse to use the internet or give card info out get pissed off about it. It's 2022, Ethel. Get with the fucking program or live with the hassle.

 

I never complain when a business charges me a fair amount for work done. Just recently I took my 2004 Silverado to a local shop to install a new water pump and a serpentine belt. They also changed the small belt that runs the AC compressor. They charged me $880 for that work. I know the water pump cost about $100 at the parts store. Needless to say I won’t be going back to that shop. Typically I do my own work if I can. But my back was giving me fits so I had to take it to a shop. The shop was recommended by several people in our neighborhood so I gave them an opportunity. Even with the overpriced work they had a shop supply line item on my bill.

 

Place I use is a little high. I choose my battles. An alternator when it was 70 degrees out, I did myself. When I needed new cats when it was 7 degrees out, they got to deal with it. They do good work though, on time, always shuttle me for pickup/delivery, waived a few charges over the years. I can live with it.

 

I don’t add charges like that … I just calculate that into the labor I charge which includes overhead.
I mean where do you draw the line .. you going to charge for what you had for lunch and how long the lights were on with their car under your roof?
Itemizing a bunch of small nitpicky stuff onto an invoice is just asking to piss someone off.

 

We just hide the prices of supplies in the parts. Simplest way we’ve found. We have way more business than we can handle. 5 bays, 5 mechanics. Full time rollback service. wide ass open, It’s been a true blessing. One thing Iv learned is treat people how I wanna be treated and you’ll never please everyone I just refer them to someone else in town!

 

I charge shop supplies, it’s based off labor, typically 3 bucks an hour.

If the customer doesn’t like it then they have the option of going some place else because that’s a reasonable charge for them that often barely covers the supplies.

I also charge credit card fee’s. In some cases if didn’t I’d pretty much be giving them labor for free. I refuse to do it. The customer’s convenience shouldn’t effect me negatively, I’m the one providing a service. Again, if they dont like it, they can go somewhere else.

 

I also charge credit card fee’s. In some cases if didn’t I’d pretty much be giving them labor for free.

BULLSHIT, your labor in 3% or less of a job? Shop credit card processors. Our "processing fee" for customers to us a credit card is 1.21% of the amount charged. We use a company here in Canada call Moreris. We have customer that charge up to $147,000 for his 4 invoices to one guy as covid hit. Have builders always getting the points/cash back.

So wonder what would happen if, since we're in contraction trade, we charged over for nails/screws, gas for generator on new builds, glue and cleaning supplies............... I can see it now, "here your new kitchen, your agreed invoice with the extras for another 3 lbs of screws and some wood glue and touch up marker, so another $22.00 over the $35,000 we just charged"????

 

Ok that makes a little more sense. Any k series stuff?

 

I've only done 3 K's so far, they take a little more work and a press is needed for the countershaft. Two were just LSD installs other was the FD and 1-2 ratio change for a turbo K20 powered Fiat X1/9.

and the special K trans with the gearing change for the Fiat, I hate painted cases!

those K's are heavy bastards and weak as a GM 7.5/7.625 F body rear end! The sliders and hubs are narrower than the D's and B's and wobble too much, killing then and the synchros as most Johnny ricers try to shift too fast. I know Team HART out of central Ohio/Marysville were replacing 3rd gear after every race weekend. A few years ago I assembled a GSR trans on a flipped over drum garbage can at Watkins Glen next the the Team HART guys and their NSX. If I would have had 2 cans of brake cleaner and a tube of grey sealant, I would have had it totally finished....at the track. The person had flipped 5--R hub on the main shaft and the case wouldn't go back together.

PS I get most of my parts from Synchrotech......

I do believe I charged $300 labor on the K builds. I need to add a 20 ton HF press to do them in the future. But my garage shop is full now with three benches of builds and not room to even get my race car inside for now. That is my winter project, car inside and a press.

Everyone keeps telling me I should charge more. But to work from home, having a cold beer or three while parts are cleaning and making $30/hour, I'm not complaining. PS: NO DRINKING while assembling or inspecting cleaned parts. Also no one else in the garage to distract me.

 

I bought a 94 EG a couple months ago and wanna rob a whole drivetrain from an awd stick CRV. I think a turbo awd k swapped hatch would be a blast. I build automatic domestic stuff, no desire to build a stick, I might hit you up if/whenever I get around to that build. You're in TN right? What part? West, middle, east?

 

I'm in SW Ohio. Chris Tybor @ WD-R would be your TN contact.

