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q for Best Buy installers

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=39363
Printed Date: May 17, 2024 at 12:46 AM


Topic: q for Best Buy installers

Posted By: upjeeper
Subject: q for Best Buy installers
Date Posted: September 19, 2004 at 12:19 PM

my wife works at best buy and there's a possibility that she can start working in the install bay. First I've got a couple of questions while we are discussing it.

How much did you guys spend on your own tools to work in there?

how much do you guys make? if she's only going to get $1/hr raise it's not really worth it from what i see

thanks

nate




Replies:

Posted By: Teken
Date Posted: September 19, 2004 at 1:09 PM
I personally wouldnt be looking just at the dollar value. You should consider that she will obtain alot of hands on experience(s) which in the future may help you, or others out.

Knowledge is power. But only if you apply that knowledge in a positive way, which promotes positive results in others.

That she will do, given the chance.

Regards

EVIL Teken . . .




Posted By: stavy customs1
Date Posted: September 20, 2004 at 12:12 AM
i spent so far about 1300 in tools. I still need air tools which will be probably another 400 bucks min. If you buy craftsman itll be cheaper.  Tools arent cheap and you lose them all the time i already lost a few snap on tools and i want to kick myself but it happens. Its worth it if she is serious about it.




Posted By: stavy customs1
Date Posted: September 20, 2004 at 12:13 AM
ps by the way pay i believe starts at 950 I THINK it may vary if you are a centricity store




Posted By: hagmanti
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 1:19 PM
To work in a BB bay, she doesn't need to spend anywhere near that much on tools. (Before y'all jump all over me-- I'm talking about what she needs to get started w/ basic quality tools-- I am not talking about everything needed to do a complete overhead video installation)

She needs:

Good portable drill-- ~100 (but can find on special for much less)-- can probably get away w/ an AC model (I use one in my bay a lot because my AC model has a higher range of speeds)
#2 phillips bits x10, Unibit (also called stepper bit), 1/4 and 3/8 socket adapter bits, torx bit set -- ~75
Socket set, including 7, 8, and 10 mill-- ~50
Screwdriver assortment-- ~30
Utility knives-- ~10
Wire stripper-- ~20 (kronus @ Radioshack is good for begginers)
Needle nose and diagonal cut plyers, one or two others-- ~30
Soldering gun (oh! not necessary at best buy!)
Crimper-- ~20
Small plastic prybar-- ~5
Toolbox to keep it all-- ~30
Fish-- ~10
Total-- ~380

This pays for itself after 4 months at an extra dollar an hour (after taxes!). At least in my shop, as long as you're reasonably productive, you get as much overtime as you want, yet another bonus. And, again in my shop, you also get bonuses at the end of the month if you're reasonably productive.

I've overestimated almost everything here, and w/ these tools, I can perform 90% of the installs that come through my doors. Once she's been there awhile and is doing more complicated things, she'll need (want) better and more tools. But by then she'll have a clearer picture of what she needs, how much it'll cost, and what is worth it.

At least where I work (a competitor to BB), people are happy to share more esoteric tools w/ a newbie (who is careful to return what s/he borrows)...

The bigger question is-- is she willing to get her hands and arms dirty and cut up? Is she willing to work for four hours to find a wire that the customer cut, then brought to you to fix w/o letting you know he'd been screwing w/ it? Is she willing to work at a job where she'll probably learn something new every single day, and get to find inventive new ways to do things every time she does them, as she discovers that in _this_ model year, the vent is moved over just enough to make this mounting (which worked so well in the '98 model year) completely impossible? Can she handle the stress of being asked to work on 2 cars at a once, or install 3 radios in an hour, w/ the customers standing on the other side of the shop staring at her?

I gotta agree w/ Teken on this one-- at the very least, you shouldn't be arguing her out of this, and if I were you, I'd be trying to talk her into it.

