600x600 porcelain price.

[peegee tips]

Hi all,
Priced a job the other day for 600x600 porcelain.....kitchen going through to downstairs loo & utility 24m2
Kitchen was a nice flat new screed, utility needed leveling to bring up to current height of kitchen extension.
I went in at £30m2 plus all materials needed.( including sealing ) £1000 all in including £250 for materials, adhesive, grout,primer, impregnator, leveller & to level the floor too! ( BAL products, & lithofin impregnator )
They got back to me tonight saying that i was more than double 3 other quotes!!
Less than £500 to tile 24m2 of 600x600, level the floor, seal & supply all materials.....surely not?
Does my price seem fairly reasonable for the east of England ( suffolk ) ?
I'm thinking that under £15 m2 is way too cheap...
I wasn't even making anything on the materials to keep the price reasonable.
Its worrying me that people are fixing at such low prices.
Your thought please?

 

[White Room]

I take it your talking polished porcelain

 

[peegee tips]

Yes, sorry!

 

[Ramag]

Move on - let them get on with it. I think to lower your prices during these hard times ( only in certain areas) is the right thing to do, but you must protect your name and the others giving away there skills on the cheap, will not be around for long. Just hope the customer gives you a call to put the work right. You have a little time to think of a clever answer.

 

[Ramag]

Anywhere near Kessingland, my family have holiday bugalows over looking the sea. My hobby also is sea fishing, used to be good along this coastline until they distroyed the sea beds with the dredgers.
All the best
Joe

 

[White Room]

Your never going to win every job, if someone wants to work to the bone then let em

 

[peegee tips]

So would you say I was too expensive or they're too cheap?

Getting a bit annoying now as all of a sudden I'm losing jobs to much cheaper & I mean quite a bit cheaper quotes, any of you encountering anything similar?

 

[Gazzer]

In my opinion people dont get back to you if you are too expensive, they will just forget you, unless they are trying to play the knock down price game.

If thats your rate then stick to it, i guess you could do it for less if you wanted to. It would all depend on how many m2 you could fix per day etc.

 

[peegee tips]

Thats what I always thought.
But to be double 3 other quotes is unbelievable!
Something doesn't sound right!
I mean even if they used topp fix adhesive they'd only save £100!

Thing is, you start lowering your prices too far & you start becoming what I call " A bargain ".........& surely thats a slippery slope!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Where were the 600mm porcelain tiles from/how much did the customer pay for them?
Its relevant because if they paid £11/metre from B&Q they will not pay £30/metre to have them fixed.
What I would note is there is only 2.7 tiles of this size per metre so does it really cost more than £10/tile to fix + adhesive/grout/seal!
24sq mts would be no more than 3 days work (x) by your day rate and so compare it to your meterage rate and if you know you are in competition with others go with the lower amount to get the job
When you have plenty of work your rate of fixing can be increased with your order book - but always make sure you have something booked in for the next couple of weeks - even if it is just to cover the bills!
I don't think that the other prices were realistic - but if they are fixing for £15/metre and it is possible to do 24 metres onto a good screed in 2 days then they are still earning £900 for a 5 day week.
Every job is individual so it will be difficult without seeing this particular project to advise time scales - however I believe we have to be flexible in pricing and not just go by a meterage rate for any job.