RealSurf Surfers' Forum

I've been fixing a few dings on a friend's board here in ma garage and on the street outside. Bit of passing traffic, and over the past few days a couple of neighbours have asked me to repair theirs. One guy gave me his Dick Van Straalen quad fish with a small gash and a crack on the rail. How much? he asked.....dunno, 20, 30? I said. Handed me a fiddy. No rush as he's gone away for a couple of weeks and even said take it for a spin. Cool.
So, a side line business is being considered. Even if it's just extra coin for beers and crack.
The local ding doctor has shut up shop as far as I've learnt. And its been suggested I do a flyer drop. (thanks Jim)

So what's the going rate. I can manage a few average repairs in a day or two, probably spend a total of 2-3 hrs. I do a reasonably good job. Handy with the mix and good touch on the sanding.
Hourly rate? Or fixed price plus extra if more involved?

Dunno mate, I fix my own but don't care what it looks like so I don't bother too much about colour, just make sure the sanding and finish it up to scratch. And it's not going to re-offend.
Just getting a more major repair done by a board maker on the swinger-with-length ATM.
Involves some strengthening across the bottom, doing something about a couple of small stress fractures and I imagine should look OK.
He's saying approx $95 and I'm happy to pay it.

skipper, most people charge based on what it involves. i've never heard anyone charge an hourly rate.

round the eastern suburbs, the going rate seems to be roughly:

e.g.
gash (non rail) or small crack 30-40
more serious/ on the rails 50ish
tails or nose (particularly swallow tips) 70ish
reset/replace fins 90+
snapped board 120+

go for it.

Yeah Skip I agree with the boo.. Hourly rate won't wash with most punters..

As discussed yesterday ding doctor has stopped doing them and the other guy I used has sadly passed.. RIP Paul.

I know that Paul used to make a fair bit of coin from it so there is definitely a market..

I have used a guy at coo gee called Craig who is a nice guy and cheaper than what you generally pay around the east.. Pridmore uses him as well..

Skip we'll speak more about this as I do think there is an opportunity if done the right way..

i can probably send some business your way too Skip, I have links with the UNSW windsurfing club which is chock full of learner surfers. Lots of board damage!

Brush up on epoxy repairs too, fair bit of coin and an untapped market.

Mates of mine have used Craig too, though he seems to be away a fair bit.

Sweet. Thanks for that fellas.
Didn't really figure on the hourly rate idea and those flat rates sound ok Kaboo.
I'll get a design together for the card/flyer Jim.

Epoxy's an area I'll have to consider. Hadn't considered it, being old school.
I repaired the rescue paddle board I found in the harbour a few years ago, and having an epoxy finish over styrene foam, made the mistake of using poly. Found out soon enough it's not compatible with resin. So some research in that area will be necessary.

Im sure there's enough fibreglass boards getting gashed to make a start with them for the time being.
Will keep you posted.

what about fin plugs?

what would you guys pay to replace two broken fin plugs? (1 fin)

skipper, anything happen with this?
Are you taking orders/jobs? Got a friend who had the tail of his board damaged in transit.

PM me if you're keen. Or go public if you want.

Yep. Still keen to get something going. Haven't started any advertising yet but I'm in the process of knocking up some stands. If I'm gonna go pro, milk crates won't cut it.

I'll pm ya some details.

best of luck skipper, hope it goes well mate.

yeah, good luck with it, there is money to be made in repairs...get the backpackers business and you could be a busy fella.....

pridmore wrote:yeah, good luck with it, there is money to be made in repairs...get the backpackers business and you could be a busy fella.....

diggerdickson wrote:best of luck skipper, hope it goes well mate.

Thanks fellas.
No progress yet on the advertising. Or the stands. I've been busy with other work lately, but aim to hit the local surf shops, as well as a leaflet drop around the carpark.
Maybe some sky writing too

I suspect things might be a bit quieter as winter approaches, but then again..?

good thread capt

the going rate is $55( includes gst) for the first ding

$30 for each ding there after..... ( thats a 24hr turn around service)

quality ding repair..

kids...under 16.....get em done for free....cause there kids

i'm happy price gouge the adults....i

thats my prices and....good damn....i just finished putting the tails back onto a swallow tail so thats $85 bucks for two hours effort ( TWO DINGS) ....quicker if i didn't have hand sand....but it's late

true....older i get....more i still fixing bloody dings at midnight

don't be a scab.....charge the going rate...get work of your quality work, word by mouth...look after the bloody groms kids don't have any cash

matt... wrote:what about fin plugs?

what would you guys pay to replace two broken fin plugs? (1 fin)

good example my price structure

$55 first plug.....$30 second plug.....i'd sell u the fin at cost

cause your a ok bloke

thats how i do it skipp....u don't have be super cheap....but you got look after blokes too

thanks for advice Fong. All good.

I'll see what car they deliver in or how big house i pick up from before i quote.
How's that sound?

Needless to say, neighbourhood groms i'll do for nix.

mustkillmulloway wrote:

matt... wrote:what about fin plugs?

what would you guys pay to replace two broken fin plugs? (1 fin)

good example my price structure

$55 first plug.....$30 second plug.....i'd sell u the fin at cost

cause your a ok bloke

thats how i do it skipp....u don't have be super cheap....but you got look after blokes too

bloody good price, fong!
(except i did them myself with a resin & q-cell kit for $29.95 & a few hours last weekend)

yeah go for it, skips. there's always a market for ding repairs & the best thing is you can literally do it out of your garage, as you've mentioned.
the pick up idea sounds good, as i'm a busy bloke myself & would appreciate service like that. one of my boards sat in my garage for 6 weeks with the fin plugs busted, cos i couldn't be bothered dropping it around the other side of avoca!

what area are you servicing?

Didn't you guys read the local shaper thread? Mates rates are a sure fire way to the business costing YOU money. My advice is to provide a top notch service and charge accordingly (heehee accorDINGly). If you do a repair that people are not just happy with, but one that they are stoked with and will show to others and basically advertise your service for you, then you will get repeat customers bringing their friends. Like Fong says don't do it cheap. I rekon $85 for 2 hours effort is too cheap, especially if you subtract the cost of materials. The groms have parents who can afford to pay, if it costs you money,you should charge for it, at least for the parts or materials. You are not a charity. If you really want to help the gommys, get em to come around and show em how to fix it themselves, give em a new skill and a sense of acheivement, still charge em for the materials though, that will give em a sense of reality.

Yep, I took a board to a ding repair guy & ended up with an average repair job, never went back again...

Met another shaper recently who charged a lower rate for ding repairs on boards ordered directly from him...