Markup on plants

[southside]

What do you guys believe to be a fair markup<br>if any, on any plants you supply and install?<br>I have a small cleanup and replant job nearby<br>and will need to get a fair number of plants<br>in.Do you add a mark up to your plants and<br>mulch?<br>Any advice appreciated.<p>Karl<br>

 

[Lanelle]

YES, Southside, mark-up your plant material and your mulch. An easy way to do it is to double the cost of the plants and give that as a finished price, that is including the installation. If you want to be more precise, you can figure how much mark-up you need based on your overhead and your labor costs but that may be more trouble than the job is worth. Mulch can be marked up at least 30% and then add your labor and delivery costs. You deserve to make money on the money you invest in the materials, otherwise, why risk your money. Good Luck.

 

[southside]

Lanelle, Thanks for the advice,I'll give that<br>a try.<p>Karl<br>

 

[steven Bousquet]

just some thoughts on mark up. if you double the plant price and in stall it. that might be way to cheap. wholesale plant cost $9 at the nursery garden center the plant sells for 21.50. if u 2x the 9 to $18 you are installing for less than retail. have you seen the full retail prices lately? we buy alot of plants right from the growers and a 2x seems to low unless you are doing 500 plants in one job. i can see 2x mark up plus installation. if you cover the plant for a year you need to charge for that and the 2x mark up just covers that cost. the most common way in the alca circle is to 2x the plant and charge time half day or full day of labor for a crew. mulch would be marked up 30-50% plus install time .pricing mulch by the yard install is wrong. each job is different. can you use a tractor or do you have to use a wheel barrel? is the area open or fuul of plants? is the mulch bed on a hill or flat? pushing a wheel barrel up a hill takes much more time than backing a truck up to a beds

 

[Guido]

Steve thats a good point you brought up about the mulch costing. I had a friend who realized that the price per yard should be different depending on weather he has to do it by hand or he could get his Kubota in there. BUT, he was still messing up because he figure the price for wheelbarrows and used that for everything figuring he can't lose. Well, I think he did lose a couple of bids because of that. If youhave a wide open job, and you charge his way, even though he will use the tractor to do the job, he can't be competitive with other company's prices that are using a tractor, etc for the install. So, I agree totally that you should price by the job specs. BUT do you agree that there should be a set price for the mulch and delivery?? I think there should be and should decrease a bit as the # of truckloads goes up. <p>As for the plants, I would probobly charge them the retail price for the plants, then add in for install labor and time for buying the plants. Karl, you are getting the plants at wholesale prices right? I'd imagine they run things the same sort of way &quot;down under&quot;. I'll be going through Darwin again in August for a day or 2. Gotta love this military world tour!!<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://communities.msn.com/guidosequipmentpics/&quot;&gt;&quot;Guido&quot;&lt;/a&gt;<br>David M. Famiglietti

 

[little green guy]

I double the retail not my price of the plants and charge for the time picking up the plants at the nursery.

 

[KirbysLawn]

I charge 2.5 time the price of the plant.

 

[Lanelle]

Some other factors can affect mark-ups. A large commercial job, put out to bid, will probably be bid with a lower mark-up than a high-end residential job with lots of customized work and unusual plants. Knowing who is also bidding the same job can impact the bid. Also, how much do you want the job? So the 'climate' of the bid situation can influence the amount of mark-up used.<br>Lanelle

 

[southside]

Some really good points here.<br>Steve I agree with the different circumstances regarding mulch instals.<br>Normally we just charge it out to the customer at the same price we get it for and<br>then charge $30 per hour (AUD) to put it in.<br>However I may look at marking up the mulch to<br>cover my butt a bit.<br>Dave, Yes it sounds like it may be a similar <br>set up here,we get plants wholesale. Hope you<br>enjoy Darwin,most of the Army and Air Force <br>that are normally based in Darwin are in East<br>Timor on a big peacekeeping job at the moment.<p>Thanks for the tips,good food for thought.<p>Karl<br>

 

[nlminc]

I delivered and spread 22 yards of mulch last week for a High End customer at a rate of $75.00 per yard. The mulch was pure hemlock and cost me $35.70 per yard including tax. Today he calls and wants to discuss the invoice. I drive over to do a face to face with him and he tells me that he could buy the mulch for $30.00/ yard and wants to know why I was charging $75.00. After explaining my cost and why the other guy in the development is a Walmart high volume landscaper and higher imigrant workers and that I run a small business with more personal attention, better service and higher prices he agreed to pay up. I do not think I will have this customer for very long because the other co. is billing out at 20-24 / man hour and I'm at $40.00 for general labor. I know I'm rambling here, but do you guys go thru this with customers that have more money than God? Do you ever have to explain how you have to make a profit to some? <p><br>Chris