Website - Advertising Prices (Residential)

[Billy Goat]

Originally Posted by willshome No one likes "bait and switch" a lot of businesses are stopping B.S. fees if the customer wants add-ons that is one thing but fees for things that have to happen like "oil disposal" for an oil change is BS. Yes, well said "Bait and Switch" I look at it as advertising fraud but so many companies do it in some form or another. Where do you draw the line when you advertise a certain price then tell them is going to be more. Lawn care service seems to be same. Everyone charges different prices for different services. No one really knows what the market can bare based on location and demand. Its not like the stock market and monitor lawn care prices in your area. People today use the internet more and more to shop around and look for good deals. Anyone who advertises prices will stand out over the ones that do not. Then when or if they call you and you come out and give them an a real estimate, they say its too much and tell you they found a so-called lawn care business for less. Seems to be a waste of time. I didnt realize listing prices opens up a can of worms and becomes a battle ground for your competitors. No matter what you sell or offer, someone will always challenge you. I want to get somewhere in the middle of the can of worms but able to stand out some how some way.

[LawnBoy0311]

Lawn care business tips

The only real "market price" is yours. You know your costs and you know what you need to make profit. I had an example before: Landscaper A spends $50K on start up his first year. Landscaper B spends $10K his first year. In short, Landscaper B's overhead is much lower and can turn a profit faster. Make yourself stand out when doing quotes. I always suggest beating others to the quote. Usually the first quote gets the job. I always do quotes the same day or early the next day to show I mean business and I'm there for them. If you do a quote and they say its too much, they probably arent the customer for you. Red flags go up....cheap, bad payer, etc. If you want, since your not too far from me, you could stop by my house and quote my yard. I can show you different things to look at when quoting. Its not rocket science, but it can be tricky at times.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Originally Posted by Billy Goat

Yes, well said "Bait and Switch" I look at it as advertising fraud but so many companies do it in some form or another. Where do you draw the line when you advertise a certain price then tell them is going to be more.

Lawn care service seems to be same. Everyone charges different prices for different services. No one really knows what the market can bare based on location and demand. Its not like the stock market and monitor lawn care prices in your area. People today use the internet more and more to shop around and look for good deals. Anyone who advertises prices will stand out over the ones that do not. Then when or if they call you and you come out and give them an a real estimate, they say its too much and tell you they found a so-called lawn care business for less. Seems to be a waste of time.

I didnt realize listing prices opens up a can of worms and becomes a battle ground for your competitors. No matter what you sell or offer, someone will always challenge you. I want to get somewhere in the middle of the can of worms but able to stand out some how some way.

I say if you do it be as broad as possible. Something like mowing $35 and up. Gutter cleaning $120 and up. Leaf clean ups $199 and up.

So your not really giving them a price but at the same time weeding out people that wont pay the base price.

[The Cleaning Doctor]

I agree with Sect.... Most people do not put their pricing on their site because they are afraid of being undercut and losing the job. If you suck at sales then do not put the prices on on the site. If you can sell, then put the prices on the site saying starting at $199 or $199 and up etc.

If you can sell yourself and your services then I would say that prices on your site will do nothing but weed out your cheapskates.

[Billy Goat]

Thanks for all the comments we dont really need to beat this subject up anymore. All of you make valid points and I cant argue with that. Would be nice to hear from lawn care owners that do list prices and does it really work for them without the "bait and switch" scam.

[Steve]

When you put a price out there like "Prices starting at $29.95 a lawn." You set a target and everyone who sees it will want to know, if they aren't getting that price, why?

As has been stated, lawn care involved a lot of variables. Each lawn is different based on the variables. Not just size. Is the grass over grown? Do you need to move objects on the property? Can you get your large mower through that narrow gate? Etc etc.

When you market price, you are selling based on price and you are trying to differentiate yourself based on price. Can you do that? Sure you can, but why would you want to?

When you know if you market quality and differentiate yourself based on quality, you can make more money.

You have a limited amount of time. So if you are selling that limited time, it is in your best interest to sell that time for the highest fee you can get. People tend to pay more for quality.

[Mayor of Mow Town]

Here's a different perspective...

I've been a lawn care customer. I selected a company (and used it regularly), that listed prices on its website.

Why?

- it removed the hassle of arranging for quotes etc (this is hard to organise when you are at work 12 hours a day)
- it was a fixed fee (I wasn't interested in haggling or up-sells)
- it also made it easy to book a mow, as I could do so online
- billing was also via email & paypal

By listing prices and making it easy to book they removed the barriers to purchasing the service.

In fact, I never ever saw them mow my lawn, but it was done.

Note: It wasn't the lowest price. They competed on convenience, not price.

In the end, I left them, as they became unreliable and I needed to chase them. Convenience was gone, and so was I.