this whole core-aeration price is spooking clients

[ant]

for the client to go for it, it has to be reasonably priced and worth my while.
i am trying to line clients up for when my z plugger comes in but , the lawns are 30,000 sf plus and at a rate of 15.00/m (450.00) the clients are declining to have it done..
i am thinking more of 250.00 for the 30,000 sf lawn
and a 5,000-7,000 110.00

[grasswhacker]

for the client to go for it, it has to be reasonably priced and worth my while.
i am trying to line clients up for when my z plugger comes in but , the lawns are 30,000 sf plus and at a rate of 15.00/m (450.00) the clients are declining to have it done..
i am thinking more of 250.00 for the 30,000 sf lawn
and a 5,000-7,000 110.00

Ya! You were quite high on your price. Try 165-185 on 30k and 85-95 on the 5-7k.

[jajwrigh]

for the client to go for it, it has to be reasonably priced and worth my while.
i am trying to line clients up for when my z plugger comes in but , the lawns are 30,000 sf plus and at a rate of 15.00/m (450.00) the clients are declining to have it done..
i am thinking more of 250.00 for the 30,000 sf lawn
and a 5,000-7,000 110.00

Lower your damn prices and you might have a little luck! :alien:

[GrassMasterNC]

We do it for $14.00 per 1000 square feet - and yes, there are a few people who decline....but being a businessman, you should also provide the information as to the benifits of aeration and how much it will cost them in weed control (poa for example LOVES compacted soil), constantly working to improve their lawn, etc without it. You can always offer a 10% discount to follow up with a fertilizer treatment immediately afterwards. Property owners that really care about their lawns understand the importance of aeration and the cost it saves them in the long run, it's up to yuou to sell it to them. Stick to yout guns and target the high end neighborhoods - it'll catch on. On another note, my rate is what the market will bare here, you'll have to know what the going rate is in your neck of the woods to be competetive - just don't lowball to get the work.

Matt

[DiscoveryLawn]

We do it for $14.00 per 1000 square feet ... ...On another note, my rate is what the market will bare here, you'll have to know what the going rate is in your neck of the woods to be competetive - just don't lowball to get the work.

Matt
I agree. To be able to compete on aerations I have to charge $7.00 to $8.00 per 1000 sq. ft. There are companies here that specialize in aeration only for $4.00 to $6.00 per K. I strongly encourage customers to have it done but I either send them to one of these other companies or I sub it out. Aerations just aren't worth the $$$ and the hassle anymore around here.

David

[nocutting]

"Howdy Folks", personally as a small company I dont like to send my customers to somebody else especially if I have that "new" piece of equipment just coming in.....How long does it take to do a 30k lawn?...If I did all the lawn fert apps, insect / disease, seedings, landscape program [ ferts & oils / soaps] or I did all the trim / shapes, I think I could give a regular account a better price on that aspect.....Hey, if its a 1 time deal, "Bang'im for the Bucks", if thats how you wanna do it?....But again if you are tryin to get all the work on the property, maybe that gives you leeway in your priceing?........... :rolleyes:

[grasswhacker]

"Howdy Folks", personally as a small company I dont like to send my customers to somebody else especially if I have that "new" piece of equipment just coming in.....How long does it take to do a 30k lawn?...If I did all the lawn fert apps, insect / disease, seedings, landscape program [ ferts & oils / soaps] or I did all the trim / shapes, I think I could give a regular account a better price on that aspect.....Hey, if its a 1 time deal, "Bang'im for the Bucks", if thats how you wanna do it?....But again if you are tryin to get all the work on the property, maybe that gives you leeway in your priceing?........... :rolleyes:

The manual should give you the amount of sq. ft. per hour. Usually it ranges anywhere from 18k-30k per hour. I have a plugr pl800 and I do not need to go over a lawn twice so for a 7k lawn depending on difficulty I usually do it for 75-85.00 and takes me about 30 minutes.

[New Green]

I have a 36" Z-plugger.. It is definitely worth every dollar.. but small accounts I will do by hand. We charge $85 min.. $12/ M upto 25k and $10/m over that. I did an account last week 38k in about 2.0 hours.. The specs. rate the machine on a perfect flat lawn and 0 degree of difficulty. 90% of this account was done with the Z and about 10% with my 19" Lesco (too small). I look at $/hour after material costs, $100.00/ hr works for me. That aeration job was $190.00/ hour .. I could do for less and still be happy.. but I get plenty of aerations at my prices. BTW before the Z-Plugger, average hourly was about 60.00/ hr (including travel etc) Now,we are over 100.00 / hr (including travel).. Alot less fatigue.. I would much rather invest in equipment than another employee.

