The underpricing thread.

[Ty Korrigan]

And so to follow...

A simple mornings sycamore dismantle straddling one other garden.

Concrete 'fence' separating the two.

Asked the neighbour who was a good old boy and got permission to drop branches into the neighbours garden and throw them back over the fence.

Er...didn't see the vicious old Bonzo NOR his meaty turds scattered like mines deep in the long grass.

So, its lowering limbs now and not a twig did we drop into Turdsville.

Cost us an afternoon plus but I'll anything to avoid dogdoo...BLERK!

Ty

[treesnatcher]

Run!

 

Never mind the money, every time a job like this pops up you are working for complete retards.

 

agreed. the previous cuts are all rough and at 70 degree angles in varying directions but its a commercial job round some potato stores. must be 4k ish though, then 2 other smaller jobs to price on same site.

[waz77]

agreed. the previous cuts are all rough and at 70 degree angles in varying directions but its a commercial job round some potato stores. must be 4k ish though, then 2 other smaller jobs to price on same site.

 

Cant you get a tractor with disc cutter in? About £400 a day, should cut it in a day maybe 2 if its bad.

[Rob D]

Always seemed to be conifers I underpriced - after they've been topped a few times they seem to contain so much material and hard to judge exactly how much there is to shift on a big un.... never lost money but broke even a few times....

[Tom Richards]

Ive underpriced plenty and you normally realise as soon as you turn up on site my last epic error was a thorne hedge about 20FT HIGH COMING DOWN TO 10FT really wide with naff all to climb on and about 100 meters of it had to do it in the day, felt like crying about 10 oclock but had to man up and get it sorted. It happens to everyone but its how you deal with it that matters

[Mark Bolam]

agreed. the previous cuts are all rough and at 70 degree angles in varying directions but its a commercial job round some potato stores. must be 4k ish though, then 2 other smaller jobs to price on same site.

 

Big conny topping jobs I think 'how many can I do in a day at an easy pace?' then work out on that basis for the total, with extra for the enders which are always bigger. After climbing into them to cutting height to see what you're dealing with.

 

I should say 'used to', because it's been a while since I had a price accepted.

 

Thank God!

[Frankie Lawrence]

I've done very little private jobs because I don't have the kit to do it properly and find it easier to work for people with the right kit and keep it simple to that but there was the first one I did small conifer to top and trim there was so little of it I thought I could stuff it in a dumpy bag in my car and drop off at a mates burn site. Needless to say I didn't look at it properly and there was more than thought so after doing a few trips I shamefully called a mate to help me take it away with a truck.

 

I didn't underprice I put the same price on it then with no overheads than I think most people around would charge. Just thought I'd be earning lots more than originally thought.

 

That's why I'll leave it to everyone else to price I'm happy to turn up and give a boss a good day

[kentjames]

I've yet to cock up in a major way when it comes to pricing a job and time scale involved. I have had some jobs which have been hard work to get it done in a day but it was a day that has been quoted and still within 8 hours so no big deal.

 

I have lost out on some jobs where people have questioned the need for 3 days to do a job, but then I don't think people really appreciate the time required for some work and what is involved.

 

All to often when we start on day one of a multi day job the client usually ends up saying something like 'I had no idea what was involved and how hard it is, don't you guys work hard' or similar.

 

Won well on several jobs and done by 2 or 3pm and back home for tea and medals

[tuttle]

being in business is about profit.

 

most sole traders don't quite get it in any industry.

 

i was thinking of starting a thread to up the anti on pricing, as these days we need all we can get...

[Albedo]

The longer they been doing it the more they underprice.

 

Then they do a tech cert and become an estate manager.

 

I'm 4 or 5 years into my own truck type affair and my pricing is definitely getting worse.

 

I ain't doin a tech cert though, might start a duck farm or something:001_smile: