True cost?
I am not commenting on whether or not you were ripped off or the guy changed his quote. What i am commenting about is the true "cost" to a boat yard to do the job. My son worked last summer for one of the premier boat yards in the annapolis area. he washed, waxed boats, sanded and painted bottoms. He was unskilled labor and earned $6.oo an hour. In MD, the cost to an employer for an employee's w-comp, unemployment and payroll taxes is 14%. (trust me, i am an employer and i know this)That means that the cost to the yard for the employee was $6.84 per hour. let's add in the cost of materials at $25. The boats are already paying the yard a monthly storage fee, so the yard is earning income there as well. Obviously we can't calculate the cost of realestate, taxes or business liability insurance. now the math, lets say for the sake of argument, that it took him all day to wash and wax a 40 foot boat and the yard charged $12 a foot (very conservative price) That would mean the boat owner paid $480 for the job. My son, who did the work in 8 hours at $6 earned $48 dollars. After taxes, social security, medicare, etc, he probably netted $30. cost to the boat yard for labor and materials was approximately $25. Guess at $25 for realestate, taxes, and liability. for a total cost of $100. don't get me wrong, i don't dispute the need for the yard to make this money. must business need to make higer profit margins on some services in order to provide other services at lower margins. Businesses are not non-profit organizations. My point is that many of the yard employees earn only slightly more than minimum wage. Tips are not required, but the guy doing your boat probably netted $30 bucks for the job i am sure he would appreciate a cash tip. p.s. I also believe in tipping the gas dock workers. They also make only slightly more than minimum wage. If you can afford to put $30-$50 bucks of diesel in your boat, how about a $5 tip to the dock hand!
I am not commenting on whether or not you were ripped off or the guy changed his quote. What i am commenting about is the true "cost" to a boat yard to do the job. My son worked last summer for one of the premier boat yards in the annapolis area. he washed, waxed boats, sanded and painted bottoms. He was unskilled labor and earned $6.oo an hour. In MD, the cost to an employer for an employee's w-comp, unemployment and payroll taxes is 14%. (trust me, i am an employer and i know this)That means that the cost to the yard for the employee was $6.84 per hour. let's add in the cost of materials at $25. The boats are already paying the yard a monthly storage fee, so the yard is earning income there as well. Obviously we can't calculate the cost of realestate, taxes or business liability insurance. now the math, lets say for the sake of argument, that it took him all day to wash and wax a 40 foot boat and the yard charged $12 a foot (very conservative price) That would mean the boat owner paid $480 for the job. My son, who did the work in 8 hours at $6 earned $48 dollars. After taxes, social security, medicare, etc, he probably netted $30. cost to the boat yard for labor and materials was approximately $25. Guess at $25 for realestate, taxes, and liability. for a total cost of $100. don't get me wrong, i don't dispute the need for the yard to make this money. must business need to make higer profit margins on some services in order to provide other services at lower margins. Businesses are not non-profit organizations. My point is that many of the yard employees earn only slightly more than minimum wage. Tips are not required, but the guy doing your boat probably netted $30 bucks for the job i am sure he would appreciate a cash tip. p.s. I also believe in tipping the gas dock workers. They also make only slightly more than minimum wage. If you can afford to put $30-$50 bucks of diesel in your boat, how about a $5 tip to the dock hand!
