Sorry but its a pricing question

[stihlmadasever]

LOL seen it happen, well I was once worried it might happen to me..

 

But thankfully it hasn't yet...

 

See the thing is, I might do that if its an old lady who looks like she's a bit worried.

wouldn't try in it on some fella with a range rover in the drive..

 

An I don't suppose the good people in the North West are much behind your Scotish breather-in when it comes to spending money as well.

Haha one of our bosses has a range rover and is a tight git but i get what your saying mate,as for the good people of the north west,i couldnt possibley comment on that...(the wifes family are from that neck of the woods)...ahem!

[IVECOKID]

thanks Starscream and Vespasian, more sound advice, I might have been a bit greedy with my prices for this stage of the game. I based my prices on what my mates make, which is about £500 a day usually. I thought £150 to £200 a day was cheap considering the work, looks like i'll be re-thinking my pricing!

 

Rule 1 ..... Never take a blind bit of notice what your mates' are earning , go with your own feeling about the job, days you will learn the hard way and that's how it is .

 

Ste

[hamdogg]

How much waste can you actually tip at the local tip, I thought any waste from a business was chargable!?

[muldonach]

thanks Starscream and Vespasian, more sound advice, I might have been a bit greedy with my prices for this stage of the game. I based my prices on what my mates make, which is about £500 a day usually. I thought £150 to £200 a day was cheap considering the work, looks like i'll be re-thinking my pricing!

 

A dose of reality is required here I think - at £500 a day I would be looking for a lot more than 2 men with a chipper - for 1 man day it is risible in our area.

 

Sorry but I think you mentioned N Ireland, S Scotland - £20 per hour for anything to do with a chainsaw £10 per hour for a labourer dragging stuff about

 

cheers

mac

[Cheesy pete]

it is but it seems if you can get under the barrier at my local tip you can get away with it ! i personally can't

 

 

also stick with your pricing go cheap and some jobs take longer than expected and you end up working for far too little

my private jobs are difficult on pricing seems like i can't get the work either(i work on a highway contract so i do have regular tree work) but i'm sticking with what i want for the job some will do it cheaper some will do it more expensive

I paid out for my quals and my kit i'm a professional I refuse to do professional work for laborers wage !

If you are i suggest you stay in landscaping as you will probably make a better wage off it

 

your £500 wasn't way off for 2 days it's when you price it for £1000 that your way off but i suppose it's up to you. Try taking £50 off next time i don't know why in some peoples minds they see the 4 and think it is a far better price than the £500 it's why companies price everything with as £4.99 rather than £5

[Couldyajust]

thanks Starscream and Vespasian, more sound advice, I might have been a bit greedy with my prices for this stage of the game. I based my prices on what my mates make, which is about £500 a day usually. I thought £150 to £200 a day was cheap considering the work, looks like i'll be re-thinking my pricing!

 

I know someone who regularly boasts they make at least 2 grand on a tree job what he doesn't say is that he only gets 1 or 2 tree jobs of his own a year the rest of the time he is getting £80 a day dragging brash for someone else.

 

Ignore anything your mates say set your prices based on covering your costs & what you consider to be a fair profit.

[Shane]

Funny what people make when they are talking to their 'mates' in the pub.

Possibly a touch more than they make when they are talking to strangers, and a hell of a lot more than when they talk to the tax man.

 

If they are remotely like the Paul Whitehouse 'geyser' character just ignore what they claim and, like someone said previously, be confident with the figure you quote.

[Gerbutt]

Most things you see for sale are just under a round number, say £19.99 instead of £20, £99 instead of £100, it's a mental thing to make you feel as if you're getting a better deal. Maybe for your next quote, if you think it's worth £500, come in at £485/£495 or something and see what happens.

[flatyre]

thanks for the advice guys, this guy isn't a bull shitter, he advised me to quote £500, but he does have a lucrative gardening run made up entirely of very rich landowners who don't even ask him for a price. So yes he has the luxury of quoting high for random jobs. I don't have that luxury, my mistake, lesson learned. I do think £200 a day isn't crazy money for tree work given the dangers to yourself and the customers property. For now that's going to be my rough price guide, knock £50 off if they live in a small house, add £50 on if they live in a big house (not that house size dictates anything but you know what I mean). Focus on the landscaping and take any tree work as a bonus.

I priced a local job a few months ago, remove nine twenty year old conifers, stumps and all, and top another fifteen by a third, there were also a number of smaller cherry trees and holly trees to be taken out, all very close to the house. Power and phone lines through them, and everything needed to be hand balled out through the side gate and away, a good fifty meter drag each way. I quoted £2000, the owner got it done for half that.

Other side of the coin is a local guy has three squads consisting of a climber and two groundsmen each, chipper and tipper vans, charges over a grand a day per squad and is booked up until early March. These figures are accurate!

Now on a different note if you seen a conifer hedge that needed faced or topped would you knock on the door or leave it. What about maybe printing off a simple headed letter offering your services, popping it in an envelope and sticking it through the door, not quite junk mail, or a plain old leaflet drop?

[Shane]

Now on a different note if you seen a conifer hedge that needed faced or topped would you knock on the door or leave it. What about maybe printing off a simple headed letter offering your services, popping it in an envelope and sticking it through the door, not quite junk mail, or a plain old leaflet drop?

 

It's something some people wouldn't do - others would.

If you get a job out of it then it worked. The problem is the stigma that some people attach to 'tradesmen' who knock on doors.

 

It isn't something I believe in so I can't comment on the success rate.

 

I tried a leaflet drop once, many years ago and found it was a waste of time.