Volume Discount on Commercial

[TriStar]

So we've been putting in some rather large bids on commercial properties this year and I am always curious to see at what point and to what price level other contractors are discounting down to.

We typically charge around an average of $.15 psf on smaller jobs both residential and commercial. But on jobs that are 100,000 sf+ where are you bidding them? These jobs are large big box stores & factories that keep us busy for a couple days in one location. We typically charge +or- $.10 psf per coat. I'm just curious to see where we stand in the pack?:confused:

[TriStar]

One more quick thought. We're thinking of raising our prices just a bit simply because most large commercial jobs are Net 30, Very Picky, & Usually on a strict time schedule for application. So getting these jobs are great but too many can cause cash flow strain if we don't have our ducks in a row.

I'm talking sealing only in that pricing as well, we also upsell crack repair, striping, etc....

[BIGBOY2008]

So we've been putting in some rather large bids on commercial properties this year and I am always curious to see at what point and to what price level other contractors are discounting down to.

We typically charge around an average of $.15 psf on smaller jobs both residential and commercial. But on jobs that are 100,000 sf+ where are you bidding them? These jobs are large big box stores & factories that keep us busy for a couple days in one location. We typically charge +or- $.10 psf per coat. I'm just curious to see where we stand in the pack?:confused:

I can help you out but first i would like to know what type of sealer and what brand name of sealer you are using on these jobs?

[TriStar]

We use Coal Tar Sealer from Sealmaster.

[BIGBOY2008]

I use coal tar emulsion sealer and im charging 0.20 per square foot on residential and smaller size commercial.
I don’t do large scale commercial. The only way i will drop my prices is if im doing a job that will require two or more days to complete and then ill drop my prices down to 0.17 to 0.18 psf.

Theres no way i could make a legitimate profit by charging 0.15 psf. on any of my jobs.
And truthfully if i were to charge 0.10 psf i would manage to pay for my materials and labor and would be left with a profit equal to maybe a bit more than that of a hourly paid minimum wage job.

The only way i could make a profit by charging 0.15 psf residential and 0.10 psf commercial is if i didn’t pay the expense of general liability insurance and i didn’t give a 18 month written warranty on my product and workmanship. And i would be forced to mix my sealer at a ratio of 30 gallons of water to 30 gallons of sealer and not use additives (because i would still need to cut my product use by 50% to 60%) in order to provide 0.15 psf residential and 0.10 psf commercial bids.

Common sense dictates that you and i both are most likely paying close to the same amount per gallon since we are both buying quality commercial grade coal tar sealers. The only difference is there might be a 0.05 to 0.06 difference per gallon between the licensed distributors. So you and i are both paying “x-amount” per gallon and i am charging 0.20 psf on residential and smaller size commercial and you are charging 0.15 psf on residential and 0.10 on standard commercial.

Now please don’t be offended but this is my best bit of advice:
Im not saying this to sound like a know it all hot shot and if i come across this way im sorry.
But at the rates psf we both mentioned either i am seriously overcharging my customers and making a H-U-G-E - P-R-O-F-I-T or you are seriously undercharging your customers and going broke and not realizing it.
I can honestly tell you that right now as other professional seal coaters who contribute to this board read your price quotes they could very easily be assuming that you are seriously cutting corners on the job and cutting your product back to where you can make a profit but doing your customers a dis-service and ruining the reputation of seal coaters in general.

You will not believe the number of potential customers to whom i give a 0.20 psf price quote and they will start to flake out on me. A couple days ago a home owner almost had a stroke and responded with “MY GOD MAN, YOU WANT TO CHARGE ME TWENTY CENTS A SQUARE FOOT FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT LAST OVER A YEAR WHEN I CAN GET THE SAME THING DONE FOR TWELVE CENTS A SQUARE FOOT...ARE YOU TRYING TO RIP ME OFF”.