Thoughts on Bidding

I see that statement from Bodean in the work pic thread.

I often think that the best thing I have done is starting to bid jobs high enough that I think it is too much. Then, usually, I at least get paid the right amount. I think I can get jobs done faster than I can most of the time - way to optimistic.
 
Even if a company is overbidding I see them working all the time. Hey....

And companies that bid at lawn care prices.....I think hey, they can only do so many jobs at a time that cheap.
 
Thing is with overbidding as opposed to underbidding, is that it gives you the time to do a better job, better clear up, better everything.
When you underbid you rush to get it done in the allotted time, leave in a bad mood and leave the client feeling ripped off. Even though you feel like the ripped off one, resentful that they paid buttons.

Anyway, bidding is easy, I get it right every single time.
 
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  • #6
@Bodean
Got me thinking more about this, and @Mellow don't get finished a two-day job, in only three days.


I have way more interested people than I can service.
Lately, especially with Spring arriving, I'm trying to bid the job, bump the price up, and add a tip for the quality of work I'll end up doing.

As @Mick! hits on the head, buffing more leaves you cushion to provide the service you want.




The customer can say yes please, or no thank you. No twisted arms.

On Sunday afternoon I got an emergency call. Someone I know, without a ton of money, had 4 trees tip, barely missing the house, branch tips touching house and fence, 1 at 60 degrees, headed toward the house, and 4 heaving toward the house. That's where they can't really say no.
I charged $1,000,000.

Actually, got confirmation a bit ago on a big hazard maple removal, that I bumped up, and "tipped" us on.




Lots of good input from y'all.
 
$1m eh? I definitely got in the wrong work. I'd work one job per decade at that rate. Maybe do another $1m job if I got bored doing whatever I wanted :^D
 
1k? What's that in treework?

When I say treework I'm talking about licensed bonded insured WC taxes permits fees dues tithing and bribes.
 
We all been there. No?

One time I bid a job so astronomically high I was sure the customer would refuse it. It involved clearing about an acre size hillside lot that was covered head-high in coastal scrub, poison oak, bramble. Pure misery, no thank you. Dammit, I got the job. Misery, but it paid good!
 
Do some of you charge “day rates” for repeat customers etc? Say I charge $1500 two guys, mini, 15” chipper, does bidding a one day job $2500 constitute fleecing?
 
I'm not sure I understand. "Bidding a one day Job" is not a day rate, it's a set price for a job. If you normally earn about 1500 a day and you see a job you think you can do in a day and want to bid 2500, of course that is all good.

I used to charge 5 or 10% less than my regular target-rate for a day rate job because it is 'guaranteed' money regardless of production achieved. No longer. No discounts.
 
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Do some of you charge “day rates” for repeat customers etc? Say I charge $1500 two guys, mini, 15” chipper, does bidding a one day job $2500 constitute fleecing?

$1500, too low.

$2500, yes please.
Or
$2500, no thank you.



Solo, with a mini and 15" chipper, I could get a huge amount done.

With a mini/ BMG, 15" chipper, no haul-off, is want $150-175, maybe $200/hour.
 
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  • #19
Curious about city rates. You're in a way more high cost of living area than me, and probably Sven, even more, possibly.






Don't discount skills that area easy for you.

If most people would climb to set a pull line, and you can throw-line it, the value to the customer is the same.

If you can wedge it over, rather than install a pull line, it's still the same value to the customers.

If you can climb line a spider, and prune a tree in half the average, is still the same value.



People who don't engage in forums or online learning don't have a much exposure to various techniques that collect as part of the whole, same as someone who has never been mentored in person.
 
^Well said Sean. Cory, the between the lines point is figuring one’s numbers for making profit vs charging what the market will bear. I read folks saying “what someone else charges doesn’t matter, figure your own numbers” constantly on forums, but then there is the get as much as possible. Just curious about opinions.
 
After working in a small rural community for 40 plus years I eventually come to know some 2 generations of the families that make it up, along with others that have moved here since.

On that note I can honestly say prices for private tree-work in and around Ft. Bragg were never geared to "what the market could bear" By comparison you guys posting in this thread really rake in the dough. Big numbers, but I know your cost of running a legal tree business in your locales is much higher than a podunk outfit in Ft. Bragg, California.

As for myself bidding tree work was often for the benefit of immediate friends, and their friends. People I know and see everyday in the community. The general contract amounted to: I knock it down, you clean it up, and how about a hundred bucks.

The real bread and butter of my career come from working 40 plus hours a week for small private companies: gypo loggers and private Tree Businesses. Easier for me to just collect the check.

Thank you all for making it possible!
 
Hella post. :rockhard:

Lordy I love "the general contract"

Indeed, being legal is costly AF. My crane guy, who works for many, many different outfits, says I am basically the only legal one in terms of legal employees and working for cash.
 
Those small private companies bid high enough just in case you didnt show up that day. If you care about your company and crew you're making contingency plans based on possible failure... less failures equals more success... it's like betting in gambling.. it's a numbers thing with chance variables.... big bets or small bets.. they both fill the bucket... but risk.

Also... If one doesnt charge what the market is charging... you're leaving a lot of money on the table that could be insuring your crew's success w better equipment, routine raises, full family benefits.... I live in a city of a million people... I rake in the money to spend on our product's longevity.

If I lived in Ft Bragg... I'd wreck or Trim whatever for fresh fish and Apple pie but I wouldn't have a crew either to think about... I'd have a fat savings account of favors.

There is an annual budget and There are only so many days in a year... there are many obstacles to stop you... you decide what to bet every day. Risk vs Reward.
 
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