Not New to Cleaning Reels but New to the Business.

[Blacklabelsociety]

Im New here at AlanTani.com. And I enjoy this Whole Site. I absolutely Love Reels and I have always Cleaned and Tuned my Own. This past year I started buying used reels and fixing, Cleaning and Tuning them for sale. Im a Single Father that does not get to fish much. So Working on reels keeps my mind at ease. I have improved my skills greatly during this time period. I started working on my friends reels and made a Little Money. 2 weeks ago I decided to test the water of have a Business of sorts Cleaning,Tuning, Upgrading and Fixing. I have a few questions for all you Long Term Reel Heads. I takes me a while to Clean and Tune  a Baitcaster. How much time should I be taking to clean and tune reels. Also how much should I charge for the works. Thats Cleaning and Tuning. I take alot of pride in working on reels and I work on them as if they were mine. I rub every screw or metal parts with Anti corrosive oil. And there is not a speck of Dirt anywhere on the reel. I have always perfected the Art of Cleaning Bearing. I have had some help along the way and I read this site. I have been told that Im taking to long to work on a Reel. That under an hour was the norm. Im not sure one could give the customer a awesome clean and tune in under an hour. How long is to short or to long. An I being to thorough in cleaning reels. And how much is the normal fee. I appreciate anyone of you that takes time to read and answer. And Thanks Alan Tani for having this site.

[alantani]

funny, bryan and i were just talking about this.  i have kept my margin so low that i barely break even.  it was never intended to make me rich.  the business world will usually add at least 50% to anything sold, and their shop rates are $90-120 per hour.  at that pace, you could make a profit.  anything less than that, and i can almost guarantee that you will not. 

which is why none of us do......   

[Blacklabelsociety]

Alan I understand the fact that we work reels because we have a passion for them. I love reels. I work hard on them and spend alot of time doing it. It would be nice to make a little extra money to Support this Habit we share as Anglers. I see that I must have some hard or stupid questions. I appreciate the reply.

[alantani]

it's tough, because there is no "common" structure to this.  the auto industry has their standards, so do carpenters and plumbers.  not us, though.  it probably would take a 50% margin and a $90 per hour shop rate to stay ahead.  not sure the market would bear that, because most reels are designed to fail so that guys will have to buy another. 

[Dominick]

Welcome and good luck with your business.  Dominick

[Jon_Kol]

Nice to see that others also ponder about  "the passion for reels + time, effort and care put into every reel = how much do I charge for this??"

I see it the same way that you do, Blacklabelsociety - I take pride in doing my very best with every single reel that is handed over to me. Like you, I remove every single part, clean, fix, polish, you name it.. before putting it all back together. If I was to charge for the hours I put into every reel, I have my doubts as to how many would ask me for my service. But I want them to know that when they trust me with their reel(s), I will do everything in my power to not only fix the issues, but also return the product in the best state that I can possibly produce.

So what I did, is that I set a fee for the job. Which includes all of the things already mentioned here (taking the parts out, cleaning etc) and it also includes the stuff that I use, such as Cal's Grease, ReelX and all other liquids and such. The fee I've set per reel, is around $34 - roughly converted from Norwegian currency. That is $34 in total, not per hour or anything like that. Parts (if needed) are not included, neither is shipping of parts, returning the reel to the owner by mail etc. Shipping is, as pretty much everything else, expensive in Norway. So all in all, I sometimes have juuuust a little on the plus side when everything is settled.

So far, no one have complained about this fee, and I'm proud and happy to say that everyone who've sent their reels to me, have responded with nothing but lovely feedback and kind words. THAT'S what does it for me, not the little extra money. I always need every extra bit of money, I've gotta be honest about that, but the small amount that such fees build up to is nothing compared to the joy of reading the feedback from a fellow sport fisherman who's really happy to have his reel back in working order and doing what it once did.

