Business & Finance

The reality is, this should have been discussed and agreed upon ahead of time, before having him do any work. Mixing friendship and business can be tough.

If he will not give you an amount, it may be because he is unsure of what you are expecting as far as a discounted rate due to your friendship.

If this is a cash deal, you could give him the full $80 per hour. This way, you do not insult him by giving him an amount far less that his skilled help is worth. This puts the ball in his court. He may really need the money due to work being slow, but not want to jeopardize your friendship over it by asking for the full amount. On the other side, he may feel the amount is too much and give you some of the money back. Either way, you got the benefit of having a skilled tradesman do the work. Better it be someone you know as opposed to hiring it out an being overcharged or nickel and dimed by some unknown contractor.

Another thought is, If you are paying him cash and the income will not be reported, then the going rate less taxes & overhead may be fair. Offer him $50-60 per hour and see how he responds.

I recently needed to renovate a bathroom and since his work is very slow, I asked him to help me tear out the fixtures and install new ones. I want to fairly compensate him but feel I should get some sort of discount as we are very good friends...but he won't give me an amount. I know his regular rate for plumbing repairs is $80 an hour. Any thoughts? Thanks!

You know his rate so no problem. If he was helping you fix your car as a friend who was a plumber then you shouldn't have to pay at all but this is his trade.

When you give friends discounts they don't appreciate it anyhow and think they are helping you by having you work cheap.

having a friend that will help you deserves to be paid more money, not giving YOU a discount. Pay him the same as you would if he wasen't your friend.