My powder coating guy is in Phuket, Thailand, which is a tourist
resort and thus living costs more expensive then the usually Thai
small town.
As for price, I have had a number of frames done there in the past
year or so and I get charged the same whether it is one color, two
color, or two color plus clear coat. Assuming that it is a color that
they have in stock. From discussions with them they set prices
according to the area that is powder coated and a bicycle frame
doesn't have too many square inches.
Salaries are lower here due to a lower cost of living and you have to
pay the help whether they are smoking cigarettes or masking bike
frames and because Thailand has universal medical care there is no add
ons for Medicare, etc., so labour costs are essentially what you hand
the guy on payday. It probably makes a difference.
>If I get a color they normally use it is normally a day or two but it's been over a week and they haven't even started meaning the powder hasn't shown up.
I can't even begin to guess what the charge would be if I asked for a
special color, but I'd guess it would be high considering the trouble
of ordering something special, CIF to Thailand, along with the fact
that probably nobody will ever want that color again, etc. :-)
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Cheers,
John B.