bid breakdowns

[treeman82]

In the past when somebody asks me for a price for a job I ask them (depending on what I see from the site) if they want the chips gone, the wood, and the stump. Based on those factors I'll formulate a price for the entire job.

A few weeks back I looked at a job for a landscape company I do some business with, and we had some words about it the other day. Rather straight forward job, a small red maple had to go, and then some taxus and other overgrown bushes... nothing too bad, I told them $800 and just the stump will remain in the end. Well the other day they said they now would prefer a breakdown in the pricing... they want to know how much to put the tree on the ground, and then another price for cleaning it up.

IMO it's either a put it on the ground job, or a get it cleaned up to some extent or another... not a combination of both.

What do you guys do?

 

[Slvrmple72]

Tell them depending on the difficulty of laying the tree down a price range between 150 to 250 and the difference will be in cleanup of the brush and tree limbs ( 800 - 150/250 = 650/550 ) Homeowners are always fun to deal with when they want a quote for a full removal and then they want a price to just drop the tree and then they just want to pick your brain for the best way that they could do it themselves if you will just show them what to do, how to cut, can I borrow your saw? Aaaaargghh! Axemen! Aaaargghh!
I think the lowest I did a drop for was 75. If I have to do any climbing my starting base is 250. When they start griping about the price I remind them that I am insured and I am the one liable for any damage, that and the fact that prices would be better if unqualified people did not attempt to do things they really shouldn't contributing to the statistics of chainsaw injury/ fatalities that my insurance rates are based off of. Leave it to the proffessionals, an unfortunate number of them die doing this work full time and your life is not worth the few hundred you might save trying to do it yourself. I also tell them that they can always wait till wintertime for the outfits that advertise winter rates and have the work done then. Gotta love it when the customer tries to price out the different aspects of the job based on the full removal quote, like they have a clue.

 

[BC WetCoast]

In the past when somebody asks me for a price for a job I ask them (depending on what I see from the site) if they want the chips gone, the wood, and the stump. Based on those factors I'll formulate a price for the entire job.

A few weeks back I looked at a job for a landscape company I do some business with, and we had some words about it the other day. Rather straight forward job, a small red maple had to go, and then some taxus and other overgrown bushes... nothing too bad, I told them $800 and just the stump will remain in the end. Well the other day they said they now would prefer a breakdown in the pricing... they want to know how much to put the tree on the ground, and then another price for cleaning it up.

IMO it's either a put it on the ground job, or a get it cleaned up to some extent or another... not a combination of both.

What do you guys do?

Drop tree/Chip Brush/Leave firewood $A
Remove firewood $B
Grind Stump/Leave mulch $C
Haul Mulch $D
Total Project A+??????
Like an a la carte menu.

 

[treeoperations]

we are getting alot of clients asking for price break downs like that here in NZ now as people are getting tight with there moneys, what alot of people ask for is for me to drop the tree then they will clean it up, then they relise how hard it is to do so they ask for me to come back and clean up, then they spew on the price cause its higher then original quote.

If you explain to them its easier to clean up as it comes off the tree thus making it cheaper they just get defensive and pissed off about it.