Costings for work etc

[Sean McD]

Evening all. So, after speaking with others in the trade, charging £50 for the first hour then £20 there after seemed fair. Am I. Overpricing myself?

 

[Andy78]

Seems ok if you are doing a lot of small jobs, but a huge loser if not.

Depends, you need to be working out your personal overheads to find out what to charge, and that is hugely different for all of us.

 

[Sean McD]

Absolutely! I was working on what a fellow tradesman has mentioned. Part of me was thinking more £30-40 for first hour then £20 there atfer. I know I need to factor in getting to customer, testing etc, but thoughts? I’m only doing domestic.

 

[Deleted account]

Far too cheap. Unless your new to the trade and a bit slow or your in a deprived area.

 

[Andy78]

If you are basing your rates on what others are charging you will have no idea if it works for you or not. It really doesn't matter what others charge or recommend you charge.

Need to factor in:
Insurances, vehicle repair/fuel/servicing, sundry items, tool replacement, holiday pay, likely days worked per year, scheme memberships etc etc....... then you'll have a daily amount you need to earn to break even.
Then you can figure out what you would like to/need to earn and add that on, less tax.

It's all very specific to each person as some might be able to clear £20k and live very comfortably, others may live beyond their means and be constantly chasing massive mortgages and the like and need double that or more.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Are you a fully qualified , time served , vetted , insured , scam registered etc etc etc

If yes then sparks in my area north Surrey charge on average £50-£80 per hour (roughly £350 per day)

If you pull up to a nice house with a Bentley parked on the drive you can probably get away with charging £95 per hour and they won’t bat an eyelid.

If it’s changing a blown fuse in a table lamp for old Doris up the road you will probably do it for a cup of tea and slice of cake and if your lucky she will hand you a tenner

 

[peterhyper]

Agree that's it underpriced, especially £20 for the 2nd and subsequent hours. If it's a 5 hour job it's unlikely that you will get anymore work that day. All your overheads (including tax/NI), time and fuel travelling to/from the job you will be lucky to clear £85 out of the £130 cheque the customer gives you. You might be better off getting a job in Adli.

So in answer to your question (am I over pricing myself), I would say you are under pricing yourself.

 

[littlespark]

I charge 30 an hour or 200 a day on bigger jobs.

I tried refusing payment for changing a fuse in a neighbours table lamp....
“Oh you must take something for your trouble....”

I thought, great, a tenner for my back pocket.

I got 3 quid

 

[Dustydazzler]

Very good point made by Peter , be careful when charging by the hour you don’t get stuck doing lots of short days.
If you start a job at say 8.30am and finish at say 1.30pm chances are that’s your day done because starting another job at say 2.30pm ain’t worth it.
I have mention it before on here but a bog standard no job too small handyman in my area is £15-20 per hour.
So a fully vetted scam registered sparks should be at very least double that.

 

[Risteard]

I charge 30 an hour or 200 a day on bigger jobs.

I tried refusing payment for changing a fuse in a neighbours table lamp....
“Oh you must take something for your trouble....”

I thought, great, a tenner for my back pocket.

I got 3 quid

LOL. Short arms and deep pockets.

 

[magnoliafan89]

I charge 30 an hour or 200 a day on bigger jobs.

I tried refusing payment for changing a fuse in a neighbours table lamp....
“Oh you must take something for your trouble....”

I thought, great, a tenner for my back pocket.

I got 3 quid

Jammy git i did a favour for someone abd when they waved a twenty in my face i did the polite thing of turning it down thinking they'd insist and i could then politely take ir without looking greedy....but they simply put it back and said "well that's really good of you thanks" .......you could've knocked me over with a feather

 

[Markyd]

50 for the first hour....35 per hour after that.......for small jobs.....

 

[Diver233]

Some charge up to half day and full day rate.

 

[Sean McD]

All, thank you for the info. I am relatively new’ish (about 2 years working part-time, now full time after leaving the military). It’s all good gen; I just didn’t seem to be getting any follow ups from quotes and thought ‘am I over charging?’. But I do realise if you want the working doing properly and safely, you’ve got to pay.

 

[Diver233]

Also keep in mind, if you are too cheap people are suspicious if something is way below everyone else.