prices - do you have set prices in your head?

[Puddle]

I responded to the first post and after re reading it I still am of the same opinion, as regarding answering that post, through q-plumbs replies, the goal posts have been moved about 30 ft
Q plumb is not employed full time, is on minimum wage and doing his best
I respect his time and effort in his responses
This forum is not clicky at all, you will get alot of plain speaking and straight down the line advice and to be fair I based mine on the first post, not enough details were given; if more details had been given,probably a completely different set of responses would have been given
What I would say, as others have stated, do not under sell your self, I would have thought you have moved into plumbing to earn a decent wage to support your partner and two children,I mean three,could be twins maybe four ,not five surely,anyway, this will not be helped by badly under pricing
Imagine when you are up and running and you go round to a job give a quote and the customer says p~ss off, have bloke who will do it at the weekend for £40, do not think you will be to happy
I still maintain if you are correctly employed by a local plumbing company,earning a decent wage,privates,forieners , barrow jobs,whatever must be controlled to small works and the allowance of works discussed with the company, maybe not such a big issue in the bigger cities but in small towns ect it is

 

[moony]

I responded to the first post and after re reading it I still am of the same opinion, as regarding answering that post, through q-plumbs replies, the goal posts have been moved about 30 ft
Q plumb is not employed full time, is on minimum wage and doing his best
I respect his time and effort in his responses
This forum is not clicky at all, you will get alot of plain speaking and straight down the line advice and to be fair I based mine on the first post, not enough details were given; if more details had been given,probably a completely different set of responses would have been given
What I would say, as others have stated, do not under sell your self, I would have thought you have moved into plumbing to earn a decent wage to support your partner and two children,I mean three,could be twins maybe four ,not five surely,anyway, this will not be helped by badly under pricing
Imagine when you are up and running and you go round to a job give a quote and the customer says p~ss off, have bloke who will do it at the weekend for £40, do not think you will be to happy
I still maintain if you are correctly employed by a local plumbing company,earning a decent wage,privates,forieners , barrow jobs,whatever must be controlled to small works and the allowance of works discussed with the company, maybe not such a big issue in the bigger cities but in small towns ect it is

i understand what your saying puddle - i didnt think id have to go into too much detail to be fair - perhaps i should of done - if i knew what i knew now - i would of charged more - the point is i didnt and was asking advice as he said forty was cheap i did not expect that reply at the time thats why i come on here to ask the more experienced lads you included if youd mind telling me what the going rate was (perhaps i shouldnt of asked but this mindset by not asking my boss what he charged was what caused the naivity in pricing in the first place) i understand your view point totally and from a business owners point of view i can see why it would annoy you, but please if you re-read my first post i do make out that i dont do many jobs and thought it come across that i havent got a clue about what to charge and was asking for advice from people who knew what to charge.

thanks for the reply though. appreciated.

 

[REDSAW]

lets put my view straight,
firstly welcome to this forum,
i do like a good laugh.
however,
for a newbie to come on to a site without explaining their full time vocation and back ground to go and ask what you asked out right, was a little pretentious in my initial opinion, and thats all it was.
in my understanding you phrased it like, you are a bannana picker in the day, moonlighting in the evenings doing d.i.y plumbing for
unsusceptible members of the public with the premise of giving the plumbing industry a bad name. upon doing so, it gave me the impression of someone 'fishing' for knowledge on an open forum to the equivellance of ripping the skills of a professional plumbing buisness of their practice.

if you can comprehend my theory:-

how to earn ££££££££££££'s from plumbing,

1/ look at ways to make extra cash.
2/ earn back-handers tax free when not working.
3/ rip the knowledge and practices of plumbers from the internet.
4/ pose as a plumber using one-of adds.
= cowboy plumber.

it clinched it for me when you mentioned fitting a bath in 2 hours.
yes i can too and tile & seal it, but it wouldn't be my best work (4hr + norm), if you had said 1st fix bath then that would have been different. i have visited many homes with bath problems where they are leaking etc, to be told 'my brother or landlord fitted it' and yes, the state of workmanship is that i can do it to these standards in perhaps an hour.

there is countless jokers that post on this forum asking for 'strange advice' when it is clear 'fishing' tactics and that they are not in the best interest for 'genuine' reasons, the longer you are a member of this forum the more you see that are obvious.

however, in this case you seem genuine. we are not at work on here so when one takes the pss take it with a pinch of salt and learn to laugh😀 or add extra information for the understanding of readers to your posts before you get the hump. then the advice will flood in.😛

friends?.😱

boy, did i know this thread would be a good un'😀
well done q-plumb.

