Beginning Locksmith Advise

[Wizer]

Wow, a dollar or two per key!
I charge 12 euros for that. My cheapest key (Abloy Classic) is 7,50 EUROS.
I cannot understand how you can make a buck charging 1-2 dollars per key, unless you only cut 3-10 different blanks and about 500-2000 pieces a day.
Of course the blanks cost me 0,40-4,50 euros each, and we have 24% VAT, but still...

[Deadlock]

Yeah, I've been waiting for an actual locksmith to reply to this, but so far it's just been tumbleweeds rolling by during the day, and crickets chirping at night. Maybe they've all been banned.

I saw some low quotes for cutting keys on the light side this week. $1.75, $1.25 and even $1.00.

I had a 6 pin euro key copied in a hardware store near me last year. Nickel silver blank and he ran a file along the peaks to deburr it. How much? ''Four pounds please.'' That did give me a bit of a start! 20% VAT here, but that price is the highest I've ever paid for a key. £4.00 would be €5.42 or $6.18. Key worked perfectly anyway.

I would expect to pay £3.50 to get that sort of key cut. That would be €4.74 or $5.40.

But a one dollar key? What the hell's it made out of? Melted down carburettors?

[jeffmoss26]

Hardware stores and locksmiths around here charge between 2 and 2.50 for most standard keys. Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart charge a bit less with their crappy Axxess keys.

[Papa Gleb]

I believe an abloy key would be much more expensive to cut. $1 or $2 is for a standard key. For something like a Medeco or Mul-T-Lock its around $10-20 a key depending on the specific lock it is. These are all local locksmith prices.

home depot uses that man less machine to do the cuts so your paying for the blank and for the cutters use.

[Deadlock]

Thanks guys, interesting to know the local prices. I still find even a two dollar key from a vending machine incredibly cheap.

Talking of cutting Abloys... link for those who might not have seen it:

http://www.keypicking.com/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=7091

The master at work.

Edited to add: I have edited the link as the YouTube vids won't show up in ssl. Depending on your computer, you might not know that some content is missing.