The joys of bidding work
- Thread starter LoneCowboy
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mikeyd
Gold Member
It is well known that Famous Amos did go broke. Besides letting people taste test a food item is a far cry from bush hogging a few acres for free. The more I read this thread the more I am convinced that LC did the right thing. Other posters continue to prove that there is always somebody willing to work for a bowl of soup. Let 'em. The rest of us are sharp enough to insist that we are payed a fair profit for our efforts.
Wow this is getting crazy. We didn't see the lot, LC did. How do we assume $400 was a fair price and he should have agreed to that price? What about $350? Where do you draw the line?
There were 2 people doing business and they agreed to disagree. That guy is probably telling his friends about the stubborn s.o.b. who wouldn't drop his price enough. At this point it doesn't matter. The deal wasn't worth it to either guy, so they can both move on. I've been on both sides of that deal before, and don't have hard feelings towards anyone for it. We all have our limits, and I don't think there is anything wrong with negotiating if both parties are willing. There are lots of ways to do business.
There were 2 people doing business and they agreed to disagree. That guy is probably telling his friends about the stubborn s.o.b. who wouldn't drop his price enough. At this point it doesn't matter. The deal wasn't worth it to either guy, so they can both move on. I've been on both sides of that deal before, and don't have hard feelings towards anyone for it. We all have our limits, and I don't think there is anything wrong with negotiating if both parties are willing. There are lots of ways to do business.
AlanB
Elite Member
MossRoad said:
I think that you are quoting a very different circumstance though Moss.
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment of running folks off that offer "today only" deals etc, that do not have a valid reason for it.
But in this instance (and it happens to us quite often in the mowing business)
My costs will genuinely, actually and appreciably change if I can do it right then while standing there with my epuipment, then if I have to do an extra hours work or so loading and driving etc.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
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AlanB said:
How do you come up with a price for a job? Do you charge by the acre, by the hour? Do you figure in travel time, fuel and labor? Let's say you figure you need $150 to mow my property and I pay you. After you finish I see you out talking to my neighbor. I see you mow his property. I ask him what he charged you and he says, "He wanted $450, I offered $400 and he said he'd charge me $500 if he loaded the tractor, so I gave him the $450." I'd call you and tell you I want some money back since you were charging me a loading fee to mow my neighbor's property and I'd be making a face like this
!!!Dougster
Veteran Member
I believe your underlying point is valid to the extent that two adjacent properties of exactly equal size and condition, etc should both be treated pretty much the same for the same task or you are looking for trouble. In my case, I impose a mobilization/de-mob charge and hourly rate for small jobs where something like this could theoretically happen (the odds of two multi-day jobs being exactly equal are nil)... but I also have the advantage of billing after the fact. Clearly, if two neighbors shared one mobilization & de-mob fee, I would gladly and proactively adjust the billing to reflect that.MossRoad said:How do you come up with a price for a job? Do you charge by the acre, by the hour? Do you figure in travel time, fuel and labor? Let's say you figure you need $150 to mow my property and I pay you. After you finish I see you out talking to my neighbor. I see you mow his property. I ask him what he charged you and he says, "He wanted $450, I offered $400 and he said he'd charge me $500 if he loaded the tractor, so I gave him the $450." I'd call you and tell you I want some money back since you were charging me a loading fee to mow my neighbor's property and I'd be making a face like this
Dougster
bandit67
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This thread has been interesting, and I'd like to add something that is related, but a bit different.
Last month, I decided to go ahead and put my little Subcompact up for sale, so I listed it on Craigslist on a Monday night. An hour later, replies started coming in.
Tuesday evening, I had my first looker stop by. He needed directions from 3 miles down the road. Told me he was looking at my Case sub, and some larger brand new Chinese compacts in the same price range - said my price was pretty well in line with what he'd found on my machine as far off as Kansas. Told me he had the cash in the bank, and after thinking about it that evening, he'd give me an answer first thing in the morning, and if he decided he wanted it, he'd have his bank cut a bank check on Wednesday.
10am Wed, I get an email - he wanted the tractor, and was working with the bank on the loan, and would have an answer in an hour. 6.5 hours later, he calls to say he got the loan (gee, I thought he had cash), and would be signing papers the next morning (now we're into Thursday). I told him I had a guy scheduled to look at it that night, so if he wanted me to hold it for him, I'd need a deposit check ASAP. He said he could give me a deposit the next morning - I said I needed it that night (Wed), otherwise, I had to let the next guy in line take a look at it, and I would sell it to him if he wanted it and had deposit money.
So this guy, who's already changed his story/not delivered on what he'd told me starts getting upset, and asks "what do you want". I repeated "a deposit tonight, or I can't guarantee I'll hold it if the guy tonight wants it and hands me money tonight". His reply was "you're freakin' ridiculous - maybe you should just sell it to someone else!" So I said, "OK, that's fine" as he's hanging up on me.
30 minutes later, I get an email from him explaining that it was completely ridiculous and unreasonable for me to ask for a deposit check when he was going to cut the full check the next morning (Thursday - and he never said anything previously about cutting the full check the next day), and that there was no way he was going to travel 30 miles (that's right, 10 times as far as the location I gave him directions from the night before) during rush hour traffic.
