[lands]

As if to completely back up Dave Liahona's philosophy towards pricing

Went to price a job at a decent sized (but logistically simple) 5 bed house yesterday. I quoted £297. Customer came back saying it was a bit steep as another had quoted £150 over phone and whilst he had no intetion of using other guy at that price could I meet him at £300 as obviously the VAT will take it up to £330. I'm not VAT reg'd.

I am coming to learn that the higher up you get in the domestice range the price issue reverses on itself. Thought I'd share that.

Pete

[spickandspan]

Sorry guys but i could not do that, i must be to honest???

[lands]

Hows that dishonest???/

[spickandspan]

Well for a start saying you VAT registered and you are not.

[garyj]

I think I'm good at gauging customers ( I would though wouldn't I   ), I quoted a sofa over the phone at £130.00 after a lengthy chat only to be told I was too cheap, she had just been quoted £200 by someone else ( must have been Dave L   ), then quoted a 5 bedroom house, it was gorgeous but they had two young kids and hold parties regularly, 2 downstairs carpets were trashed. Quoted £280 and she was shocked, she thought it would be about a hundred quid  .

Doing lounge, office, playroom and stairs for £140, wouldn''t take much more than an hour to do upstairs while I'm there  . My prices INCLUDE VAT as well   . Oh well, it will keep me occupied for a few hours.

[garyj]

The chap has just presumed Pete is VAT registered by doing a quick calculation in his head, most people think it doesn't take long to clean the carpets. The chap has also presumed Pete does one of these a day minimum, therefore 300 quid = £1500 a week and so he must be VAT reg.

The price I quote domestic customers includes VAT, the price for commercial doesn't, I add it on the invoice. I think it's unfair to quote to a domestic client a price and then add 17.5% at the end of the job, private customers expect to pay what they are quoted.

My average price ticket is now about £120, when I was doing this a couple of years ago it was £80, sounds good but very very few have paid cash at this price, most pay cheque or use credit cards, at 80 quid most paid cash.

[spickandspan]

Still thats not a bad price Gary eh??? cant complain say £30 per hour can you

[spencer davies]

I would   


S

[garyj]

Are you VAT registered Spencer?

[Ian Gourlay]

If its £297 it would have been aprox £350 with VAT

bit of a givaway that you are not VaT registered if you agreed with the bloke it would be £330 with VAT

You just gave him another £20

Plus you conspired to defruad the government

[garyj]

That's an unfair assumption Ian.

Bad luck Pete, youre in the firing line for for an off the cuff comment that meant no harm.

I know what you meant.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I agree with Gary J, Pete never said that the price would be plus vat he gave him a price and that was that, the customer on the other hand presumed it was plus vat and tried to forge a deal which in this case has put Pete £3 the better.

Keeping your mouth shut can work in your favour, an old mentor I used to read of used to say let the customer do the talking and he was right.

Shaun

PS should get it done in an hour

[lands]

Well for a start saying you VAT registered and you are not.

Read the post properly. I did not tell him I was Vat reg'd, he just assumed it. This quote was done by email as were his comments. I would never do that, I'm no crook

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Don't forget you win some and you lose some! you have to be big enough to say to yourself that the lost customer has gone and move onto the next.

Shaun

[lands]

Just to add, I had already replied telling him I was not vat reg'd and that it would only be £297. My survey forms are quite clear and simple and like Gary says, he probably thinks I do that amount daily which would send me way over threshold (I wish I did).

Spic my last post was a bit short for which I apologise. You made an assumption from what I had written which was incorrect, have done it myself before so no big deal I was just trying to highlight that with certain customers cheap can be off putting.

Pete

[Joe H]

I understood you Pete, obviously the customer did'nt.
The fact you were £3 better off is neither here nor there.
I get your point that cheap can be off putting to certain customers

I did a job yesterday that "grew" when I got there from what she wanted over the phone, and I didnt quote anything over the phone.
I gave a price before starting, cringing inside, she didnt bat an eyelid.

[*paul_moss]

Pete I often get asked " does that include VAT", I always just say that is the total price including every thing.

So I would have said to that customer, Actually the price I quoted you of £297 is total price you will pay, when would you like it done

[spickandspan]

No problem Pete, it just scares me sometimes how much some people charge  i fear for our industry sometimes, it not as though its brain surgery is it and i know we have to buy all our equipment and i know we pay for training and i know we have to run our vans etc etc etc but its semi skilled work at the end of the day.
I am not pulling our industry down have been doing it for 17 year but some times i look how much some guys charge it makes my hair stand on end.

[Mike Osbourne]

Don't beat yourself up. You could be selling 3rd world loans at 1000% interest or mortgages to the US underclass. Take the commission and let the UK taxpayer pick up the tab.

ps I would reduce my prices if I thought I'd make more money overall.

 

[lands]

I agree Spic. There is a guy not far from me that charges 49p sq ft and he bonnets everything (inc. nearly all domestic). The price that i gave that customer was based on 22p. Tis a big house and I will be there all day. The lounge is 42sqm alone