LANSCAPING PLANT PRICES HELP

[louslawns]

Someone plz tell me if i have these prices right i figure i go to the local nursery and get prices of plants ooh by the way i live in central florida in tampa bay so here are some examples i get for instance a 3 gallon croton for 7$ and i charge 14 per plant i just double all my plants like nandina domestica 7$ also 14 a 15 gallon magnolia tree is 90 i charge 180 anyway u get the point should i charge labor on top of the or should i just double the plants and the price of mulch and leave the labor cost in the plants and mulch i did a house not to long a go and the customer enjoyed their design alot and i got some good compliments but i just charged them plants doubled and mulch doubled and labor the whole project cost them 3500 with tax did i charge right or are my prices to high to low or should i not charge labor on top of that

[lawnut]

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for plants and trees, we charge 3 times the price. Lets say if it costs $7, we will charge $7 to plant it. If it dies, we already have the additional $7 for replacement. Therefore, charge will be $21.

This is how we charge, unless it is a large job. If it is 1 tree or a few shrubs, this is what we charge.

[louslawns]

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so does your average run of the mill residential customer usually pay this price and how many jobs have you gotten form doing it that way just curious???

[Scaper-S2k]

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You could see problems down the road with pricing done like that.

You should have a markup price for material cost which should be seperate from your labor costs.

An example would be to figure your wholesale prices for materials, and mark them up 42%.

Then figure ALL man hour costs involved in the project multiplied by a given percent. Like 5 man hours at $20 per hour times 125%.

Not sure if you are tracking overhead expenses, but that should be figured in as well.

If someone asks for 10 $7 plants, your method would leave you only $70 to cover drive time, loading truck, unloading, layout, planting, and warranty. That would be tough and still make a profit after you paid gas, insurance, and all other expenses.


So bare minimum. Let's say 10 plants at $7 each....$70. Total using the 42% example would be about $99.50.

Labor of say 2 hours at $16 per at 125% would be close to around $72.

Total would be around $172, not $140.


That is the bare basic example. And those percents are examples as well. Overhead and other factors will be added in or changed. You will see that prices of materials can vary, and plant sizes can vary, but you can still accurately bid the job by seperating the two. If you must negotiate price, you will be wanting to change your Material Markup, never the LABOR markup.


Either way, seperate materials and labor, then figure each price per category, then add. Don't show percents on the bid. Don't show man hours on the bid, or $$ per man hour.

[lawnut]

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Lou, we have never had any problems with pricing. We have a pretty good ratio on jobs bid. Close to 60% is jobs for current customers.

I can really understand what Scaper is saying. He really makes a lot of sense.

I guess we get quite a bit of work due to low bidding. We don't do it intentially, just not a whole lot of overhead to meet at this time. But, believe me, I am really going to look into what Scaper just had to say.

TAKE HIS ADVICE!!! Sounds GREAT!

[Scaper-S2k]

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Lawnut, don't get me wrong, many times the '3 times' charge will come close. But having said that, you may run into higher than normal totals, or lower than normal totals. You are basing your profit off what the nursery happens to sell the plant material for. Know what I mean? So as their price flucuates, your profit does as well. That may turn out to be a bad thing down the road for large jobs or odd jobs that require small plants that happen to be expensive.

There is nothing wrong with doing it your way, as long as in the end, you have covered all of your bases. It does get you close. Just for fun, run through your numbers on a few jobs just to check it out and be on the safe side. That method of pricing is sometimes referred to as S.W.A.G. pricing because it does give you a general idea of where you should be at.

[lawnut]

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thanks, Scaper!

I will look in to some of my latest jobs.

Thanks again!!!!!