Yearly Income

bellerose

I put in a door for a guy who is a computer engineer. I charged him $350 for the labor and was out of there by 1 pm. He thought it was going to take me all day.
He says to me that at that rate I had to be making $100,000 plus a year.
( I wish) It seemed like he was envious that I made that amount in 4 hours.
He was figuring my "hourly" take on the job.

I don't know how much you guys make a year but I think people have this idea that we make too much money. I get annoyed when people bitch about the cost to do things. If a car mechanic gets $65 an hour our time should average out to that as well.

I especially hate it when they shop a small job around to 4 people to try to save $25.

I finally decided I am not giving free estimates anymore.

Grumpy

Once when I first got into the business and was hanging gutters, we pulled up to an estimate and a gutter was mispitched. My boss at the time told the home owner we can repitch it and clean the entire gutter system for $250. She agreed and we did it on the spot. It took 3 of us about 2 hours to complete and she started raising all hell telling us she thought it would take longer (time was never discused). She was pissed and as she handed my boss the check said she would never call him for anything ever again.

Good luck on the charging for estimates thing goes. I hope it works out for you. Tell them the estimate is free but the inspection they gotta pay for

A+Carpenter

I can say this. BUTT A STUMP

__________________

Mike Finley

Those are words of a life-long professional employee. You will never hear those words out of a self-employed customer. What you are hearing has little to do with him singling you out as a contractor, he thinks the guy who owns the Sub Way shop must be rich too because he goes there at lunch and figures the owner is putting $5.00 in his pocket for each of those $5.25 subs he is selling.

Floorwizard

None of his business frankly.

I wouldn't stop giving free estimates tho.People have a right to get many estimates for 1 job.
If they all comply, and are somewhat reasonable, and they like the work done, then who in the **** cares how long it takes.
They need to understand that others could turn the same table right back on them.
Do I gripe that a computer program costs 300 bucks?!?!
Hell no! it saves me way more than that. PLUS I have somewhat of a choice.
In some cases I don't!

This dude irritates me.
Maybe someday he will wake up and smell the reality of life.
He basically is saying you ripped him off
what a jerk.

__________________
------------------------
"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

bellerose

I was going to charge $10 to cover my gas. There is another local guy who charges $15

There is an electrical contractor that charges $89 ! If you take the job he duducts the $89 and starts the work immediately. It works for him, They have

a lot of trucks on the road.

rino1494

Yeah, but they don't understand that you must get your time out of it. You can't spend your time driving to and from a job and work for $10 a hr for 2 hrs a day.

You were done at 1 PM, basically your day is shot. You can't drive to another job and set up because it is too late. I can't stand these ppl that can't comprehend that we have insurances, payroll taxes and workman's comp to pay. I wish i had a deskjob where i was guaranteed 40hrs a week and a set pay.

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

Floorwizard

For an engineer, he sure is an uneducated idiot.

__________________
------------------------
"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Rich Turley

My dentist charged $125 to pull a tooth. Took him less than 10 minuets. When I complained he apologized and said if he knew how I felt, he would have taken longer to do it.

Rich

bellerose

Think about how many hours you spend giving estimates on jobs you do not get. How many hours a month is that? A year? How many miles did you drive in a year ? How much gas is that ?
I gave an estimate to a woman to fix a door some loser put in. He is a hack. He was the lowest price for an extension off the patio. The roof leaked, the door would not close, etc.
I was to fix the door and a few other small things.$350...She says OK. Then she calls me later and wants it in writing. I said I thought you agreed. Yeah, but I want to get a few more estimates first to be sure. She wanted to show my written estimates to others. I said no and hung up on her.
People do not deserve free estimates. If they came to us that would be different but b/c we go to them they should pay a small fee. I do not get a lot of estimates. I am not the highest or the lowest but I am not going to go real low like those unlicensed HACKS out there. ILLEGAL immigrants and such.
If you are an ILLEGAL immigrant and you are reading this I say ******************** YOU, GO HOME...........HOMELAND Security.. Are you awake yet ? Losers.

