Ceiling Price

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I agree completely that a price is a price. What I have a problem with is how people justify these prices. To state that you have to charge a full days labour for half a days work because the customer has stopped you from earning another half days work is just not true really is it? if you didnt have the work on you havent lost anything and if you did then you should be able to organise your time better so you can profit from the second half of the day. If you then actually have the bollox to tell the customer this and still hope to get the job then all credit to you. If they're happy to pay for you to sit down the pub bragging how you just earned 150 quid for 3 hours work all afternoon more fool them. The mechanic analogy is to put you in the position of the customer. Yes they have a reputation for ripping people off, so too do builders in general.. i take it you all agree that you'd feel ripped off and if they told you that up front you'd take your business elsewhere..
as i said in my previous post, if 150 quid is your particular going rate for a 1 ceiling, and theres nothing wrong with that, then thats fine. but to charge one person 150 quid for 1 set, and another one 150 quid for 2 sets without good reason is a bit wrong imo..
Premium rates for one off customers, fine. Discounts for bulk / regular business, again fine. Making out people are costing you money when theyre not is deception, commonly known as bullshit.
Im guessing everyones heard stories of double glazing salesmen starting off on a price of 20 grand for 7 windows and a resi door?
2 hours later having drunk the customer out of tea and made several bullsh't phone calls to the 'manager' he walks out of there with a price of 13 grand, with a profit of 10 grand, half of which is the salesmans. How do you justify that?
my point is, if people like to publicise their practice of adding unjustified costs then is it any wonder people are suspicious and dont want to pay accepted rates because they may feel that the 'accepted' rate is based on a load of bollox..
if your gonna do it, dont be tellin the whole world eh?
 
Chris you dont seem to get it there is no such thing as half a day or a full day when your on a price its irrelevant, I said the job would cost the same 1 ceiling or 2 and it would still be one guage. Without blowin my own trumpet im at the top of my game and you only pay once ive finished and your satisfied with the job if you want someone to be there for the full day for less money you should be prepared to accept a worse job and when youve got to get me in to put it right dont expect any favours im not in the business of favours im very fair and do a good job if you cant afford it dont call me a conman or a thief.
 
what started this bit off flynnyman was you saying 'whos gonna pay me for the other half day?'
that in itself implies that your charging more for a smaller job, not because youve got to be there for the same amount of time, but because you havent got anyone else to pay you for the rest of the day. If I was a customer im sure i could find someone to replaster one ceiling to a perfectly acceptable standard for half a days money, whatever that rate may be. I may even be inclined to pay a bit more for it providing whoever it was didnt expect me to pay for his downtime. Its not subcontract or even contract work where im guaranteed 4 ceilings a day everyday and if they cock up with the organisation i can bill em for wasting my time.
what were talkin about is where you draw the line for 'minimum charge', this game does need one, you can be there for three square metres and if you do it by the book, 2 coats etc then your still gonna be there for the same length of time as if you did 20 square metres, fair enough.
But, if you charge the customer for 'wasting your time with such a small job' youre effectively punishing the customer for something that isnt their problem.
believe me, i get it... probably more than most
if you state that your minimum charge is your day rate, or 150 quid then thats is absolutely fine. everythings upfront and the customer takes their choice.
if someone told me they were going to be in my house for three hours but charge me for a full day i would have a problem with it.
The previous sentence is what i think youre not getting flynny, no offense intended. If someone gives me a metre price and knocks out 100 square metres in a day to a good standard im gonna be over the moon...
maybe you should word it differently?
 
"if someone told me they were going to be in my house for three hours but charge me for a full day i would have a problem with it." see this is why you dont get it im charging for the ceiling not the time. your paying me for my skills not my time. There are guys who would be on that ceiling all day ive heard guys on here who are askin for advise on how to break this up into two guages and hows the best way to match it up. get the idea of half a day out of your head the amount of times a customer has tried to tell me how to and how long it should take and ive laughed "just give it a quick skim over" lol its none of the customers business where i am in the morning or in the afternoon aslong as the job is done on the day i promised.
 
:) :) yes, yes and yes again, i agree completely with what youre saying, i dont even think 150 quid is too steep for a ceiling, theres all kinds of things that can affect a price...
this is how this thread went..
bloke wants an idea of a price to skim a ceiling..
few prices come in ranging from about a onner to nearly 200 quid or therabouts... so your about average anyway on price..
then rich goes on about 1/2 a days work for 140 quid cash + 2 bags of multi, fair enough, sat morn etc
and you justified your price by asking who pays you for the second half of the day...
if youd had said 'thats what i charge for a ceiling, minimum, I have a good reputation, plenty on and lots of satisfied customers, end of'... then i'd be happy with that as a customer
its just about how we justify our prices to people, especially when someones gone in 2 hours earlier and said they'd do it for 60 quid...
if, theoretically as a customer, i havent got a clue about plastering (not too far from the truth eh?), i dont have the foggiest idea what it costs to skim a ceiling and i get 2 quotes in...
first bloke says he'll do it for 60 quid, i dont know anything about him, i got him out of the paper...
2nd bloke says he'll do it for 150 quid. Now thats quite a bit more so I ask him how he gets to 150 quid when the first bloke said 60 quid (dont forget i havent got the first idea about plastering or prices)

so he goes, 'i need to charge 150 quid because i need to cover the day', or 'who's gonna pay me for the rest of the day?'

