Interesting payment

[showcase 66]

I have a client who sells trailers and campers and we do the graphics for them. When you buy a trailer you can choose 1 of the 5 designs to put on the sides and back. If they want a custom design then we do this but the buyer foots the bill. Anyways, today we finished 3 trailers with one being a custom job. As it turned out, the owner decided not to do the custom job and just picked one of the other designs. This was never relayed to me and I have the signed approval from the dealer with the custom design as the design to use.

Now the owner is refusing to pay for the design and the dealer is actually my client. At first the dealer is blaming us for the mistake and is saying they will not pay the extra for the custom design. We go back and forth and the owner of the dealership shows up and after talking with him for about an hour. He said he would not pay me for their mistake ( he acknowledged it was their mistake) but instead was willing to exchange the difference in a new trailer. A 24' box trailer. I thought he was joking so I said OK sounds good.

I am now the proud owner of a 24' trailer. I am thinking of making it into a mobile shop. Does anyone have a trailer setup as a mobile shop. Curious to know what you guys think about a mobile shop or should I just sell the trailer.

 

[cdiesel]

:O

24' trailers are worth $5-$7k in good shape!

I actually toyed with the idea of a mobile shop a LONG time ago and decided against it. I have, however, used my toy hauler as an office/break room on longer on-site installs.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Sweet deal.
A mobile shop sounds like a good idea but do you really want all that expensive finely tuned equipment bouncing around in the back of a trailer?
Mobile hot tub on the other hand...

 

[Brandon708]

Wow, very nice deal.

You should keep doing that deal with him and then start selling the trailers yourself from your sign company. That is before he decides to buy a printer and start to sell the graphics himself. DOAH!

 

[showcase 66]

Just picked it up this morning. I realized after getting it home. Now I need a bigger truck. My 77 chevy truck or my Durango are not going to be able to handle this thing loaded. Now I just have to find a way to convince the boss (my wife) that I need a new truck.

 

[Bigdawg]

I think you totally made out on this one!

Cool!

 

[Techman]

i was mobile long ago.. Was!

it wasn't in a trailer but mini van..

Still it was mobile. I soon fond out it was a waste of a good mini van. Being to produce a job on site was nice. But it wasn't nice enuf to keep doing it.

 

[JR's]

Cool Deal, What did the custom graphics looked like.

JR

 

[showcase 66]

You should keep doing that deal with him and then start selling the trailers yourself from your sign company. That is before he decides to buy a printer and start to sell the graphics himself. DOAH!

I am their "in house graphics guy" according to them at least. I have a contract with them and they want to make it seem that everything done on the trailers is done by them and not anyone else. If they want to trade me a trailer for every fifth trailer we do, I could probably do that. We have 16 or 17 months left on the contract with them. I think I could make some money off the trailers. Haha

 

[Brandon708]

that is a beautiful trailer!

I hope you where planning on buying a new truck because if you HAVE to buy a new truck just to pull the trailer it might cost you more in the long run. On the other hand you will have a better truck. I would wrap that trailer with your company info ASAP! park it near a street if you can. You got yourself a billboard now.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

Lucky!

 

[jiarby]

wrap that sucker and park it on a busy intersection!

 

[fmg]

That is a very nice looking trailer.A good alarm system would be required on it if you were to place equipment inside I would think.Also make sure you lock up the wheels overnight so no one drives it away!

 

[slappy]

how much was the custom graphics worth? I sale trailers and am kinda familiar with the cost of us to buy them...

 

[dj_elite]

Sweet deal! I would sell it and if you really want a trailer buy a smaller one and make profit!

 

[TheSnowman]

Good glory, yes, you scored huge on that deal.

Not sure how your accountant would look at it, but you could possibly even write off what they won't be paying you. We got stung bad (which we got NO compensation) and we were able to write it off. Could be the perfect storm.

 

[Locals Find!]

I have a Good Friend who runs a mobile shop from his trailer. He doesn't do digital he does straight plotted vinyl. I helped him set it up only cost about $4000.00 to outfit the whole thing with air conditioner generator and some lumber for tables.

He uses the trailer to do a lot of work for Fleet vehicles around the State. It works out great for him because, the customers are willing to pay a premium to have him go to there job sites and do the work on truck while the trucks are in the field. Also, works out great for me when I need someone to pick up my slack and do an install for me on the fly on shopping centers etc..

 

[ddarlak]

Good glory, yes, you scored huge on that deal.

Not sure how your accountant would look at it, but you could possibly even write off what they won't be paying you. We got stung bad (which we got NO compensation) and we were able to write it off. Could be the perfect storm.

stop the madness....

you can't write off income never collected.

but you must claim the value of this trailer as income received....

 

[Firefox]

Just picked it up this morning. I realized after getting it home. Now I need a bigger truck. My 77 chevy truck or my Durango are not going to be able to handle this thing loaded. Now I just have to find a way to convince the boss (my wife) that I need a new truck.

What are the specs on the Chebby? If you are concerned because it's a 1/2 ton and it sags in the butt then you might be surprised what a load leveling hitch will do for you. If the truck has a V-8 you should be good to go but the lighter the truck the more common sense comes into play. A portable shop shouldn't be loaded too heavily for a half ton but it might be iffy if you load it full as in moving a house full of furnishings, where you pack all the nooks and crannies!

Regardless of the tow vehicle, a load leveling hitch correctly adjusted makes towing safer and more stable since it puts some of the tongue weight on the front wheels of the tow vehicle.

Back to the thread topic! I hate it when the customer knows it is their screw up (or their employees) but are willing to destroy the relationship over it. Some of them just don't care about you and think their business is too important to you for them pay for their own mistakes, It is just a crappy way for them to do business.

At least this guy turned out to be reasonable with you... it looks like you got a hell of a trailer there!

Yes you will have to claim the value of the trailer as income. I think it would be the same as what you traded for it dollar wise. If you sell it at a loss then the loss might be deductible... but I am not a CPA so you should consult yours!

 

[elsignshop]

i have my shop and a mobile shop (in my 7X16 trailer) we use it only when we have to go to do window store fronts and other jobs that customers dont have time to bring to us, works well and can do all the cutting and installation on the job site and not have to run back and foward to the shop.