[ant]

thanks for all your replys...
ant

[GREENITUP]

I'm reading all of these prices and wondering if this is aeration only or do any of them include over-seeding? I rarely aerate a lawn without applying seed (fescue) at the same time.

[grasswhacker]

I'm reading all of these prices and wondering if this is aeration only or do any of them include over-seeding? I rarely aerate a lawn without applying seed (fescue) at the same time.

Mine is aeration only

[New Green]

mine is aeration olnly too.. OS is another $8.00 /m using 3-4lbs /m of a cottage mix

[sheshovel]

Ant,your trying to charge 45.50 for something the other guys are charging 14.00 & 8.00 for
.Bull CRP "What the market in your area will bare"
Bull CRP "Bang um for the Bucks" who would make or even think a statement like that is not gonna be in business for too long.
You can't go out and charge a new piece of equiptment
,pay all that $ for then turn around and look to customers you don't have to pay for it,cuz you thought it was a good idea.You know your overcharging.What do you expect your potential customers to do?stand on there heads and spit nickles into your pockets?It's not gonna happen .
Things don't always work the way we think they might.Just because you are targeting high end clients does not give you the right to charge xtra cuz they have the money.How do you think they GOT the $?By being shrewed,working hard,and watching out for people who target them and overcharge them.I fully encourage you to go for it and make money,but not by trying to take advantage of your potential customers.

Now...if you really thought yours was the going rate...ignore all of the above...Sheshovel

[sheshovel]

"Bang um for the Bucks" I truly don't beleive I read that!!That's exactly like saying "F um in the arse."
What a world we live in.

[Soupy]

$12 per 1,000 sq. ft. with a $60 minimum. Seed is around $2.25 per pound using Lesco transition blend.

[Rebel]

Well, I have read the post and replies. It is no secret, but as the owner of a respectable lawn care business in my area, I called around and found the market price for areation which was $400.00 to $500.00 for lawns between 10K and 15K square feet. So, knowing what the "other companies" were charging I found a happy medium and lower cost for my customer base which in turn makes everyone happy! :rolleyes: What I do not understand is the anger that some people have on this site :angry:. Ant made a valid statement and was looking for some valid answers and people gave either their opinon or what they would do in certain cases. No problem, right? Well, I believe we are all here to learn and make some money to feed our famlies. Lets just give our opinions or facts and live and learn!

[grasswhacker]

Well, I have read the post and replies. It is no secret, but as the owner of a respectable lawn care business in my area, I called around and found the market price for areation which was $400.00 to $500.00 for lawns between 10K and 15K square feet. So, knowing what the "other companies" were charging I found a happy medium and lower cost for my customer base which in turn makes everyone happy! :rolleyes: What I do not understand is the anger that some people have on this site :angry:. Ant made a valid statement and was looking for some valid answers and people gave either their opinon or what they would do in certain cases. No problem, right? Well, I believe we are all here to learn and make some money to feed our famlies. Lets just give our opinions or facts and live and learn!

What are their names and ph numbers? Just curious.

[Soupy]

Well, I have read the post and replies. It is no secret, but as the owner of a respectable lawn care business in my area, I called around and found the market price for areation which was $400.00 to $500.00 for lawns between 10K and 15K square feet. So, knowing what the "other companies" were charging I found a happy medium and lower cost for my customer base which in turn makes everyone happy! :rolleyes: What I do not understand is the anger that some people have on this site :angry:. Ant made a valid statement and was looking for some valid answers and people gave either their opinon or what they would do in certain cases. No problem, right? Well, I believe we are all here to learn and make some money to feed our famlies. Lets just give our opinions or facts and live and learn!

Your company name must have shown up on their caller I.D. :p.

[Festuca]

Soupy: What does this mixture contain??? $2.25/lb for seed... it better consist of only the best bluegrasses, but then bluegrass isn't for the transition zone.

[65hoss]

Aeration I charge $12 per 1k. I also have a $65 min for the first 3k sf. Then its $12 per 1k after that. Most of mine are between 5-15k.

[Soupy]

Soupy: What does this mixture contain??? $2.25/lb for seed... it better consist of only the best bluegrasses, but then bluegrass isn't for the transition zone.

