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Going Rate threads and 'tree fiddy'

11K views 105 replies 32 participants last post by  Joasis 
#1 · (Edited)
Whaddya say guys...ya feelin' like the joke's a bit old now?

How about hitting the Red Exclamation button instead and we'll make the thread disappear?

We mods will do our level best to keep out the riff raff and non-contractors but we need your help to catch the threads early. Having 20 dif. responses w/ nothing more than variations of 'tree-fiddy' isn't doing a lot for the professionalism of the forum.

Mac
 
#2 ·
Sounds great to me.

Tree-fiddy was funny when I first saw it, only because I had previously seen the South Park episode. I roll my eyes every time I see it now.

I try not to even look into pricing threads but I will make it a point to flag them now. I did not realize any pricing threads were ever closed or removed. I thought the people were just heckled until they left.
 
#7 ·
I agree and I am as guiltiy as anyone. I know you have to have a certain # of post before you can post pics what about like 15 post before you can start a thread? That may keep the one post price seekers at bay.
Great Idea,....... GIVE before you TAKE!
 
#9 ·
Whaddya say guys...ya feelin' like the joke's a bit old now?

How about hitting the Red Exclamation button instead and we'll make the thread disappear?

We mods will do our level best to keep out the riff raff and non-contractors but we need your help to catch the threads early. Having 20 dif. responses w/ nothing more than variations of 'tree-fiddy' isn't doing a lot for the professionalism of the forum.

Mac
Maybe you guys should take care of the posts from the get-go.
No one likes being asked what do I charge, what is the going rate BS.
Why do we need to police it for you guys. It's normally a bunch of HO's trying to shoot some fish in a barrell.

Maybe I will take a pro-active route and start telling them how much it really is.

Between this and craigs list, there is a lot of pissing and moaning.
 
#11 ·
Maybe you guys should take care of the posts from the get-go.
No one likes being asked what do I charge, what is the going rate BS.
Why do we need to police it for you guys. It's normally a bunch of HO's trying to shoot some fish in a barrell.

Maybe I will take a pro-active route and start telling them how much it really is.

Between this and craigs list, there is a lot of pissing and moaning.
A valid point is brought up here by Warner.

Maybe more mods need to be added or a way better protocol for signing up to post (no saying your info has to be public, you could have the choice of public or not), but there should be some sort of verification process.

It's like a double edged sword, the forum wants more members, but wouldn't stricter standards (either through policing threads or sign up) cut down on the amount of new members?
 
#15 ·
Framerman,
Thanks to you and the other mods for volunteering for this pretty thankless job. I know it must be tough making the call in some cases, and in other cases it's pretty obvious.

You guys really are appreciated. And to you cynics who might take this as kissing a##, I'm not. What would I have to gain by kissing a## here? Sorry I had to type the previous two sentences, but I see how some of you react sometimes.

I just appreciate that this site is not being neglected in any way as far as content allowed, and that there is some recourse for every member if a thread becomes out of line.

Thanks guys!
 
#16 ·
There would be no tree-fidy comments, if people were smart enough to realize that people on the internet can't tell you how much to charge. Most of them are people that are pissed because they think they got ripped off.

If you have been in this buisness any amount of time, you should be able to break something down, figure your materials and go through the steps in your mind on how long something is going to take. From those few simple calculations, knowing what it costs you to do buisness and knowing what kind of profit you want/need to make, you can add all parts together and get your number.

It pisses me off when someone justs asks, how much does it cost to replace a switch cover.
Figure it out, I did.
I enjoy the technical side, knowing I can help alert someone for s certain thing to prepare for.
Other than that, I am not your mommy or a hand holder.
 
#20 ·
There would be no tree-fidy comments, if people were smart enough to realize that people on the internet can't tell you how much to charge. Most of them are people that are pissed because they think they got ripped off.

If you have been in this buisness any amount of time, you should be able to break something down, figure your materials and go through the steps in your mind on how long something is going to take. From those few simple calculations, knowing what it costs you to do buisness and knowing what kind of profit you want/need to make, you can add all parts together and get your number.
I do not think anyone disagrees with you.

These days I find the reply "tree-fidy" just as annoying as the pricing questions.

