Story about trying to get a job :)

sasktinter · March 30, 2020

Hello fellow tinters! Been lurking on this forum for a while but never posted or anything. The recent story made me want to share just so other people would read something while we are sitting at home doing almost nothing So grab a cup of coffee!

I have been in vinyl industry for almost 12 years now & owned my own shop, which forward to 2018, i sold and moved onto other stuff. Been tinting since 2014 & PPF since 2016 and currently working at a small shop with just another guy who is also the owner of this shop. We are in small town of 45k people and service both, retail & wholesale customers & also dealers / body shops for insurance claims etc. We simply don't have the volume for me being busy every day, and we end up working sometimes 2-4 hour days, finish what we have and and i am free to do whatever i want, since i get paid by the job. If there is nothing going on, i can stay home and yes don't make any money but do other stuff. I do install commercial printed wraps on the side sometimes.

Overall my schedule is VERY flexible and i still end up making 50-60k per year. Thats Canadian dollars yet, not USD. Long story short, i decided maybe to give a try and find a busy shop where i can contribute and offer my skills & knowledge & be able to make more money. Used indeed to scroll through job offers, seen couple in Ontario that advertised 65-125k CAD salary \year....

Its a big US franchise that originated in states, but i will not name anyone. Got in contact with the owner, was told how busy they are, have to turn down the business because they can not accommodate more customers. I did explain how much work i can do & that i have 100% ability to work by myself from start to finish without any supervision. Overall, on average market i am able to tint 5 full cars per day, front PPF installs - partial hood, fenders, mirrors, door cups, head lights, bumper - 3 a day but it all depends on the vehicle of course. Just to give an example, when we have full day of work from 9-5, i do between $1200-$1600 worth of work myself.

Shop owner said it is very good that i can do that much work by myself. Said that they work monday-friday 8-6 & saturdays also. I was okay with that, not afraid to work if i can make decent living.

Had to fly over there for a week to see how chemistry would go, bought myself a ticket also. But due to Pandemic situation, flight was cancelled. Long story short, the owner sends me job offer that i have to sign:

1) 50k Salary in Canadian dollars

2) Minimum 44 hours work weeks, but if need to work any extra time, i must comply, but all extra time is covered by 50k salary

3) No compete agreement

4) If owner wants to add something for my duties, he always can

5) Owner can terminate contract any time with 2 week notice.

Well, i was surprised to see the number and politely explained that i make same or more money right now working MUCH less and i would never drop it to move to another province where cost of living is considerably higher. I would end up with around $3200 CAD per month after taxes. Again, explained the guy that with the rent eating $2000, its not enough. Told him i would need 5-6k per month to consider moving to another province with my family. Told him, if what he says is true that he has so much work, i can do 300-360k gross sales per year myself working for him 6 days a week, 10 hours per day.

Over all he did let me know that is way to much money to pay for a tinter\PPF\vinyl wrapper and raged & messaged me these things. Now i am just sitting and thinking, maybe i am a dumb & good tinter\ppf\vinyl wrapper is only worth $50k CAD \ year?

P.S. After he texted me all that, i did not even bother replying anything, had a good laugh and decided to share with others

Edited March 30, 2020 by sasktinter

highplains · March 31, 2020

Interesting that they advertised a salary range and came back with an offer that was $15k less then their advertised minimum.

March 31, 2020

Lol this just made my day thanks for sharing!😂

TomTint · April 1, 2020

Tint World Franchises burn through employees like firecrackers on the 4th of July. Corporate has a handbook the franchise owners live by. It tells the what to pay, when to pay and how to pay for virtually every aspect of the shop. .. It's all geared to make the store profitable. That in of its of is a good thing.. but it's hard or impossible for a quality installer to garner their true market value from the box store

April 30, 2020

Dude, you have the best job ever. Other tinters in big cities in the U.S. dream about the stress free work situation that you have. I live in Los Angeles and many shops demand that you to tint 6-10 cars a day for $16-18/ hour. And of course after 4 months when the season is over they tell you to bounce and come back next year. Go figure. In your situation I would pick up an other easy skill like chrome delete or ceramic coating and add that to my services. Or buy a Grapthec plotter for $2500 and sell pre cut tint kits on ebay and amazon. Tint franchises are the biggest joke, they think car window tinting is like flipping burgers(no disrespect to fastfood workers). Usually people who buy tint franchises are clueless. These individuals got convinced by a very long sales letter and spent 50-100k on a fancy shop sign a few displays and couple rolls of window film. Hope this helps.