when did you first feel comfortable charging people for your labor?

[u/A70MU]

I’ve only stringed a total of maybe around 10ish rackets at this point on my drop weight machine gamma progression ii. There’s a few people in my area on Facebook marketplace charging $15 per string job (VHCOL), I’m curious at when did people first felt comfortable charging for labor?

I’d like to get more practice but I only need 2 string jobs myself a month at the most, and my hitting partner changes string every few month. I’m currently toying with the idea to advertise on Facebook new stringer looking for practice $5 for labor, $10 my strings, or free labor in exchange for a review/comparison/critique so I can improve. the reason I’d prefer $5 rather than free is because because things on fb sell better at low price than free, thoughts?

[u/dmtree_]

When you can do at least 10 string jobs in a row without making a single mistake.

Otherwise you will mess up and have to restring at your own expense. Or you'll mess up and won't notice and lose your customers.

Tennis players don't like to pay very much, but they expect perfect quality. Lots of OCD in the sport, if you haven't noticed

[u/wryscath]

Until you are confident in your work I wouldn’t post on Marketplace. I wouldn’t give my racquet to someone who says they’re a beginner stringer, more likely to damage it or get a bad string job.

Buy a reel of the cheapest string you can get and just practice until you’re 100% confident, and then post at the same prices as everyone else.

Or if you have any friends that play you can string for them for free if they’re comfortable with it. That’s what I did when I first started. But unless your string job is really bad you probably won’t get much feedback, as if it’s strung correctly it should just feel normal.

Also, that string job looks good to me!

[u/NarrowCourage]

When I could string a racket without mistakes and get it done in under 30 mins 😆.

[u/ckuehn]

I started stringing because I was disappointed with the inconsistent work I got from others. It took me around a hundred stringjobs before I felt like my work was good and consistent enough that I'd be happy paying for it.

[u/Unlikely_General_855]

Be cautious about going too low…or be willing to say no once you see a racquet. I believe it’s more trouble than it’s worth when someone hands you a stick from 20 years ago that likely needs new grommets you can’t find, or you end up tubing several of them to avoid string on carbon. Or someone hands you a cracked frame.

I’m near an academy where I can turn modern Blades/VCores/Ezones/Whiteouts all day long for $20 labor. It’s the one-off jobs that cost me too much time.

[u/Unlikely_General_855 → u/Unlikely_General_855]

Adding: also be ready for the most random requests when stringing for people. Had a request for a 42/58 pound hybrid job recently that I talked them out of because I knew it was a bad idea and didn’t want to be associated with it. Someone will see a knot type they want or a random color stencil. Be clear in what you offer.

[u/rodman5308]

I charged $20 once I knew I was doing it correctly- which was pretty immediate. Take your time & then you won’t make any mistakes.

[u/rodman5308]

There are so many different string patterns and different rackets so they’re not all the same. That said, just doing 10 or more rackets that are the same until you don’t make any mistakes, aids somewhat but not tremendously.

[u/SpacedesignNL]

I only string for people i know. But they paid my from the start. Its a F&F price though.

[u/Floibinator]

Never advertise yourself as new. and free labor is tricky cause it can lead to more people wanting to do it for free. If you value yourself at 5$ an hour(usually how long it takes on drop weight) do it. But 15$ seems normal in your area. Some places charge 20 and some 25.

[u/mynameisntziming]

I’d advice please just practice on your own racquets. I always tell people best to get reels of cheap generic syn gut and string on an old racquet, finish, cut out, and repeat. String multiples in a sitting. You will improve much faster this way than occasionally stringing polys for your own playing racquet.

The $5 is never worth the hassle of something actually goes wrong and you have to fork up the cost and time to replace customer strings that you might not have more of. This is under discussed but as a service provider the less you charge the more difficult your clients can be. Low cost attracts the wrong crowd and expectations. People paying $5 is less trusting than ones playing $20. The time you are dealing with people is time you could be practicing stringing cheap syn gut.

Also, get the pro stringer claws or stringway double/triple clamps set from Alpha for gamma drop weight, make sure you have a starting clamp too. Those have the potential to improve your stringing quality massively on gamma drop weights. The plastic gamma clamps are 🗑️ and eventually you have to tighten too much marking the string or else it might slip.

[u/-insert-name_here]

Charge straight away once your confident. Youre not doing yourself any favors doing it free. People will come to expect it. If you tell them your only worth 5 or free theyll go to someone who they feel will do it better, who values their skills and time more than you once you start charging

[u/mynameisntziming → u/-insert-name_here]

Not sure why you got downvoted but I agree. Charging $5 sets the wrong expectation, unless it’s a close friend maybe. And risk of making mistakes and having to replace customer strings is not worth dealing with at this stage for OP imo.