How to charge for pesticide/fertilizing program

[Acerdavidi]

Getting into a five-step fertilizing program and i am wondering what is the best way to charge and if a five step program is the best way to go. Also, would each application be the same price or would it vary according to chemical used?<p>----------<br>David<br>Northeast Ohio

[Lazer]

Charge the same for all 5 applications.<p>Get $20.00 stop fee + 3.00/1000 square foot.<p>So: 5,000 sq. ft. would be $35.00/application.<br>15,000 sq. ft. would be $65.00/application.<br>

[Acerdavidi]

Thanx a lot Lazer this will help me out.

[slagerlawncare]

How can you charge the same for all apps? My cost/unit is different for each different application.

[cjcland]

i have read in alot of post that a real pro covers all areas of lawn care, i have no experience working with fertilizer and dont even know what a 5 step program consists of, how do you go about learning about this, college courses maybe, books... and after you learn what does it take to get a licence.<p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida

[Lazer]

slager,<br>Make sure your service agreement includes all 5 apps. If you charge all different amounts, you confuse the customer. Material costs shouldn't vary that greatly anyway.<p>cjcland,<br>I don't know what they use in Florida, I'd consult a University that has a southern turfgrass program.

[slagerlawncare]

lazer,<br>i know that i wouldn't tell customer my cost/unit..but when you say 3$per 1000 is that figulatively speaking? Say for instance i have 1 program that is 5.79 per 1000 sg ft. this is a cost my fert. rep came up with.is that what i would list (5.79 per 1000 and 20$ stop fee)on my service agreement?is that what your trying to tell my thick skull? :)<p>thanks

[Lazer]

20.00 + 3.00/1000 your fee per APP.<br>The 5.79/1000 is your cost of fert. per YEAR.<p>Your yearly fee would be 100.00 + 15.00/1000.<p>BTW: My pricing structure requires 5 aaplications. I do not apply 1#N in the spring apps.<p>BTW: You can get all this information and more by asking friends and relatives to give you their lawn app. bids. So many companies openly market their services, I have 200+ different bids in my files from competitors.

[slagerlawncare]

thanks

[jeffclc]

I have done some extensive thinking on this subject. I have concluded that it is best to charge the same price for each application regardless of the material used. ( I guess if you were doing a one time exotic app, you could charge more). <p>The way that I have figured out the prices is to take the material cost for all your apps per season, add that up. Now take your labor , overhead, and profit costs, and add that up for the whole year. Add the two together. Divide by the munber of applications, and you have your price.<p>Some applications will make you more money than others because of the cost of the material involved. Later in the season is when the most profits are made, because then it is generally straight fertilizer, and the material costs are lowest.<p>There are a few reasons that I have decided that this pricing plan is best. For one, it is simple for the customer to understand. Most are ignorant of what is actually being done, and don't realize that the material costs vary from application to application. <p>Another is that if you were to price your 5 apps at $40, $40, $50, $30, and $30, then the customer may decide that the $50 application is not necessary. That $50 app is the grub control, and can be the most important one of the year. You don't want them dictating which apps to put down. <p>As far as pricing goes, I am sure that it varies in different parts of the country. LAzer gave a good start. <p>I have seen some prices higher than what he gave, and also some lower. I guess it depends on site conditions, location, customer expectations. <p>I would like to hear some actual numbers from others as to what they are charging.

[Nick]

What does it take to get a licence to do this?

[jeffclc]

Nick- It varies from state to state. Most (all?) states will require you to pass a general knowledge test and also a specific test for what you are going to treat, ie lawns, trees, right of ways, ect. <p>Some states have experience requirements, others do not. Some will require certificates of insurance, others may not.<p>This info applies to pesticides, not fertilizers. I don't think that any? states require a license for straight fertilizer, but they do for pesticides.

[lawrence stone]

So how many 30K fert/pest app jobs at $110 gross do you think you will get when I charge $70 for the same service and make 50% GPM at the same time?<p>I guess I must be special for I am a &quot;rocket scientist&quot;. And BTW I also am an agronomist and an entomologist.

[Tony S]

Lazer,<br>I charge about the same as you for fert apps. ($19.95 + $3.00 per 1000sf) Same price for each app. & includes weed & incect control as needed. I am thinking of charging $19.95 + $6.00 per 1000sf for grub treatment which is not inclued in the 5 step program. Sound too high? Too Low?

[Lazer]

Tony,<br>That sounds about right. I don't include Grubs apps as part of the regular program, but I do them for almost double of a regular application.<br>

[MWHC]

I am curious what you are putting on that costs you $5.79/1000 sq ft? My cost for granular fertilizer ranges from $.89 to $1.10 per 1000 sq ft. That increases to about $1.60 - $2.00 per 1000 if I include a broadleaf herbicide. (Yes, I have a liscense to apply)<p>For liquid apps, my rep was quoting me a price of about $1.60 - $1.90 / 1000 sq ft with a complete fertilizer + broadleaf. I know the pre-emergents get real expensive, thats where the price difference may be coming from.<p>The going rate where I live is about $4.00 to $6.00 per 1000 sq ft with a minimum charge of $27.50

[slagerlawncare]

this would be total product cost(5.79) per 4 applications..with 2.07 being a post emmergent(weed n feed)<br>

[snake1040]

cjcland I mow in Florida and I don't put down any fertilizer if somebody wants this and they have st.augustine then I will refer them to a fetilizing company they can do just as cheap as I can and I don't have to worry about losing someones lawn

[lawrence stone]

Hey lazer,<p>What happened to your message that you stated<br>you charge $140 for a fetilizer application<br>at a 30K homesite and that I must be new to<br>the business?<p>Do you get $250 to apply dursban at that <br>same site?

[Lazer]

We'd get about $110 for regular app. for 30m residential and maybe $180 for grub app.

[steven Bousquet]

we don't charge per app we chagre for a lawncare program. 5 steps every thing you need one price. paid in full or in 3 payments. $600 program maens 3 payments of $200 each all prepaid.one to start the program, two to start round two and the thrid to statr round 4. we have 600 clients who accept this concept.