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I have to admit my prices are all over the place! For example, customers who I have had for 20 or more years, and they maintain their piano(s) regularly, get my best(lowest) price. But if someone neglects their piano for years and years, and then they finally get around to calling me for a tuning appointment, [usually because they have a sticking key], THAT customer gets my premium tuning charge! As does the hotel or church that calls me at the last minute for an "emergency tuning".

When a customer out of the blue(i.e. found me in the yellow pages) calls to make an appointment, I try hard not to even quote a price for a tuning, because I automatically assume it probably is going to require a pitch raise, and who knows what else....

I realize that the drawback to not charging everyone the exact same price for a tuning, is that eventually someone is going to talk to a neighbor or family member and the person that paid more for their tuning is going to feel they were overcharged unfairly. I have simply decided that if I am going to lose a customer, THAT one is the one I want to lose anyway.

My list fee is $175 for a piano service.

If it's a first time customer, I try to ascertain the situation before I get there, and explain that there may be exceptions (i.e., a pitch raise) that will affect the cost.

If a prospective customer would like to have their piano assessed for work, and they don't live too far away, I don't charge for the assessment. I look at it as an audition for the prospective customer.

There is an interesting, if provocative, article series in the PTJ about this very issue: "Developing a Locally Optimized Pricing Strategy," by Tim Barnes. In Part 2 of the series, which appeared this month, Barnes asserts that technicians should be charging somewhere around $162/appointment for a junior technician to $267/appointment for a senior technician. According to his math, every technician I know in Chicago (myself included) is severely under charging, as I know people still charging less than $100 for a basic tuning.

$110 -$125 is about my average tuning. But still I have my $85 customers

In the final analysis, pricing for services is predicated upon what your specific market will bear. Within this model there is, of course, a range: from low fees to high. Knowing how to reach the ceiling without exceeding it is vital. Some will arbitrarily inflate their fee, hoping that they haven't overshot the ceiling, and that the high fee will create an artificial perception that excellent work must be behind it, and that this alone will generate more of the high dollar clientele. I have witnessed this, and often it will succeed especially if the service-person "looks the part." This approach, however, is not good business. The ethics behind it are dubious at best. In my view, the wise method is to increase pricing incrementally as business increases. Annually is typical. In this way, you are less likely to overshoot the ceiling and the market is afforded the necessary time to determine whether or not you are worth what you think you are.

If a piano is not in service for years is a time bomb for the owner. He can suddenly lose his native piano. The client does not understand that for each piano need annual maintenance: a adjust the action, small repair parts, delete of debris and dust, etc.
If a customer asks to require a pitch raise, better to be misunderstood, but to refuse that service than to break a few strings

Max's list fee is $15 for a piano service
But Max is not mature tuner

$100 + tax (if applicable)

One fee for everyone, unless the client has a sufficient number of pianos to warrant a discount (10 or more)

Extra travel fee if it takes more than one hour and fifteen minutes to get there.

Is the $162/$267 a "locally optimized price" for Chicago? I haven't read the article, but that certainly doesn't sound optimized for my area. I would definitely consider myself a junior tech, but if I charged $162 I think I would lose a whole lot of work. I am currently at $90 for a basic tuning - although I anticipate raising that in the next year or two.

Of course, if I did charge that much, and lost half of my business, I guess I would theoretically be bringing in about the same amount of money. But it wouldn't sit right with me - especially when I know there are people that desperately NEED their piano serviced.

Interesting discussion - I know there are a lot that aren't comfortable discussing their pricing on a public forum.

Oh heavens, no. I would say that the average price for a basic tuning is around $100 +/- $5. I know one who charges $115 and another who charges $120. The highest I know of is $135. Some charge extra for pitch raises (such as myself), and others don't.

When the air-conditioning technician came out to do the basic $129.00 service I timed him at 14 minutes of actual work. Checked temperature at the outlets, filters, freon and current draw on the compressor.
Gave it a nice thumbs up and I gave him his check.
I like to think that my work is worth as much.

Greetings,
A tuning is not always a "tuning", so it is hard to put a price on it as though it were a defined quantity. Tunings from me cost $150, pitch raising will take that to $200. Time is billed at $110 per hour on site, and I can charge that incrementally in minutes for time in the home. Travel time is billed at $ 50 per hour. I pay the gas.
Regards,

Piano service is very inexpensive. Just ask my banker.

Sorry beethoven, I probably wasn't clear. My question was, did Tim Barnes consider the $162/$267 a locally optimized price for Chicago (or anywhere else for that matter)? Or was it supposed to be a nationwide average?