That is what I charge, not what it cost me. The seed cost me about 90 cents/lb

[New Green]

I agree that you need to understand the market.. We have people all over the price spectrum.. I undertand that TGCL get upto $25/ m with OS yet there are some landscapers happy with $40.00/man hour and put down the seed at cost. They really make me look like I am gouging... So a 10k lawn could run between 40.00-250.00. I would not touch it for 40.00.. my price is 120.00 plus 80.00 for O.S. I go to work to make $$. If jobs are profitable, I will do it. If the market will allow 120.00 why does a landscaper leave so much on the table? Before the Z-plugger, I wondered why we did aeration. Hard manual labor and may $60.00 /man hour.. Now with the Z-plugger it makes sense. Market??? make sure you hit your target $/hour and understand where you are in the market..I understand TGCL gets alot of aeration at the top end of the market.. Do you need to beat their price?? You would never win a price war with them. Find you price and sell your service.. Good luck!

[ant]

all right.....lets GET-ER-DONE.....
this is what i came up with....
first off i need to say that i been doing lawn applications in most of my lawns for some years now. i always did aeration to a select few because of zero degree of difficultly.its to the point that most of my lawns NEED core aeration...thatch,compaction is catching up with me...if i don't do something soon i may loose the lawns due to appearance.. and i don't wont to break my back doing it,i am getting old :cool2: ...
i am not new to aeration,my arsenal cons its of
1. toro lawn air w/b that i bought in 1983
2. lesco aerator
3. classen split drive
4. bannerman 48'' tow behind (now thats a work horse....)
5. pto drivin aeravator
soon to come the first of may is a z plugger ..


as for prices, take a look of what i came up with

$85.00 min <7000sf
7000 sf $13.50/m
8000-10,000 sf 12.00/m
12,000-15,000 $9.75/m
20,000 sf $7.00/m
30,000 sf $6.25/m

what do you guys think..
ant

[SOMM]

we're $188 per quarter acre, $295 per half acre, $396 per full acre

-aeration only- whether we have to walk behind it or tow it over their grounds.

we're not into giving seeding or fertilizing chit away - for sake of these timely mechanical processes - when there's no bonu$ in it for us.
;)

[New Green]

Ant,
I like it, but I look at degree of difficulty when estimating. You can take on a 30k lawn and find yourself using the walkbehind on a large percentage of it.. I have a nice 12 k lawn I do .. but requires 2 men and alot of time.. multiple levels, lots of obstacles and there is no way to do it with a z-plugger. We lift the 19" Lesco's down 2 flights of stairs. It takes about 2 man hours and alot of back breaking.

[SOMM]

gr8 point and very important consideration New.

more times than not, we've encountered obstacles that we've had to go with the walk-behinds on, more time = more cost.

[ant]

i am going to pick and choose the lawns i am aerating....if it cant be aerated with the ride on it ant getting done. i am going to explain to the client that i wont be able to get all areas of the lawn.

[Soupy]

all right.....lets GET-ER-DONE.....
this is what i came up with....
first off i need to say that i been doing lawn applications in most of my lawns for some years now. i always did aeration to a select few because of zero degree of difficultly.its to the point that most of my lawns NEED core aeration...thatch,compaction is catching up with me...if i don't do something soon i may loose the lawns due to appearance.. and i don't wont to break my back doing it,i am getting old :cool2: ...
i am not new to aeration,my arsenal cons its of
1. toro lawn air w/b that i bought in 1983
2. lesco aerator
3. classen split drive
4. bannerman 48'' tow behind (now thats a work horse....)
5. pto drivin aeravator
soon to come the first of may is a z plugger ..


as for prices, take a look of what i came up with

$85.00 min <7000sf
7000 sf $13.50/m
8000-10,000 sf 12.00/m
12,000-15,000 $9.75/m
20,000 sf $7.00/m
30,000 sf $6.25/m

what do you guys think..
ant

I think your prices need to be raised a hair and spread out further. Like $12-$13.50 up to 10,000 with a $60-$85 minimum. Then maybe lower by $1 or so for every 5,000. 10,000-15,000 $11-$12.50, 15,000-20,000 $10-$11.50 etc.

[Rebel]

The answer to some of the questions directed at me are simple. One, I am not on the bottom of the gene pool so I called from my own house phone and not my company phone and got the answers that any homeowner can get by looking in the yellow pages and calling around.

Two, if some of the prices sound good and you want to make areation, seeding, fertilizing part of your business but you do not have time to do it yourself then simply talk with your customer and tell them that Chem-Lawn (example) will be coming by to do an estimate on their whole yard or just the front (whatever the customer wants). Chem-Lawn (example) then calls you back with a price and you then talk with your customer about a lawn fertilizing program / enhancement program (example) and if they agree you simply tack on 10% for doing nothing but making the call. Money is where you look for it. Sometimes people handed to you while other times you got to find ways to make it appear.

The outcome is this; the yard looks great, the program guarantee results that make weekly cutting a must, potential customers see visible results, and all you do is the magic of cutting and still make money (10%) for doing nothing extra which = TIME!