Me




Posted By: hagmanti
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 1:24 PM
Oh yeah-- and stavy isn't kidding about losing tools. I get a lot of my tools at the auto parts store, in bins near the checkout. I haven't payed more than $3 for a diagonal-cut plyers in a long time! Same thing w/ screwdrivers. I have 4 tools that I use on a regular basis (or in customer's cars) that cost more than $15, and I always check to see they're back on the bench @ the end of every install.

Yes, quality tools are great, and can make you more efficient. But if you work in a busy shop, cheap tools are often a better choice.

Tangentially-- have y'all noticed how hard it is to actually find 8 and 10 mil sockets in stock anywhere?

Me




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 2:47 PM

A good installer is only as good as his tools...... Use the correct tool for the job and treat it like it is your bestest friend. He makes you money. My toolbox has multiple sets of the same tools, 3 sets of crimpers and strippers etc. Sometimes those el-cheapo tools work just great, other times you want to throw them as far as you possibly can or put them in the garbage can with the Bose stereo that you just removed (replace lid tightly, we don't want the Bose to make a break for it). A good set of tools and a working knowledge of the trade can go far for you in the years ahead. There are very few women installers and if she makes it and likes it, maybe we'll see her offering advice on this site as well. Sooner or later us older guys have to hang up our wrenches.



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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: flynntech
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 8:16 PM

Hagmanti has the best advice on tools I've seen!

I worked with a guy like this, he was a 10 year vet with a small portable rolling tool box. About the same types of tools. He was a speedy installer and he laughed at the newbie guys making payments on $10,000 Snap-On sets while still earning $7/hour

I installed for awhile..and I had too many tools, could never find anything. I still have too many tools. Whenever I install, I only end up using just a few, but it helps to have those odd ones when those odd situations come up. I also bought a craftsmen 5 drawer ball bearing, just for that job $350!! I saw it on sale the other day at sears....$350 for the base and another piece...sh*t!

I worked in a junkyard pulling parts before I installed and I had my small craftsman 'rally-box' box with everything I needed in it. I still keep my tools the same way and I'm always pulling a part for me or someone else. I still fix cars and it's a great source of income.

My tools have payed for themselfs more than 10 times over, from keeping my own car out of the shop, employment, helping others, family, home improvement.....cash on the side!!

I will agree that the actual dollar/hour pay from any employment requiring me to bring my tools to work.....sucked, but the experience I gained was worth it.

If she is really into it, let her do it, if she's doing it just to make more money or because she's bored....might not be a good idea.

She has a lot of learning to do, but there is nothing stopping her from reading anything from basic DC electricity, to instructions for equipment, this site...anything. It all comes together eventually and even then, there's still more to learn. If she can hang out and watch the installers work, this is another great way to learn. I picked up alot from my fellow installers, even though I've always been able to get a car apart, no one does it quite like they do!

If she has no future in her current position and she's not going to trade school or college, she should try it, what has she got to lose?

The only tools I've lost were stolen from my car. There was that black&decker cordless I left on my trans am when I changed the cluster in '99..never did find that one.

While installing, I was given a gerber, plastic pry stick, Pioneer CD player (I had to fix the plug, my girlfriend loved it!), tons of wire...and I mean tons...I still have some today, A factory Toyota radio from a customer (this will go in mine when I sell it). Some of my customers still give me old alarms, speakers, amps in need of 'refurbishment'. Believe me, if you spend your hard earned money on tools....they stay close to you!





Posted By: auex
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 8:25 PM
flynntech wrote:

I worked with a guy like this, he was a 10 year vet with a small portable rolling tool box. About the same types of tools. He was a speedy installer and he laughed at the newbie guys making payments on $10,000 Snap-On sets while still earning $7/hour



Yeah, I am atleast $10,000 in the hole in tools. To this day buying a damn $3500 snapon toolbox was the worst.

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Certified Security Specialist
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I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.




Posted By: stavy customs1
Date Posted: September 23, 2004 at 10:43 PM

Im only in the whole 280 to snap on and  160 to matco haha auex that sucks but i guess if you need the tools you need the tools.

Its a good expierence in the install bay you have your difference on some things but everyone is pretty close in the bay and its a hell of alot of fun






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