I guess I was high

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Jerseydaze

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Stupid Service magic estimate to kill time.4 Landscape lights suppled by HO I supply about 75' 12-2 low volt cable indoor trans snake a new switch from open basement.I figure it at $745 She gasps says someone will do it for $300. What do you guys think?
 
Jerseydaze said:
I figure it at $745 She gasps says someone will do it for $300.
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I think I would have asked her if the quote was from an electrician or a local handyman.

I don't know what the job should go for but $300 sounds a bit on the cheap side.

Is a permit required for this work in your area?
 
roger3829 said:
If it's landscape lighting, the the quote was probably from her landscaper......
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The funny thing here is we usually get the homeowner saying we gave the job to the landscape designer, your price was too low, we were worried you do not know how to do the job, and you would not do the job right.

We priced 4 lights at $670, the landscape guy wanted $2400 and got the job, they all price high in my area, and they give the homeowner a nice layout dwg, I guess the BS and plans sell the job. Intresting to hear your landscape guys are on the low side.
 
Jerseydaze said:
Stupid Service magic estimate to kill time.4 Landscape lights suppled by HO I supply about 75' 12-2 low volt cable indoor trans snake a new switch from open basement.I figure it at $745 She gasps says someone will do it for $300. What do you guys think?
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I think your bid is twice as high,without seeing the scope of the job I cannot tell what a bid should be it may be a 2 hour job or it could be a 4 hour job.I may be off but I think around $100.00 for material and then labor.
 
sign up the other guy

sign up the other guy

She already knows the benefit gained by hiring the other guy.
For a minute or so, I'd make her aware of the risks of hiring the other guy.

Or, you could do what cops call "running out the alibi." Ask her who it was, what exactly he bid on, what are his qualifications, etc, etc. and point out exactly what your bid price covers.
 
Rewire said:
I think your bid is twice as high,without seeing the scope of the job I cannot tell what a bid should be it may be a 2 hour job or it could be a 4 hour job.I may be off but I think around $100.00 for material and then labor.
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Where do you get a transformer for under a hundred bucks???
 
langjahr@comcast.net said:
She already knows the benefit gained by hiring the other guy.
For a minute or so, I'd make her aware of the risks of hiring the other guy.

Or, you could do what cops call "running out the alibi." Ask her who it was, what exactly he bid on, what are his qualifications, etc, etc. and point out exactly what your bid price covers.
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I have very seldom seen this angle work putting down a competitor never builds you up it makes you look like a sore looser. I find it more advantageous to tell the customer the benefit of using my company. I usually start out by telling them that all our work comes with a one year gaurantee on material that we carry workmans comp to protect them should a worker injure themselves at the job we will be happy to provide references from people we have worked with last week ,last month and last year. ETC.. I have talked myself into several jobs were I was high bid.
 
It seems a tad high to me but I don't know how much work is actually involved. But the question raised about the transformer is one I was trying to figure out just last week. If I get a transformer from my lighting supplier it will be several hundred dollars. If you go to the box stores you can get one of the appropriate size for cheap as Rewire has posted. That could be the difference between getting a job like that and not. What is so different about these two products that justify such a huge price difference? Aren't they essentially the same thing?
 
Rewire said:
Item # 72830
Model # ML200RTL
Lowes $43.20
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Get yourself a nice Malibu cheap enough your sure to get the job and you get the added benefit of being able to make $65/yr replacing it every season until the HO gives up. With any luck the HO supplied lights will be nice Malibu units that will need the sockets fooled with on a regular basis. That there is some good service work waiting to happen.
 
ishium 80439 said:
What is so different about these two products that justify such a huge price difference? Aren't they essentially the same thing?
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Yeah, the Mercedes and the helpers Dodge Charger are both cars too. I can't figure out what the difference is. I may have to appoligize for these past couple posts. My buddy asked me today what part of my monthly cycle I'm on today.
 
I got an email by mistake from a prospective customer who intended to send the email to the low bidder (not me). I couldn't resist replying that if it didn't work out with the other guy, I'm still happy to do the work. I mostly wanted to let her know that I got the email just in case she sent it "accidentally on purpose" just to jag me. I wanted her to see that I was still happy. :smile: I've got my eye on that job now anyhow, because it's got a tricky code issue to sort out.
 
I just don't have much experience w/ the "malibu's" of the world. Any time I spec landscape lights I get them from my supplier. My point was there doesn't seem to be a lot of parts to go bad. Aren't they both just coils of wire? Do the cheap ones really have that high a failure rate? It is definately one of those things that the HO can see and choke on the price difference and at this point I'm not sure that I have a reasonable explanation. If they truly have a drastically shorter life span than that will be my answer. I just don't want to fall into the trap of "it must be better, it costs more".
 
I've fixed a fair number of landscape lights. They seem to fill full of water easily.. I woudn't want to warranty cheap ones..
 
One of the reasons the landscape guys ask more for an installation is, they first sell the design, not the installation, they use quality lights which they can apply a nice mark-up, and they install proper sized transformers, and don't cheat on the wire sizes, all said we might learn something from them, sell up scale and make more overall, with a happy customer, spend a little time learning how to arrange lighting for customer appeal. Wow them with your unique designs, and show stopper lighting. It's not just slap in cheap junk for most customers looking to showcase their property.
 
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