what to charge

ok i have a estimate to do on wed. they want a price for all-n-1 service. to cut grass, trim shrubs, trim trees,and take care of the beds. it no bigger then 1/4 acre. and the grass is only one side and the front the rest is planter beds. and if the buy the fret the want me to spread it so thats is a separate bill for that also. i figure ask you all here so i wont be a scrub or a lowballer. ps the live on the island of venice 3 blocks from the beach. im thinking between $200 & $250 mt for all of that and for the fert spreading $150x2 for my time. am i in the ballpark or still to low

 

lisc? and if you are then why would you even give them a price if they buy there own. They buy it they apply it. You make part of your profit on the mark up from whsl. to retail. If your not lisc then its illegal for you to apply. Tell me what your cost are by the hr. and I'll suggest what you should charge

 

im not licensed and in fl if they buy the fert and have there own spreader i can apply it. i found that out last year in a post on the forum here. and they dont want to do any work in the yard all they told me on the phone.

 

for a 1/4 acre mow i charge $145 month
to spot weed the beds each month $60
basic hourly rate for trimming plants is $75hr

fert spread hr rate? no idea

 

or i could sub out the fert/ pest apps

 

You need to check on that, your county extension agent sould tell you, for your local laws.

 

There is no fertilizer law in FL. You can apply weed and feed or pest control if the customer buys and you use thier equipment. But........ $150 for the labor of fertilizing each time? 10 min work comes to about $900 per hour, may be a smidgen high on that.

 

thats y i posted here to see what to charge. so i wont be a lowballer or a highway robber

 

Low-balling used to be a big problem with me, I still do it sometimes but here's some tricks (this also helps with error margin probs):
Always build in (add) 10-20 percent on top of your estimate to give yourself some room to play AND to avoid being a low-baller. So if your estimating 200-250 (as in your case), then quote 225-260 or if you got a LOT of work then quote 240-275
DO remember to take some off the bill if it takes less than u thought, be nice to ppls the reason for this is so you gots room to play but NO u r not really allowed to play, so to speak.
Here's the thing: You can ALWAYS drop a little off the price later but you will find it VERY difficult to add anything to it (man I have a time getting 5 or 10 extra bucks out of them even if the job took twice as long as I thought).

Far as the fert... I don't like spreading other ppl's fert, not really.
But as part of a whole job I sometimes do it, charge $45/hour and bring the spreader with, then once I get ready to do that part, start the stopwatch: 75 cents/minute and charge to the nearest 5.
Estimate-wise, ask how many bags... Usually I can spread 2 bags every 5 minutes but if it's not my stuff then figure it taking twice as long - estimate $5 / bag then if it takes less time take some $$$ off.

I duno, yous say 150x2... are they ordering cubic yards of fert???

For 1/4 acre (~10k sq. ft.) they likely get with Scott's ~25 lb. covering 5k sq. feet each they prolly get 1-2 bags, I'd estimate 10 - 20 dollars should cover you well for THAT amount (that's TWICE the highest I already figured).

 

i guess this thread is pointless, he is quitting