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[scottstephens]

Hey guys and gals,

I believe the subject line pretty much says what I was wondering. Why was I wondering this?  I was just going over my pricing for fall events, school things mostly and it just entered my mind.  So, as we all know, prices on gear and shipping have gone up and in some cases, skyrocketed.  Are you charging more for gear? safety issues?  Expendables, batteries, gaff, travel, meals?  I was noticing that concert prices have gone absolutely NUTS.

If so, how much? a percentage, a flat $25?  what?

For myself, its a few dollars more for each expendable, Of corse, Labor charges have gone up. I pay per day or half day as the case may be.

Just wondering.

God Bless us all and our industry.

Scott

[Tim McCulloch]

The quick answer is "yes, sort of."

Everything costs more than it did on March 13, 2020.  Insurance, fuel, utilities, labor...  Raise your rates while other businesses are doing it, too, so you don't "stick out" months from now when you need the money and rates are otherwise stable.

[Corey Scogin]

In some industries, businesses typically have agreements in place with long term clients to implement a Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase yearly.
Here's a nice chart showing the recent inflation based on CPI (some would argue CPI errors on the low side versus other inflation indexes)
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

By that chart, if your rate for an item was $100 in December 2019, it should probably be $106.70 now.
Or the other way around, that $100 you made in 2019 is only worth $93.30 now.

[Brian Jojade]

In some industries, businesses typically have agreements in place with long term clients to implement a Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase yearly.
Here's a nice chart showing the recent inflation based on CPI (some would argue CPI errors on the low side versus other inflation indexes)
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

By that chart, if your rate for an item was $100 in December 2019, it should probably be $106.70 now.
Or the other way around, that $100 you made in 2019 is only worth $93.30 now.

CPI is trickier to calculate mid year. When things are stable, the midyear estimates tend to be a little more accurate, but with the runaway inflation we are seeing in some market segments right now, we won't know the true numbers until things shake out at the end of the year.

In labor heavy markets, inflation costs are going to continue to rise.  The pay for entry level work is dramatically increased, well above the 5% numbers being reported.

Now when it comes to pricing your services, supply and demand still rule.  If you are getting pounded with requests for service, and can't find labor to fill the jobs, demand is exceeding supply. The right thing to do then is raise your rates to slow down demand to match the amount of labor you have available.  As far as paying labor, you can either decide to pay them more as well, offer bonuses, or retain the extra revenue in the business to build a pad in the event that there are future downturns. (I recommend the latter first, then the other options after that)

My labor prices are up at least 25% over last year. Gear rental prices haven't increased as significantly, but are up about 5% across the board.

[Martin Morris]

I've heard that a container load from the U.S. or UK to New Zealand use to cost - 3 - 4k$

Now it's over 20k$

So yes depending on any freight costs it
Will definetly cost more ...



Cheers
Martin

[Chris Hindle]

I've heard that a container load from the U.S. or UK to New Zealand use to cost - 3 - 4k$

Now it's over 20k$

So yes depending on any freight costs it
Will definetly cost more ...



Cheers
Martin

We bring in around 30 containers a year, and another 75 or 80 LCL shipments.
Pre-covid my company was paying around 3,200 US$
My last one from Ningbo (China) to Vancouver was 23,894 US$....
And it is still going up.
The boss freaked at 15,000 8 months ago.....
AND, some shipments are delayed for up to 2 months until space is "found"
Big fun if you're importing stock...
Chris.

[brian maddox]

Hey guys and gals,

I believe the subject line pretty much says what I was wondering. Why was I wondering this?  I was just going over my pricing for fall events, school things mostly and it just entered my mind.  So, as we all know, prices on gear and shipping have gone up and in some cases, skyrocketed.  Are you charging more for gear? safety issues?  Expendables, batteries, gaff, travel, meals?  I was noticing that concert prices have gone absolutely NUTS.

If so, how much? a percentage, a flat $25?  what?

For myself, its a few dollars more for each expendable, Of corse, Labor charges have gone up. I pay per day or half day as the case may be.

Just wondering.

God Bless us all and our industry.

Scott

I'm mostly still a traveling freelancer, so all I sell is access to my time. So Covid hasn't significantly changed my cost structure.

There was a lot of talk early on about not LOWERING your rate when things came back to so as not to undercut the market. Now there's a lot of talk of RAISING your rate due to the shortage of qualified people. For now, I'm taking the stance of staying where I am until things stabilize a bit. I've never been much of an opportunist when it comes to money, preferring to take the longer view of maintaining relationships over short term money gains. That's not how a lot of people operate and I can respect that. But It's worked out okay for me so far.

Now if I were in a business where my costs had gone up significantly than yes. That's a whole different ballgame.

[David Sturzenbecher]

I'm mostly still a traveling freelancer, so all I sell is access to my time. So Covid hasn't significantly changed my cost structure.

There was a lot of talk early on about not LOWERING your rate when things came back to so as not to undercut the market. Now there's a lot of talk of RAISING your rate due to the shortage of qualified people. For now, I'm taking the stance of staying where I am until things stabilize a bit. I've never been much of an opportunist when it comes to money, preferring to take the longer view of maintaining relationships over short term money gains. That's not how a lot of people operate and I can respect that. But It's worked out okay for me so far.

Now if I were in a business where my costs had gone up significantly than yes. That's a whole different ballgame.

Obviously it's all how you bill, but are you not seeing increases in flights, hotels, food, etc while on the road? Sure, those are itemized, but also seeing increases costs at home such as gas, food, etc (I hear natural gas prices are gearing up to double for this winter, not everyone lives in the south  ) would lead me to inch up the day rate some (as I have for the very few freelance gigs I now do).   

[Corey Scogin]

preferring to take the longer view of maintaining relationships over short term money gains.

Isn't this one way to describe a complicated analysis and process that every entrepreneur must get good at? As Brian J. mentioned above in different words: Supply/demand/costs -- if high demand and low supply, grow the business or raise prices or both. If demand is low, lower prices with consideration of the cost floor, only operating at a deficit when future payoff is expected.

I'm first a tech, not a businessman. I'm probably missing a few big picture things there.

[Jonathan Goodall]

I've heard that a container load from the U.S. or UK to New Zealand use to cost - 3 - 4k$

Now it's over 20k$

So yes depending on any freight costs it
Will definetly cost more ...



Cheers
Martin

It has been shocking seeing the increase in prices of some equipment recently. One item I had been keeping an eye on has gone from $2350 per unit to approx $3280......   
The importers can’t absorb that kind of increase in freight so the price rises were inevitable.

[ProSoundWeb Community]