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  Lawncare-4u.co.uk June 18, 2011 at 12:49pm

  just add it in and explain you will have to travel and it takes more time and fuel.
  
  show you will do a good job and charge what you are worth. that would cost me £15 in fuel plus time then fuel in machinary and other costs before i started.
  
  if its a £120 + profit job inside a day for me (inc petrol) i dont mind.....
  
  if its a regular £40 you have not got much left and No time that day ..........
  
  
  good luck . if there is lots of future work it all adds up..
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  briggsandscrapem June 18, 2011 at 4:28pm

  Hi Chris,

                dont mention charging for travelling time whatever you do ! The client wont be interested in paying extra just to have a gardener that lives 30 miles  away. If you need to quote more to make it worth your while then build it in to the price for their garden, dont seperate it. If they question why you would want to do their garden when its so far from home then play down the issue and let them know your looking for more work in the area so it wont be a problem.

  My furthest job is 50 miles from base, its all day and i enjoy the drive out. A stress free day once a fortnight.

  All the best, mike.
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  brian clegg June 18, 2011 at 4:42pm

  i find customers are put off if you mention milage and extra costs, so i just hide it in the costs now.
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  Andy Kenney June 18, 2011 at 4:55pm

  Id imagine being the customer and employing a builder/landscaper who popped mileage into the quote - wouldn't go down too well to see that. As the comments say above, i'd add fuel into the overall quote as with any other liability like your time to travel to the site if it is a one off job. If as said, it will lead to other work or it is regular maintenance where you may get other jobs in the area to help offset yr fuel costs then you might charge less for your fuel and travel time if you wish to do so.
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  Andy Lawrence June 18, 2011 at 5:14pm

  Personally, unless it was a lucrative job I wouldn't bother.

  It's not just the fuel it's the time it takes, time you could probably use better elsewhere.
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  Chris @ Tidy Garden Company June 18, 2011 at 7:02pm

  The reason im taking the job is they live in a little village, so they'd have to use some else from my town anyway.

   

  Thanks for all the comments, ive just quoted for a tad extra for fuel and time ect, 

  Luckily they want a big one off to start with, then regular work to follow, so its definatlty worth the trip out

   

  and the neighbour also asked for a business card so hopefuly i can get a few in the village on maintenance.

   
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  Lawncare-4u.co.uk June 19, 2011 at 1:56am

  they would phone a local guy if they didnt want your company , so should expect extra.
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  Chris @ Tidy Garden Company June 19, 2011 at 10:01am

  After speaking to this customer for about half an hour, he told me he looked at my website, rang me and didnt bother ringing anyone esle,

   

  so i guess he was trusting my judgement of the price, and whatever that maybe he would pay. He wanted the work to a standard and is willing to pay for it

   

  Which is very refreshing, as this week ive lost about 5 jobs due to people wanting cheap and cheerful odd jobbers
  
  Gardens4u.co.uk said:

  they would phone a local guy if they didnt want your company , so should expect extra.
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  Andy Kenney June 19, 2011 at 10:19am

  Nice one Chris - as others have said, if he wants quality which you can provide, you might have some spin off recommendations for more customers in due course which should also be the 'type' of customer your business wants.  
  
  Chris @ Tidy Garden Company said:

  After speaking to this customer for about half an hour, he told me he looked at my website, rang me and didnt bother ringing anyone esle,

   

  so i guess he was trusting my judgement of the price, and whatever that maybe he would pay. He wanted the work to a standard and is willing to pay for it

   

  Which is very refreshing, as this week ive lost about 5 jobs due to people wanting cheap and cheerful odd jobbers
  
  Gardens4u.co.uk said:

  they would phone a local guy if they didnt want your company , so should expect extra.
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  Chris @ Tidy Garden Company June 19, 2011 at 12:54pm

  The jobs 40hours over 2days between two men, I think its worth doing 

  
  Dan said:

  I dont agree with your last point. We all swallow travel costs, wether you travel 3 miles or 10 miles to a job its all part of going to work and it is swallowed. Travelling further than about 10 miles is deifferently. We travel up to 60 miles round trip and we swallow it and we are certainly not certifiably mad. If the job is a big contract with guaranteed 8 hrs a day per worker then it is usually worthwhile.