36 ms·

Yup. I'm all for paying fair wages and understand the overhead of travel time and idle time for small jobs, but still, $160/hr is way too much.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
If it is too much, why are you not doing it yourself?
- colechristensen 4y ago
  I do do things myself until either A) the likelihood and costs of me screwing it up and having to do it over cross some threshold B) the time commitment seems unreasonable or C) it really doesn't interest me. Edit: or D) I'm convinced they could do a significantly better job than me Like sometimes I pay somebody to clean and fold all of my laundry or to deep clean parts of my home because getting those things out of the way and freeing up a chunk of my time without that overhead is quite helpful when I've got too much going on. Similarly sometimes I pay to get the oil changed in my car. Not buying the service really, but buying the time that it saves me.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I guess my comment was actually a reply to bergenty , who by the very act of paying $160/hour to their plumber indicated $160/hour is not too much. No one is stopping someone from doing the plumbing work themself, there are lots of people selling plumbing labor, and the barrier to entry to becoming a plumber is not super high. So whatever the going price simply reflects the supply of people willing to do plumbing work. I think it is fantastic that plumbers are getting $160/hour to do backbreaking and hazardous work that most people would rather not do.
  - NegativeLatency 4y ago
    Another factor for me is how much damage is it going to do to my body. For example, concrete removal is better done by someone with an excavator rather than me with a jackhammer.
    - rascul 4y ago
      > Another factor for me is how much damage is it going to do to my body. That's a very good point. Some trades tend to be riskier than others but they all induce wear and tear on the body over time.
- bergenty 4y ago
  Because I don’t want to or don’t have the time? It still doesn’t justify the insane hourly cost.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    If you have a better way to justify prices than supply and demand curves intersecting in markets where there is no barrier to entry or other manipulation, I would be interested to know. Corollary would be, if you earn income, how are you justifying your price(s)?
  - pixl97 4y ago
    Yes it does. Does the law of supply and demand not make sense to you?
jacobsenscott 4y ago
It isn't too much because that's what the market will bear. Why would anyone work for less than their market rate?
- colechristensen 4y ago
  I mean, the backpressure to what the market will bear is people thinking something costs too much.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

If it is too much, why are you not doing it yourself?

colechristensen 4y ago
I do do things myself until either A) the likelihood and costs of me screwing it up and having to do it over cross some threshold B) the time commitment seems unreasonable or C) it really doesn't interest me. Edit: or D) I'm convinced they could do a significantly better job than me Like sometimes I pay somebody to clean and fold all of my laundry or to deep clean parts of my home because getting those things out of the way and freeing up a chunk of my time without that overhead is quite helpful when I've got too much going on. Similarly sometimes I pay to get the oil changed in my car. Not buying the service really, but buying the time that it saves me.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I guess my comment was actually a reply to bergenty , who by the very act of paying $160/hour to their plumber indicated $160/hour is not too much. No one is stopping someone from doing the plumbing work themself, there are lots of people selling plumbing labor, and the barrier to entry to becoming a plumber is not super high. So whatever the going price simply reflects the supply of people willing to do plumbing work. I think it is fantastic that plumbers are getting $160/hour to do backbreaking and hazardous work that most people would rather not do.
- NegativeLatency 4y ago
  Another factor for me is how much damage is it going to do to my body. For example, concrete removal is better done by someone with an excavator rather than me with a jackhammer.
  - rascul 4y ago
    > Another factor for me is how much damage is it going to do to my body. That's a very good point. Some trades tend to be riskier than others but they all induce wear and tear on the body over time.
bergenty 4y ago
Because I don’t want to or don’t have the time? It still doesn’t justify the insane hourly cost.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  If you have a better way to justify prices than supply and demand curves intersecting in markets where there is no barrier to entry or other manipulation, I would be interested to know. Corollary would be, if you earn income, how are you justifying your price(s)?
- pixl97 4y ago
  Yes it does. Does the law of supply and demand not make sense to you?

jacobsenscott 4y ago

It isn't too much because that's what the market will bear. Why would anyone work for less than their market rate?

colechristensen 4y ago
I mean, the backpressure to what the market will bear is people thinking something costs too much.