Extra Charges when delivering logs?

[cessna]

I charge £20 for stacking my 1.6cu mtr of loose logs, and I am about to start charging £10 for delivering logs at week ends. Do most of you charge  about the same or less. I must add that I live in an affluent area and some of the customers who ask for a weekend delivery live in London and just come to their second home at week ends,if they can afford a second home they can surely afford £10 for a weekend delivery, especially when one of the customers companies had a $40,000,000 dollar profit last year?

 

[openspaceman]

16 hours ago, cessna said:

 I live in an affluent area and some of the customers who ask for a weekend delivery live in London and just come to their second home at week ends,if they can afford a second home they can surely afford £10 for a weekend delivery, especially when one of the customers companies had a $40,000,000 dollar profit last year?

 

Irrelevant; it's supply and demand and what the competition is.

 

If your Unique Selling Point is that you stack the logs artistically and you are in great demand then you can jack up your charges for stacking or delivering at weekends and you  keep the customers because they are loyal to your brand, over do it and it lets someone else in who undercuts you.

 

BTW I too work in a wealthy area and in the last six days I have worked in gardens of houses none of which could be bought for less than £4M but I doubt it has made the chap I work for any more than a modest suburban garden because there are dozens of "tree surgeons" working locally.

Edited October 23, 2020 by openspaceman

[gdh]

We only stack if they physically can't and usually charge £10-20. I hate stacking. ?

 

We don't charge any extra for weekends, we do deliver seven days a week buts that's because we're always busy rather than customers asking so we can't really justify asking for extra from the few who do request it.

 

Having said that, most of are customers are regulars who rely on wood for heating so they usually need it when they run out which is a very different market to those who just have an occasional fire because they enjoy it.

[Vedhoggar]

16 hours ago, cessna said:

I charge £20 for stacking my 1.6cu mtr of loose logs, and I am about to start charging £10 for delivering logs at week ends. Do most of you charge  about the same or less. I must add that I live in an affluent area and some of the customers who ask for a weekend delivery live in London and just come to their second home at week ends,if they can afford a second home they can surely afford £10 for a weekend delivery, especially when one of the customers companies had a $40,000,000 dollar profit last year?

 

£10-20 seems to be about the going rate for stacking that amount of logs depending on hourly rate. Days all the same, no surcharge for weekend deliveries, work around the weather and what's best for customer and if they live in an affluent area that doesn't come into it price being based on costs and competition.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Vedhoggar

[Marc Lewis]

Irrelevant; it's supply and demand and what the competition is.
 
If your Unique Selling Point is that you stack the logs artistically and you are in great demand then you can jack up your charges for stacking or delivering at weekends and you  keep the customers because they are loyal to your brand, over do it and it let's someone else in who undercuts you.
 
BTW I too work in a wealthy area and in the last six days I have worked in gardens of houses none of which could be bought for less than £4M but I doubt it has made the chap I work for any more than a modest suburban garden because there are dozens of "tree surgeons" working locally.

Absolutely, just because 'they can afford it' does not mean you should put your prices up.
We charge £10 per meter to stack, if it has to be carried a considerable way then we usually charge more.

[spudulike]

Usually the bigger the house, the tighter the residents are!

[cessna]

7 hours ago, spudulike said:

Usually the bigger the house, the tighter the residents are!

How right you are ,as that is how they made their money and I think many of them think firewood suppliers are on the same level as pikeys ,that is why I have no scrupples about trying to charge them for everything  I can get.

If they choose to go elsewhere so be it.  

At 69, I  learnt too late in my business life that "nice guys get hurt (taken for suckers!!),and also "THEIR ARE  NO FRIENDS IN BUSINESS BUT CONDUCT YOUR BUSINESS IN A FRIENDLY MANNER",  that was very good and so true advice I was given rather too late in life.

Also "YOU CAN WORK AS  HARD AS YOU LIKE, BUT IF YOU ARE WORKING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION YOU ARE WASTING YOUR   TIME  " 

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Edited October 23, 2020 by cessna

[AndyChalmers]

28 minutes ago, cessna said:

How right you are ,as that is how they made their money and I think many of them think firewood suppliers are on the same level as pikeys ,that is why I have no scrupples about trying to charge them for everything  I can get.

If they choose to go elsewhere so be it.  

At 69, I  learnt too late in my business life that "nice guys get hurt (taken for suckers!!),and also "THEIR ARE  NO FRIENDS IN BUSINESS BUT CONDUCT YOUR BUSINESS IN A FRIENDLY MANNER",  that was very good and so true advice I was given rather too late in life.

Also "YOU CAN WORK AS  HARD AS YOU LIKE, BUT IF YOU ARE WORKING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION YOU ARE WASTING YOUR   TIME  " 

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Wise words.  I've stopped evening and weekend deliveries.  I used to del whenever the cust asked.  Now I just say weekdays only and can leave wherever they request.  Works so much better and not lost any customers.  I only generally stack when I feel like im helping the customer eg old or disabled.  My biggest problem is Im too soft, always going above and beyond and gets you knowhere im afraid.  Im streamlining this year, only doing very local deliveries from now on.      

[donnk]

id turn this round add £10 or £20 to the price so stacking is factored, then offer a tenner off if they stack themself. 

[oldwoodcutter]

It’s when a new customer calls and wants stacking so you say yes £10, and when you pull up access is through a small overgrown garden gate, and they direct you to the log shed that’s up those steps, down those steps, around the slippery pond,and through the chicken run.
And you’ve forgotten your wheelbarrow.
If you want them I’ll tip them on the side of the road for you missus.