I also checked around before setting my standard fee, and what I found was that the few other people whom I knew did various reel service, charged a much higher sum and there was never any detail given as to what was really done during the service. I take loads and loads of photos during each session with every reel, so any client (if that's the word) who wants to have a look at what I did for those roughly $34, can at any time request as few or as many photos of the session as he/she wants. So far, no one has made such a request. But I find it nice to have something to show, should anyone be curious.

[Reel 224]

Welcome B-L Society: As Alan said most reels are made to last a short time, you have to target the upper end of reel repair or custom made reels.

Joe   

[Tightlines667]

I started out much the same way, buy doing my own, then buying used reels and restoring/upgrading and selling, then I started advertising and moved to servicing for customers.  I decided to focus on the big game (9/0-16/0, and 80-130 lever drag reels) since there is a large customer base here in HI.  I charge a flat rate of $50/reel +parts (I make about 20% on parts costs).  When all is said and done, I average about 5hrs/reel and clear anywhere from $300-$1200/mo, but it only works out to about $12/hr.  My profits from the first 1.5 years went back into equipment and parts, and my profits since then have largely gone into funding my reel collecting hobbie.  I enjoy working on the reels, and have developed a solid repeat customer base (maybe about 20-35% of my buisness).  You have to enjoy it, since there really isn't alot of money to be made.

If you are serious about starting a buisness, work on getting yourself buisness accounts with parts distributors, find an area to specialize in, and develop a customer base.  Try to remain realistic, and realize you may need a little start up capital. 

Best of luck!

[Three se7ens]

Do your research:  find out what the going rate in your area is for that type of work  Shops have overhead, but there is a perceived value in a storefront to customers.  I.e. they will pay more to have a shop do it than a guy working out of his garage.  You dont have the kind of overhead, so your "shop rate" doesnt have to cover things like rent, electricity, payroll, insurance, etc.  Your shop rate can be basically your wage plus consumables. 

There isnt much specialized equipment you need, but never ever buy cheap tools if you are trying to make money with them.  Quality tools will save you time, and will pay for themselves far sooner than you ever imagine.  Stripping screw heads with cheap screw drivers could easily cost you an hour or more a screw to remove, then the cost to replace the screw.  It only takes a couple of those to pay for that really nice screwdriver set. 

One thing I have have payed particular attention to in my business is reducing time.  If you can halve the time it takes to do a job you have a fixed price on(bid, quote, whatever), you effectively double your rate.  Put effort into decreasing the time per part or per reel, because the gains just keep adding up. 

If you dont need the income to pay bills(which hopefully you dont), put the profits back into your business.  Do a few repairs, and buy some better tools.  Keep all your receipts, keep track of business related expenses, and mileage(its HUGE on taxes).  You wont pay taxes on money you invest back into your business.  Better tools and more experience means you'll service reels quicker, and make more money. 

[Blacklabelsociety]

You guys are Great. Its feels like a sort of Family here. My Biggest concern is the cutting of time. Im a Electrician by Trade and I know that taking shortcuts means Quality Suffers. Im going to cut some by trying to work faster. I appreciate everyone here.

[Three se7ens]

Im not talking about taking shortcuts that reduces the quality of work.  Im talking about efficiently ordering the different processes involved in teardown, cleaning, and reassembly to minimize the time required to do a given quality level of work. 

For instance, when you are roughing in new electrical, do you install each outlet as you run the wires to it?  I doubt it.  Youll pull the wires through, leaving a bit extra hanging out the box.  Once all the wires have been pulled, youll go back and finish with trimming the loose wired and installing outlets and such.  Quality doesnt suffer, but the overall job takes less time. 

Try to do similar tasks at once, and remove the parts that need to soak first, so they can be soaking while you everything else you can. 

[Reel 224]

You guys are Great. Its feels like a sort of Family here. My Biggest concern is the cutting of time. Im a Electrician by Trade and I know that taking shortcuts means Quality Suffers. Im going to cut some by trying to work faster. I appreciate everyone here.

