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General tidy up price

Hi guys,I am just wondering how you go about pricing a general tidy up of a garden? Do you have a minimum price per hour and calculate how many hours the job will take you or what?I recently heard about someone being quoted £800 for a general tidy up by one company and £200 by another company.How can prices vary so much? In case you are wondering....she went with the company quoting £800

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  • I work out roughly how long, turn it in to days, or half days and price on that, plus waste.

    A general tidy up could mean different things to different people - we have a garden we look after, client lost faith in previous gardener as he didn't pull all the weeds up, just the long ones! For us it means weeding, running over with the hoe and maybe tending to the plants.

    Obviously takes a whole lot longer.....maybe not a like for like quote.

  • PRO

    Devil is in the detail - perhaps the lower quote glossed over or just didn't cover what the higher quote did in detail. For many jobs there are several levels of finish or specification that can be applied - so often it's impossible to compare like for like.

    Take for example a simple scarification - 1 end of the scale is 1 light pass, raked up and put on your compost heap, the other is multiple deep passes, as many needed, different directions, raking up in between into bulk bags, waste removed from site to recycler, finished with a mow to leave tidy, sprayed for any residual moss spores.

    Both could appear on a quote as just a scarification, but you'd hope would have significantly different prices and descriptions!

  • PRO

    So, Mr Customer...I can offer you a SupaSaver, an Off Peak AwayDay, a Std Return or a First Class Ticket - what service level would you like ?

    I would never trust comments about quote comparisons unless I see the full quote. I have often asked clients for this (excluding final price) to ensure it is like for like.

    All you can do is set out a quote clearly, in detail and cover any extras or assumptions - especially regarding green waste, consumables etc

  • same as scott says i work out roughly how long whether 1/2 day full day etc and cost of waste. i always quote everything in fine detail so the client knows what they are getting instead of submitting quote titled  garden tidy £200. 

  • PRO

    A point to add into the mix here - people buy from people.

    Strange statement you might think but lets put ourselves in the potential clients shoes:

    Garden needs tidying, client has no idea how much such services can/should cost - so call several traders they found in shop window/phone book/on internet to come and give a quote.

    Contractor number one - turns up fourty five minutes AFTER the arranged time without letting the client know they would be late, wanders round the garden for a few minutes, when asked about plants says, well we'll just chop it all back for you like - make it a bit tidier for you.Can't take nothing away though I am afraid. Tell you what, we'll stuff most of the rubbish in your wheelie bin and shove the rest behind the shed where its out of sight and you can put it in the bin next time for a month or so. When asked for a price and timescale says 'Yeah mate, can do that - well, we charge £200 a day like, think we'd do it in a day, I should think - well might be two, so yeah, its gonna be about £200 mebbe a bit more, mebbe a bit less - bit hard to tell you know... - but yeah kinda somewhere there I should think. Can do it tomorrow if you want - but its gonna be cash money like?' 

    Contractor two - turns up at specified time, smart, clean, well presented - has an informed discussion with the client about how pruning the 'Magnolia Grandiflora' at this time of year (or indeed at all!) wouldn't be a good idea as it would remove the flower buds etc, correctly identifies and discusses with the client several other garden shrubs and plants and their growth and flowering habits. Leaves client with a business card and delivers quote (within timescale mentioned at site visit), which details specifically what is to be done and not done, the fact that all waste is to be removed and gives details that said company is licensed to do so, detailing an all inclusive price of £800.

    Which one got the job?

    • PRO

      A good point, extremely well made :-)

    • totally agree 100%! ,and you will come over the odd client who will opt for the cheapest regardless... but as i always say im not for them and they are not for me in that case

  • PRO

    Just about sums it up I think.

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