Just dose not feel right?

[abetterveiw]

Originally Posted by jasonw

My prices are generally higher than some but it's hard to explain my area where I may have a 2 hour round trip just to do a job. This job was to cut an entire property, not your average city lot but a fairly large country property. This time of year I do not use my tractor because of the HUGE fire danger around here which means I will be walking behind a field and brush mower. I estimated 8 hours total to cut the whole thing, they wanted it cut and all clippings removed, my quote was to cut and remove no clippings at $150, this is already $50 lower for a days work than I aim for, I got the sob story of money being tight and figured I would do them a favor, $50% down "$75" if they skipped out on the other 50% like I fear then it would be a big loss, not a loss on gas, wear and tear but a big loss on my time.

OMG... First off that bid is way to low for a full days work. Your going to kill yourself for 8 hours for nothing. Its not your fault but remember you have the upper hand (the mower) and if they refuse your "High" bid... no loss to you.

#2. If you feel your helping someone out once with a price there is nothing wrong with that either! You may be suprised by this person and they could lead you more work. (GOD works in mysterious ways!) But you should tell them that you are reputable business and since you are giving them the best deal around and for that matter you will need to payed for the work the day of the job or before. No questions asked.

If you feel you are doing the right thing by "Helping someone out" well good for you... but do not get screwed over doing it... there is not a worse feeling in this business!

[stevef1201]

Originally Posted by SECTLANDSCAPING

When someone stops showing up its because 1. there not making money or 2. there not being paid.

When she said they stopped showing up at $100 a month I wouldve said that its because they werent making money and it wasnt worth it to them. Then you would charge upwards from that rate, not below it. These guys blew the job for that price your not competing with them. Thats the chance to sell your rate and quality.

If you thought the job was worth $160 a month why charge half that? To beat the competition that lost the job and wasnt making money doing it? Thats just setting yourself up for failure.

Now for just plain old regular work I charge $40-$60 a hour. For overgrown brush work it close to $100 a hour. I get 1 or 2 of these jobs a week. You have to figure how long it would take the homeowner and what it would cost to get the proper equipment.

Before I bought a kubota loader I would have to rent it for $450-$500 a day with attachments. So when I started working with I base my price off that rental fee. I cant think hey I paid for it I can do it cheaper.

I recently went to give an estimate, they said the other guy was charging them 95 a month. I looked the property over and told them I could not possibly do it for less then 145 a month, and got the job, year round contract for 42 services a year. Dont let the customer dictated the price, bive your estimate and if you dont get the job then you dont lose money