Pricing tips

[jozeffo]

Fitzy, in London the range of prices is as vast as the number of nationalities offering the Decorate. I have done my fair share of contract tosh out work and although the profits are slim, it is a stress free day at the office.

Last year I priced a job at just under £ 10k. The nearest established firm came in at £ 23k!!! Two years ago, they would never have asked me to quote because I am not big enough, but people are looking for value instead of reassuringly expensive as they did in the boom years.

I do allow customers to get materials for me sometimes (usually coloured paints) but I tell them where to go to and invite them to use my cash account. I don't make a profit on materials and I am transparent with all pricing because I have found that customers are more comfortable when they know how much I am making. In a part of the country where honesty is in short supply, my approach is popular.

[splashofcolours]

Fitzy
I do work for all kind of clients, up here we have a good mix. I know my average client is working class and trust me Jan - Mid Feb was very quite so I trimmed down my margins as you do. I know its more competitive than ever , you just have to carry on and explain why you will do a good job at a fair price not someone who obviously does not have a clue (read post who will pay for tools) ) Good luck for the future .

Jo- Wish i priced jobs at £10k as most of mine is domestic I dont get anywhere near that figure . I dont make anything on materials but i do charge to collect and cover my time/diesel £10.
Just on this job im finshing now ive knocked £60 off the clients final invoice as i got their paints when the Johnstone Bonnanza sale was on. Mind i have put it in the final invoice so they can see it and when she read it yesterday, she was very impressed (mind that is half a tank of diesel !) but she has got me another job so it works out.
Its all about, doing the job correct, building good client relationships and making a fair days wage.
Weeble.

[jozeffo]

That £ 10k was a one off commercial job. The biggest one I have this year so far is a third of that size and thats quite a large decorating job for me.

[splashofcolours]

Think i will pack my gear in the van and head for the smokie city
Weeble

[Tom d'Angler]

If I can I always knock something off the final invoice, even if it is only a fiver, and tell the customer I didn't use as much undercoat as I thought I would, or something like that. Sometimes it's as much a £20-£30 if I have genuinely used less paint. As Weeble says, it works a treat.

[mrc666]

Always play the long game.Especially with long standing customers.A little favour here and there goes a long way there may be a time when you need them to pay you cash in a hurry and if you ve been helpful this will help.Also be positive when pricing instead of ripping into whoever did it before.The majority of customers want you to get the job done to a high standard but the key is WORRY.Solve problems dont create them and you ll be asked back.

[fitzy]

Fitzy
I do work for all kind of clients, up here we have a good mix. I know my average client is working class and trust me Jan - Mid Feb was very quite so I trimmed down my margins as you do. I know its more competitive than ever , you just have to carry on and explain why you will do a good job at a fair price not someone who obviously does not have a clue (read post who will pay for tools) ) Good luck for the future .

Jo- Wish i priced jobs at £10k as most of mine is domestic I dont get anywhere near that figure . I dont make anything on materials but i do charge to collect and cover my time/diesel £10.
Just on this job im finshing now ive knocked £60 off the clients final invoice as i got their paints when the Johnstone Bonnanza sale was on. Mind i have put it in the final invoice so they can see it and when she read it yesterday, she was very impressed (mind that is half a tank of diesel !) but she has got me another job so it works out.
Its all about, doing the job correct, building good client relationships and making a fair days wage.
Weeble.

To be honest mate Ive had quite a few jobs over and above £10k and unless they are on daywork they can be a nightmare if you let them run away with you.

With regard to the whole topic of factoring in buggeration, which is basically what everyones trying to do, it all depends on how much you charge per hour in the first place really.

[Tom d'Angler]

Also be positive when pricing instead of ripping into whoever did it before.

Indeed. If you go on and on about how crap the previous dec was, all you are doing is reminding the customer what a bad choice they made last time and they won't thank you for it.

Far better to say something like "Well, hopefully we can make that look a lot better..." and move on.

[jozeffo]

Quite often, they have done it themselves before but are embarrassed and won't don't want to admit to it. Slagging it off will not endear you.

[fordy]

But sometimes you have to point out dodgy workmanship in order to justify your price!

[Tom d'Angler]

But sometimes you have to point out dodgy workmanship in order to justify your price!

Fordy, that's true. Point it out, they expect you to ... but don't bang on about it.

[Puma]

Think not what should happen, think what will happen.

[bronz]

Having read through this thread, agreeing and disagreeing with what's in it, the conclusion I've come to is the same as Fitzy's; you can either chuck loads of little extras on top of a lowish day rate or set a slightly higher rate which automatically covers your faffing about. I aim to work a 40 hour week on average, and if that week earns me 650 quid I'm happy. Everyone has different needs and desires for their lifestyle, I don't want to get into the thorny issue of how much you're charging per day, but for me that keeps me ticking over and is also an achievable amount in the current market here in Kent. If I wanted to be rich I wouldn't have chosen decorating as a job.

Some jobs I spend 90 minutes tidying and moving things around, some I walk in, pick my brush up and go. Some jobs need several trips to various merchants for materials, some I can do with paint that's already to hand. I look at the long view and if I hit the above numbers over a month that's cool, saves the hassle of adding all the little extras into the price equation. On the other hand the guy I work with most of the time will spend hours working out fuel costs and time spent picking up materials and how many square feet of dust sheets will be required. We both earn the same and spend the same amount of time working at the end of the day, except for his extra estimating time! It's a personality thing, if you can deal with a relaxed approach then fine, if you need to have every detail nailed down to be happy nothing wrong with that either.

Not to say I don't put as much detail into a written quote as possible, some things you need to be sure of!

[fitzy]

Having read through this thread, agreeing and disagreeing with what's in it, the conclusion I've come to is the same as Fitzy's; you can either chuck loads of little extras on top of a lowish day rate or set a slightly higher rate which automatically covers your faffing about. I aim to work a 40 hour week on average, and if that week earns me 650 quid I'm happy. Everyone has different needs and desires for their lifestyle, I don't want to get into the thorny issue of how much you're charging per day, but for me that keeps me ticking over and is also an achievable amount in the current market here in Kent. If I wanted to be rich I wouldn't have chosen decorating as a job.

Some jobs I spend 90 minutes tidying and moving things around, some I walk in, pick my brush up and go. Some jobs need several trips to various merchants for materials, some I can do with paint that's already to hand. I look at the long view and if I hit the above numbers over a month that's cool, saves the hassle of adding all the little extras into the price equation. On the other hand the guy I work with most of the time will spend hours working out fuel costs and time spent picking up materials and how many square feet of dust sheets will be required. We both earn the same and spend the same amount of time working at the end of the day, except for his extra estimating time! It's a personality thing, if you can deal with a relaxed approach then fine, if you need to have every detail nailed down to be happy nothing wrong with that either.

Not to say I don't put as much detail into a written quote as possible, some things you need to be sure of!

Im like you and put as much detail in my quote as possible but sometimes i wonder if the customer is only interested the figure in the bottom right hand corner - the price

sometimes you can blind them with science.

[Puma]

That's a good reply Bronz. After years of agonising about this and that going an hour over, I now work out what level of pay I'm happy with, quote more than that, and end up with what I'm happy with after inevitable delays.

I hassled my current client 3 times over a few weeks about choosing colours, only chosen this morning when I turned up for my first day - good bye one hour before I had even started!