Whoopee Doo Racing

High performance Honda transmission specialists. MFactory's Official North American Installer. From stock rebuilds to all out race straight cut dog boxes.

wd-r.com

 

I got the three strike rule. Some use up all three strikes in one conversation

 

I use, and endorse, this rule too. (Sometimes the asshole only gets two strikes)

 

when I owned my shop, I knew it would irritate some people, so I just added it into the price,
I used oil changes as a method to get other work, ( brakes, susp, leaks etc)
so I never minded doing them, I always had a lube bay guy, to do them, and paid him extra for
work he found and we did,
to me, chemicals , rags, etc was just "the cost of doing buisness"

 

Imagine you agree to a $15,000 paint job…then the painter adds a “shop supply” charge (which could be hundreds)…..how would you think about it then?

 

I am an ex auto mechanic so I get the cost thing but I also think you would be a lot better off just adding the cost of shop supplies to the cost of the oil change not billing separate.

I do home improvement handyman stuff now and never charge for stuff like deck screws, rollers, spray foam etc. Most people have no idea how much stuff costs and this is one of the main problems.....they will think they are being cheated, much better off just hiding the cost in the price than alienating customers due to their ignorance....knowing I am right when I am pissing off a customer and/or getting a negative revue does little to fix the problem.

 

Yep, people call and ask for a quote on transmissions, we know roughly what we need to get overall for a job, I give them a number, and tell them if it needs anything else like lines, mounts, u joints, etc, that it's extra. Sometimes we lose a little, sometimes we make a little, it all evens out. If I charged them $100 less but added $55 for shop supplies, they'd give me a bad review. Most of the world is stupid AF nowadays.

 

Add it as an Environmental Disposal and Waste Fluids charge. Most shops have to pay to have their waste fluids and oil filters disposed of by outside companies.
Any item such as Brake Cleaner should be charged as a line item parts sale.

 

I think additional charges like Shop Supplies do more harm than good. Yes you can add X dollars to each ticket but you also irritate most of your customers at the same time. Nobody likes to pay additional fees, they feel like a "tax", especially if they don't see dollar for dollar value. They may not say anything, but it does not make them feel better about doing business with you. The customer feels like they got gouged a few % for no other reason than to add to your bottom line.

Yes the expenses are real so raise your prices to cover ALL of your expenses AND generate a good profit. I find that also makes people less likely to nit-pick when everthing is simple and makes sense without explanations necessary. They accept it and pay and move on.

If you don't feel you can raise your prices because you are competing on price, then you have positioned your business wrong. The first hack that comes along and doesn't mind working for free will cut you off at the knees. You need customers that are happy to pay your higher prices because your quality work and excellent service make it a value. Make it easy to do business with you and they will spend.

I think the above is just human nature, not limited to the Auto Repair biz. I've owned several businesses over the past 33 years and I've witnessed the same sentiment in the auto repair business, custom home building, manufacturing and my current business, specialty metal fabrication. Customers like to spend money with people they know, like & trust. Ticky-tack fees detracts from that relationship way more than it adds to the bottom line.

 

My take.

The job costs what it costs, period. However the invoice arrives at that is irrelevant.

Just don't tell me that it will cost a certain amount and then tack a bunch of shit on top of it when the bill is due.

 

I own a tech consulting firm. We do what is calls a system clean, for example if a virus or something. I've always charge a one flat fee. Simple and easy to write up and so on.

Two buddies of mine opened up a PC Repair shop. They itemized EVERTHING!
put on bench -$8
internet use - $10
Install AV - $15
Install SFT - $24
Virus remove - $35
Electric - $4
shelf time - $13

and so on...

They would call me telling me customers keep bitching about the bills. I stopped by to check it out. The invoices had so much details, that every 4th customer would dispute and want something removed. " I NEVER asked for XXXXX service"..

It would take ~10 to 15 min to write each invoice. Plus the time to document each "billable" item / service during the actual job.

I advised them to just flat charge for most common services. The MORE you put on a quote or invoice just gives the customer more to complain about. I even keep my quotes very vague.

 

We charge a flat percent up to a max dollar amount for shop supplies and then we also have a technology fee which is a flat dollar amount.

“The cost of doing business” are some damn expensive words when you add it all up. Just as bad as “the way we’ve always done it.”

Our shop supplies cover all consumables, basic hardware, waste oil disposal, uniforms, towels, floor cleaner, pig mats, etc. If we had to itemize all of that we’d never get estimates done or invoices finalized.

As for the technology fees, people probably bitch more about those than shop supplies. But the reality is that every tech has a laptop and has course work to compete to stay certified. Every system has software and special interface cables that require upkeep and replacement. Flash drives for downloads. Constant email contact amongst departments to keep workflow progressing.

Cost of doing business has gotten to cost a hell of a lot more than it ever has. People want speed of service and repairs right now. Costs money to do that.