# Pricing book..



## Ashleymc (Nov 14, 2009)

I know I have seen this somewhere here but can anyone shoot me the link to buying a plumbing and or heating repair flat rate manual..
Some of my (RR) competitors are showing some kind of pricing book with big prices like $400 flat for a kitchen line snakeout.
I want to have something similiar for my own interest but mainly to point to when the customer "thinks" my price is unfair!:jester:
Or are these "pricing books" just something they make up themselves?
Inputs??:whistling2:


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

So let me get this straight, you want to obtain a copy of your competitor's pricebook, so you can undercut them???:furious: That is a low and underhanded tactic.

I doubt anyone here has a copy of your local competitor's pricebook, and even if they did, it would be illegal to give you a copy without your competitor's approval.

Make your own pricing and stop worrying about the competition.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

service guy said:


> So let me get this straight, you want to obtain a copy of your competitor's pricebook, so you can undercut them???:furious: That is a low and underhanded tactic.
> 
> Make your own pricing and stop worrying about the competition.


Maybe I missed something,but what I *read* was that Ashleymc was asking for a link to buy his own price book, not his competitors. Where do you read that he is asking for a copy of his competitors?


Ashleymc go here, Randall can help you.

www.upfrontprice.com


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## dankman (Nov 19, 2009)

service guy said:


> So let me get this straight, you want to obtain a copy of your competitor's pricebook, so you can undercut them???:furious: That is a low and underhanded tactic.
> 
> I doubt anyone here has a copy of your local competitor's pricebook, and even if they did, it would be illegal to give you a copy without your competitor's approval.
> 
> Make your own pricing and stop worrying about the competition.


In my area there is a guy that owns a local flat rate franchise who will actually come out and drop off one of his price books to any plumbing company that wants to see it, as long as they'll return it to him. He's hoping the other companies in town will see how much they are getting for work and begin charging along the same lines as he does.


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## Don The Plumber (Feb 14, 2010)

Other than maybe a water heater replacement, faucet replacement, or toilet replacement,[Which is still questionable] I could never see how flat rate could work. Every job is different. IMO, flat rate jobs are always the, looking for cheapest guy job.


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

ChrisConnor said:


> Maybe I missed something,but what I *read* was that Ashleymc was asking for a link to buy his own price book, not his competitors. Where do you read that he is asking for a copy of his competitors?
> 
> 
> Ashleymc go here, Randall can help you.
> ...


Maybe I misunderstood him. * AshleyMC, I apologize if this is the case!*:icon_redface:
It sounded to me like you wanted to point to a pricebook to show that your competition charges higher than you...but now I see, that you may have meant that you just want to have your own pricebook to reassure your customers that you charge everyone the same fair price.:yes:

In this case, its better to make your own pricebook based on your own unique company and your own unique costs of operation. There are many systems available to help you with this.

It was hard to understand your post, since you mentioned your competition's book, and you seem to have no idea how it works. Good luck.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

I love flatrate,it sends a steady supply of customers my way with very little advertising once homeowners have experienced some flatrate companies they look for somthing different. That would be me!!!! Flatraters keep up the good work!!


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

service guy said:


> Maybe I misunderstood him. *AshleyMC, I apologize if this is the case!*:icon_redface:
> It sounded to me like you wanted to point to a pricebook to show that your competition charges higher than you...but now I see, that you may have meant that you just want to have your own pricebook to reassure your customers that you charge everyone the same fair price.:yes:
> 
> In this case, its better to make your own pricebook based on your own unique company and your own unique costs of operation. There are many systems available to help you with this.
> ...


 
Looks to me like you had it right the first time.


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

I think if you reread OP post you'll see he was looking where to buy an industry standard flat rate manual that he could show his customers he was fair or below the industry standard. He even asks "Or do they make them up theirselves?" I just don't think he understands you put your own hourly cost of doing business in any commercially available flat rate manual so prices will vary.


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## 3KP (Jun 19, 2008)

Have you google flat rate pricing?

I made mine on my own. Took the price of material and mark it up % then figure how long it should take you to do the job. then mark it up % then add the 2 together = flat rate.

Example: material cost $150.00 + 30%= 195.00 then say your hrly is $100.00 your think you can do it in 2hrs with no problems so $200.00+30%=$260.00 so you add the $195.00+260.00 + your service charge of 60.00 the grand total is..$515.00 for the task. but if it takes you 3 hrs you can't raise the price you shown them unless there is another problem like a broken toilet flange. (can't see it until toilet is pulled)

Hope this helps?


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

3KP said:


> Have you google flat rate pricing?
> 
> 
> Example: material cost $150.00 + 30%= 195.00


The proper way to determine 30% markup on $150 is:

$150.00 / .70 = $214.29<<<<this is your proper markup price, so that you final selling price is properly 30% more than your material cost.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

ChrisConnor said:


> The proper way to determine 30% markup on $150 is:
> 
> $150.00 / .70 = $214.29<<<<this is your proper markup price, so that you final selling price is properly 30% more than your material cost.


