Quoting Low

[mckeetree]

if the homeowner brings up other bids. I will ask. I bid on 2 small yard maples Saturday. they needed climbed and the drag was about 20 yards. they were small though about a half day for me and 1 guy. I quoted $200 a tree without the stumps. he told me the other guy was cheaper. I said how much, he said another guy said $125 for both. I scoffed and said yeah right. he got pretty pissed thinking I was calling him a liar. I told him theres no way I would ever consider doing them for that price. I wouldn't be surprised if he got that price too. theres a couple companies that the owner cant make more than $50/day.

Since 2003 or so we don't even fool with jobs that are less than $600 in house. We have a couple of subs we farm out some
of the $300 and $400 stuff that comes in. We usually make about $150 on that type of crap but it has to be a one trip deal
for us. No going back to collect...we get the job and the billing info and that's it...one trip. If I can't communicate with the sub
well enough to explain the job without going back to the site I just say forget it.

 

[treesmith]

If you want top quality work by people who give a **** then here's our price, if you want a hack with a set of spikes, a saw and a few arboricultural sounding sayings then feel free to employ them, we have better things to do and we have turned down retarded customers before.

Arborist, not wood cutter, nor tree lopper

 

[sgreanbeans]

I do take on smalls, I tell the HO that it will be a filler and that they may have to wait a bit. Sometimes, if I have not had the time to slide them in. I will go out and do a day of them. When we do this, often it adds up to a pretty decent day. Running around town with just my 250 and dump trailer.

 

[IHateTrees]

I am the cheapest and most expensive guy in town. My landlords know they are getting the best price by almost half from a fully insured and professional crew. My home owners know they are paying a premium for a great group of trustworthy guys who do outstanding work, respect their property, are service orientated, and who show up in new trucks wearing PPE. TLDR Jim the crack head will do a "removal" for $700.00, I'll do it for $900, you can trust the guys who I send with your kids, and at the end of the day it will look like there was never a tree there.

 

[benjo75]

I won't ask. If they tell me, it doesn't affect my price. My price is my price, rich or poor, good or bad. There are enough hacks needing beer money that will underbid any price just to get the job. I would rather miss a few jobs than to wear out my body and equipment just for the luxury of working for free. Then when the good jobs come along I'm more rested and ready. The homeowners get what they pay for. I will ask if they're just thumbing through the phone book looking for the lowest price. If they are, I'll go ahead and give them their number to save them some time. And they always end up with a crew with no ppe and other questionable attributes. And about 10 percent of the time I get called in to reach the more dangerous parts by the tree service that underbid me. Or to clean up a mess that got left.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I like the look on their face when I tell them that I don't try to be the cheapest, I try to be the most expensive. We all risk our lives every time we leave the ground, why on earth would I want to be the cheapest.

Honestly, if you risk your life every time you leave the ground your doing it wrong.

 

[beastmaster]

I work for this one guy who is always the high bid. He'll tell them up front I'm not going to be your lowest bid, then proceed to explain why they should use his company. People who don't care about their trees and just wants the lowest bid are bad news anyway. There is a lot of competition in that market. If you allow your self to compete for those jobs you'll be associated with the crowd. The quality jobs, and the people who understand what good tree care is and have the money to spend for it is a small market, but one worth persueing.

 

[Superjunior2]

When I bid a job where the client is getting a few quotes I tell them strait up that I'm not the cheapest, nor am I the highest, I'm usually somewhere in the middle. Most customers I deal with respect that and arent looking for budget boys. I have a good understanding of what my competition charges (hell I'm friends with a lot of them) and we have a friendly agreement not to step on each other. I help out a lot of tree company's and I can call on them if I need help. Its sooo much nicer being in tight with what is supposed to be your competition, it's almost an unfair advantage.

On the other side of the coin. There is one ass hole, low life, **********, peice of ****, mother ****er cut throat maggot in our area that just needs to die. Inhereted money, didn't work up to what he has. Has all the toys, three crews.. He's the guy that goes up to customers and first thing insists on seing other quotes so he can beat them. He prides himself on "will beat any price'. He will go out of his way to deliberately do harm to other tree guys (good people too) for no other reason then try to better his pathetic existence. He solicits my employees. I actually got into a bidding war for my climber last year and at 40.00 an hour, I let him win. **** em both. And 2 weeks after that, my ex climber put low life maggots brand new shiny crane right into someone's living room! Turned their house into a duplex. Ahhh, gotta love karma..

Rant over, carry on..

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I

When I bid a job where the client is getting a few quotes I tell them strait up that I'm not the cheapest, nor am I the highest, I'm usually somewhere in the middle. Most customers I deal with respect that and arent looking for budget boys. I have a good understanding of what my competition charges (hell I'm friends with a lot of them) and we have a friendly agreement not to step on each other. I help out a lot of tree company's and I can call on them if I need help. Its sooo much nicer being in tight with what is supposed to be your competition, it's almost an unfair advantage.

On the other side of the coin. There is one ass hole, low life, **********, peice of ****, mother ****er cut throat maggot in our area that just needs to die. Inhereted money, didn't work up to what he has. Has all the toys, three crews.. He's the guy that goes up to customers and first thing insists on seing other quotes so he can beat them. He prides himself on "will beat any price'. He will go out of his way to deliberately do harm to other tree guys (good people too) for no other reason then try to better his pathetic existence. He solicits my employees. I actually got into a bidding war for my climber last year and at 40.00 an hour, I let him win. **** em both. And 2 weeks after that, my ex climber put low life maggots brand new shiny crane right into someone's living room! Turned their house into a duplex. Ahhh, gotta love karma..

Rant over, carry on..

yup! Same here. I have a great relationship with lots of my "competition" and not so much with two companies, owned by the same family. :****you:

 

[treecutterjr]

Tree work is a Co-opetition

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