Tuna Tower Top Pricing

[regalman190]

OK. This one is driving me crazy. Quoted a lace up top on a 55' Boat. Tuna top lace up is 5' x 7'. I quoted $600, patterned made and installed. Now maybe I'm a little high, but another guy quoted $180. Am I way off or what? The main lace up is 8 x 11' with a mid opening and mid support pockets for a pivoting frame. Quoted $1200. The other guy....$800. And the material is Stamoid.

[Mike]

Thing are cheaper over here but i think the other guy is crazy. Your top had 3 yards. Grommets a d. Inding 100 is with shipping hes only making about a hour labor
And cor 8 yards on the big top. Heck   800   For a normal 5x7 t top im 4-500 more it there is extras like antennas i dont even want to touch a radar again. 1200 sounds fair

[bobbin]

A lot of people will quote less to "get the job".  Whether or not they get job (let alone make any money) is the greater question.

I've been earning my beans from the business end of a sewing machine for a pretty long time now.  I know that I make money when the needle is going up and down in the "right place" at best efficiency.  Put 2 and 2 together and I have a pretty good idea how much it will "cost" to deliver a job at such and such a price. 

You are not asking for too much money, my friend.  Your "competition" will likely vanish like a fart in a stought breeze in a year/less.  Stick to your guns!

[Mike]

Say joe overall have you noticed any diffen e in prices  fron NU to FL ?

Ive noticed some thing pay more like a 40 express latly ivenot seen many.
Or bridges   But ive decentaly seem 100  % increase in upholstery here.
But the meat and potatoes is console covers on centerconsoles followed by cc mooring covers

Funny thing is 20 some years sgo id make a 6' 3 bow aluminum bimini sith storage boot
For $480 usualy with a set of legs. Now it has stayed the same and i get more no's too then i ever did before.

[regalman190]

Thanks bobbin. I moved here and contrary to what many people told me to do, I did NOT raise my prices. Material costs are the same here as NY and so is the labor.
I'm winning most of the jobs I'm quoting so that tells me I'm competitive. And most of my customers have told me that also.

Mike....most work I'm seeing is window replacements on big cruisers and yachts. Console and helm seat covers for center consoles also. It's funny here on upholstery. Sometimes I can't get what I quote and sometimes I get more. Quoted one guy all new upholstery, seats built complete including star board and foam. 12 seat cushions in all. Bottoms and backs. And installing mounting brackets. It was a stripped boat. Quoted him $3500. He hung up on me.

[Mike]

It's funny here on upholstery. Sometimes I can't get what I quote and sometimes I get more. Quoted one guy all new upholstery, seats built complete including star board and foam. 12 seat cushions in all. Bottoms and backs. And installing mounting brackets. It was a stripped boat. Quoted him $3500. He hung up on me.

odd for the average toon like this I got I think $2600 old foam and pvc were good 

new boards and foam would be a lot more

[JuneC]

A 5 x 7 lace-on top for $600 is par for the course.  Not overpriced at all.  For $180 I'd question the fabric, thread, grommet metal, lacing cord, everything.  Ever heard of the FUD factor?  That is (F)ear, (U)ncertainty, and (D)oubt.  Use it to your advantage.  Question whether the customer is comparing apples to apples.  Installation at the top of a 55' sport fish is also a risky venture.   I always refused to do those jobs where they hang out over the edge.  No freakin' way I'm going to climb on a ladder 30 feet in the air on a boat where the possibility exists for a neighbor to come down the canal and throw even a 1' wake.  Maybe you're taller than I am.

$1200 for a big Stamoid lace up is also par.  Not overpriced at all.  Now... if you're competing with Wycap, you've got your work cut out for you.  They have digitized pattern devices (I've never seen them in use but have heard of them) where you walk around with the hand-held unit, click a button at all the pertinent points, go back to the shop, load the data into a computer, the CNC machine cuts out all the fabric pieces and some $10 an hour seamstress does the stitching.  I learned long ago don't even try to compete with those guys.

I doubt it's Wycap - probably some newby trying to make a name for himself.  We're  always going to be up against hobby (garage) businesses. 

I've never had to quote a toon, but the average Sundeck I wouldn't touch for less than 5 grand - most closer to 6 - vinyl only.   But most of them have all sorts of wierd shaped bits and pieces.  Seating for 8 would probably be 35 pieces, all told. 

June

[regalman190]

Mike....I agree on your seat prices. I didn't think I was too high.
June...thanks for your input. The tuna tower is a bit daunting. Don't think it's Whycap.

[Mike]

The only more frugal customers ive found joe the a toon owner is a sailboater.