Your price is too high, too low and just right?

Your price is too high, too low and just right?

We hear it all the time, your price is too high, we also hear your price was the lowest as well as it was right in the middle? How can this be?

The simple answer is we estimate everything, for the most part, the same way with the same prices and known production rates so what is the one difference on each project? The client is the unknown on each estimate.

Why the gap?

Everyone has their own idea of what something will cost, when you go to buy a car and look at a new BMW vs a used car from another lot, of course, there is a price difference. When you go to a fancy restaurant vs a Tgi Friday's you are aware there will be a price difference, it's expected.

But when you hire any contractor you expect all the pricing to come in around the same amount?

What's the difference?

Unless each contractor is on the estimate at the same time, using the same paint and has spoken to the same person on the site you will not have a chance of getting the same pricing from the contractors and even then it will all be different as each contractor runs their business a completely different way.

• One may use all subcontractors and gamble they won't get caught by the Irs misclassifying their painters
• One may have insurance but no workman's compensation
• One may not have a training program for their employees and just gambles each job goes well
• Do they treat their employees well? Are they happy? One secret in the painting industry is painters are migrants, they go from company to company once they burn their bridges from the other companies or anytime they can make an extra dollar. This is one reason we take recruiting very seriously and don't necessarily look for the 10,20-year experienced painters.

So what's the deal

What I am saying is we one price someone thinks seems high may actually below to someone else and it has nothing to do with how much money they have.

We hear all the time our cabinet refinishing prices are high, however, we are doing 5 cabinet projects a week and are always busy. Not every contractor is for every person, the same as not every store in the mall is for everyone, some may shop at WalMart and be thrilled and others prefer Macy's. That doesn't make you cheap or snobby at all.

It's also not a reason to get angry at the contractor, if a contractor is a low baller and that is their business model so be it, on the other hand, if they charge a price for what they give and it is loaded with value a price can be attached to that and it may seem high upfront.

here is a video we recently did on this subject.