what does a rack of ribs go for at , lets say a restaurant in that area ?
Using $ 20 a rack, as a benchmark , here's what I come up with
Rack of ribs, at $ 2.00 a pound, spares, averaging 4 pounds a rack, would cost them $8.00
That leaves $12 left over from the $20 starting point.. you can easily charge them $3 a pound for you to do them, using the benchmark... to me, it's better then saying " I'll charge you $12 a rack to smoke them....
If you emphasise the quality of " Freshly done" ribs, over the racks they will buy at a restaurant, it should be an easy sale....
So, if they want 10 racks of ribs, it's roughly $120..... time to get there, and set up , an hour's worth of time, lets say, probably 7 hours to get fire going, and ribs done, another hours worth of time to clean up, get home...
you're looking at 9 hours, there in and abouts... Fuel, foil, etc lets just use $15 to get some kind of number... $10 a bag of lump and some sundry items
so $120 - $15 = $105
$105 / 9hours = $11.66 an hour
Looking at from their side, 10 racks of ribs, lets say they're feeding 20 people, $120 / 10 people= $12 a person...
so, if it's worth $11.66 an hour ....
What ever you do, do not undersell yourself... It 's nearly impossible to get back to your regular prices , after you've underbid a job, just to get jobs, from " future prospects"
to me, this is on the cheap side.... I would charge $200 to do this, 10 racks... but there are regional price difference between different geographical areas