This is just an option! We do most of our areation and seeding, but we have some on a sub contractor schdule with great results and everyone is happy!

[GREENITUP]

Well, I have read the post and replies. It is no secret, but as the owner of a respectable lawn care business in my area, I called around and found the market price for areation which was $400.00 to $500.00 for lawns between 10K and 15K square feet. So, knowing what the "other companies" were charging I found a happy medium and lower cost for my customer base which in turn makes everyone happy! :rolleyes: What I do not understand is the anger that some people have on this site :angry:. Ant made a valid statement and was looking for some valid answers and people gave either their opinon or what they would do in certain cases. No problem, right? Well, I believe we are all here to learn and make some money to feed our famlies. Lets just give our opinions or facts and live and learn!
I agree with you on the level of hostility here sometimes - I was just waiting for someone to ask if ant was licensed. But -if I may ask - where did you call for your market prices of $400-500 for 10-15k??? I am right down the road from you and don't know of anyone that charges rates that high - even including seed. :drinkup:

[grasswhacker]

I agree with you on the level of hostility here sometimes - I was just waiting for someone to ask if ant was licensed. But -if I may ask - where did you call for your market prices of $400-500 for 10-15k??? I am right down the road from you and don't know of anyone that charges rates that high - even including seed. :drinkup:

Busted! :laugh:

[Rebel]

I agree with you on the level of hostility here sometimes - I was just waiting for someone to ask if ant was licensed. But -if I may ask - where did you call for your market prices of $400-500 for 10-15k??? I am right down the road from you and don't know of anyone that charges rates that high - even including seed. :drinkup:
I was giving a price for areation, some with seeding and fertilizing and like with Ant people would put the brakes on. Of course some customers do not see and understand the labor invovled and the material cost, but I told them to call around and see if they could find a better price and after testing the market they were calling back. When I asked what the average prices was, my jaw dropped and I woke up. The I made some calls myself to just make sure and what do you know....money is to be had and people will pay it!

[Rebel]

Busted! :laugh:
I do not believe anyone is busted? I am stating facts and not everyone is aware of whats going on around them. Sometimes we think we are charging a fair price for a product or service and go on with our marry lives and then the fog lifts and you get a wake up call and start doing some homework. So there you go Kentucky!

[Soupy]

I do not believe anyone is busted? I am stating facts and not everyone is aware of whats going on around them. Sometimes we think we are charging a fair price for a product or service and go on with our marry lives and then the fog lifts and you get a wake up call and start doing some homework. So there you go Kentucky!

But what facts yo may not have is how many and what profit these companies are doing each year on this service. If I got a call for de-thatching I would give a high price knowing I really didn't want to mess with it. I would do it, but never have. I would have to rent the equipment etc.

There may be guys in your area that only do a handful of these premium priced jobs a year and other companies that charge less and are book solid with aerations during prime season. The guy charging less might be bringing a larger percentage of profit based on cost.

If you are counting aeration, seed, and fert then I would be around $430 for 15,000 sq ft. $180 just for aeration.

How many aerations do you do a year? What sq. footage?

[twindiddy]

i just called tru green to get a quote for aeration. they quoted me $220 for 7k sq. ft. that's about $32 per 1000 sq. ft. of course that was a phone estimate. their number is 407-578-9900.

i'm thinking we'll do alright between $20 - $25 per 1000 sq. ft.

[Soupy]

i just called tru green to get a quote for aeration. they quoted me $220 for 7k sq. ft. that's about $32 per 1000 sq. ft. of course that was a phone estimate. their number is 407-578-9900.

i'm thinking we'll do alright between $20 - $25 per 1000 sq. ft.

Around here they start out high like they quoted you and then call back begging and dropping the price all the way to $10 per 1,000. The one thing they have working for them is they have their foot in the door of many customers. They can get away with charging a higher price somtimes but most of the time they come way down on their original price. You will get lucky sometimes, but if you want to sell a lot of aerations then don't base your price off of TGCL.


By the way... Did they give you the correct lot size, or did you tell them it was 7,000? I have seen them do 15,000 and the invoice is marked and priced for 6,000. Serves them right giving quotes over the phone. They left a 14 point inspection of my lawn on my front door. Said I didn't have a gated fence and my lot was 1/2 the size. They also recommended pre-emergent right away. I called back and said their inspector needs glasses because I do have a gate and my lawn was just aerated and overseeded. The truth is some guy sitting at a desk reading a book did the 14 point analysis and then sent someone out to plant it on my door. The bad thing is many people are fooled by them.