Tech prices

[simonh]

Not looking for recommendations but I am interested in experiences.

I've done plenty of work on my own guns and there isn't a single thing that I haven't changed or had apart in an AEG and they (mostly) work afterwards, but lately I am finding that it is more frustrating than rewarding doing the work myself.

so the question I guess is what sort of money is it to get work done, lets say gearbox shimming or changing a piston or even just a general service what sort of cost is it?

Simon

 

[JimFromHorsham]

In a retail setting and Depending where you go I’d say £20-£40ph  + parts ?

 

[Krisz]

Hm. Myself never used such services (I'm too stubborn and too tight) but you could ask Skirmish CQB based in Kirbky-in-Ashfield. Unless I'm wrong they charge 35 pounds service fee plus parts if needed.

 

[simonh]

I've always done the same, but there is a certain attractiveness to paying a few quid and knowing it will come back back working as expected rather than having to strip it down to a gearbox AGAIN because you fitted the wrong length nozzle.

** I am not saying I've done that this week but I did order a couple of new nozzles from AK2M4 today...

 

[Nick G]

I've always done the same, but there is a certain attractiveness to paying a few quid and knowing it will come back back working as expected rather

I'm not sure they always come back working TBH. I do my own teching and will work on mates guns for them and I've been handed a couple that had aparantly been to a pro and were awfull .

 

[JinxDuh]

My local charges £40 for the box to be opened, any work inside said box carried out, a generalised service and reassemble/test. Parts are down to the person to provide, which is fair enough. Other services like hop up changing etc is £10 - £20. Most places tend to be per hour though, from my experience.

 

[-davo-]

If you're looking for experiences, then it might be a good shout to check out the Recommend a Tech threads

Otherwise, I would say it depends on your gun, what you want from it, your budget and how long you wanna wait
The more experienced/popular techs will no doubt have the longest waiting times and higher cost per hour charge.

If it's for your ICS then Fire-support are the UK ICS specialists and tend to have all the little obscure parts for them
- their site says "Labour fee is calculated on a job to job basis, but a service is approximately 30-40."
I used them briefly when I bought my ICS Mp5 on release and had a motor issue. They were pretty quick, with fast/friendly comms and sorted the issue - no problems
 

People will have their go-to techs for things like HPA, GBBR, Tokyo Marui as those particular places will have a name for doing (hopefully) great work with them

You should look to get anything minor like general shimming, changing a hop, changing/upgrading a piston done whilst booked for a service to get better value for your money/time
Shimming and the mere installation of parts like that are generally included in that pricing, just not the actual cost of the parts supplied by the tech, (as you'd expect)

Most techs will allow you to provide parts yourself, but will not offer any guarentee on any parts they did not advise/supply

So Service+Parts+Return Postage is usually the general "quote".

-IF- they offer a flat charge for a Service, then average is usually between £30-50 - depending on what they deem is part of that service.
some have different versions with different prices like "basic service" or "full service"

If they don't offer a flat charge for a "Service", then yeah it's whatever their hourly rate is and how long it takes them

 

[MrTea]

When I didn't know what I was doing, tech wise (I still don't know what I'm doing for everything else), I went to TheCageAirsoft for them to work on my MP5. To install a bunch of parts, including wiring a MOSFET, they charged me £80 labour. This was Jan 2023 so not sure if their prices have changed since. The lads there are great and have always tried to help me out if I had any questions about random stuff. Can't recommend them enough.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I have had decent service from Cage too.  Just minor upgrades to a working pew.

 

[simonh]

I should probably update my gun list as there is quite a few now...

But thanks to those that replied, I am just getting back into airsoft after a fairly long hiatus, the last last time I played was on a day at a new site with new marshalls and probably somewhat predictably it was a terrible day full of players on god mode so guns went back in the attic until just recently.