Pricing Spring Clean-ups

[mattingly]

Please don't just answer saying &quot;well I just kinda look at it and guess the hours.&quot; This does me no good as a new comer. I need something relatively scientific to help me with my pricing list. Like you charge so much for bed cleanup and so much for lawn pick up and so much for pruning and add it all together. This could be based on sqft of beds(ie--certain amountper ?sqft of bed), or certain amount per # of shrubs/trees to be pruned etc. OH, and I know this varies with this and that but, I just want something tangible to start with so I can have a predetermined formula to work with.<br>thank,<br>By the way this forum has taken me from not knowing how to price a lawn job to having rough formulas for everything from mowing, mulching, fertilizing, etc. This is great! thank you all<p>----------<br>Integrated Landscape Solutions<br>Lexington, KY

 

[gene gls]

Spring clean-ups mean different things to landscapers in different parts of the country.I'm in SW Massachusetts.To me its removing leaves, sticks,achrons and sand from plows.I usualy hand blow leaves from shrubs and planting beds,tarp it to the truck.If the lawn is bad I will power brush it.This will remove a lot of dead grass.If there are only small areas then I use my power broom (Shindowawa).When all the heavy material is tarped to the truck then I mow over the lawn with my Walker GHS unit for finial clean-up.I only quote a price if asked and then I try to go on the high side to be safe.I am chargeing $35.00 per hr this year,working by myself.There are no two lawns alike when doing spring clean-ups around here.

 

[tgrebis]

Spring and Fall Cleanups<br>I used to run a lanscape company in highschool and now will be getting back into it. Estimating these are hard to do. You can try by the hour, for customers that know you, but most people won't go for it. Basically the only way to do it correctly is through experience. Larger lanscape companies include these chores in their monthly charges for cutting lawns. This makes sense because a cleanup you want to make money on will cost a couple hundred. Many a customer has balked at my estimates.<br>They generally don't realize how many hours it takes. If you spread it out over the season, it's easier for the customer. Just get everything in writing.

 

[Charles]

I tell someone whos not a regular customer that I will work a couple of hours at a certain rate.Then we will see how far I have gotten at that point. If they balk at first. Whether it be beds, Chainsawing or leaves. Gutters and shrubs, grasscutting I can give them a job price on. If they don't agree to let me work the hourly rate like I suggested. Then I don't take the job. I rarely if ever have a problem with my regular customers on this subject.

 

[HOMER]

I'm gonna tell it like it is Mattingly. After the last couple of days!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm fixing to raise it to the roof or forget about em'. You will reach a point where you don't have to do it (apparently I haven't learned this yet ) but when you do take on a yard that hasn't been cleaned up all winter it will kill you. If the customer doesn't care about taking care of it year round, hit them where it hurts or give it to somebody else. I spent 5.5 man hrs. in a small yard yesterday and lost my ass. I should know this by now but I guess I'm a slow learner. Pick and choose, turning one down will not break you, taking it on might! JUST SAY NO, yep thats my new motto!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Retro67]

Homer-<p>Hope you find it if you decide to go back. Just imagine the cleanup the next guy will have if you don't find it. Seriously, Homer is right. These cleanups aren't easy to estimate. Sometimes they are deceiving. Let me put it this way, $200 for a 1/2 acre with say, 3-4 large trees would be AVERAGE. It is so hard to say, though. Homer is correct. It is sometimes better to turn down work, or let them decide not to get it done if they don't want to pay the price. It's not an attitude thing, it's a &quot;I'm not gonna work for free thing.&quot; <p>I may be seeing a half empty glass. However, when I estimate a job will take me 3 hours and I normally charge $40 per hour, I expect it to take three hours. If it takes six hours, I don't look at it as though I made $20 per hour. I look at it like I made $40 per hour for three hours, then worked for free for three. May seem somewhat negative, but it motivates me not to let it happen again.<p>John

 

[Charles]

If all of us turned down cleanup jobs that don't pay well. Then we would start getting the price that we deserve.

 

[Retro67]

Charles<p>I understand where you are coming from. I think many times it is a case that our competition has MISTAKENLY bid low, followed through with their promise, as they should, but won't do it again because they lost. <p>We, then need to explain, Mr. Smith I'm sorry that I can't do it for $150, I believe maybe the person that did it before made a mistake in bidding (bla, bla,bla). Explain that these jobs almost always take longer than you would realistically think. I can always give Mr. Jones back part of the money if I have overcharged him at, say $200. It isn't likely Mr. Jones will offer to pay more if it takes longer. In the end, a good customer won't want you to lose out and not return. Otherwise, you might want to look for a customer to replace them with. <p>John

 

[mattingly]

Charles hit on a good point here about getting what we deserve or more importantly getting what we can if we think it through correctly. I will post an example of this later today. It comes from an ALCA trade show in '99.<p>----------<br>Integrated Landscape Solutions<br>Lexington, KY

 

[HOMER]

O.K. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll, get ready to laugh if you want to, yesterday the yard I spent 5.5 man hours in taught me a big lesson. I quoted these people a price of $75.00 ( now go ahead and laugh ) This is why I have a bad taste in my mouth right now. There are easier ways to make money. I could have devoted that time to my regular customers but no, I had to be the nice guy! Point is, being the nice guy might get you somewhere and it might not. I say we all make a pact right here, right now, if it's going to be a one time clean-up job with no hope of landing the customer as a full time contract we should charge $55.00 per hour. Look at it this way, it upsets your schedule, it is harder than a yard you maintain on a regular basis, you have to haul something off most of the time, and it is rougher on your equipment and your back than a regularly maintained property. If your truck tears up today and you can't fix it or don't have the time, take it to the Chevy/Ford/Dodge dealership and pay them $50-$55.00 per hour to fix it plus the parts. Or take it to shadetree mechanic Bubba and he'll charge you $40.00 per + parts and stretch it out because he doesn't have the proper equipment to do the job. my time, back, and equipment are just as da@##$$%^$ important to me as it is to them! There may be some room around my area for someone new because the bottom line is, take it or leave it, cause Homer said so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!