DannyD,
No disrespect but $1000 is too cheap.
This is 2300 miles of driving and possible breakdowns, flat tires or putting oil in it every 200 miles.
What I find odd is that here is a thread on a site that many people say 'Say NO to Cheap Freight' - well this is an example of cheap frieght, isn't it?
let's see - 2300 miles from my house to Seattle
$1000 gross - $ .44/mile
Again I am not trying to be disrespectful, just pointing out facts
Hiya Greg,
For starters I didn't wanna do this at any price. I guess maybe ya missed that part. She wasn't saying that someone from here was charging to much. She was quite understanding in that anyone who drove this thing would have to make as much doing this as they would at their job. Her take on it was something along the lines of:
1)She's already giving the thing away.
2)Her daughter is coming to Michigan to pick it up in spring.
3)She's willing to pay a lil something so her daughter can get it now rather than wait.
4)Spending $1,000 is a bit much for something her daughter might use once between now & spring.
She never once had this "wow, you're charging way to much" attitude. It was more that she didn't want to spend that much for something that wasn't urgent.
Let's flip the situation around for a second here. Greg, if ya bought your kid a car (motorcycle, boat, just whatever) & he/she was coming to visit ya 4 months from now anyway, would ya pay $1000 to have it delivered to em today? Take out that ya'd do it yourself. And also factor in that he/she didn't need it this very minute. If ya had to either pay $1000 to have it delivered to him or just have him come get it in a few months, what choice would you make?
>I think in this case, as well as the case of Uship, that the
>people who are shipping have NO idea how much it actually
>costs to ship something professionally.
Hiya Jeff,
Again, she's not challenging the "professional shipping price". She just didn't think it's anything that urgent.
>Yeah Danny, I think that taking a cut because it's your
>mom's friend would maybe mean doing it for 66cpm vs. 75cpm.
>Around 1500 total. That would be considered a favor. These
>things always end up being a bigger deal than you think they
>will be.
>
>My wife is a graphic/web designer. We have noticed over the
>last two years as a freelance artist, the cutomers who you
>give a DEAL, end up being the biggest pain in the patookus.
>It never ends up being a simple job. The customers who pay
>the full tilt rate are the most gracious in the end. I
>think it is because the cutomers who demand a special cut
>rate generally don't understand the value of what they are
>receiving.
>
I agree that it's often the bargain hunters that are the biggest pain in the wazoos. I cleaned carpets b4 I did this job the first time around & I used to have $29 specials. Without fail those people were by far the most difficult to deal w/. The 2nd year my minimum was $50 & by my 3rd year I wasn't going to go into a place for less than $75 (kinda like no cheap freight eh?) unless it was empty, in which case I had some $50 jobs. That clientelle was more willing to pay & I got treated a lot better. I can't tell ya how many graduation parties, picnics & things of that nature I got invited to, but it was a fair amount. I'm sure some of that was because I was better at what I did but I'm guessing it was more influenced because I valued my services more & I'm sure it showed.
As for the price, I think Leo's on the right track. I hadn't even considered his line of thinking before. $1500 might be a favor price if it was my own vehicle. This is her vehicle though. Plus, not sure what truckers make per mile, but they have what?? a 96 inch bed if they're lucky? This is a motorhome w/ most of the comforts of a home. Plus there's no time constraints. You're not going to get stuck somewhere waiting on a load. No logs. Figuring on a 4 day trip, whoever drove it would make $250/day w/ the only expense being food, which ya have to eat whether you're home or on the road. Maybe not top dollar but not to terribly bad.
Annnnnnyway, I'm writing another book here. The proverbial "one last thing" is that she never challenged our right to make a living. For her there just wasn't enough vaule in what she had to pay for what she was getting. I can respect that. I'm just wishing that I didn't portray her as being tight in my original post because when I got more info I realized that wasn't the case at all.
Take care & be well,
Danny
Again, I didn't want this job at any price. I felt it was to low when I asked the original question & in jumping the gun I asked on here if maybe someone had another reason for maybe wanting to go to Washington & do this. I was thinking maybe someone might have family out there that they wanted to see & would take it knowing they'd be flown back home.
