# How much to charge for sewer camera inspection



## goodwin98

How do you guys go about charging for only a sewer inspection with a camera. Im in a small town and the only one with a camera in the town. the plumbers I have been doing it for so far say other people can never locate the problem. I havent missed one yet im just wondering ways to market my camera service? 

Austin


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## Protech

What did your camera cost? How many uses will you get out of it?

I charge more than $250 (not going to say how much more) to inspect a line and everyone in town has a camera........


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## JK949

We charge $275 for camera, location and video. Your costs may vary, I would not undervalue yourself if you're as skilled as you say. Market to homebuyers before they commit to a money pit.


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## Lifer

100.oo bux here for the cam and 2 guy's= 98 bux per hour . I am in a small town as well and there are 3 cam's in town .... so as far as I can see we get around 300.00 when it's all said and done ..

Lifer


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## ToUtahNow

goodwin98 said:


> How do you guys go about charging for only a sewer inspection with a camera. Im in a small town and the only one with a camera in the town. the plumbers I have been doing it for so far say other people can never locate the problem. I havent missed one yet im just wondering ways to market my camera service?
> 
> Austin


I am a little different as I charge $250 a day whether it is for one home or 10 homes. I charge an additional $250 a day for a locator. When reviewing job files from other plumbers it seems most are around $175 to $250 but I've seen as high as $375. 

There are also a ton of crooks out there that do it for free because they tell you you need a pricey repair but do not give you a video for proof. I did one in Henderson three weeks ago where the HO had watched the plumber run the camera. 

The guy only got the camera in 10' and told the guy it was full of a hard substance he could not get past. His boss did not have a video but wrote a letter explaining the problem. The only thing I found at 10' was an 1/8 bend. However, I did find a 25' belly in the line just past the 1/8 bend. The plumber was right in that it needed a repair but he never would have known that because he never made it that far.

Mark


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## goodwin98

Protech I got about $13000 in everything and im not real sure on how long it will last.
I have been charging $300 maybe alittle high. I have found it kinda like pulling teeth getting the home onwer to use the camera and we all know it saves alot of money most times. ToUtahNow had the same kinda deal the other day 3 plumbers were there with different opinions 2 being dig it up one tryed with the camera but was to scared to go past the first 5' I used the camera and then jetted it and cameraed it again and problem solved!


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## Protech

say you get 100 uses out of your equipment as I doubt you'll get any more than that.

That means you need to charge a minimum of $130 per use just to cover the equipment costs. This does not include gas getting to the job, wear and tear on the vehicle, amortized insurance costs, amortized advertising costs, employee labor, and uhhhhh oh yeah PROFIT.

I would say your right on the money at $300 or even a bit low.


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## goodwin98

What Kinda of cameras do you guys have and do you do any mainline jobs with them of do you need one of the those crawler cams? Im just wondering because there are alot of small towns around here that dont have a camera.


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## goodwin98

Yeah you got a good point theres always that PROFIT thing haha is that what im looking at 100 uses whats the first thing to go on the camera?


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## breid1903

you don't need or want all the camera work. only the profitable. sit down with notebook and figure out what your true cost of operation is. figure in repair costs. then your profit. add them together. that is what you charge. ps. i would tell all my plumber friends how much a camera costs, how much upkeep there is and that if i had to do it over again i would never have bought the thing. but you are just trying to pay off your investment. hopefully this ain't true but you don't want them to buy a camera. i would use the search function on here and over at the dark side (ridgidforum). you will get a feel for camera problems and costs of repair. i would flat out lie to my buds about costs of keeping it going. breid...........:rockon:


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## PlumbingTheCape

We charge R675-00 which is like 100 US Dollars. 99% of the time we get the job to do the repair , so it does make a profit.... If its used and marketed correctly


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## SewerRatz

If they call us to rod their main sewer and I feel there is a problem out there, I will run the camera at no charge. I want to see what the issue is, if its just tree roots I will use other cutters to do them a proper job. If there is a break in their line I will show it to them then.

Now if some one calls me out of the blue to televise their sewer we have a camera charge with our service call and hourly labor charge.


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## JK949

goodwin98 said:


> whats the first thing to go on the camera?


Generally power and connector cables unless you damage the rod and/or lose the camera head in the process.


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## ranman

here there is a guy who does any drain for 49.95 and a free camera. hes licensed and insured, i checked.. how can he make any money. I have not used my sewer machine yet. I guess it will last forever. lol


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## goodwin98

ranman said:


> here there is a guy who does any drain for 49.95 and a free camera. hes licensed and insured, i checked.. how can he make any money. I have not used my sewer machine yet. I guess it will last forever. lol


You couldn't get me to load the camera in the truck for $50 but that's just me!


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## ranman

yea thats how i feel. i refuse to devalue my trade by working for nothing. 
some are willing to compete to be the cheapest. 

lol


goodwin98 said:


> You couldn't get me to load the camera in the truck for $50 but that's just me!


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## Redwood

ranman said:


> here there is a guy who does any drain for 49.95 and a free camera. hes licensed and insured, i checked.. how can he make any money. I have not used my sewer machine yet. I guess it will last forever. lol


You can bet there are quite a few digs involved...

Like every one he can sell! :laughing:


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## Will

ranman said:


> here there is a guy who does any drain for 49.95 and a free camera. hes licensed and insured, i checked.. how can he make any money. I have not used my sewer machine yet. I guess it will last forever. lol



He bites the bullet on the first 3 calls, then cashes in on the 4th. I bet he makes more than you think.


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## easttexasplumb

Will said:


> He bites the bullet on the first 3 calls, then cashes in on the 4th. I bet he makes more than you think.


 
Thats only $400.00 for an eight call day. It should be at least double that really more. My goal used to be for 1,000.00 dollar days, now I at least like $400.00 days(not an eight call day).

This guys prices will be his demise, no way to make an profit at that rate.


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## Will

I'm not saying I agree with the guy's tactic's. He got to be a salesman to make a profit charging $49.99 for cleaning a sewer line. If he's not, then don't worry about him. He will go out of business.


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## UnclogNH

*All the $49.99 companies are shams*. How do you pay your employee's?
Just think if their on commission only. The sneaky up selling they must have to do to earn a pay check  
Every time I drive to a job I have to put $20.00 bucks in the tank lol.
That leaves me $29.99 to pay my overhead :laughing:
I'm a very small company with low overhead no way could I do it for $49.99  Dat. Scam scam scam.


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## Will

I agree. They're scammers. Wonder what the $49.99 actually entitles?


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## Nayman's Drain

New to this site, not to the trade.
I charge my cam out at 400, with DVD. 
350 without
Locates are 300

On occasion I have done freebies, but only to satisfy my own curiosity as to what's going on in a particular area.


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