profit on parts?

[NomadPilot]

Do custom gunsmiths charge a profit margin on parts or just labor?

i.e. If a part costs you $10 from Brownells, do you charge your customer $15 for that part? Or is your profit solely made by your labor fees? I don't mean to pry into private business matters, just what is the industry norm?

I ask because I see lots of parts for sale on the forums and elsewhere and wonder (assuming I've done my homework and they're the exact same part) how much more economical it'd be to buy those and ship them to a gunsmith vs letting him acquire all the parts he'll need for my build.

 

[winmagman]

I can't speak for all of them, but for the few I have dealt with you pay for the labor. Some I've talked with don't care if I order the parts and ship them there or if they order, one even told me he could get the part cheaper than I could, and he was right.

Chris

 

[BountyHunter]

Gunsmiths get dealer pricing on parts from Brownells and other distributors, action makers, barrel mftrs, stock makers etc.

Hey, but they have to make $ to stay in business also. It costs money to stock inventory. Nothing is free.

BH

 

[colliers_customs]

If your smith wants to charge you more if you supply the parts get a new smith. If we order the parts we bill for the list price that you would see from the suppler.

Jake

 

[royinidaho]

I've given this a lot of tho't from time to time.

If the smith orders the parts and pieces from a supplier he should get the margin and I would even expect to pay the shipping and time for ordering.

If I order the parts, as I did for my current build in progress (bought everything from LRH posts of stuff for sale) the smith then quoted a guestimate for what special components that he had to provide (dies etc).

If a bit factored in for not making any margin on parts and pieces, so be it.

Whatever he does I have no way of doing.

Just had a new shingles put on the roof. A well known roofer, highly recommended by all, and just an ordinary man, scout leader, father, husband etc took a little under a week to getter done. Did a superb job. His labor charge was only 600 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't expect anyone to do it for that little when I could do it myself but am too lazy and old to get on the roof in 90* temps. I told my son, who is a tight wad, who had already written the check, to bump it a bit. Too late. He starts the siding this week, I catch up with him on the siding labor.

On the other hand, there's a socalled smith a couple of towns up the valley that took a total of 10 months collectively to install a brake then later swap barrels and reinstall the brake. To him I don't return and if I do, its for something like a quick bore scope task that I beat him out of.

Good wives, barbers and rifle smiths are way to hard to come by to not treat them right.

 

[Gene]

Unless you have a FFL, its easier to have the gunsmith order an action, and he will make about a 30% profit. Other parts, you can get them and the smith will usually install them with no upcharge. Pull out a Brownells catalog, and you will find retail price on the right. The last three or four digits of the part number to the left is price to legitimate dealers and smiths.

 

[msalm]

When supplying parts for customers, some manufacturers have a minumum advertised price (MAP) policy, (RRA for instance). They will give the dealer/gunsmith a discount, but want you to sell it at an amount set by them to retain value on their product. I personally usually tell a customer don't waste you're money at midway, I can save you a bit. Do I make all my $ on labor??? Not a chance, it takes $ to keep the lights on and the equipment in the shop. But I don't sock them the full suggested retail either. Usually a straight 10-15% will cover shipping and my time sourcing parts for them. I am just a small-time gunsmith, don't advertise and do it around a full-time job and family. If I was doing it for my sole source of income, I would probably charge a bit more...If you think about it, where is the customer going to get it any cheaper????

 

[NesikaChad]

Do custom gunsmiths charge a profit margin on parts or just labor?

i.e. If a part costs you $10 from Brownells, do you charge your customer $15 for that part? Or is your profit solely made by your labor fees? I don't mean to pry into private business matters, just what is the industry norm?

I ask because I see lots of parts for sale on the forums and elsewhere and wonder (assuming I've done my homework and they're the exact same part) how much more economical it'd be to buy those and ship them to a gunsmith vs letting him acquire all the parts he'll need for my build.

If you take your vehicle to a garage and have it serviced and it requires a new distributor cap, should the garage be allowed to make a profit from it?

Should that same garage install the same distributor cap if you bring it yourself?

Do you take your own fillet to the steak house for the cook to grill up for you?

The bottom line gents is a full time gunsmith working from a storefront is there to make a profit. He has a family, he has bills, and he has to survive just like everyone else.

That being said there is a big difference between charging a reasonable fee and then trying to rip someone's head off. That time invested on the phone, researching, shipping, receiving, inventorying, and paying the outside vendors has to be absorbed somehow.

In ten years I've yet to see a gunsmith driving a R/R or living in a 7 figure estate.

Enough said.

 

[J E Custom]

I think you got the answer to your question.

