What do you charge for tank service?

[Anonymous]

Straight charge, per hour, or what?

Thanks for any info...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

i used to charge $25 to show at the door-for first time clients too, even if it was just for a 'consultation'.

never charged by gallon (couldn't morally justify that one-except for the initial setup, and wc's, there wasn't much time diff. between a 75 gal.'s maintenance, and a 125 :wink: )

for reg service clients-it was $25/hr, with a one hr. charge minimum.

i would make it clear to my clients that my goal was to not keep doing the maintenance, but to eventually teach them how to take care of the tank.
(my priority was working in the lfs).

most visits also included 'lessons'.(seemed that quite a few of the folks really liked this approach :wink: )

the advantages were that i could sometimes do multiple 'quick maintenance stops' on my way home from work, and i would get a steady rotation of clients, w/out stretching myself too thinly.it also helped me screen out those who did not plan on getting involved in their tanks, and taking some responsibilty/interest in the care of their pets.

it also greatly helped to increase the amount of clients who came into the store :wink:

(after they got 'on the bus'-they were very loyal customers-the appreciation for education, and getting 'turned on' went a long way towards establishing an excellent retail relationship :wink: )

 

[dizzy]

Chip,

If I was you I would have someone call your local competetion and see what they charge. Do it from a cell phone. I would just do it for about the same rate as the rest in the area. Just my 2cents.

Mitch

 

[dawgfish]

I used to do mantinance when I worked for a LFS. We charged by the gallon; about a $1.40 per gallon. This included water change w/premixed RODI saltwater, cleaning the glass, changing filter pads (if nes.), testing the water, cleaning the pumps, skimmers, etc. Usually we made 2 visits per month, the second visits included all the above except the water change but did supply the customer w/top off RODI water. On larger tanks (over 125 gallons) we usually charged a little less. This can be a pretty lucrative business; you would be surprised on the number of people who just want view their tank and don't care to do the "big" stuff or just don't have the time. Alot of LFS don't provide these services; you should try to get a deal w/those stores and give them a little cut for referals. HTH Email me if you have any futher questions.

 

[Anonymous]

when i was doing it i charged hourly. i sat down and averaged out costs on care for the various sys's i was handling and it worked out pretty well. there were only a few circumstances for which i'd have to charge extra - all emergency issues.

i picked up my first set of customers through the shop, and that expanded rapidly by word-of-mouth. odd thing, i also ended up remaining friends with a good portion of the folks i used to service, even years after i moved.

since a large proportion of my customers were either commercial ops (restaurants, dr./dentist offices, etc.) or folks (often elderly) left with a college-bound kid's tank i didn't worry about educating them. i drafted a short contract, basically outlining services included, scheduling, payments, a disclaimer and limit to financial responsibility. makes things lots better that way.

ohter than that, we had one rule, and one rule only to keep me on:
THOU SHALT NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THY TANK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!

 

[dawgfish]

seamaiden is right....Have a contract to protect yourself!

 

[AquariaUSA]

Over the years we have done hourly, etc. However, depending on the type of clients you plan on catching with your net, I think you should think long and hard about what makes you stand out...what are you really worth, and is it ethical to your customers? When I first got into the service business twelve years ago, I worked FT at the LFS. I had a ton of clients, and so did half of the stores 50 employees (after the rest found out how much most of us made). This made things obviously tough for retail employee morale due to the competitive nature of many.

We learned after several years in different organizations that retail, service, and hobbyists providing part-time aquarium service are all very different entities with good reason. Weekly I come across a new client that came across our name after being sold everything+ by the local retailer. We look at the list of "goodies" the retailer made their 40%+ markup on, and feel at a disadvantage trying to keep quiet on why they probably do not need that super wet/dry filter system for their reef aquarium, knowing that we have about 40 or so larger systems without them. We could care less about the dry goods markup, for our business deals not with products but keeping our clients satisfied with our service. But the odd thing is in that list of "goodies" there were no well known books from the authors that taught most of us how to keep what we now have in our tanks.

Well if you want to get involved in service... can you do this 25-75 hours per week, or do you work full-time in another totally different industry? Are you planning on incorporating...obtaining proper federal, state, and local permits/IDs...purchasing insurance...and advertising? Contracts may keep some from trying to file suit, but we have seen a few of our not so formal competitors lose more than they expected when an educated customer ...obtained an educated lawyer... and then obtained a generous portion of the serviceperson's livelihood. We signed one of their clients about 2 years ago! Not trying to scare you off, but if you are going to do this, make sure this is something you can dedicate your time to (24hrs if needed) becoming respected and successful. Hence the reason why after a long client filled day, I check the boards to see what is brewing at 2:15AM only to rise in about 6 hours for another client filled day. If you would like help directly, feel free to contact me (as long as you are not planning on setting up in one of our client's zip codes) :O)

 

[fishfarmer]

I provide a maintenance service for a 120 gal FOWLR tank near where I live/work. I consider it "my" tank and have control over all the maintenance except if I'll be away for a week (take this into consideration if you do travel out of state and a problem arises). I don't charge much, $60 per month, plus added food expense or fish when needed. I do maintenance when needed, usually water changes twice a month. Water tests once a month. Skimmer cleaned when needed, etc. I keep records of what I do, but don't go by an hourly rate. My biggest problem with the tank is the store where it is located is co-managed. During the summer one family member runs the store(the aquarium owner), during the winter another one runs the store who likes the tank but wish they had the space available for retail sales :roll: . A contract would be a good thing in this situation and specific details on what they want in the tank and an understanding from them about the limitations with said aquarium.

I do this maintance on the side, I have a day job. Sometimes I'm too busy or tired to keep the maintenance in a schedual.

FWIW, I've had several people ask me for advice and/or wish for maintaining their home aquariums for them.