patback Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Out of curiosity, how much does your lfs drill holes for, if they offer it? Link to comment
DAS212 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Out of curiosity, how much does your lfs drill holes for, if they offer it? I don't know if my LFS does but I know most probably jack up any labor. Mine charged something like $30 dollars if you wanted them to put together a biocube stand for you lol Link to comment
TeflonTomDosh Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 If you would of changed your named to PattyGotBack I woulda drilled your hole for free. My LFS drilled my glass for 15 a hole. Link to comment
Nanofreak79 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 There are roughly six LFS around the cities here. The cheapest is $25 per hole, and one does $40 a hole with the bulkhead. Also almost no one covers replacement if tank cracks while drilling, with the exception of one if purchased from them. Link to comment
patback Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 If you would of changed your named to PattyGotBack I woulda drilled your hole for free. My LFS drilled my glass for 15 a hole. I thought my store was just crazy, I called figuring I would take the stress out of the equation and pay maybe 5-10 bucks per hole and have someone else drill it. 30 ####ing dollars per hole! For that price, i will drill it myself. If it breaks, I would only spend a few more bucks on a brand new tank to work with and use the old one for practice. I don't know if my LFS does but I know most probably jack up any labor. Mine charged something like $30 dollars if you wanted them to put together a biocube stand for you lol Yeah, when you're paying the hourly wage, they make 30 bucks an hour. When the store owner pays them, its only a measily 9 bucks if they are lucky. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 That is business. I charge 30 dollars a man hour and pay my help 12 a hour. Overhead is not cheap. My shop rent and business insurance is 800 a month then you add utilitys and equipment payments it comes in around 2K a month. Link to comment
patback Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 That is business. I charge 30 dollars a man hour and pay my help 12 a hour. Overhead is not cheap. My shop rent and business insurance is 800 a month then you add utilitys and equipment payments it comes in around 2K a month. I understand that, but for a fs that doesn't even advertise drilling holes? It's not like it's taking away from the shops manpower, as 9 times out of ten they are shootin' the breeze with each other and you need to interrupt them for any help. If each hole takes them 10 minutes, 2 holes are 20 minutes. That's 60 bucks. Multiply that by 3 to make it an even hour of hole drilling and you end up with 180 bucks. Now let's say they get a terrible, terrible deal on glass drills and go through one bit an hour(hypothetically) they spend 30 bucks plus the 1 dollars worth of molding clay to keep the pool of water. Minus another 10 bucks for the Guys paycheck, that's 139 bucks profit in an hours worth of drilling holes. Being that they don't even advertise it, they don't drill very often and their bit should last them a while. I don't see that price justified. (keep in mind, they won't replace a tank they mess up, the workers don't have much experience in it, and the prices goes UP depending upon tank size. 30 bucks per hole is bare minimum. I didn't think of asking, but let's hope they atleast have a real drill press and won't use a handheld drill. I've seen them laying around the shop before but I always told myself it was probably for building maintenance or for putting rods into their aqua scapes for the display tanks. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 But when you own a business you have to figure in other things. What if that employee cuts his hand? Workers comp insurance has to be figured in everything they do. You forgot to figure in they have to pay taxes on every transaction. There are tons of things the average person does not understand when it comes to business. Everything they do and every item they sell helps them meet there overhead BEFORE the owner makes a profit to pay his personal bills. Link to comment
reefone Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 just cut the holes yourself. $30 is about average around here. Link to comment
theevilsock Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 When I asked my LFS he said he'd drill for free if I had the hole saw...his was too dull to use and he wasn't going to be ordering a new one soon...I ended up doing it myself, but I thought it was pretty nice of him to offer that service. Link to comment
ptboy6 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 But when you own a business you have to figure in other things. What if that employee cuts his hand? Workers comp insurance has to be figured in everything they do. You forgot to figure in they have to pay taxes on every transaction. There are tons of things the average person does not understand when it comes to business. Everything they do and every item they sell helps them meet there overhead BEFORE the owner makes a profit to pay his personal bills. +1 I'm pretty sure you can find someone on a local forum that has done it before and are willing to do it for a fee. it's kinda like buying corals, you're always gonna find a better deal from a hobbyist than the retailer. good luck. Link to comment
patback Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 +1 I'm pretty sure you can find someone on a local forum that has done it before and are willing to do it for a fee. it's kinda like buying corals, you're always gonna find a better deal from a hobbyist than the retailer. good luck. Thanks. I may try that, or just bite the bullet and do it myself. No point in paying the same amount the tank is worth in holes. I value your input on these forums lawn man, but I think I need to respectfully disagree in this particular scenario. To me, this seems more like a "match the hatch" pricing than covering their own butts. Link to comment
chrssprngs Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Why would you have a LFS drill your tank. They sell fish stuff. If you want a hole drilled in glass, take it to a glass business. Only makes sense. Link to comment
TeflonTomDosh Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Why would you have a LFS drill your tank. They sell fish stuff. If you want a hole drilled in glass, take it to a glass business. Only makes sense. A lot of glass shops won't even talk to you once they find out anything you're calling about has to do with an aquarium. Jus sayin... Link to comment
patback Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Why would you have a LFS drill your tank. They sell fish stuff. If you want a hole drilled in glass, take it to a glass business. Only makes sense. Because if im going through the trouble of figuring out where the safe spot is as to not stress the corners, Tracing it out,buying a bit for them to use so that their oil based lubes aren't being left behind, and still paying per hole, what's the point? I might as well do it myself. I figured fs was the easy way out, and it is, but I'm not paying those prices. Obviously if mine, plus everyone else's who posted drills tanks for customers, it isn't too far fetched of an idea. Link to comment
DAS212 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 A lot of glass shops won't even talk to you once they find out anything you're calling about has to do with an aquarium. Jus sayin... Ive heard that a lot, I have been meaning to ask why glass companys want nothing to do with aquariums Link to comment
patback Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Who knows? It might have somthing to do with if somthing goes awry and your floor/wall gets ruined, they don't want to deal with any angry customers. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.