how much do you pros charge?

[alabama_lowlife]

i'm thinking of trying to start making a little money on the side polishing. i'm just not sure how much to charge. my plan is to buy about 3-4 nissan truck valve covers and polish them up and either sell them outright or do an exchange. the going rate on ebay for the covers is about $25 so how much should i sell them for when i get done with them? i'm not looking to quit my day job, but i'd like to make it worth the effort and maybe finance my polishing addiction. here's a pic of the valve cover in question. let me know what you think, i'd like to hear pros and cons from people with experience.

[pickleboy]

for the cover in the picture in that shape. i would first blast it with glass beads, then sand, and finally polish. if you are going for the full on chrome look with the fins polished and all the lettering, then i would charge between $50-$80 for the polish job alone. i am somewhat expensive but then i dont really like to polish. i would also try to find local polish shops and have them quote it and see what your regional pricing scale is like.

[mpierich]

What Pickle said. Check your local people first.

It's a hard row to hoe, believe me. If I had a better location I'd go to powdercoating instead.

[alabama_lowlife]

there aren't any places around here that do polishing that i'm aware of. there is one place that does chrome plating a couple hours from here though. pickleboy, your prices are pretty close to what i was thinking. i was hoping to clear about $50-60 on each one.

[pickleboy]

if there is no local competetion and you will be selling them local then you will set the price by how well they sell. if you are looking to go on ebay with them then try to find as close to what you will be selling and watch the items and see what the total sale price is. this minus the cost of the cover will give you a range for the polish fee. if it is where you want to make then best of luck. just a bit of advise, make sure that you dont give the work away. keep in mind that there is consumable supplies in polish work that have to be replaced from time to time. also dont sell your time at slave labor. i calculate my time at $10. mininum for friends and more for strangers. this is set in stone. but when bidding a job you have to figure what it should take and not what it does take. i have taken in jobs and made 50.00 when i had over 20 hrs in the job because i mess something up and had to back up and start again. sorry for being long winded but i hope some of this helps. keep in mind that without professional machines and lots of work you will not get rich polishing, but you can have some fun and make some coin. best of luck bro.

[rides20]

For the r1 I did, I charged 3200.00...but that was for Complete disassembly, New exhaust (1400.00), new undertail, tires and brakes...then full reasembly and tune....I think I got boned! HAHAHAAHH

[alabama_lowlife]

ok, i have another one for the experts. a guy wants me to polish an intake manifold for a mustang like the one in the pic below. how much would you guys charge?