Some do and some don't ,On some parts they will allmost allways charge something because
of shipping and credit card charges. also on long delivery items he may spend time checking
and expediteing the part.

It is much more trouble to round up all the parts than just have the person take care of it
him self.

The best way is to have everything drop shiped to the smith if he doesen't mind so you want
pay shipping twice. And if you just want to look at everything your self first(This is not a bad
idea) in case you don't like it you still have time to change the item in question before the smith
starts.

When you recieve all of the parts then ship them all at once to the smith there should be a
firm completion and price.

I have waited over a year for a part that was promised in 6 to 8 weeks and had to explain to
my friend what the problem was and in some cases substituted (with the friends permision)
to meet the original delivery date.

J E CUSTOM

 

[royinidaho]

J. E.

I'm a trusting sort. I bought everything from members here, for my next and final build and had them shipped to the smith. All parts were from top cabin manufacturers.

If something is visibly amiss I would hope that the smith lets me know up front before any of his time is wasted. Plus if the problem is correctable, in his judgment, I would expect him to be compensated for the extra work. If the extra work isn't successful, he should still be compensated I would be responsible for replacing the dud part.

[Note to self: If I go to the doctor and he kills me I don't expect him or any part of the system to receive any compensation. But what would I care?]

The "smith" has an accuracy expectation prior to shipping the rifle. If it meets his expectation, all is well with me.

 

[bigbuck]

I've given this a lot of tho't from time to time.

If the smith orders the parts and pieces from a supplier he should get the margin and I would even expect to pay the shipping and time for ordering.

If I order the parts, as I did for my current build in progress (bought everything from LRH posts of stuff for sale) the smith then quoted a guestimate for what special components that he had to provide (dies etc).

If a bit factored in for not making any margin on parts and pieces, so be it.

Whatever he does I have no way of doing.

Just had a new shingles put on the roof. A well known roofer, highly recommended by all, and just an ordinary man, scout leader, father, husband etc took a little under a week to getter done. Did a superb job. His labor charge was only 600 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't expect anyone to do it for that little when I could do it myself but am too lazy and old to get on the roof in 90* temps. I told my son, who is a tight wad, who had already written the check, to bump it a bit. Too late. He starts the siding this week, I catch up with him on the siding labor.

On the other hand, there's a socalled smith a couple of towns up the valley that took a total of 10 months collectively to install a brake then later swap barrels and reinstall the brake. To him I don't return and if I do, its for something like a quick bore scope task that I beat him out of.

Good wives, barbers and rifle smiths are way to hard to come by to not treat them right.

$ 600 Labor you must have a small roof or he was real, real HUNGRY .

 

[J E Custom]

J. E.

I'm a trusting sort. I bought everything from members here, for my next and final build and had them shipped to the smith. All parts were from top cabin manufacturers.

If something is visibly amiss I would hope that the smith lets me know up front before any of his time is wasted. Plus if the problem is correctable, in his judgment, I would expect him to be compensated for the extra work. If the extra work isn't successful, he should still be compensated I would be responsible for replacing the dud part.

[Note to self: If I go to the doctor and he kills me I don't expect him or any part of the system to receive any compensation. But what would I care?]

The "smith" has an accuracy expectation prior to shipping the rifle. If it meets his expectation, all is well with me.

Roy.
There are a lot of trusting people on this site and I am one of them also, And your right about
the smiths accuracy, quality and appearance standards and the best way to make sure that you
and your smith are on the same page is to discuss every thing thoroughly and eliminate any
surprises.

My best advice is to spend lots of time talking with the smith about what you want and expect
and if he does not take all the time nessary for a clear understanding of what you want he is
probably not the person you want to build you custom rifle. In fact if he does not become your
friend you have not spent enough time with him.

As to the parts problem, Some times to the untrained eye a problem may be missed and it ''IS"
the smiths job to inspect and approve all of the parts in order to produce a truly CUSTOM rifle.

Doing the right thing will always pay off but doing the easy or half *** thing will cause one a lot
of grief. All of my friends have 2 or more of my rifles because we talk a lot before,during and
after the build and I am always hear to support them as are many on this site.

J E CUSTOM

 

[mike33]

I have a small business my self ( landscaping ). The reason why i do it is the same as you going to work. We all have to make money. I install new yars and build retaining walls. Yes, i make a profit off of material ( business 101 ) I have had several guns built and i wouldnt think of sending him the action then saying ill have the hart barrel, Mcmillian stock, etc. forwarded to you. I have had customers say ill get the top soil. thats okey but then i charge more for labor to rake out the extra rocks where there soil wasent as quality as mine. I just feel it is good business even if im the customer to let the prof. handle everyrhing.
Mike