Let me give the story first then I'll ask the question.


This story is in relation the the previous thread I posted, titled
"Got a slight first flight feeling on my first kit"

The kit was a 40 size Midwest Beercat Livewire

Had an older kit handed to me as a freebie, started the construction found that it was to much for me got discouraged, stop building, time goes by and I mention my problem with the kit to a fellow member which is a veteran modelest, he said that he would be glad to build the kit free of charge with out viewing it, said that he enjoyed building more then flying, said that he would require glue covering to do the job. I take kit to him, he starts building. As he is building he starts telling me that the plane has come to be very difficult and trying he had to reform the wings out of foam, purchased some minor hardware such as wheels fuel tank etc.... What I did to aid in this problem was to bring him extra glue and covering in hopes to help ease the pain of the build. He never asked for anything just let me know what he required he also presented me with receipts in which I handled. After it was all said and done I felt as though I needed to offer him something since after all he did build it better then I could have ever done. I asked him how much would he want for his trouble his response was "how much do you think is a fair price" I had no idea and was scared that I may offend him. I wound up paying him $50 on top of the receipts. The project took him at around 3 months to complete and I never called or bugged him during this task.

Ok here comes the question, was the offering fair?

Thanks
Blackie

Yes and no.....he DID say he would build it for nothing...right? By giving him $50 you paid for some of his pain :-) After all, you did ask!

I think ya did O.K.......

Jerry

I'm not sure about the 50 bucks, it was three months of work...

But maybe the gentleman had a bunch of free time on his hands and just wanted something to pass the time anyway. Then 50 would seem fair enough.

In any case, I hate it when someone answers a question with a question. He doesn't want to offend you by asking for too much money, so now the ball is in your court and you don't want to offend either. Now, your conscience suffers...

Personally, I would have bought him a nice kit since he obviously likes to build.

I'm not sure if there is a right answer here. Money always seems to screw up everything.

We all have to think before we speak!!

Your friend made a committment to build the plane for free(less material expenses) You upheld your part of the bargain by paying the materials. He could have at any time backed out if it turned out to be overly difficult or time consuming. He choose to complete the project.

You didnt owe him anything outside of the agreement. Out of consideration however, you offered him something for his effort.
It was the honorable thing to do.

If he is unhappy, there is very little you can do about it.

Ok let me iterate bit more on my story to answer some of the comments, the gentlemen was retired had plenty of time on his hands, and he took the offering with the said comment, if you think that is a fair price then that sounds good to me.

Blackie

"If you think that is a fair price"??? You're killing me here. No wonder this is wearing on your mind.

I would forget about it if I were you. When I retire, I will be so ecstatic about lounging around in my garage tinkering with stuff and not having to think about work, YECCH!!!, I will be happy to help someone else out.

I don't think that I have ever had to spell "yecch" before. I had to look it up in the dictionary. Remember those things?

That was more than fair Blackie.

He said he'd do it for free.

You paid him 50 bucks.

That's $50 more that your quoted price.

Don't worry about it

I agree with the rest, he offered to do it for free. I have done the same thing and once I set the terms they stay as set. I'm sure he is happy with it but if he isn't then maybe in the future he should wait to see what the project entails before he he says anything. If you still feel a bit guilty then give him a call and offer to take him out for a nice lunch.

Tough situation, but you didn't get there by yourself. He led you into it, intentionally or not. I think you did alright and were fair.

Blackie,

Look at it this way , you gave him a 50.00 tip for a free job, you furnished the kit , the materials needed to complete the plane ,
and thanked the man with what was beyond what was asked for .enjoy the plane and be content with your offering .

Highlander

Don't SWEAT the small stuff, you did over and above what was expected!
If he's not happy it's HIS problem.
IMHO
Tom

By saying what he said, obviously hinting at changing the original agreement, he placed you in an awkward position...his error, not yours. Put it all behind you. You did the right thing....end the discomfort.
"don't worry...be happy"

Fair price? under normal circumstances, definately not. But if he was doing it for money, then he should not have answered your question with "what do you think is fair?" All in all, you did the right thing.

If it still bugs you as time goes on, buy him a nice kit.

Eitherway.....he did you a good favor. Pass it along when you find a modeler in need.

Mace Gill
The Aeroplane Works

I woulda paid him in beer

He shouldn't have accepted what ever you ended up offering.

I have built a 2 kits for 2 different friends. When they asked how much i say you just pay what ever you think its worth because your my friend and i have nothing on the bench right now anyway.One gave me nothing but thanks and that was good enough. The other is a butcher and gave me a 1/4 side beef and that was good enough. So i guess it just depends on what kinda man the gentelman is. If i offer to build something for nothing and get paid $50 bucks thats more then i would have expected to get but i sure better get a thank you.