Take it one step at a time, as was said do your research. As for tools, they can come a little at a time. For instance, I am a gun smith "Retired" and have $1000s of dollars of tools accumulated over 40 years. You cant expect to go into this with both guns blasting as it were. Good luck in the future! You can rely on the guys here for help.

Joe  

[TheReelShop]

Im New here at AlanTani.com. And I enjoy this Whole Site. I absolutely Love Reels and I have always Cleaned and Tuned my Own. This past year I started buying used reels and fixing, Cleaning and Tuning them for sale. Im a Single Father that does not get to fish much. So Working on reels keeps my mind at ease. I have improved my skills greatly during this time period. I started working on my friends reels and made a Little Money. 2 weeks ago I decided to test the water of have a Business of sorts Cleaning,Tuning, Upgrading and Fixing. I have a few questions for all you Long Term Reel Heads. I takes me a while to Clean and Tune  a Baitcaster. How much time should I be taking to clean and tune reels. Also how much should I charge for the works. Thats Cleaning and Tuning. I take alot of pride in working on reels and I work on them as if they were mine. I rub every screw or metal parts with Anti corrosive oil. And there is not a speck of Dirt anywhere on the reel. I have always perfected the Art of Cleaning Bearing. I have had some help along the way and I read this site. I have been told that Im taking to long to work on a Reel. That under an hour was the norm. Im not sure one could give the customer a awesome clean and tune in under an hour. How long is to short or to long. An I being to thorough in cleaning reels. And how much is the normal fee. I appreciate anyone of you that takes time to read and answer. And Thanks Alan Tani for having this site.

Welcome. This place has been great. The guys here are real, and genuine. I been a member for about a year and I've learned so much. Because of this Ive already repaired/service over 20 reels for myself and friends along the year ( my trade is I'm a registered nurse). I'm currently doing two Penn 30TW which Alan ended up helping me out with. They are my first reels to service for a customer. I too noticed I took long with the first reel. Quite long actually, I used up a whole can of carb cleaner on one reel, and brushed everything up and sure as hell the reel is pristine now, but definitely not worth what I charged which was $40/reel. I have noticed though that a lot of the reel upgrades and servicing that is presented and exposed here on Alantani.com is not what the average reel owner thinks of when "reel servicing". For example, I go to a bait shop and see a station to repair and service reels, and the whole presentation gives me the thought that maybe they just run through things. One being how they treat you as a customer looking for bait, and second the lack of organization, ambition, courtesy, and the feeling of being comfortable when asking for advice or help. Its just plain absent. Offering this level of service is beneficial I believe and there's room for improvement/expansion in trying to make an extra buck. Hell I've explained and shown to my friends what I do and these guys know fishing and they are shocked when I explain to them concepts and show them the upgrades, etc. A local captain down here well known has mentioned it before. There's a lot of shops but the knowledge, kindness, or even the care to help is gone or obsolete.   My goal down here is to let the customer feel 100% comfortable to ask me anything, and if I do not know the answer I will find it for him/her because its what we should do. That in itself will change the culture a bit and in essence you can charge up a little more and actually be productive.

[MidTNKayakAngler]

Welcome to the forum, Alan has a great community here.

I'm like you and have been servicing my own reels for 5-6 years, with a few friends and family here and there. In November of 2014 I decided to expand. I mainly work on freshwater baitcast and spinning reels, with a few level winds, and two-speeds here and there. First we "my wife and I" turned a spare bedroom into a reel/paint room. I bought two nice benches, and shelving systems, ultrasonic cleaner, Wiha screwdriver set, Cal's Grease, Magnalube with PTFE, Penn Grease, TSI 321, Shimano greases, and oils, Daiwa Greases and oils, Hedgehog Oils, spool pin pullers from Hedgehog, and Boca, precision picks, and punches, acetone, Simple Green, various thicknesses of carbon fiber sheets, an assortment of the most common reel bearings in different tolerances from Hedgehog, and Boca, spare retaining rings, shims, Abu Garcia cog gears, assortment of pawls, and level winds, and many other tools, greases, oils, lubricants, parts, Dremmel tool, Lama hair brushes, polishes, mini vise, work mat for the bench and much more. I also invested in good lighting for the workbench.

