Hey folks,
I just lost a bid today to a major lowballer. I think my price was even lower than some of you would do it for.
I bid $1200 for the job in the pics below. Exterior only. Total pane count was 620.
What would you have bid? The company that got the job went in at $500 + taxes.
With that much glass in one area I’d be at your price Mark. I can’t believe someone would bid that job at less than $1 per pane. :eek:
750 is what i would do and could only get
They probably are gonna get some minimum wagers to do the work. :rolleyes:
I bet you still get a call Mark. My guess is that the lowballer in question will either 1.) Not show up, or 2.)Do a really crappy job. Either way be looking for a call back.
I’m not sure how someone could even pay payroll on that project for $500.
If it were in my area, I’d be more at the $2000 range. Even at $1200, that is a steal of a deal for them.
Mark, I know that you’re in Toronto and the market is tough there. Good luck.
Id be thinking 1500 - 2000 area…
id be in your price range too Mark. Maybe the other guys is gonna use a hose and some windex? Some companies will do anything to just have work, even if it means working for free haha
did the taxes = $1199.00?LOL
I can see were some of these low ballers mentality is. $500
2 guys at $15.00 per hour can complete that place in one day with a WFP. So the in the bosses eyes, as long as he don’t have to do the job himself he is happy to pull in the other $260 for himself. Not saying it’s right or wrong. But that’s how the larger companys think. As long as they make money off their workers they are happy.
Now if it’s a small company or a one man band. Who cares? By this time next year they will either figure out they are making no money or just be gone.
Your price is the correct one. This lowballing idiot doesn’t know how to bid. You can take satisfaction that he will lose money and the respect of the client when they see what kind of job he does.
I’m more shocked than anything really. It’s laughable. I’m having my best spring season to date. I can’t even fit everyone on the schedule and I’m making way more per job than in the past so if these bozo’s want to take money out of their own pockets, that’s fine by me.
Good way to look at it Mark!
Well then don’t worry about it. I’m at a point now were I just don’t even care if they use my service or not. I approach commercial differant then my res work. Res work I’m really friendly and smiles all over the place. Making sure I sell myself as well as my company. But when it comes to commercial I don’t even care. Most commercial don’t care about anything other then price. Bottom line, protect the profit margin. For every buck they spend on a building they lose money on rent etc. So I don’t even care anymore. They call an as much as I want the job. I don’t get excited in my tone or anything. Just get the address, quote the building and give the proposal. In some cases I don’t even shake the persons hand. Just hand over the bid and leave with a quick “Thanks”. If they call again then they call again. I had a company call me and tell me I won the bid. When I sent them a contract to sign they called and said they were not looking to sign any contracts. LOL OK well have a good one. I’m not cleaning your building. Can you imagine how mad I was to be told I got the building only to be told 3 minutes later I lost the building. Oh well. I hung up, drank a jack and coke and turned on the tv and forgot about the nightmare.
LOL, I think you and i think alike…
When i get a call from Commercial prospects, i just tell them that my prices are toooo high and you would just be wasting my time and your time and tell them to keep on calling down the list.
LOL well I don’t go that crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I want their money. I look at the job and give an honest bid. I just know I don’t have a lot of time these days so I’m not looking to shoot the breaze for more then 10 minutes. I perfer the person walk the property with me so we can discuse the job during the bid. But that rarely happens with my office buildings requests. My golf courses I do someone always walks with me. I give them a more personal bid as image is important to them. Their not looking to have a crew of crazy monkeys jumping from ladders to roofs etc. But the office building bids are often never done face to face for me. I get the call, look over the building sometime the next day if I can, and send them the quote via email that night. But the process is very cold and non-personal for me. I just keep moving forward to the next one. Some bite and I reel them in, some break the line and others never go for the bait. It’s all like fishing, I’m just glad my boat don’t have a hole in it lol. Cause I’m happy to still be on the water if you know what I mean.
That’s funny, Mark.
As the years go by, commercial jobs in Toronto become less and less lucrative, it seems.
We are inundated with low-priced competitors. All power to them, they can have it. We’ll go after the residential stuff.
And THANKS for the lead from David last week…I can’t believe I forgot to thank you for that one!
It turned out to be a nightmare for my guys, but at least our foot is in the door, and we have some bragging rights now.
Thx again. I owe you a bottle of scotch 
Stick to your price.
I doubt they would have a WFP.
Damn, sorry I bid so low on that one 
just kidding…
I just bid on a similar job, at $3.25 per pane, because the manager is a pane…
so I am bidding higher, so the detailing will be more complete.