I will be happy to flag any pricing questions as soon as I see them from now on so I do not have to see "tree-fidy" anymore.
 
#17 ·
Well i dont know how many % of people stay on this forum after the Tree-fiddy posts but if i had had my thread shut down then i would have moved on to another forum. I am now on 1000+ posts and have lernt a lot and feel as if i have been help to others. Just shutting down the how much threads is a bad idea i think. Perhaps you could have an automated response for every thread that has the key words how much in it. Just a nice massage saying the forum is for pro's helping pro's and threads of that nature are band unless you have post count of 100+ or something along them lines.
 
#25 ·
Well i dont know how many % of people stay on this forum after the Tree-fiddy posts but if i had had my thread shut down then i would have moved on to another forum. I am now on 1000+ posts and have lernt a lot and feel as if i have been help to others. Just shutting down the how much threads is a bad idea i think. Perhaps you could have an automated response for every thread that has the key words how much in it. Just a nice massage saying the forum is for pro's helping pro's and threads of that nature are band unless you have post count of 100+ or something along them lines.
I can go for that
 
#18 ·
With the amount of technology around today can't we just do this.....Any post that has a variation of the words "how much" or "going rate" will automatically be locked and the poster will the receive a Trojan and then a blue screen of death?
 
#28 · (Edited by Moderator)
Seriously? It was easier to type that sentence than it was to say it was a southpark reference and give the guy a link?

Here dude, I give you the origin of "Tree-Fiddy":
1. Southpark episode where Chef's dad kept saying it in reference to story about the loch ness monster (mildly amusing):
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/151219

2. Used on this site in reply to questions about price by contractors. Three general reasons for this:

A. Prices vary widely from state to state, and even within a state. A consumer from New York City googling "price per square foot for tile installation" who lands here might be grossly misled by a price from a tiler in rural Kentucky.

B. The price of some jobs depends heavily on details that aren't easily discerned over Al Gore's Internets.

C. A. and B. aside, even when the consumer is from the same locale as the contractor, and the scope of the job is easily determined, the honest truth is that a lot of contractors don't want consumers to know what their services generally go for. This allows them to make more from uninformed customers.

Perfect example of C.: my plumber buddy gets 50gal water heaters for around $200, and it takes him under an hour to pull a dead one and install the new one. With his total time, overhead, gas, and disposal, he's more than compensated at $450, and that's what he generally bills. He can even drop that to $350 and still make money for "widows and orphans."

As if by magic, however, if the customer is in a rich, gated community and doesn't have a handy bone in his body, the price jumps to $800. :laughing:
 
#33 ·
I would be happy to red flag these threads - After I get one post in! :thumbsup: I would appreciate anyone wanting to red flag a thread - call me first so I can get my one post in!:clap:

I also think we should be tolerant of some threads like the little lady who wants to buy her husband a saw for Christmas. These don't bother me there's no harm done and I think there's some good will there. :thumbsup:
 
#45 ·
I also think we should be tolerant of some threads like the little lady who wants to buy her husband a saw for Christmas. These don't bother me there's no harm done and I think there's some good will there. :thumbsup:
I would even take that further. If the question is easily answered, why not just answer it? :001_tongue: You spread some goodwill by showing that not all contractors are out to rip people off and, might get some business from it by showing you're competent and honest.

For example, there's a good thread in the Drywall section right now among some Canadians comparing prices. It's helping them figure out what's being charged, it's helping those in other trades know what that part of the job costs, and it's helping consumers coming to this site to get educated. Win/win/win in my book.
 
#54 ·
The biggest problem with "how much ?" questions is in IMO, this forum will get over run with those kinds of questions. Especially if the people asking those questions have 1 or 2 posts...

If posters who have been with the forum for years, want to discuss prices openly, so be it. I have yet to see it, and I'm thankful for it. Its way too personal.

We had a thread asking what we charge for overhead and profit. That's probably a slightly more innocent version of "how much" that got past the moderators at first. They eventually put a lid on it, after some of us (yes, me included :whistling) lost our cool on what proper markups should be.

I noticed Angus wasn't posting as much lately, was afraid my rants on O&P scared him off. Glad to see him back on.
 
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