Pricing - too high?

[Highland Forestry]

You must do what you must...

 

Gessen was an artist monk. Before he would start a drawing or painting he always insisted upon being paid in advance, and his fees were high. He was known as the "Stingy Artist."

 

A geisha once gave him a commission for a painting. "How much can you pay?" inquired Gessen.

 

"Whatever you charge," replied the girl, "but I want you to do the work in front of me."

 

So on a certain day Gessen was called by the geisha. She was holding a feast for her patron.

 

Gessen with fine brush work did the painting. When it was completed he asked the highest sum of his time.

 

He received his pay. Then the geisha turned to her patron, saying: "All this artist wants is money. His paintings are fine but his mind is dirty; money has caused it to become muddy. Drawn by such a filthy mind, his work is not fit to exhibit. It is just about good enough for one of my petticoats."

 

Removing her skirt, she then asked Gessen to do another picture on the back of her petticoat.

 

"How much will you pay?" asked Gessen.

 

"Oh, any amount," answered the girl.

 

Gessen named a fancy price, painted the picture in the manner requested, and went away.

 

It was learned later that Gessen had these reasons for desiring money:

 

A ravaging famine often visited his province. The rich would not help the poor, so Gessen had a secret warehouse, unknown to anyone, which he kept filled with grain, prepared for those emergencies.

 

From his village to the National Shrine the road was in very poor condition and many travellers suffered while traversing it. He desired to build a better road.

 

His teacher had passed away without realizing his wish to build a temple, and Gessen wished to complete this temple for him.

 

After Gessen had accomplished his three wishes he threw away his brushes and artist's materials and, retiring to the mountains, never painted again.

 

 

And the moral of the story is.... geisha's are tight??

[wildwood-dwt]

Holy Moly, I wish we could charge that down here. Is it Devon or what? Cornwall rates are higher than here yet have less money than the landed toffs in devon . Went up last year from £350 to £375 a day for the typical 2 man setup and now contemplating massive price cuts as me and my mate have experienced a 90% drop in work won since the summer. Only firewood kept me going. It's dire I reckon.

 

 

 

Haven't had a 'phone call since the spring! No joke. Ok I haven't readvertised but word of mouth has done nothing for months. Only regular customers ticking over. My old climber who changed careers to a building surveyor now does weekend tree work for free! For the wood! :thumbdown:

 

Saying that the cost of fuel is crippling. How come another co can run their Renault lorry cherry picker on red classing it as an ag vehicle? Hell, wish I could run my truck on it!

 

I'm with you on the £400 a day just does not happen any more! We often send out 3 men as well

[Ty Korrigan]

This side of the channel...

All week at €480 per day.

Which is your £400 for 2 of us doubling up as climber/groundy and a wee chipper.

We eat a 4 course restaurant meal every day at lunch forgoing the wine and drinking lemonade instead.

Want to join our club...?

[Mesterh]

You must do what you must...

 

Gessen was an artist monk. Before he would start a drawing or painting he always insisted upon being paid in advance, and his fees were high. He was known as the "Stingy Artist."

 

A geisha once gave him a commission for a painting. "How much can you pay?" inquired Gessen.

 

"Whatever you charge," replied the girl, "but I want you to do the work in front of me."

 

So on a certain day Gessen was called by the geisha. She was holding a feast for her patron.

 

Gessen with fine brush work did the painting. When it was completed he asked the highest sum of his time.

 

He received his pay. Then the geisha turned to her patron, saying: "All this artist wants is money. His paintings are fine but his mind is dirty; money has caused it to become muddy. Drawn by such a filthy mind, his work is not fit to exhibit. It is just about good enough for one of my petticoats."

 

Removing her skirt, she then asked Gessen to do another picture on the back of her petticoat.

 

"How much will you pay?" asked Gessen.

 

"Oh, any amount," answered the girl.

 

Gessen named a fancy price, painted the picture in the manner requested, and went away.

 

It was learned later that Gessen had these reasons for desiring money:

 

A ravaging famine often visited his province. The rich would not help the poor, so Gessen had a secret warehouse, unknown to anyone, which he kept filled with grain, prepared for those emergencies.

 

From his village to the National Shrine the road was in very poor condition and many travellers suffered while traversing it. He desired to build a better road.

 

His teacher had passed away without realizing his wish to build a temple, and Gessen wished to complete this temple for him.

 

After Gessen had accomplished his three wishes he threw away his brushes and artist's materials and, retiring to the mountains, never painted again.

 

 

How bizarre and what a weird pricing structure!

 

I think I might try wearing a sack cloth when next quoting.

[conkers]

It is important to hold up prices for the industry. All pro industries have a fair idea of what is enough to run a good company.

Our industry is full of people pricing lower than they can afford. I have done it loads of times by mistake but maybe in the back of my head I have a good idea of what others are charging.

 

Why should a customer who knows nothing about Arb choose a higher quote?

Would any of us do the same for a new car or a loaf of bread?

 

It is all about building a client base so you can rely on some work coming in all the time.

It's a tightrope we are walking.

Don't always be intimidated by peers saying they are earning a trillion pounds a day every day. If they are then good luck to them, but people generally do not hand out wads of cash to someone just because they see them working across the road.

[Lorry thompson]

The trouble with our line of work mate is if it's private clients they don't realize what we do until they see it everyone thinks a big tree is just a sple gardening job

[felixthelogchopper]

This side of the channel...

All week at €480 per day.

Which is your £400 for 2 of us doubling up as climber/groundy and a wee chipper.

We eat a 4 course restaurant meal every day at lunch forgoing the wine and drinking lemonade instead.

Want to join our club...?

 

How the hell do you work in the afternoon after 4 courses?

[Robert_S]

It is important to hold up prices for the industry. All pro industries have a fair idea of what is enough to run a good company.

Our industry is full of people pricing lower than they can afford. I have done it loads of times by mistake but maybe in the back of my head I have a good idea of what others are charging.

 

Why should a customer who knows nothing about Arb choose a higher quote?

Would any of us do the same for a new car or a loaf of bread?

 

It is all about building a client base so you can rely on some work coming in all the time.

It's a tightrope we are walking.

Don't always be intimidated by peers saying they are earning a trillion pounds a day every day. If they are then good luck to them, but people generally do not hand out wads of cash to someone just because they see them working across the road.

 

Good post

 

Its not about how much you charge per day its how much PROFIT you get per day, i will charge less than some as i have very little overheads but my profit will be higher because of this, its finding a level that works for YOU and not caring what the rest are doing as you can sometimes spend too much time comparing yourself to others instead of getting on with your own life

[Rob D]

And the moral of the story is.... geisha's are tight??

 

 

I very much doubt that do you....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol:

[Rob D]

Profound stuff mate.

 

Would he knock a bit off for cash, do you reckon?

 

 

Superb post there Mark. Now and then you just seem to pluck them out of the air!!