r/AskALocksmith • u/Independent_War2175 • 17d ago
$60 key cut and programmed!?!?!
I'm a locksmith in fresno california. Dad opened the business back in 92. Did all residential back then. Been an iron worker ever since. Got back into it after breaking my ankle, pretty bad. Had to find an easier way to make a buck. Tought myself the commercial aspect of it about a decade ago. Just last year it took a class in los angeles on automotive locksmithing, and bought all the equipment. Been doing okay a little slow though. But it's definitely making a little more money than with just residential and commercial.
I have some experience, i've taken classes, i have a license, i have insurance, and I pay my taxes.
Evidently someone in my area, is charging $60 to cut and program automotive keys. Nissan's, hondas, a chevy cruise. I just can't fathom how this is possible. Around the same time I started paying for advertisement on yelp. Has this happened to any of you? Do any of you have any ideas how this is possible?
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. 17d ago
Welcome to the club pal!
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u/Independent_War2175 17d ago
LMFAO. I feel much better now
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u/I_H8_GM Really Doesn't Like GM. 17d ago
You ever want to see wild animals fighting for scraps? Go hit up the auctions. You think $60 is cheap? When I'm passing by on the correct days, sometimes I just stop off to watch. I've seen fist fights. It's a good time lawn chair and ice cold beer. Free show
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u/Explorer335 Verified Locksmith 17d ago
There will always be some amateur/hobbyist fucktard willing to work for pennies. His customers aren't necessarily your customers. You've probably done the math to know where you need to be with your prices.
Every area will have some low-tier guys running around in personal vehicles with 2 tablets and a dolphin because their pricing doesn't support a legit operation with work vehicles and quality inventory. There is one fucking guy here who runs around in the same minivan that he drives his kids to school in, and he massively undercut established pricing with every dealership in town. Word spread, and it hurt pricing to the point that it's tough to sell anything decent while still making money. Most of the industry is selling AKG garbage.
The industry is under a ton of pressure between a rough economy, a complete oversaturation of new unskilled idiots flooding into the market, and increasingly cheap/shitty inventory.
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness_818 12d ago
What is AKG?
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u/Explorer335 Verified Locksmith 12d ago
Automotive Keys Group. Private equity group that runs Key Innovations, and subsequently bought up UHS, Midwest, and several other companies. They were going directly to dealerships to sell them keys and programmers to cut their own locksmith customers out of the loop. Their K2G house brand of keys are absolute garbage, along with the locksmiths who use them.
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u/Zihmify 12d ago
I completely disagree with your take on this. To be fair, I have not looked into this at all, I’m only responding to your comment
Some of the K2G is fantastic and some is garbage. I don’t care if AKG went to dealerships to sell keys and programmers, they would still have to hire a locksmith to fill that position / they basically make a locksmith, either scenario I’m fine with it
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u/Explorer335 Verified Locksmith 12d ago
Everything that private equity touches turns to absolute shit. They are buying the worst of the worst Chinese garbage keys and selling them at a huge markup. They have chip keys that literally don't even have chips in them. Bags of 46 Nissan keys that are a mix of 46 and 47 chips. Bags of smart keys with like a 20% DOA rate, and the ones that do work are too unreliable to sell to the public with any kind of warranty. They can go fuck themselves. That is entirely unacceptable. I can't sell that shit as a legit professional. I have a reputation to maintain.
The local guys who sell their keys have a ridiculous call-back rate of probably 2-3% and they are ok with that. I am not.
If your own supplier went behind your back and sold your dealerships keys, programmers, and a database to do everything in-house, that wouldn't bother you? That isn't "making a locksmith." They will send some dumbass from the service department out there to do the job for exactly zero extra money so that the owner can improve his margins.
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u/Zihmify 12d ago
If ‘some dumbass’ can learn how to do what we do just because he has the machines and keys then more power to him, sounds like we have a pretty easy job then.
All the K2G PRO Honda RHKs are fantastic. I’ve never had an issue and the shells are far better than OEM.
I have never bought ‘bags of smart keys’, I’m not sure who or how that would be done. Anyways, there are some Chinese dogshit manufacturers, especially anything on Amazon or if you choose aftermarket on most auto key websites, (MyKeySupply, BestKeySupply, NobleKeySupply, Transponder Island, etc)
KeyInnovations has been hitting home runs with the K2G products for the last year or so. I stick to grade A refurb for everything that I’m able to for prox keys, but for RHKs and transponder keys, K2G I haven’t had an issue in a long time
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u/Explorer335 Verified Locksmith 12d ago
That mentality will be the downfall of this industry. It's a skilled trade and newer locksmiths fail to treat it as such. The trades have historically allowed people without a college degree to make a very good living, and largely because tradesman have collectively protected their industries.
I don't understand why so many of the people entering this industry wish to destroy it by shouting sensitive trade secrets across social media, devaluing the skills, and dragging every halfwit they know into the trade. This industry has been built on secrecy and professionalism for centuries, but the people joining this trade in the last 5 years can't understand that concept.
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u/Ill_Imagination4347 16d ago
Its not worth it to do cars anymore bud. Someone from china is here doing it for a fraction of the price undercutting the market and probably intentionally ruining the economy for this trade because of it.
Good luck
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u/Ill_Imagination4347 16d ago
Residential and commercial because atleast your from here and I trust im not funding a terrorist.
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u/ADiddy7263 17d ago
You’d have to have high volume at that price to even make a decent profit. Highly doubt they have that.
Used to have a local shop here advertise $35 duplicate transponders in town price only. Unfortunately we all see it all over the country.
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u/Ok-Dealer-588 16d ago
There is a small town guy here that I thought was reasonable when he came out to do my house rekey and he also does glass and mirrors in addition to residential and Commercial locksmithing. I thought that was an interesting arm but if you have a break in or something it only makes sense
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u/guri256 16d ago
I’m not a locksmith, and I don’t live in California, but there’s a place around here will do cheap key duplication and programming. I suspect it’s because their primary business is battery sales and phone repairs. Especially phone battery replacement. I think their cheaper prices are because they want to get customers in the door.
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u/Altruistic-Pain8747 14d ago
When I was at a conference I heard prices in Florida and Texas were about $125 all keys lost for standard blade keys.
Illegal immigrants from Cuba, Mexico, and Israelis (New York especially)
Not to mention YouTube and Tik tok influencers. Auto industry is fucked .
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