At first I thought I might make a little money, but after everything I bought I see it as a hobby now. Like you I take my time, and disassemble every piece, inspect, and run through the ultrasonic cleaner for at least 10-15 minutes, and then rinse, and compress air dry, then hand check every bearing on a bearing checker, re-inspect all parts, grease, oil, reassemble, and test. Polishing internals is only done upon request, and I have 25-30 or so different lubricants, and let the customer decide what lubricants they want used. I usually go into a little detail about the lubricants.

I usually spend around 2hrs on a reel. I see this as something I can do in the evenings instead of watching TV. It's something I really enjoy, and take pride in.

As far as what you charge it's all up to you. Here are some factors region, quality of reels, you shouldn't charge $30 to clean a $40 reel, your time worth.

Here are my prices $6 is added for shipping, I do meet some local customers, and then no charge for shipping. Baitcast from 50 series to 400 series $18, if I get 5 or more reels from one customer I drop to $17 per reel. High end reels like the JDM stuff I charge $35 per reel Pluton, Core, Calcutta, Steez, etc. $19 for spinning reels 500-3000 series, $20 for round baitcast reels 4000-7000 series, $25 for 4000-9000 spinning reels. Carbontex drags $3.50/ washer, Super tuning starts at $25, and goes up to $35. $10 additional charge if the reel has been taken apart and put together incorrectly, or if the reel is in pieces. I charge $35. Excessive rust or corrosion is an extra $5 charge.

[foakes]

For me, working on reels boils down to perspective, common sense, and honest evaluation of your client.

Each of us is going to approach techniques and procedures their own way -- and hopefully we each will develop our own system that works well for us.  And we can each get one or two nuggets from the experts and newbies alike -- that we can then add to our arsenal as we see fit.

This site of Alan's is an advanced fast-track course in reel making, servicing, repairing, tuning, hot-rodding, and user techniques.  There is no other like it in the world.

I charge a flat fee for various types of reels + parts -- and I try to give every client a little extra at no charge -- and I let them know this -- otherwise, they will never know or appreciate our work.

COMMON SENSE

I only work on reels that can be brought back to good condition -- jobs that I turn down are plastic reels, cheap reels, obsolete reels, throw-away reels, etc.

Reels that I work on are established brands, vintage quality reels, both salt and fresh in average quality or high end quality.

HONEST EVLUATION OF YOUR CLIENT

One of the most important things I have learned from Alan is:

Observe the condition that your client's reels arrive to your shop in --

If the client takes good care of their reels, has a basic knowledge of the gear and an appreciation for the reel -- they will get a stellar job on my end at no extra charge.

If after receiving a reel for service, restoring it to new condition -- then receiving it back a year or two later -- and it has been abused or not cared for -- there is no use me pouring my time into it.

What it will get is a complete cleaning of any debris, new drags, bearings greased, full service to operate properly -- and that is it.  No use spending hours on it.  30 minutes maybe, and they get charged the same as the guy who takes care of his gear.

MY PERSPECTIVE

We all enjoy working on reels, fishing, making a little money to offset our hobby, and honing our skills.

Do the best job within reason, take pride in your skill (it is a worthwhile and lost art), make friends, enjoy what you are doing, help others to gain more of what we have learned, share, don't take it too seriously.

At the end of the day -- it is still just reels.

Just my opinions...

Best Regards,

Fred

Here is one of my favorite perspectives -- in 1990, As Voyager was exiting our solar system after a trip of 4 Billion miles, Carl Sagan asked Nasa to turn it around for a possible view of our home planet -- Earth.

This tiny dot of light is Earth.

We live on this little dot within our star system, in the Milky Way Galaxy comprised of an estimated 10 Billion other stars and solar systems, in a universe unending with no accurate size, other than guesses -- and estimated at Billions of galaxies. 

There is much to learn.