have you ever reduced your price when being rejected?

[DHTiling]

I NEVER get into a price war.. Accept my quote or move on.. Simple as that..

I agree with an earlier post.. if you say well i can do it for a bit less then the customer might think then why not this price earlier..

Don't under estimate yourselves.. price what you are worth..

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

ok

i'll put it another way...

its dead, theres no work on..i need to get the deposit for one of the kids holidays, a customer says ed, id love you to do the job but i havent got 20 per meter, bla bal, then id say to myself, i'll do it because my kids need x y or z.....

i dont pimp myself out and i dont value myself higher than what the market dictates either

well i fully agree here ED, when i think about it my price;s have been about the same for the last 15 year;s or more,BUT!! after all this turbulence in the economy they are changing!! they are going DOWN!!!

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

i think i;m in a sector where work is getting thinner on the ground, and we that are still around will have to fight it out for whats left, like that poor hippo left in that last pool of water during the drought

 

[doug boardley]

ok

i'll put it another way...

its dead, theres no work on..i need to get the deposit for one of the kids holidays, a customer says ed, id love you to do the job but i havent got 20 per meter, bla bal, then id say to myself, i'll do it because my kids need x y or z.....

i dont pimp myself out and i dont value myself higher than what the market dictates either

I actually look at it from a different perspective Ed, if customer thinks I'm to expensive, fair play, I don't get the job. But I get to spend more time with my kids. So for me (imo) it's a win/win situation.

 

[Aston]

gooner,

if gordon ramsey has lowered his prices in his restaurants, then that tells you something?

people can value themselves as highly as they like but its what the market value your skills at thats important..

market value is the basic laws of economy, go above them and you face??? well , sitting in the house doing those jobs that need doing lol

 

[doug boardley]

supply and demand dictate rates I agree, but who sets the price in the first place?? imo it should be the person that does the job

 

[DHTiling]

I see that different parts of the uk are facing different work issues.. or maybe not.. but i find that at present my market is very strong and i have not had to get into pricing issues with customers or other fixers..

I hope that my long time in the profession has stood me strong to stand out from the competition and that recommends are making me stronger.. so IMO i will not reduce prices just to win a job and make myself look like i was over pricing it in the first place.

Now what you ave to understand is that i only do domestic and not commercial big jobs.. and that is where i think it is very competitive and pricing has to be crucial..

So to those that hit that market then yes i agree.. price to win but not price to kill yourself..

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I must admit I always stood by my prices, and would never budge. Having said that, my phone never stopped ringing. I was so arrogant I used to give most jobs a body swerve, if I didn't fancy them. Things have changed a bit now, I am not getting people beating the door down for my sevices as much.


As Ed says, sometimes it is better to keep earning. The main job I am on at the moment is a six month contract, I did drop my daywork rate to ensure I won it. I am so glad I did, it is an ongoing job but I can fit in other work around it. Not easy is it.

 

[doug boardley]

I guess I may be in a different position to a lot other you other guys, Mrs Doug is now the breadwinner since she got her lecturing job, so I guess I can stand on a soapbox a bit and say that I won't drop my prices, but tbh, I've never been asked to anyway (where have the smilies gone?)

 

[Ajax123]

Done it hundreds if not thousands of times. Negotiation used to be the stock in trade in the readymixed concrete game. Not so much now cos of special products which hold their price better.

 

[Onlinetiler]

I've only lowered my prices twice; once for a contractor - I went in with 'retail' rates but came down as it would lead to regular work which really paid off, have had a load more jobs from him since. Other time was 2 weeks ago for a customer, I quoted £930 and they offered me £900 ....... wasn't going to lose the job for 30 quid!!

On the other hand - I've just started putting my rates up. I worked out the other day that I've been on the same day rate for nearly 10 years now and with the cost of diesel, adhesives etc always increasing I figured it was about time i reflected that in my prices.

 

[mikethetile]

if you work cheap you will always work cheap

I price my work to take local rates into account, if people want it done cheaper they will have to go with the other guy

im not cheap but I offer good value for money and thats what makes me competitive

I took the view that I dont need to take the van off the drive and make nothing , I can sit at home all day and do the same

the result of this is that I spent a lot of time at home this year, now im snowed under with higher paid work, if I hadnt stuck to my guns and atayed at home rather than work cheap I would know be so snowed under with cheap work I wouldnt have got a sniff at the higher paid work

the country is full of people looking for proper tradesmen with the right attitude and skills and have the money to pay for it

 

[doug boardley]

I've only lowered my prices twice; once for a contractor - I went in with 'retail' rates but came down as it would lead to regular work which really paid off, have had a load more jobs from him since. Other time was 2 weeks ago for a customer, I quoted £930 and they offered me £900 ....... wasn't going to lose the job for 30 quid!!

On the other hand - I've just started putting my rates up. I worked out the other day that I've been on the same day rate for nearly 10 years now and with the cost of diesel, adhesives etc always increasing I figured it was about time i reflected that in my prices.[/QUOTE]
I was thinking same, 7 years ago I was getting £30m....7 years on still the same

 

[Aston]

I guess I may be in a different position to a lot other you other guys, Mrs Doug is now the breadwinner since she got her lecturing job, so I guess I can stand on a soapbox a bit and say that I won't drop my prices, but tbh, I've never been asked to anyway (where have the smilies gone?)

so if god forbid, mrs doug was made redundant and the mortgage needed paying and the gas and electric were in the red and those 2 lovely little lads of yours needed shoes, and the job that you had just priced was a little bit out of the clients range and they said, if you could come down abit, the jobs yours doug,,,,,would you?? or would you say no, i'm worth more??

thats all the point i'm making!

 

[doug boardley]

so if god forbid, mrs doug was made redundant and the mortgage needed paying and the gas and electric were in the red and those 2 lovely little lads of yours needed shoes, and the job that you had just priced was a little bit out of the clients range and they said, if you could come down abit, the jobs yours doug,,,,,would you?? or would you say no, i'm worth more??

thats all the point i'm making!

dunno, I'd certainly look at my quote, and see if I'd tweek it on the materials, perhaps meet them halfway between retail and trade, then tell them I'd mixed up and quoted wrongly for materials, (that would be in extreme circumstances Ed), but I won't drop my labour price, and I'll let the customer know that.