Lets help stop the madness

I agree, besides.... I'm booked for months anyways.:whistling

/says in a fish bowl that we need to stop talking about our desperation in a fish bowl.

curapa said:

I agree, besides.... I'm booked for months anyways.:whistling

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good for you :thumbsup:

There are plenty of us that are in better shape than others.

I guess part of the equation for me is to not withhold some of the good news that comes my way in fear of scratching at the scabs of the guys that are in need of work.

Lets face it I need therapy.:no:

Or we can ask Nathan to create a "members only" general discussion area. :whistling

The farmers have a saying..."the best cure for low prices is low prices."

If the down turn doesn't kill us, we should be well positioned for the next round of better times.

If that reasoning was accurate, then in theory we could create a frenzy of consumption by talking about how busy we are.

Personally I think we can stimulate demand by stressing the real decrease in material prices and the relative value of scheduling projects at the customers convenience.

Buttom line is you have to out run the lion everyday.

If you want to feel better, in the past 5 days I spoke with two guys who both talked about reentering the work force as electricians. One was a retired auto worker (electrical engineer) who lost his health care last year and his pension is going next. The other is my local masonry yard man who is going to be laid off in Nov. and has virtually no experience as an electrician. :w00t:

Gus Dering said:

So why don't we try to refrain from posts that bring attention to how we are having to lower prices to meet our competition and how we may be slow and hurting for work?

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I hate to be Mr.Negativity here.....

BUT.....

the irregulars here *should* have no problem complying...


..... it's the one hit wonders and their "How much..?"...and "Can you believe this....?" threads that create the spiral for the 824 to wrap their brains around.


Solve that and a big issue is mitigated.

angus242 said:

Or we can ask Nathan to create a "members only" general discussion area. :whistling

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I know there is a members only section here [it'll be years before I get enough posts for it] but for guests viewing the forum, make it so that one has to register to view the forums, keep some sub forums visible to guests but perhaps not the ones where certain discussions go on unless they register.

Of course that wont stop Joe Homeowner from registering to see what's going on.

Celtic said:

I hate to be Mr.Negativity here.....

BUT.....

the irregulars here *should* have no problem complying...


..... it's the one hit wonders and their "How much..?"...and "Can you believe this....?" threads that create the spiral for the 824 to wrap their brains around.


Solve that and a big issue is mitigated.

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I'm just throwing it out there for conversation. I'm not looking for some form of compliance.
But the regulars that agree with the concept could help out where they feel fit.
How many more Criegslist lowball threads do we need? That one thing alone is a gret place to start. I find some entertainment value in them from time to time but what are we really doing with those?

I totally respect what you are saying Gus. I am probably the culprit here, (or one of many I suppose.) But it has to stop. The ramifications for all this under cutting to the point of absurdity could set precedents that could go on for years. In my humble opinion, this only hurts the industry as a whole. And in my defense, I'm sure that the pros who are cruising these forums, also read the news papers. I'm not opposed to adjusting our prices accordingly, but this is just ridiculous.

Ebbo said:

I know there is a members only section here [it'll be years before I get enough posts for it] Of course that wont stop Joe Homeowner from registering to see what's going on.

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I'm not talking about an off topic or P&R one. I mean one that is actually related to contractors.

Having sub-forums is another idea.

Seems we have enough mods around here now to help police the HO trespassers. Maybe the powers that be need to consider something like clearing out 0 or 1 post members that don't contribute within say 6 months or so. That doesn't seem like a lot to ask if you register. However, I feel the number of registered members makes things look good to advertisers.

Actually it would suck to have a verbal rule to not discuss things like that. I don't want to always read negativity but it sure does help to know you're not the only one who struggles at times.

:sad:

fevre64 said:

I totally respect what you are saying Gus. I am probably the culprit here, (or one of many I suppose.) But it has to stop. The ramifications for all this under cutting to the point of absurdity could set precedents that could go on for years. In my humble opinion, this only hurts the industry as a whole. And in my defense, I'm sure that the pros who are cruising these forums, also read the news papers. I'm not opposed to adjusting our prices accordingly, but this is just ridiculous.

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You are not the culprit, relax.

Your thread earlier got me to thinking about this all evening about this subject is all. I thought I would just expand on it and open it for conversation is all.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me to shut my pie hole though.:laughing:

Gus Dering said:

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me to shut my pie hole though.:laughing:

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Gus, I do believe you are totally correct. Actually, I'm surprised as many members here list all of their business info (phone numbers, web site links, etc). CT posts get attached to Google searches QUICKLY. If a potential customer wanted to search for a member that has their business info attached to their profile, what are the chances they can link to one of your CT posts complaining about whiny customers or calling another member a derogatory comment? I believe you should watch what you say or remain somewhat anonymous.

I would be a supporter of locking the doors around here a bit more. :shifty:

I hear ya. If these guys want work their rearend off to go broke, thats their choice, but I'd prefer to stick to my price and go broke sitting on my rearend!

I am down Gus, and next time a want to be painter rolls in here and asks how much, you flex your mod muscles and grease him. :thumbsup:

Gus Dering said:

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me to shut my pie hole though.:laughing:

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The only way that's gonna happen is if you and I split a pie.
:laughing:

fevre64 said:

I hear ya. If these guys want work their rearend off to go broke, thats their choice, but I'd prefer to stick to my price and go broke sitting on my rearend!

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Same here. Saw your other thread about the price droppings. Just bid a job a week ago in Marco Island, lady thought it was too high, and since what I do there aren't many people around here that do it for a living, she got a damn good price but thought it was too high. If you know Marco Island, you got to have some money to live there, very rich area, and my price was still to high for her. Wasn't going to come down since I ain't driving 90 mins to go there to cut my price. And I needed the work too.

I see you're in New Port Richey. Was the first place I lived at when I moved here in the late 1980's, til I went further south to where I am at now.

Yea, I hit Palm Harbor in 1986 and never looked back. But I'm about ready for a change. Tennesee maybe. :thumbsup:

fevre64 said:

Yea, I hit Palm Harbor in 1986 and never looked back. But I'm about ready for a change. Tennesee maybe. :thumbsup:

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It's dead here in Florida. Am thinking back to Texas for me.

I've never lowered my prices and yesterday I bought 2 trucks so I's got's to say, if this is a depression, being more on!!!:w00t: