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Replies

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  Fenlandphil November 24, 2010 at 7:31am

  An excellent idea.
  It gives a potential customer an idea of whether your services is something they can afford.
• PRO

  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care November 24, 2010 at 7:37am

  Pricing means absolutely nothing unless you know how long it will take.
  
  Did not like the bit on the page where it said that if you were not VAT registered you were either inexperienced or operating illegally.
  
  I wish I could charge up north what they charge too. LoL
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  Matt Brown November 24, 2010 at 7:49am

  they look like the sort of company we would see on rogue traders from the scare tactics used in that page, it makes my £8 and £10 hourly rate seem like a waste of time new customers are being given £15 an hour minimum i'm using £20 a day in fuel then insurances etc after house bills and neccesary stuff i'm left with £1
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  Anthony Toop November 24, 2010 at 9:18am

  Ditto, got my back up as well!
  
  For those labour rates i would want Mr Titchmarsh to turn up for the work! :-0
  
  
  
  Gaynor Witchard said:

  That was my first impression too about the VAT and their charges!
  
  
  
  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care said:

  Pricing means absolutely nothing unless you know how long it will take.
  
  Did not like the bit on the page where it said that if you were not VAT registered you were either inexperienced or operating illegally.
  
  I wish I could charge up north what they charge too. LoL
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  Andy Thorne November 24, 2010 at 9:21am

  
  
  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care said:

  Pricing means absolutely nothing unless you know how long it will take.
  

  
  
  
  Totally agree Paul. Charging by the hour or day is unfair to the customer. I always give fixed quotes, they know exactly what they'll be paying and I have an incentive to work more efficiently.
  
  £150, £200/pd, £300/pd, £400/pd, "it will take about 2.5days" what does this mean???
  
  £852 for the job, as detailed means £852 for the job.
  
  (I agree to a point about the VAT issue, if someone is doing landscaping full time there is no way they can stay under the VAT threshold - unless they're charging buttons...)
  However I work a mix of maintenance and landscaping. I work to a higher standard and am more qualified than most I see....
• PRO

  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care November 24, 2010 at 10:39am

  The thing is with the VAT for a one man operator doing maintenance only, to reach the £68000 threshold, working 52 weeks a year, five days per week (which is highly unlikely), you would have to charge £261 per day.
  
  OK, I know that we do not charge out labour only as we supply materials as well, but.....
  
  
  
  Andy Thorne said:

  
  
  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care said:

  Pricing means absolutely nothing unless you know how long it will take.
  

  
  
  
  Totally agree Paul. Charging by the hour or day is unfair to the customer. I always give fixed quotes, they know exactly what they'll be paying and I have an incentive to work more efficiently.
  
  £150, £200/pd, £300/pd, £400/pd, "it will take about 2.5days" what does this mean???
  
  £852 for the job, as detailed means £852 for the job.
  
  (I agree to a point about the VAT issue, if someone is doing landscaping full time there is no way they can stay under the VAT threshold - unless they're charging buttons...)
  However I work a mix of maintenance and landscaping. I work to a higher standard and am more qualified than most I see....
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  Nic Johnson November 24, 2010 at 11:36am

  cant believe they ever get 225 a day dont like the look of them i think 170 alot but then london prices i suppose
  
  like your website gary not sure on some of the prices there very reasonable. £35 for fencing is cheap, £12 to cut a small lawn is ok if you have plenty close together and not travelling to far
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  Nic Johnson November 24, 2010 at 12:08pm

  yeh i think £150 a day is really needed to make it worth while which is £15 £16 an hour i recently did a fencing job which was around £100 a panel which was best panels not the cheap ones trellis on top wooden post bolted on to concreted in repair posts a good fence that will last and last i always think you get what you pay for and dont like supplying cheap panels i try and educate the client where i can.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening November 24, 2010 at 2:17pm

  Gary, you need to be very careful charging so little. I haven't read through your site so you may have terms, but if a client with 1000m2 lawn buys your scarification, it's going to take you between 6-8 hours of work, with fuel costs, and all you'll be getting in return is £50.
  
  Your gutter cleaning is featured in the 'lawn' section. Also I think you should delete the 'browse by price' links as they are not relevant.
  
  Lawn edging at £12 per lawn? What about the clients who book this and their lawn has nothing resembling an edge, and the job would involve removing a LOT of turf?
  
  I also don't understand your lawn topdressing rate of £35. You can't topdress most lawns for that price and make any money. My back garden, at around 55m2, is a 1-hour job. I would charge a client £40 to do this, including materials. That's for a tiny garden.
  
  Be very careful. I honestly think your website needs a complete overhaul, to protect your business. You run a service-based business. The format of a website that allows click-to-buy doesn't suit this at all. You need to communicate with clients, go visit, view the job, discuss price with them directly, and above that show them how professional you are.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Gary Anslow said:

  I do something similar with my website - www.evergreen-garden-maintenance.co.uk
  
  Its a new business and its probably overkill for gardening but i wanted to be able to offer clients to be able to book our services online as some people dont like the hassle of calling a company.
  
  Any comments would be great on if you think this is a good idea? Or if you would suggest any changes that would also be brilliant.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening November 24, 2010 at 2:26pm

  And your winter lawn service is so cheap you'll actually end up paying the client for this. I suggest if anyone is in your area they book you up now, I know I would if I lived there, save me doing it myself!
  
  Back on topic, I don't think we should publish our prices online, especially maintenance. This is because there are so many variables, and when the client finds out you are actually charging extra for travel, waste, digging in really stony ground this reflects badly on you. The other way sees you go, quote and give a total price as a complete service, no surprises, and you come across much more professional.
  
  I find once I go to quote I get 90% of the work, and I'm not charging buttons.