 

[bri-w]

The guy did a job for someone he works with, he undercharged him, realised, then came here to ask what he should have charged, wrongly as it turns out.

q-plumb.....pm me if you need to price a job and your not sure, or perhaps redsaw might be a better source🙄.....

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/general-off-topic-chat/5387-how-big-yours-hmmm.html

 

[REDSAW]

purple patch bri, purple patch😀

i did the same job last year for my gran for a tenner. thats my goin rate,
or £50 a day for close family, or £200 for-in-laws😀 generally £30 ph is good for anyone-anywhere,.

 

[moony]

lets put my view straight,
firstly welcome to this forum,
i do like a good laugh.
however,
for a newbie to come on to a site without explaining their full time vocation and back ground to go and ask what you asked out right, was a little pretentious in my initial opinion, and thats all it was.
in my understanding you phrased it like, you are a bannana picker in the day, moonlighting in the evenings doing d.i.y plumbing for
unsusceptible members of the public with the premise of giving the plumbing industry a bad name. upon doing so, it gave me the impression of someone 'fishing' for knowledge on an open forum to the equivellance of ripping the skills of a professional plumbing buisness of their practice.

if you can comprehend my theory:-

how to earn ££££££££££££'s from plumbing,

1/ look at ways to make extra cash.
2/ earn back-handers tax free when not working.
3/ rip the knowledge and practices of plumbers from the internet.
4/ pose as a plumber using one-of adds.
= cowboy plumber.

it clinched it for me when you mentioned fitting a bath in 2 hours.
yes i can too and tile & seal it, but it wouldn't be my best work (4hr + norm), if you had said 1st fix bath then that would have been different. i have visited many homes with bath problems where they are leaking etc, to be told 'my brother or landlord fitted it' and yes, the state of workmanship is that i can do it to these standards in perhaps an hour.

there is countless jokers that post on this forum asking for 'strange advice' when it is clear 'fishing' tactics and that they are not in the best interest for 'genuine' reasons, the longer you are a member of this forum the more you see that are obvious.

however, in this case you seem genuine. we are not at work on here so when one takes the pss take it with a pinch of salt and learn to laugh😀 or add extra information for the understanding of readers to your posts before you get the hump. then the advice will flood in.😛

friends?.😱

boy, did i know this thread would be a good un'😀
well done q-plumb.

hi mate i dont tile - so yeah it would be first fix, but if someone asked me to do the bath the bath would be in working sealed etc in 2 hours but i obviouosly know that people charge a lot more for that, thats the reason i asked

friends - of course mate, im not an obnoxioous twit haha, and i do understand some of you have businesses to run, but yeah i am genuine and a long way off starting a business lol, lets get this level 3 completed first then a few years on a full wage would be nice lol.

Cheers for the comments

The guy did a job for someone he works with, he undercharged him, realised, then came here to ask what he should have charged, wrongly as it turns out.

q-plumb.....pm me if you need to price a job and your not sure, or perhaps redsaw might be a better source🙄.....

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/general-off-topic-chat/5387-how-big-yours-hmmm.html

cheers bri - you got it in one matey, thanks for the offer really appreciated.

 

[Winston]

Wow this thread has been a bit heated and if I may give my view even though I am a newby to the trade. I have received the odd call to a job and its been say for the elderly and a two minute job. How much have I charged? Nowt my reasoning is behind this is that I am genuinely honest. I have even refused to accept the tenner that they have offered me.

Some may not approve and some may mock, but it is my choice.

However it is essential that you as a individual truely value the skill and you workmanship and the service which you provide.

I have had a job every evening this week all small jobs toilet syphons, inlet valves, blocked toilets and so on. And even though I do not operate with a call out charge I need to make a living, and each of these jobs has been about £100.

I admire you for working and doing your training at your age and for the money you are paid, in fact I am jealous. I have spent all this week with three timed served gas engineers as they knew I was down in the dumbts from a recent possible claim from a cheating and fraudlent customer.

I have worked from 7.30 till 3 and not for a single penny, what have I got from it is priceless. I have learnt more this week than I have from my 10 week course. And from a year of trading on my own, and not only that I have worked along three superb guys and loved the banter.

All I can say regarding the £40 for the rad job it is far far to cheap and round my way it would be £200 + materials, but good luck. And this is the best forum I have seen regarding the passing of knowledge and support.

 

[helpsy]

Yes Winston, you're absolutely spot on, this is by a long way the best forum going.

