pricing advice

[Ken S]

I do not sharpen for money, although I have a hobbiest curiousity in how sharpening services run and price their services. I found this video today and was impressed with the practical advice Warren Jones shares for local sharpeners.

https://youtu.be/-W67G4PHKnA?si=ExYo9oHh5zSrudy6

Ken

[John Hancock Sr]

About half way through I thought "I wonder how sharp the knives are from this national sharpener" then he started talking bout "every 2 weeks". I am guessing that they are doing  a quick run over a relatively coarse belt then hone which would certainly need re-doing every 2 weeks. Interesting to see someone look at what they deliver back to the customer.

[Royale]

One mistake I made when pricing my services, was assuming that other knife sharpening services were doing work to the same standard as me.

That's why I don't really buy into the advice of "Look around and see what other sharpeners are charging". That advice makes sense only if you're duplicating the same processes/standards as what they're doing.

No way am I going to match the pricing of my T-8 sharpening with someone else who uses a bench grinder with a coarse grinding wheel shaped like a bagel that shoots sparks.

[Ken S]

I used to have a side business which included archival processing of black and white film and prints. This was low volume, labor intensive processing. Part of my conversation with potential customers was explaining why I needed to charge more than the local drug store. Some agreed, some went elsewhere.

Knife sharpening is the same kind of situation. We need to explain to potential customers why careful sharpening with a Tormek needs to cost more than "drug store" sharpening. Some will agree, some will go elsewhere.

As a suggestion, you might offer to sharpen one knife without charge. That might convince a doubting customer. If not, let them go.

Ken

[Sir Amwell]

Agree with Royale and Ken wholeheartedly.
My personal mantra is quality over quantity.
Quality finds good, repeat customers who are appreciative and likely to recommend.

[RickKrung]

...snip...
My personal mantra is quality over quantity.
..snip...

This is mine, maybe just a longer way of saying the same thing or similar.  Was given to me by my major professor in grad school.  Rang true for me then and ever since.  Might look familiar to some, as it is in my signature bar.

"Quality is like buying oats.  If you want nice, clean, fresh oats, you must pay a fair price. However, if you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse, that comes at a lower price."

[BPalv]

Interestingly I find most folks seem to care less about their knives.  I charge about double what most knife sharpeners in my area charge.  My grinding isn't perfect, but I try to make them perfect every time.  That's why I charge more, I sharpen every knife like they are mine.  It takes time.
(And only you and I know they're not perfect)

[Royale]

Interestingly I find most folks seem to care less about their knives.  I charge about double what most knife sharpeners in my area charge.  My grinding isn't perfect, but I try to make them perfect every time.  That's why I charge more, I sharpen every knife like they are mine.  It takes time.
(And only you and I know they're not perfect)

I recently reviewed my pricing, and I created a framework where I would try to find a balance of two main factors.

The first factor was basing the average time spent per knife on an hourly rate, and how many knives I can sharpen within the work day.

The second factor was my pricing compared as a percentage of the cost of knives purchased by my target market. (People who buy German & Japanese knives, middle to upper range)

So now, whenever I get a customer who's holding their dull Japanese knife they had dropped $300-$400 on and complaining that my services are expensive, I ask them "Expensive as compared to?... It's either $40 to restore your knife, including polishing the blade and oiling the handle, or dropping a few hundred dollars for a new one"

The lights usually come on in their minds and they see the comparative difference.

My philosophy is that I wasn't involved in trashing the knife, so I'm not going to share in the cost of fixing it.

[Sir Amwell]

I have a chef local to me who has 9 or ten top quality knives. He comes to me twice a year. He doesn't beat his knives up and looks after them. With my protocols it's always a relatively quick job to get them razor sharp. I know the knives, angles, honing procedures. Child's play. I don't over charge him but I make a decent hourly rate. He's so happy with the results and never balks at the cost.
Sooooo, it's all about getting the right customers and repeat business from people who appreciate what you are doing. Quality over volume every time!
And it makes the work better. Relaxed quality work rather than the ' quick, quick, gotta go faster to make the money' for non appreciative punters.
Now then, if only I could get a hundred customers like him life would be sweet!