Small engine repair price list template: how to price jobs
Updated September 3, 2026 · North Trestle LLC
A small engine repair price list is one page that names your common jobs, a price or price range for each, your diagnostic fee, your minimum charge, and how you handle parts markup, shop supplies, and pickup or delivery. Print it for the counter, post it on your site, and hand a copy to every new tech so everyone quotes the same number. Below is a free template in PDF, Word, and Excel, published 2026 price ranges for fifteen common jobs so you have a starting point, and the pricing decisions that trip up new shop owners.
What should a price list include?
A usable price list has six parts, in this order:
- Common services, each with a flat price or a price range.
- A diagnostic fee, for the jobs that need a look before you can quote them.
- A minimum charge, so a five-minute fix doesn’t lose money.
- A parts markup note, so customers know parts aren’t sold at your cost.
- A shop supplies line, if you charge one.
- Pickup, delivery, and storage terms, if you offer them.
Keep it to one page. A price list that takes two minutes to read at the counter doesn’t get read at all.
What do the most common jobs cost?
The ranges below come from published shop price lists and repair-cost sites, checked on 2026-09-03. They are examples other businesses have posted, not a standard, not a ReedPort average, and not a promise about what your market will bear. Your own rate, region, and overhead set your real numbers; the worksheet formula in the labor rate guide walks through that math.
| Job | Published range | Source, date |
|---|---|---|
| Push mower tune-up | $70–$90 plus parts | Thumbtack, March 2026; Tiger Small Engine Repair, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Riding mower or zero-turn tune-up | $140–$220 plus parts | Thumbtack, March 2026; Jacks Small Engines, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Carburetor cleaning | $50–$90 plus parts | Thumbtack, March 2026; Tiger Small Engine Repair, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Carburetor replacement or rebuild | $40–$127.50 plus parts | Thumbtack, March 2026; Tiger Small Engine Repair, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Blade sharpening, per blade | $5–$30 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Chain sharpening, per chain | $7–$14 | Browns Small Engine Repair, checked 2026-09-03; HDR Small Engine Repair, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Spark plug replacement | $4–$12, parts only | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Belt replacement, installed | $35–$150 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Recoil or pull-cord repair | $20–$90 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Electric starter repair or replacement | $95–$250 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Engine replacement, installed | $260–$1,800 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Diagnostic fee | $35–$110 | LawnStarter, December 2025; Jacks Small Engines, checked 2026-09-03 |
| Minimum shop charge | $50–$130 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Pickup and delivery | $30–$100 | LawnStarter, December 2025 |
| Shop labor rate, per hour | $55–$135, $90 common dealer average | See the labor rate guide for the full sourcing table |
Every one of these is a published example, not a rule. A shop in a low-rent town and a shop in an expensive city can both be priced correctly and still be $40 apart on the same job.
Flat rate or by the hour? Which goes on the price list?
Either works, and most shops use both. A flat rate suits a job you do often enough to know the typical time, like a tune-up or a carburetor clean. Quote one number, and the customer knows the cost before you start. An hourly rate suits a job you can’t size up in advance, like an intermittent electrical fault or a rebuild with unknown parts. The flat-rate guide covers how book times work and publishes typical times for the jobs above, if you want to build flat prices from your own hourly rate instead of copying someone else’s number.
Should I charge a diagnostic fee?
Yes, and keep it separate from the repair price. Finding the problem takes real time. You pull the shroud, check spark and compression, and trace wiring, all before you know what the job even is. If you call that a “free estimate,” you’re doing paid work for free. Charge a flat diagnostic fee. Then decide up front: does it count toward the repair if the customer says yes, or not? Waiving the fee every time isn’t really a fee at all. It’s a discount, and only your paying customers get it. It also hides how much free time your shop gives away on jobs that never turn into a repair.
What’s a fair minimum charge?
A minimum charge protects your short jobs: a blade sharpening, a battery swap, a quick adjustment. Without one, a five-minute fix can lose money once you count the time to write the ticket. Published minimums for small engine shops run $50 to $130. One shop we checked sets a $65 minimum against a $95 hourly rate, checked 2026-09-03, so a short job is never billed at less than about two-thirds of an hour. Pick a number and put it on the price list. A customer who sees it before you start won’t argue about it after.
How much should I mark up parts?
Selling parts at your own cost is the most common pricing mistake new shop owners make. It feels fair to the customer. But it means every part you stock, order, and warranty costs you money to sell. A flat markup on every part is simple, but it can undercharge cheap parts. Looking up a $2 spark plug and ordering a $400 engine block take about the same handling time, so a single percentage doesn’t fit both. Many shops instead use a sliding scale, sometimes called matrix pricing: a higher percent on cheap parts, a lower percent on expensive ones. That way both ends of the price range actually cover what they cost you to carry. Put a plain note on your price list too, something like “Parts are priced above our cost to cover ordering, stocking, and warranty,” so customers aren’t surprised.
Shop supplies, pickup, delivery, and storage: worth a line?
If you use rags, cleaners, small hardware, or fuel stabilizer on every job, a shop supplies fee is normal. Show it as its own line, not hidden inside labor. Keep it small and say what it covers. If you pick up or deliver equipment, published fees run $30 to $100, and customers want to know that before they call. If equipment sits unclaimed, a storage or abandoned-equipment clause protects you. State law varies a lot here, so have someone check the exact wording before you print it.
How do I turn a price list into what’s actually on the ticket?
A price list on the wall is a promise. What lands on the ticket is what gets billed, and the two need to match. In ReedPort, each labor code carries a default rate. Pick “tune-up” or “carb clean” on a ticket, and it starts from the same number every time. A tech can still change the rate or hours on that one line when a job runs long or short. Each part carries both a retail price and your cost, so your markup is set once on the part, not re-typed on every ticket. Cost and profit show to you and your techs while you work the ticket. They never print on the copy that goes home with the customer. Set your price list once, in your labor codes and parts, and every ticket after that quotes it the same way. See how work orders carry parts and labor.
Get the price list template
Download the price list template below and fill in your own numbers. It has the same six sections as this guide: common services, diagnostic and minimum charges, a parts markup note, shop supplies, and pickup, delivery, and storage terms. No email required.
- PDF, one page, print-ready for the counter.
- Word document, to edit and reprint as your prices change.
- Excel spreadsheet, with a labor total that calculates from your rate and hours.
Once your numbers are set, write them into your labor codes and parts in ReedPort, and the price list follows every ticket automatically. No email required for the download, and no card required for a 14-day trial of ReedPort.