Can we get a ratio on these prices?

[jaylectricity]

Answer the following as per your region, discard any "first hour" or "show up" fee:

1. How much do you charge per hour?
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are?
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are?
4. How much is an oil change?
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for?
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for?

Here is one that varies widely even within 10 minutes of my home town:

What is the minimum price of a permit in your town?

 

[LarryFine]

Answer the following as per your region, discard any "first hour" or "show up" fee:

1. How much do you charge per hour?
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are?
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are?
4. How much is an oil change?
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for?
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for?

Here is one that varies widely even within 10 minutes of my home town:

What is the minimum price of a permit in your town?

Gee, to answer this many questions, I'm gonna have to ask for a dispatch fee.

 

[electricmanscott]

The only thing worse would be a telephone survey asking these quetsions.

 

[TOOL_5150]

1. How much do you charge per hour? $150
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? 3.25 or so
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? less than gas
4. How much is an oil change? $20
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? no idea, renting is a waste of money
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? 2-300K
7: What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? $60


~Matt

 

[wireperson]

thinking about moving to a better paid region jayelectricity?
what are the the answers to those questions in your area?

 

[petersonra]

Answer the following as per your region, discard any "first hour" or "show up" fee:

1. How much do you charge per hour? unable to answer due to company policy
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? about $2.50
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? I don't drink milk but I see it advertised regularly for $1.49 per half gallon
4. How much is an oil change? about $30
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? no idea
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? I would guess in the $50-60k range.
Here is one that varies widely even within 10 minutes of my home town:

What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? fence permits are 50 cents

I am guessing a lot of this stuff varies radically from area to area.

 

[jaylectricity]

thinking about moving to a better paid region jayelectricity?
what are the the answers to those questions in your area?

Valid retort, good sir...here are my answers:

1. How much do you charge per hour? $50-$75
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? It just went up from $2.31 to $2.47
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? $3.89 at the grocery store, $2.79 at certain convenience stores
4. How much is an oil change? $20-$30
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? $700-$1000
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? 2-300K
7: What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? $15

Not looking to change towns, just trying to help all of you get an idea as to why other posters on this forum have higher or lower prices than you.

 

[Mr. Wizard]

1. How much do you charge per hour? $75
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? $2.35 down the street
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? $2.89 at the grocery store
4. How much is an oil change? $14, I change my own oil
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? $350 - $600 utilities paid
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? $55k to $85k
7: What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? $30

The answers above reflect conditions down here.

 

[jmsbrush]

Not looking to change towns, just trying to help all of you get an idea as to why other posters on this forum have higher or lower prices than you.

Permits and gas are the only two things I see in the post that should have anything to do with rates,
Finding ones true cost is the biggest denominator.
Aline and 480 have posted many times the list of items that should be talked about right now.

 

[jmsbrush]

Oops, I forgot the oil changes.

 

[satcom]

The pricing issues, have nothing to do area costs, or anything on your list, pricing for profit requires the person doing the estimate, has some self worth, they must believe that their time is of value, for that to happen, they must feel a comfort level, with their skills and knowladge of the trade. So some questions we may need to ask, when someone is bidding low, is do they have the skills and knowladge, or do they feel they lack them, and don't feel they are worth the higher price of a well skilled craftsman. Many times these guys have the skills, and knowladge, but have some issues with business dealings, they only need a mentor, the walk them thru the steps, to change their direction from loss to profit, over the years I had contractors ask for help, usually after they were on the way down or at the bottom, and usually all they needed was a little help restoring their self worth sort of giving them permission to price themself as someone of value.

 

[Ohmy]

It makes since to get an idea of what others our charging compared to the cost of living in their town. What the other guy charges will always be important. If you do a break even calculation and find out that you need $400 a billable hour to stay in business you probably are going to have trouble in many towns. Likewise, if you do a break even calculation and find that you can stay in business at $105 a billable hour, you probably can charge more in many towns.

 

[Dnkldorf]

What the other guy charges will always be important.

Yes it will.

+1

 

[satcom]

The other guy may have no idea of what his actual costs are, he may of pulled prices out of the air, or looked at someone else himself, what value is looking at what someone else charges when you have no idea if they make of loose money. Every business, will have different overhead and operating costs, some will be well equipped and have well paid employees, with benifits, and others may have little or no assets and have low paid employees with no benifits. So your looking at apples and lemons, but if anyone thinks square pegs fit in round holes, then the looking may help them.

 

[jmsbrush]

The other guy may have no idea of what his actual costs are, he may of pulled prices out of the air, or looked at someone else himself, what value is looking at what someone else charges when you have no idea if they make of loose money. Every business, will have different overhead and operating costs, some will be well equipped and have well paid employees, with benifits, and others may have little or no assets and have low paid employees with no benifits. So your looking at apples and lemons, but if anyone thinks square pegs fit in round holes, then the looking may help them.

This is so true. What baffles me the most is that some do not get or understand these simple business truths.

 

[bradleyelectric]

This is so true. What baffles me the most is that some do not get or understand these simple business truths.

It's all rather simple. If he charges $85/hr and he has all that overhead, we should be able to do it for $70. That's all anyone really needs to know. See, there is no way to do business without knowing the other guys prices.

 

[aline]

It's all rather simple. If he charges $85/hr and he has all that overhead, we should be able to do it for $70.

If you can do it for $70 then I should be able to do it for $65.

 

[Chenley]

1. How much do you charge per hour? Around $55/hr; Union's @ $65/hr
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? $2.299/gal
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? $2 somethin'
4. How much is an oil change? ~$20
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? $200-350
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? $65k - 150k
What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? $50

 

[bradleyelectric]

If you can do it for $70 then I should be able to do it for $65.

That's right, I have those extra trucks. You don't. You can do it for $65!!

 

[PetrosA]

I'm not sure I understand how housing prices (both rent and purchase) DON'T affect how much your bottom line is. If your employee has to pay $300 a month for rent, you can pay him a lot less than if the going rate is $1000 per month. Same with bought housing - if you as the owner are looking at $85k to satisfy your housing needs, you need much less income to qualify for that mortgage than if the same housing cost 250-300k.

1. How much do you charge per hour? $50-$75/hr
2. How much is a gallon of gas where you are? $2.53/gal
3. How much is a gallon of milk where you are? $5?
4. How much is an oil change? ~$35
5. How much does a one bedroom apartment go for? without roaches and rats, about $700-$1000/mth
6. How much does a two bedroom house with a small yard go for? ~$200-$250k
What is the minimum price of a permit in your town? $40