Why do appliance repairs (dishwasher, laundry, fridge, etc.) seemingly cost as much as the appliances themselves?

Question

Why do appliance repairs (dishwasher, laundry, fridge, etc.) seemingly cost as much as the appliances themselves?

In: 5618

Answer 1

Labor! Trained technicians bill at like $100-150/hr, so the time it takes to diagnose the issue, replace the part, re-install, etc. can take 3 hours plus the parts and you are correct that the repair is close in cost to a new unit. Cranking out 1000’s of the same units on a factory that’s heavily automated and/or located in a country with lower manufacturing wages mean the repair labor is a much higher amount than the per unit labor to make it initially.

However, if you’re handy and willing to learn from YouTube, etc. videos many of the repairs are not that hard and can be done for the $20 or $50 in parts.