Rates, rates, rates. I know... it's been done before...

I am in San Antonio, Texas. I know that this town is notorious for LOW wages but I need some confidence boosting from people who know!

I do not discuss hourly rates with customers, just the flat bid. I have gotten looks of utter astonishment from people when I quote a price for some work. Take a look at my rates and tell me if they don't sound REALLY LOW as it is... please...

Mowing - .75min (32"Scag)
Other yardwork - $30pmh
Fertilizing - same as Mow + fertilizer + pickup
Mulch spreading - $5bag + mulch + pickup
Trimming bushes - $5/$10/$15/$20/etc each
Hauling - $50 truckload (not incl load time)
Pickup/Del (local) - $20 under 300# / $30+ over 300#

I gave a price of $30 on a 15x3x3 holly hedge. That's LOW, isn't it? I wish I had a pic...

Whad'ya think? Please tell me your rates so I can compare.

A thou$and thanks!

 

I pushed this thread back up once more in the hopes of some feedback. Here's why:

I am new at this game and want to be realistic in my bidding. I need some comparisons. I do NOT want to be the cheapest around, OR the most expensive.

I understand if people may not want to discuss their personal rates out in the open, so feel free to private message me.

Thanks

 

trimming bushes I would have at an hourly rate. I feel your lawn care rate should be $1.00 per min. $30 per man per hour sounds good to me. Because think about $1.00 per min, is $60 for an hour. So 2 guys working is $60 per hour.

 

rates is determined by location and what the area sustains.

Many factors need to be considered.

Living expenses for the area.
Average income for the area
Cost of housing and so on.

Your business overhead

I am not the cheapest out there. Can't be, would not survive. I am not over priced either. For I would not acquire new accounts.

I do however cater to a particular group. We only provide full service. Shrub trimming for this year 95%. Less than 2% of all the accounts are the basic weekly with spring and fall cleanup. If I can't get them to go for lawn apps. next year. Bye, bye.

Weekly maintenance no less than $2.50 a minute
Any other work minimum $40 and up per man hour. Not all the men are at equal pay. Not all work is the same.

 

very true Glan

 

$2.50 per minute for weekly maintenance?? Ya right,
and the cow jumped over the moon with the fork and the spoon.

 

$2.50 a minute?? Wow. I guess if you can do a $35 yard in 14 minutes, I'm REALLY IMPRESSED! Leaves me a little room for improvement.

I'll hafta bust out on the WHEATIES!

 

u cant charge hourly for mowing, u will get smoked. what if the lawn is tiny, 2k, u r in and out in 10 min, are u gonna charge $7.50? i always quote prices, not hourly rates for mowing, and hope it works out to at least our hourly rate, now with mowing, u can always get more economical because as time goes on, and u become used to the property, where every little bump is, etc, u can get it done faster, but not with trimming, leaves, etc. we charge hrly for that.

 

suprised noone noticed me saying this before. A crew does 5 - 6 residential in an hour. For some of you that would be the "postage stamp" type of property.

We have many properties that are in the area of 60' x 100' where I am. Yes there are some smaller and yes, there are larger. We do commercial of 1 - 3 acres and estates in the 3 acre range.

The minimum we charge is $25 weekly.

25x6=150 / 60 minutes = 2.5 a minute

 

Exactly, thanks bobby.

But as for trimming and leaves. If I charged hourly I would be charging less than I do now