How to do Pricing

[DuaneMHunt1976]

How do people do their quates.

Time, Costs (insurance, testing, college cost) plus Cable switches Fuses etc.
I'm not very business minded person, coming from Agency where you normally get 10K a year if your lucky so im more used to living on the edge, and the reason why i wanted out of it.


I got asked how much it would cost to put in the Cabling and Testing for a Shower. And i think i under priced it, as im not used to dealing with that much, and said £150.. think i might be on a break even there silly me!!

 

[Midwest]

First bit is easy really. Cost of materials (to the client), certs (& time completing). Hard part is working how long it's gonna take you to complete and then charging your hourly rate (whatever that might be).

 

[Pete999]

Cost of Shower unit+cable+isolater+your time. 4 to 5 hours, then there is the plumbing, would you be doing that or would the customer get a plumber in? bits and pieces say £250 £350 depending on the run etc £150 dirt cheap

 

[DuaneMHunt1976]

Cost of Shower unit+cable+isolater+your time. 4 to 5 hours, then there is the plumbing, would you be doing that or would the customer get a plumber in? bits and pieces say £250 £350 depending on the run etc £150 dirt cheap

i think im just doing the wiring part of it, was a bit hard to understand over the phone.
he wasnt British, and i was mainly trying to explain that i would need to test, did ask if his mate could do it and ill do the testing, figured as long as i can see it before its all covered up, know whats in it and what not.
I guess i will learn with a bit of a lose but hopfully not that much

guess the big thing is the Shower WATTAGE, for myself i would put in 10mm ready for if they wanted to up the power.

 

[happydundee]

I can see this going wrong on so many levels. Knock it back and forget it.

 

[Welchyboy1]

i think im just doing the wiring part of it, was a bit hard to understand over the phone.
he wasnt British, and i was mainly trying to explain that i would need to test, did ask if his mate could do it and ill do the testing, figured as long as i can see it before its all covered up, know whats in it and what not.
I guess i will learn with a bit of a lose but hopfully not that much

guess the big thing is the Shower WATTAGE, for myself i would put in 10mm ready for if they wanted to up the power.

3 things i had to shudder at

1. Quoting over the phone without seeing the job
2. Hard to understand him, he wasnt british
3. Getting his mate to do it and you sign it off

you need to visit site!!!

whats the existing install like, new old board, rcd protection?, main earthing and bonding present?
whats the run like?
what containment will you need to install?
whats the rating on the shower?
whats the max demand like allready for the property?
is this customer likely to pay me?

NEVER quote over the phone, not even a ball park figure, they will hold you to it

10mm t&e isnt cheap, especially if its a long run, hes got an old wylex rewireable board and theres no bonding!

not having a pop at you, your just starting out, we all make these mistakes

i would swerve this job if it were me!, now you have said £150 your going to have problems changing it if its not a very straight forward job

and its nearly never a very straightforward job!!!

 

[Sparkie30]

i think im just doing the wiring part of it, was a bit hard to understand over the phone.
he wasnt British, and i was mainly trying to explain that i would need to test, did ask if his mate could do it and ill do the testing, figured as long as i can see it before its all covered up, know whats in it and what not.
I guess i will learn with a bit of a lose but hopfully not that much

guess the big thing is the Shower WATTAGE, for myself i would put in 10mm ready for if they wanted to up the power.

Pricing over the phone is a no no cos they make it sound so easy and you know its not that easy. As Pete said 250-350£ think if there is no rcd.

 

[Octopus]

Your business overheads will run at about £25 per working day so £25 x 260 = £6500

Then add on what you want to earn before tax & NI

Then assume you will only work 220 days per year

Go in cheap and you will become a busy poor fool!

 

[123]

Need to be able to see the job before you can quote anything - that's the very basics. Could be nice and simple, everythings good and even a spare way in the DB you can use, or could be no bonding, DB's a mess and the run from DB to shower is a complete mare.

 

[DuaneMHunt1976]

Look at job first before suggesting any price, think i need to learn how much cable cost off by heart.
peed off with myself for saying the price

 

[telectrix]

when you consider that our local hardware shop sells 6mm T/E by the metre at £3.75/m, even pricing @ £2/m, your cable alone will be around £40. i'd charge £150 for labour only, assuming no additional work like bonding and RCD being required.

 

[Midwest]

Look at job first before suggesting any price, think i need to learn how much cable cost off by heart.
peed off with myself for saying the price

When he says come and do it, just say I said I need 2 to 3 months notice, I'm very busy. He'll get someone else.

 

[Pete999]

How do people do their quates.

Time, Costs (insurance, testing, college cost) plus Cable switches Fuses etc.
I'm not very business minded person, coming from Agency where you normally get 10K a year if your lucky so im more used to living on the edge, and the reason why i wanted out of it.


I got asked how much it would cost to put in the Cabling and Testing for a Shower. And i think i under priced it, as im not used to dealing with that much, and said £150.. think i might be on a break even there silly me!!

Your customer, would they be of Eastern origin?? reminds me of a job I was asked to do in a Chinese Take away, you just come fix we sort out money later, I think not.

 

[123]

Look at job first before suggesting any price, think i need to learn how much cable cost off by heart.
peed off with myself for saying the price

It's a learning curve that anyone that works for themselves has been on. Cable prices for instance are quite volatile - they are cheaper now than anytime in the past few years. I'd go look at the job, make notes on what is needed etc. But not give a quote there and then, come back to office/home office and price it up from there. Something like Quickfile.co.uk is great for that, would be free for you although I have to pay for it now but it's very good.

 

[dansk]

Your customer, would they be of Eastern origin?? reminds me of a job I was asked to do in a Chinese Take away, you just come fix we sort out money later, I think not.

this is a bit off topic, but this reminds me of my early days, I used to work I. A back street garage behind a Chinese, they brought the woks round for welding on the handle shafts, it used to fill the garage with nice smells of cooking and when I took them back I used to get my tea as payment! I was only the apprentice at the time, fond memory's.