I (as a customer, completely unversed in the art of plastering etc) am probably going to go with the first bloke, not because I'm a tight git, but because the second bloke sounded to me like he was charging me a premium for a job thats only worth half of that...

if the first bloke had said 130 quid then i wouldnt have felt the need to ask the second bloke to justify his much higher price... or if the second bloke had just said, 'thats the price i do all my ceilings for', i'd probably think the first bloke was too cheap...

yeh i know i go on and on and on splitting hairs, my appologies everyone but i get asked to justify myself on occasion and it feels like someones questioning my abilities or standards and the first thing that comes into my head is 'are you taking the mick?'.. even at 100 quid a set...

the thing is ive had my prices rejected in favour of a cheaper quote and although we go on about going back and redoing the work some cheap bloke has done it tends not to happen like that... i usually find the calls i get to redo work come from people i havent spoke to, possibly because theyre too embarassed to ring the bloke who gave them a genuine quote in the first place?

and, you never know, a 60 quid quote might just as well be from someone who can do the job perfectly well but is just desperate for work, if the customer gave him a full house to do at 60 quid a set id bet the finish would start to suffer by the end of day 2... people forget that plastering is hard work.. specially if theyve been watching jeremy kyle for 2 months ;D

even im starting to yaaawwwwwn now.. :P
 
its not a half day though is it ?.......pick up kit get youre tools out of the van have a cup of tea ...........put dust sheets down etc prep ceiling...........scim it ..........clean up put youre tools on the van ..........its alot more than 4 hours work
 
Chris this is where time doesnt come into it half or full day/week doesnt matter what it is, coz i tell you if you drop a bollock and it takes double what you thought i cant see old lumpy paying you double coz of the bollock, cant be arsed coming up with one coz theres a few things could happen. What about the third and fourth quote that are double and triple my price never mind yours and then as your finishing lumpy says cheers chris you were the cheapest of all five plasterers that called the highest being £350 does that mean they are thiefs or your under pricing?
 
all im saying is im happy to skim a board ceiling of average size for 90 quid cash.
If theres likely to be a problem then its down to me to spot it before i start, if i f'ck up then i f'ck up. I dont charge the customer for it. if i spot something that affects the price then its an unforeseen circumstance, and we either adjust or terminate any verbal or written contract before work commences. that would include loose boards, galvo nails, boards not staggered etc. Ive just been and priced a full bathroom refurb, new suite, tiles, replace bath with shower, electrics, floor up, new door, l+p ceiling drop and reboard.. a hell of a lot more to go wrong than skimming a simple ceiling so the 'contingency' has been built in, but its not excessive. If i dont know what to expect with these old properties then i shouldnt be quoting the job.
if people can go and quote 350 quid for 1 board ceiling and get the job then theyre better salesmen than me.
how they justify 330 quid for 3 hours work is up to them...
if i had one a day for a 5 days thats 450 cash. 3 hours work a day. 4 hours if you include travelling time.
this isnt about the price, or how long it takes... its about how you justify the price. You can say to the customer 'i dont need to jusify anything to anyone'...or you can say 'my work is of such high quality that in itself justifies my prices and i can supply references to prove it'...
if someone prices the same job at 350 then he's basically saying his work is worth 350 quid. if someone prices the job at 100 quid, he's saying his work is worth 100 quid.
people can do what they like, there no regulation and the customer is under no obligation to accept a quote.
this job is a plasterboard ceiling. new board. assuming all is present and correct with regard to fixings, staggering etc how much would someone working a site get for a 15m ceiling? 45 quid? less tax?
personally i just couldnt find enough genuine reasons to justify charging 350 quid for essentially the same job, apart from calling at wickes on the way there.
to be honest, even if i was running a large plastering company and wasnt even on the tools i'd find it difficult?
im not trying to start a price war, my comments were about how we justify our prices in a game where the difference in price can vary enormously from plasterer to plasterer on what is essentially a very basic job.
No im not calling you a thief flynny, my appologies, i use english badly to illustrate a point sometimes.
 
Gents

I think some of these threads on the forum have got out of hand as I only asked what must be a relatively simple question to all of you who have the knowledge and experience to price such a small job as the one I originally posted.

I would imagine most of the regular posters on this site have a great deal of knowledge and run their own successful businesses and as such have their own pricing formulas and overheads to cover.
 
Chris everything you say i agree with but there are other ways of looking at it, ill be honest i had no interest in the job from the start ive never seen it, didnt want to, it was miles away and i pulled the price out of the sky but i wouldnt be able to go and start another ceiling in another place the same day for the other half of the money. Take into account pricing it, free quote my arse its only free if i dont get it, ive added the time and fuel to the price and be honest if someone famous lets say flynnyman lol na only jokin say beckham answers the door what ya gonna charge him? I can see it now "look dave its only gonna take me half a day and im only gonna charge you £90 coz of this is that ok? OH and nice plasterboarding by the way" hahaha and what happens when lumpy turns up in his bentley to pay you the £90 in twos and ones lol tight c**t ;)
 
lumpy said:
Wasn't quite sure where to post this but can anyone give me some idea regarding a price to skim a recently installed bedroom plasterboard ceiling which is approx 15sq metres. The job is in Stoke on Trent and needs to be done on Friday or Saturday of this week. I may also have a living room in a house I am renovating which is approx 4m x 4m, four wall and an artexed ceiling. Cash on completion!
Thanks
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Ok lumpy how much did you charge to board the ceiling and i must say for a bathroom ceiling 15m is pretty big so must be a decent size house? Also what did you add on for the skimming considering you done fuk all? Why did the job have to be done so soon this usually means someones pulled out and i think i know why. im sure you charged more than an hours work to board the ceiling so let us know your rate. Also the other job your dangling on a carrot i suppose your doing that for fuk all aswell when has that got to be done and what are you willing to pay for that?
 
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