This business is starting to permanently get under my skin

slickshift

Most people collect a paycheck
Most people have absolutely no clue whatsoever what it costs to run a business
They have no idea that overhead is more than just a truck
They have no idea how much it has already cost you the show up at their house
They have no idea how much an accountant costs
They have no idea how much advertising costs
They have no idea how much liability insurance costs
They have no idea how much licenses cost
They have no idea that you've also go to get paid for waiting by the phone, trotting out there to measure, putting together and estimate, driving out there, setting up, cleaning up, having either software or accounting to print up a bill....
Never mind that it also has to cover days off, vacation, sick days, medical insurance, and retirement fund
All this stuff is taken care of behind the scenes for them
They just collect a paycheck
They have no idea how much it costs to run a business

donb1959

I have had this haooen to me on small jobs. Someone will say, "wow, that bedroom average out to $150.00 per hour, are you sure you did this and that"?.

My reply is that we are a professinal painting company, and part of our service is getting the job done in a timely manner. Getting the job done, without sacrificing quality equals value for the dollar.

As far as giving free estimates, for me there's no way around it, everyone here does it, and as frustrating as it is when folks are kicking tires, its still a part of the business.

__________________
I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

hauoli63

Well said ... people have no clue ... may I add one?

They have no idea of the personal financial risk a business owner takes.

__________________
~~ Lisa ~~

www.chantillyplumbing.com

AAPaint

I was doing a house once, body only. Owner decides let's do soffits and gable ends as well. Fair enough. I give him a price of $200 to spray one coat, he gives me the go ahead. Well, after about 10 mins one whole side of the house was sprayed and he's standing there looking like I just stole his lunch money. Oh well......I gave a flat rate, he agreed. I sprayed it all in less than 30 mins and went back to finishing the body....I gave him a pretty cheap price for spraying soffits and gables on a whole house I thought. Doesn't hurt my feelings that he didn't like how long it took. I never said one thing about how long, just how much. He didn't argue when I told him the price, it's too late once I've started to change it.

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Grumpy

I know the answers to all your questions within reason. It's all marked into the bottom line. The reality is the people who buy pay for those who do not.

In regards to REPAIRS unless the person is in my immediate service area I charge time and material and close the sale over the phone. About half the people who call say "yes, come out". I make less on each repair but also I am not paying for the wasted gas and time of estimating the people who say no when I do give them an estimate.

ATS

Also, some have no idea what your equipment costs to do the job. What did that paint sprayer cost? I do a/c work as well and the customers don't care that my recovery machine alone was a grand, just one of the many pieces of equipment I need to offer the services I offer. But, regardless, you should be able to explain this to people without letting it bother you, most customers just need a education on these matters. Granted, some are just idiots. JMO.

Dave Mac

I dont charge for estimates, although I would love to, but i certainly expect to here back from them as a yes or no. Either way we deserve a answere, weather or not we got the job, especially ticks me off when I do a follow up call, to find out, and they dont have the common courtsy to return my call

Grumpy

If you don't like my price call your congressman and senator and encourage them to look into insurance reform. I'd do the job cheaper if I could but for every dollar I pay an employee I have to also pay the insurance company.

Dave my advice to you is to not wait for them to give you an answer, you call them back and assume the answer is yes. "Mr Customer I was at your house last week to go over the whatever repair you needed. I have an opening next week, should I pencil you in then or would the following week work better? I'm usually not so abrasive as this but it works!

bassmaster

I have only been on this forum for under a month. I see lots of great knowledge above. I have been doing anything from hanging a picture to small & med remodels, painting, carpentry etc. I do not do all perfectly, but worth what I charge.

When I first started out doing this, I use to feel like I was charging to much until my wife made me realize, we are professionals and should get paid accordingly. We have ins,truck, trailer & other overhead. When I was pricing out some work for her (the Wife's ) friend is when the wife said if everyone could do what you do, you wouldn't be needed.

For once , she made sense.

I never feel guilty what I charge.
As for what we make, it's nobody's buisness.

Mike Finley

That's life in the big city baby, get used to it. You'll go blue sitting around holding your breath waiting for call backs, it's your job when you have your salesman's hat on to follow up.

By the way, I rarely leave a message when calling somebody back on an estimate like you are talking about. But if you really want them to call you back you need to bait the hook. Leave a better message, instead of "Hi, just calling to see what you thought about my estimate and wondering if you made a decision yet?" try "I have some new information in regard to the quote I gave you. You can reach me at...." and that's it. They will call. The new information can be anything you want. Get creative that's what sales are about. Let them know you schedule changed or whatever relates to their job.