We don't quote a price for "tuning" but have a two-tiered service fee. $175 is for a maintenance appointment, meaning that I've serviced the piano previously and that it is not too out of whack. $228 is the lesser maintained piano or the piano that needs extra work.

Clients are often confused about what tuning entails. Many assume that if they tune it annually they are properly maintaining their piano. I have come to many pianos over the years that have been regularly tuned but were filthy inside, hammers deeply grooved with nasty strident and uneven tone, let-off and drop very excessive, repetitions springs jumpy, etc, etc.

In many of these cases, I may spend only 30 minutes tuning, and the rest of the time is spent trying to improve the regulation and voicing. In these cases, the improvement is so striking to the client, that your reputation with them is assured and they are happy to pay the fee.

I also agree with incremental fee increases. Going up $5 or $10 annually is not going to lose you many clients if you continue to improve and refine skills. So the first task of building a healthy business is to get booked a week or two out throughout most of the year. That is a clear sign that you can benefit from a small fee increase. I am a fairly low volume technician, with a goal of around 500 pianos a year. an extra $5 boosts gross income by $2500, without raising expenses (except taxes! :P). That is a substantial chunk of income, that puts very little burden on your clients.

I believe in getting a synergy going between rates and quality of service. Higher rates can afford you more income to pay for continuing education, better tools, needed vacation, higher quality food, etc. This in turn boosts your performance and abilities allowing you to justify higher rates. Getting this cycle going is exciting and motivating. It can take a leap of faith to get going, but it pays off in the long run.

I know technicians that get stuck in a rut, and are afraid or don't care to raise their rates. This leads to a lackadaisical approach to the work, just banging out tuning after tuning. This makes the job like factory work on an assembly line. Not a good recipe for job satisfaction.

Full service is where it's at. It makes the job much more interesting and rewarding for both you and the client!

The market around here will not support fees in excess of $100 for the most part. I charge $90 for a tuning plus tax, I include pitch raises for this fee. $60 is my hourly rate for labor plus tax. I believe I charge more than anyone else in my area. I am also the only one who charges sales tax, guess the others feel they don't need to follow the laws.

Now for certain clients such as the college I work at and a local piano store I work for I do give a discount. These are pretty much my guaranteed income and all instruments are in one area, so I give a discount to them. I also have my clients that follow a regular schedule from the post cards I send out, these also get a slight discount.

I have been contemplating raising fees again, but last time I did people were upset I was charging more. I feel like if I charge more there will be a lot of customers that will just let their piano rot rather than get it serviced.

Cost of living here is high, more than a lot of major cities where technicians charge 50% higher rates than me. I think part of the problem is that there are a handful of tooners in the area that are happy to charge very little for a tuning because it makes a nice part time income from their regular job at McDonalds etc... I have even had some of my clients such as school districts, churchs etc... tell me they have been contacted by these tooners who stated that they would undercut my fees if they would switch to them, and a few of my clients have switched to get the better rate. However many come back to me after bad experiences with their bargain technician. After seeing many of these "technicians" quality of work I am not sure how they are still in business.

Right now I'm at $90 which includes sales tax so my actual fee is about $84. I have been much more diligent in charging $30 more for a pitch raise which people don't seem to have a problem with.

I'm at the high end of the San Diego market, AFAIK.

The average around the St. Louis area seems to be around $90-$100. I guess that's low compared to other parts of the country. Here in Missouri though, we usually have the lowest gas prices and cost of living in the nation. I am located about an hour south of STL. I personally charge $100 for a "first time" tuning. This is for new customers. I just assume that their piano is going to need a pitch raise. It's easier to just call it that rather than to explain the whole pitch raise thing. After that first initial tuning, the cost next years is $75. I guess I probably need to raise that $75 a little, I've had it the same every since I started about 5 years ago. That is what my mentor suggested, that is what he charged at the time. However, I'm not trying to make a living from piano tuning. My full-time job is a choir teacher for a public school. People around here know that. I've feared that raising my prices might appear to be greedy. I like the idea mentioned above about raising it incrementally. Say $5 a year or so. I do feel that my tunings have gotten better in five years, as well as my knowledge of repairs and regulation. I'm probably due a rise. LOL! People around here really have no other option, I'm kind of the only horse in town. There is another tuner, but he spends most of his time traveling the state. He has a contract with many of the Morman Churches around MO. His prices are higher than mine.

Speaking of gas prices... So, the Shell station closest to my house was $4.49/g for REGULAR! I am definitely taking this into account when I raise my prices next month.