This bozo came up with all sorts of BS during 2 days of conversations, emails, and phone calls. I wasn't going to back down because I got bad vibes from this guy with his ever contradictory statements.
By Friday evening (4 days after I put the listing up), a guy showed up, said he'd take it, and gave me $1000 cash to hold it until he could pick it up the following week. I had to call a few other folks and cancel later appointments and tell another guy that offered me less than asking price that the machine was sold.
Through the process of the first bozo pulling his stunt, I decided I wasn't going to lose any sleep over a lost sale, nor did I really want to deal with this guy because he didn't seem honest and trustworthy even if he called me back begging. I pretty much ensured that I wouldn't hear back from him with a follow-up email telling him good luck buying a machine and getting any private party or dealer to hold it for him without a deposit, as that's not the way folks do business around here.
Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and tell someone you don't want to do business with them - heck, my situation wasn't a measly $400, it was over $10,000. And I felt perfectly comfortable turning the first jerk down - the guy I ended up selling the tractor to was a good, honest guy, and both of us were satisfied with our transaction.
Last month, I decided to go ahead and put my little Subcompact up for sale, so I listed it on Craigslist on a Monday night. An hour later, replies started coming in.
Tuesday evening, I had my first looker stop by. He needed directions from 3 miles down the road. Told me he was looking at my Case sub, and some larger brand new Chinese compacts in the same price range - said my price was pretty well in line with what he'd found on my machine as far off as Kansas. Told me he had the cash in the bank, and after thinking about it that evening, he'd give me an answer first thing in the morning, and if he decided he wanted it, he'd have his bank cut a bank check on Wednesday.
10am Wed, I get an email - he wanted the tractor, and was working with the bank on the loan, and would have an answer in an hour. 6.5 hours later, he calls to say he got the loan (gee, I thought he had cash), and would be signing papers the next morning (now we're into Thursday). I told him I had a guy scheduled to look at it that night, so if he wanted me to hold it for him, I'd need a deposit check ASAP. He said he could give me a deposit the next morning - I said I needed it that night (Wed), otherwise, I had to let the next guy in line take a look at it, and I would sell it to him if he wanted it and had deposit money.
So this guy, who's already changed his story/not delivered on what he'd told me starts getting upset, and asks "what do you want". I repeated "a deposit tonight, or I can't guarantee I'll hold it if the guy tonight wants it and hands me money tonight". His reply was "you're freakin' ridiculous - maybe you should just sell it to someone else!" So I said, "OK, that's fine" as he's hanging up on me.
30 minutes later, I get an email from him explaining that it was completely ridiculous and unreasonable for me to ask for a deposit check when he was going to cut the full check the next morning (Thursday - and he never said anything previously about cutting the full check the next day), and that there was no way he was going to travel 30 miles (that's right, 10 times as far as the location I gave him directions from the night before) during rush hour traffic.
This bozo came up with all sorts of BS during 2 days of conversations, emails, and phone calls. I wasn't going to back down because I got bad vibes from this guy with his ever contradictory statements.
By Friday evening (4 days after I put the listing up), a guy showed up, said he'd take it, and gave me $1000 cash to hold it until he could pick it up the following week. I had to call a few other folks and cancel later appointments and tell another guy that offered me less than asking price that the machine was sold.
Through the process of the first bozo pulling his stunt, I decided I wasn't going to lose any sleep over a lost sale, nor did I really want to deal with this guy because he didn't seem honest and trustworthy even if he called me back begging. I pretty much ensured that I wouldn't hear back from him with a follow-up email telling him good luck buying a machine and getting any private party or dealer to hold it for him without a deposit, as that's not the way folks do business around here.
Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and tell someone you don't want to do business with them - heck, my situation wasn't a measly $400, it was over $10,000. And I felt perfectly comfortable turning the first jerk down - the guy I ended up selling the tractor to was a good, honest guy, and both of us were satisfied with our transaction.
AlanB
Elite Member
MossRoad said:How do you come up with a price for a job? Do you charge by the acre, by the hour? Do you figure in travel time, fuel and labor? Let's say you figure you need $150 to mow my property and I pay you. After you finish I see you out talking to my neighbor. I see you mow his property. I ask him what he charged you and he says, "He wanted $450, I offered $400 and he said he'd charge me $500 if he loaded the tractor, so I gave him the $450." I'd call you and tell you I want some money back since you were charging me a loading fee to mow my neighbor's property and I'd be making a face like this
yes, we base our price upon amount of travel time and expenses to get to the job. (edit, as well as other factors such as size, condition, slope, trimming, risk, gut feeling as to how hard it will be to get my cash) Exact same property 10 miles from my house vs. 60 miles from my house would recieve a different price, as it would cost me differently to do it.
If you recieved the price and the job you agreed too, why would you call me complaining?
My cost to do his project would have been less because yes, you sucked up some of that expense, by having me there, but you and I agreed upon a price, and I did what we agreed upon, what I did after I left your property, and the deal I made with my next customer, should not really be your concern.
If my freind lived next door to you, and I pulled over and did his lawn for free, would you come back and ask for your money back?
