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I'm pursuing contracts as the repair person with some of the local retail guitar stores that don't have repair people on staff, and am curious to know how others have structured the relationship.

I have some ideas, but don't want to reinvent the wheel, either. I wouldn't expect anyone to post their financial arrangements publicly, but would appreciate some back channel messages.

Things I'm trying to figure out is how much (if any) to discount prices, retainers vs. guaranteed billable hours, and any specific advice.

Thanks so much in advance for any help!

Eric

I contracted out to a music store. The situation was somewhat unique but it was a good arrangement and worked well for awhile for both parties. The deal was this: I came in once a week (every Saturday) and I got paid a set amount for the day regardless of how much work the store had for me to do that day. So the onus was on the music store to drum up enough customer repairs to justify the money they owed me every Saturday. These repairs, being in-store repairs, were obviously very limited in the scope and depth of what I could do because I wasn't in my own shop. The work was mostly limited to setups and light fretwork. I brought my own tools. The store charged the customer and I didn't have to deal with that end of things. I didn't even have to come up with estimates. They had a set price for a "basic setup" which they pretty much stuck to, although they would charge the customer more if they wanted something outside the scope of a setup like filing the fret ends or something. The appeal to customers, though, was that they could drop off an instrument and have it back that same day and they could even sit and chat with me as I worked on their guitar. That way I could perform better, more personalized setups, with the customer sitting right there. Any work that was beyond the scope of what could be done in the store, like a neck set or refinishing was referred to me to take back to my shop for the week. Hope that helps...Let me know if you found a different arrangement that works for you, because I'm always looking for new ideas myself!

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http://www.ericschaeferguitars.com

My shop was in a music store for 13 years. Many pros, but there are some cons.
Now my shop is at home, and I don't have to deal with the stupid stuff.
I pick up the instrument, fix it at home, take it back. Easy.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Chris, how did billing get handled? Did you charge the shop your regular rates and let them mark it up for the customer, or some other arrangement?