What's your minimum?

[Currier]

I think we've hit this before but couldn't find anything in the search. What is your minimum price for weekly mowing and trimming? I used to say $25.00 but I have moved it up to $35.00. Obviously there are lots of other factors that affect price: Location to other customers, obstacles, gates, etc.

Basically I'm looking at 1/4 to 1/2 acre lawns. Pretty straight forward to mow trim and edge. All zero turn possible. Just curious as to how you all handle your "starting price" as you approach a bid.

[JVS]

Good question. I think we should at least charge a stop fee for all the labor we put into a service visit. I believe $30 -$35 is a fair starting fee.

[BUSHMASTER]

Seniors get a minuminm of $35 al others is $45 to start.these are minum

[bdemir]

My lowest lawn price is $14.00
This lawn requires weed wip maybe once every three weeks and no blowing. Its a piece of square lawn about 20ft by 15 ft. Just enough to make a nice turn with the dixie and three overlapping stripes and out of there in about 3.5 minutes from start time. It takes me more time to unload than to cut the place. If i had a hundered in a row i could cut them in an hour. These people are easy to deal with and i love the small quilky jobs that add up.

[geogunn]

yo bdemir--did you ever get the blower rotational problem fixed on your vac unit?

GEO

[Esby]

Currently I carry a $20 minumum, which I believe is a tad too low. This next spring I will raise it to $25, possibly $30, I'll have to see.

[Esby]

Opps......wrong posting sight!!!!

[SpringValley]

I have a $35 minimum and $35/hour. I have one account that I charge $29/hour and if she adds anything extra we just stay longer. We average approximately 3 man hours/visit for that one account.

Spring Valley
(Located in West Central Indiana)

[Twotoros]

I'm ashamed to say 20$. A lot of guys in town would cut off a finger to get my prices and I am low. However this area won't support much more. In my paper today an article on average wages stated that in the greater Seattle area their av. wage was 46k ayear where my area is 21k!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I guess I should be lucky to get what I do and at least I av. 42.00 an hour working by myself.

[TJLC]

Twotoros, don't be ashamed. It's the same here. $18-20 for 80x125 yard. Before I started my lawn business, I was making about $6.00 per hour. This is like a major raise for me. Plus I am working for myself.

[curlawngreen]

$25.00
Mow one week of growth
edge one week of growth
string trim one week of growth
blow of road and concrete.

[tazman]

I don't touch a yard for less than $35. Like people have said in the past, it cost you something just to unload your equipment. I do agree also, that depending on the area, you price what the market will bare (bear). These prices are for residential, with commercial or industrial being priced totally different and more.

[Pauls Mowing]

$35.00 as a minimum.

[Keith]

We currently do most of our stuff year round, so they pay monthly. Some pay as little as $70 month year round. It may seem low, but these take about 10 to 15 minutes. Most of our by the cuts pay 25 to 30 dallars for the same lawn. We have a couple as low as $20, but they take 10 minutes. So four of those an hour and you still make good money.

[Ssouth]

My current min. is $125/month. Much less than most accounts. Next year will go to $160/month min. This is for twelve months. No matter what type of service they recieve ( just mow edge and etc. or full service with trimming and fert.) I will not be willing to stop for less that $160/month. Too many oppurtinities in this area to go with the high volume/ low cost attitude. In the area I live in, there is too much business for all of the contractors to do. Guess I'm just lucky

Ssouth

[bdemir]

Geo,

Finally fixed the thing. The way the cover was put on and the way the vaccum thing sits on the motor was the problem. If they are not aligned correctly the thing works against itself. I replaced the engine and thats when everything got put back on the wrong way. I never thought it would make such a diference until i switched things around and then it was fixed. I still have to realign the thing but now i have an idea. I am suprized that no one ever had thins problem before. I must be a special case. lol

bdemir

[dylan]

Wow
I would like to get some of those prices.
All of my new lawns in the last two years are $25-$30 minimum, depending on how close together they are. Peoples eyes get real big when I say how much, but they can be convienced that the service is worth it.
I have some lawns that I have been cutting for ten years. They are in a retirement park, are very small and close together. No one wants trimming or blowing. I would just unload once for the day. I had been charging the same price for many years. I finally raised the price from $10 to $15. I did it over two years. Went from almost 20 lawns to 5. The only ones I currently do are full service and are over $25 or are ones that I can really whiz in and out of.

[geogunn]

bdemir--thats great news. I was afraid that the new motor turned the wrong way. that would be my luck! LOL!

GEO

[Rodg]

My minimum is 16.00. The area we are in will not stand for more-too much competition. We live in a town of 10,000 with four major lawn companies (I'm just a little guy, only 30 lawns. Two of the other companies run about 60 to 80 lawns each.!) Competition is fierce! Oh Well! Must be great to get 20-35 bucks minimum! Wow!

-Rodg

[Mark]

I have one cut that is 25 dollars, but its very small, from then on my cheapest is 35, up to 80 on residential. Cheapest commerical is 60 . I charge 25 drop and 2 per 1000 on all commerical. Im not going to work my tailend off for nothing, there's just so much overhead, and im going to make a fair profit. Been at this now for 11yrs and never gone hungery. Buy the way Merry Chirstmas to all the folks in the forum, and God Bless Marks Mowing Service.

[jasonp]

Just to unload something is 25.00 for me.

[Wheeless]

$40.00 minimum on half acre lots. String trim, stick edge concrete, and blow weekly

[Skookum]

When people ask for a quick idea of what I would charge or what is a fare price, I usually say "Without seeing the property, about $15.00 a quarter acre is a good price".

I usually start at that same point of $15.00 per 1/4 acre when figuring a job. It usually works out to right at $60.00 an hour for me, which includes loading and unloading. This of course is for a simple lot layout, etc...

[powerreel]

TWOTOROS- atleast you don't have traffic, I'd give anything to bill less and not sit on the 520 or 90!!! Plus you don't have to pay $900 for a studio! Now with this electrical thing http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268466359&text_only=0&slug=power15m&document_id=134253907 I really am thinking about retreating from Seattle! Right now I bill @ $40 a PRODUCTION HOUR, I am not on a clock, but bid all jobs this way, ie. Hedge 2 hrs,lawn 1 hr= 3 hours or $120 even if I'm there for 1.5 hours. It's gotta be this way. Did you like the snow?