 What would a 100% markup be?


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

TheMaster said:


> What would a 100% markup be?


$150.00/.01=$15,000.00


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## RealLivePlumber (Jun 22, 2008)

Piperat said:


> $150.00/.01=$15,000.00


 it would be $150.00 / .1 =$1500.00 (not .01)

and still


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

RealLivePlumber said:


> it would be $150.00 / .1 =$1500.00 (not .01)
> 
> and still


No thats 90% margin.:yes: Ok I did a little reading on this because the 100% kinda fried my brain a little bit.:laughing: The formula they are using is actually a Margin and not a markup. A 100% margin is not possible unless your product cost is $0.:no:

Example of a 90% margin is *90% of your selling price is profit.*
Example $100.00 selling price. Cost of product $10.00
$10.00/.10 = $100.00

30% margin = 30% of your selling price is profit.
$10.00/.70 = $14.29

Example of a 90% markup is *your product cost + 90% of your cost = selling price.*
$10.00 + ($10.00 x .90 = $9.00) = selling price of $19.00

30% Markup is your product cost + 30% of your cost.
$10.00 + ($10.00 x .30 = $3.00) = $13.00

Clear as MUD???:laughing:


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## 3KP (Jun 19, 2008)

*ratio on labor*

That's very intersting! 150/.7 huh wonder why it's done that way? I need to redue my price book.. 

So on labor you just leave it your labor rate or is the margin including that ratio as well?


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

3KP said:


> That's very intersting! 150/.7 huh wonder why it's done that way? I need to redue my price book..
> 
> So on labor you just leave it your labor rate or is the margin including that ratio as well?


That depends on how you price your labor. If your labor rate already includes overhead and profit you could just markup material but if your labor rate is at cost you could use this factor as well I suppose


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## 3KP (Jun 19, 2008)

Labor rate covers what it needs to I suppose :laughing: I been in business since 07 still here. :thumbup: would like things to pick up some though it's been kind of slow here this month. It's steady slow though.. Haven't set around for a whole day yet except weekends. I at least have 1-2 calls everyday


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Piperat said:


> No thats 90% margin.:yes: Ok I did a little reading on this because the 100% kinda fried my brain a little bit.:laughing: The formula they are using is actually a Margin and not a markup. A 100% margin is not possible unless your product cost is $0.:no:


 Thanks for clearing that up, I put "markup" when I should have put profit "margin". That's what I get for typing in a hurry. But I almost clarified it when I stated selling price.Almost. :thumbup:


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## ranman (Jan 24, 2010)

there are many pricing book kits out there. and from what i can tell, if you get the soft where you can set all your own pricing and profit. 

i really the aptora flat rate plus. kinda $$


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

Aptora is pricey; however, worth every penny. You can customize it as much as you like. 

You enter in your own labor rates, decide if you want to include a trip fee with every task, and print.

We tweaked the times on a few tasks and changed the material mark-up fields to reflect what is customary in our area. Adding different tasks was not a problem either.


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## ranman (Jan 24, 2010)

PlumbCrazy said:


> Aptora is pricey; however, worth every penny. You can customize it as much as you like.
> 
> You enter in your own labor rates, decide if you want to include a trip fee with every task, and print.
> 
> We tweaked the times on a few tasks and changed the material mark-up fields to reflect what is customary in our area. Adding different tasks was not a problem either.


is that soft where system locked to your bizzz? meaning if i find someone local is it possible for to people to use it? that would sure help with the cost


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

I am running it on two different computers, so it could be shared. Though, I could not imagine sharing it with my competitors. Technically speaking, it is licensed to one user, just like most other software programs.

I can tell you since using the book, it has already paid for itself. I only wish we would have done it sooner. Like someone else mentioned, we didn't believe the tasks would cover every job and were hesitant to use it. We did a significant amount of research before switching. 90% of the tasks are covered and it is suggested that if you do something more than once a month, add it to the book.


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

ranman said:


> is that soft where system locked to your bizzz? meaning if i find someone local is it possible for to people to use it? that would sure help with the cost


Any of them are only going to give you a license to run on one computer. You cannot legally share the program.


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

There are two types of price books - one is the one that they print for you when you give them your particulars, such as which tasks you want included and which you don't. The other type is the one you print yourself, and you can change things and reprint if you like. The second type is typically more expensive You can easily expect to pay a few thousand for the software to print your books.

There are flat rate systems advertised in the trade magazines such as PM and Contractor. NSPG, Aptora, UpFrontPricing. Some are a bit fancier than just a book, and include such things as dispatching software as well as billing software. You need to look into several before you make any decisions.


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## Ashleymc (Nov 14, 2009)

Man- there are some real jerks in this trade..
Cyber muscle mouths..

And some real professionals too..
Thanks Chris..


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