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Pricing questions
The number of questions regarding pricing particular jobs seems to have reached a new all time high. While I can understand such questions to a certain degree (and it's a very small degree), they usually leave me scratching my head.
The answers also often leave me scratching my head. How anyone can give a price that has any meaning is beyond me.
I equate such questions to the calls we get wanting a price over the phone (or by email). I get calls, or emails, asking: how much would it cost to paint my 2,000 square foot house?
I used to start asking a bunch of questions-- what is the size of each room, how many windows, what type of window, how many doors, etc. with the hope that they would get my point. They seldom did. (I actually did have one customer answer the questions and I gave her a price. After a site visit to verify everything, I found her information accurate and sold the job.)
Now I just ask 2 questions: How long will it take us? How much paint will we need? If they can give me accurate answers to those 2 questions, I can give them an accurate estimate. But they can never answer those questions.
The same applies to such questions here. How much I would charge is irrelevant. The only 2 essential issues in estimating are the time required and the materials required. Then we add overhead and profit-- which are functions of the time and materials-- and we have our price.
I can understand that someone may not know the time required to complete a project. I run into things that sometimes puzzle me as to the time needed. Indeed, I have on occasion asked for production rates for something I've run into. But a production rate is far different than a price.
So, pricing questions are really misdirected. The real question should be the time and materials required to complete the job. That's a question many people could legitimately help with. Asking about a price is foolish and meaningless in my opinion.
Thanks for reading.
Brian Phillips
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