 

[migoplumber]

of course its the best forum in the world, and a nice place to be 🙂

 

[Plouasne]

Unless its "jobbing" plumbing, where its a time and material basis, you really aught to have a time for each item of work, and cost it that way

Fixed overheads + all the other cost listed by other posters = annual costs divided by the hours you work in a year ( say 46 weeks a year working / 5 days a week / 8 hours a day; 40 hours a week x 46 = 1840 hours a year)

Say for example your fixed costs come to £8750 a year 8750 divided by 1840 = £ 4.76 an hour, and in what you want for a wage say £20/hour, for round figures call the all in sum £25, divide by 60 for minutes 0.4166p/min,

For example: running 15 mm copper tube clipped every metre = 5 mins/mtr; 5 x 4166 = £2.33p

15 mm soldered elbow = 7 min; 7 x 4166 = £2.9162

Make up a W/C (fitting syphon, ball valve, overflow connector and fitting to pan, fixing in place) no cold feed or overflow nor is the soil pipe = 1 hour = £25

 

[Phil]

This term forieners, I've never heard it before either.

Q-plumb, when you say you fit a bath in two hours do you use battons to support the back and sides?

This forum has grown in popularity this year, probably due to the death of the Screwfix Plumbers Talk. Ultimate Handyman and Trusted Tradesmen forums get too little traffic for my liking. Diynot is good though.

 

[P4ULT]

purple patch bri, purple patch😀

i did the same job last year for my gran for a tenner. thats my goin rate,
or £50 a day for close family, or £200 for-in-laws😀 generally £30 ph is good for anyone-anywhere,.

is that £200 a day

 

[Puddle]

I would want £200 a day to put up with my in-laws,thats before I do ought 😀

If you are talking about mother- in- law,probably £200 an hour,cash up front 😛

 

[moony]

This term forieners, I've never heard it before either.

Q-plumb, when you say you fit a bath in two hours do you use battons to support the back and sides?

This forum has grown in popularity this year, probably due to the death of the Screwfix Plumbers Talk. Ultimate Handyman and Trusted Tradesmen forums get too little traffic for my liking. Diynot is good though.

yeah mate thats not the bath panel though just the taps waste levelled working... battons on the back and side. it was just a general comment and example so hopefull we're not going to be arguin over that now lol.

If you are talking about mother- in- law,probably £200 an hour,cash up front 😛

and the rest haha

 

[REDSAW]

is that £200 a day

lets put it this way, and no bull this time!

i have been asked by the in-laws to change 2 sink plug-holes and one bidet waste in one of their bathrooms, re; cause there not shinny enough.ok

i will charge them £180!!!😱

then if alls well they may have the other 6 bathrooms wastes changed afterwards 🙂

fitting and building me mam a new vanity unit/custom, i will charge her £10.

 

[stevetheplumber]

lets put it this way, and no bull this time!

i have been asked by the in-laws to change 2 sink plug-holes and one bidet waste in one of their bathrooms, re; cause there not shinny enough.ok

i will charge them £180!!!😱

then if alls well they may have the other 6 bathrooms wastes changed afterwards 🙂

fitting and building me mam a new vanity unit/custom, i will charge her £10.

little tip when changing pop ups that are discolerd you can often wind the waste fitting out from the top by hooking a pair of small footprints in to the slots in the fitting then wind new one back in saves taking basin of the wall

 

[REDSAW]

little tip when changing pop ups that are discolerd you can often wind the waste fitting out from the top by hooking a pair of small footprints in to the slots in the fitting then wind new one back in saves taking basin of the wall

thanks steve,
i have been hovering over that idea hoping it works becauese the bidet is tiled in and on the floor so have to chip out completely, prob is its a pop-up rod so just round hole?.

the basins are worse, tiled in pedastal by 1/2 inch and tight to waste nut under😡 looking for ultra slim 1 1/4 box spanner or do it from top. tightening so no leaks going to be difficult tho.

 

[stevetheplumber]

thanks steve,
i have been hovering over that idea hoping it works becauese the bidet is tiled in and on the floor so have to chip out completely, prob is its a pop-up rod so just round hole?.

the basins are worse, tiled in pedastal by 1/2 inch and tight to waste nut under😡 looking for ultra slim 1 1/4 box spanner or do it from top. tightening so no leaks going to be difficult tho.

if the basins are normal slotted wastes get those waste washer kits that have a conical rubber washer there pretty leak proof even if you cant get them realy tight i wouldnt use then as a rule there an un necessary exspence as plumbers mate is normally fine if you use a poly washer instead of the silly rubber one that comes with most waste fittings now