We understand, choosing a locksmith when you’ve never needed one may come down to just a few things.
Because no doubt you’re going to look online, click the first few locksmith links and make your choice based on the impression and confidence that website gives you. It’s obvious, you don’t have all day to search especially if you’re locked out and have to get the dinner on.
And from that viewpoint, in a contest between national and local independent locksmiths, the bigger firms clearly have the upper hand. They have the money to make their website as flashy as possible and to pay marketing companies to get it higher in the listings. There’s nothing wrong with that. They’ll no doubt do a good job if you use them as well.
A local locksmith will likely be equally as good though, and since most will be sole traders if you do the other thing sensible thing and compare reviews you can at least be certain that their rating will be down to just one man’s abilities and not drawn from the many perhaps.
But all things being equal, websites, reviews, that two locksmiths will be as good as one another, oh and distance away, you should consider that as well, there is one thing a national locksmith will never be able to say in comparison, and most local independent ones can, and that in a nutshell dear reader is (pause for dramatic effect) …we’re almost certainly going to be cheaper.
Just think about it. A local locksmith will have less overheads, operate from home most likely and not from offices, only have themselves to pay and not admin staff and they’ll take your call themselves with no operator involved. All things bound to keep the price down.
And necessities of scale aside, there’s another factor you may not think of when you’re desperate to get inside and peel those potatoes. Something to clearly, absolutely, definitively and undeniably make a difference to any bill from a larger firm over a small, local one whatever the job is…a national locksmith will need to add VAT to their price as well!
Yes, that’s 20% more automatically!! And on top of their 99.9% statistically almost guaranteed already higher price!!! Talk about a double whammy. You’ll have to eat in after that.
Now, in fairness to the larger companies, the VAT thing is something out of their control. They simply have to add VAT because of their size. But it’s no issue at all for most of us local locksmiths, we aren’t big enough to require VAT registration. And, speaking for ourselves, that’s absolutely the way we like it. Less paperwork for us and you enjoy that extra effective saving of 20% as well! See, everybody’s happy.
Ok, maybe not the Nationals now it’s been pointed out.
But in these times where supporting local business is needed and something most like to do, when it comes to locksmiths, smaller and independent really might be better anyway.
And at least 20% cheaper.
