What is your definition of "gouging"?

Why do they drive on parkways , an park on driveways. " George Carlin "

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Give me a for instance … Hot shot :thinking:

In the middle lane no less

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Now we wait …

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I’m sure he is pounding a few before sitting down an signing on.

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I think @JfromtheD is at a “family” meeting right now…

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lol first off, that first quote is answering the original question “What is your definition of gouging? What is the difference between someone you can admire for commanding a higher price, and someone who is just being greedy?”

am i allowed to answer the question?

second, to you, what is the difference between arguing for your opinion and setting a standard for others?

i thought the point of a forum was to interact, am i not allowed to disagree with you? is my stating my opinion taboo? have i set out to enact laws to force my “standard” upon others?

it seems that you have been quite agitated

“I have this gutter.”
“And it’s overflowing like crazy.”
“And underneath where it has been overflowing, inside… I have water on the floor.”

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Changing the definition of words doesn’t do much, other than confuse people.

What is “fair pricing” or “unfair pricing?” That may be a better question.

Price gouging, by definition, is holding a monopoly over someone and charging sky high prices, or being a supplier of emergency needs and jacking up the price.

Setting a fair market value on goods and services based on cost involved to provide those goods and services does not fall into the realm of gouging. One can’t do more than guess at a price if consideration of all cost to get there is not made. Window Cleaning is a relatively low overhead business (for the most part) but there are still costs involved that must be passed to the consumer. That is just how the whole thing works. A business cannot pick and chose what they wish to calculate into the cost of doing business. Every expenditure to run the business must be figured in to pricing. Johnny’s Glass-A-Rama charges one price that works for him, and Jane’s Crystal Clear View charges a price that works for her. That is NOT price gouging if one happens to be a couple of bucks more.
Fair or unfair

You are confusing ‘agitated’ with interested. I’m not agitated at all, but I find this topic very interesting and potentially enlightening.

When you say gouging is ‘charging more than a service or product IS WORTH simply because you can’, you have used YOUR standard to judge what YOU believe a service IS WORTH. You have stated that you believe that someone charging 2X YOUR price is ok with you, but that 4X YOUR price is “excessive”. I asked you questions about how you drew your line at somewhere between 2X and 4X because I think the discussion is of value.

The same is happening when you use the term “gouging”, call a rate “excessive” and refer to a specific price as “insane”. Those judgements were based on your numbers, and I’m curious how somebody sets their numbers and why some of these people believe that any prices that are significantly higher than theirs receive such stiff judgment. You’re entitled to believe these things are true, and I never suggested otherwise, but those terms reflect YOUR thinking. You simply asked when you used your standards to judge others and I showed you four recent examples.

As to your point about using a forum to interact, that is exactly what we have been doing. Truly useful interaction involves more than a group of people stating their opinions and then moving on, but includes having their beliefs and opinions challenged. I’ve challenged yours, and I respect that you’ve stuck around to defend them, even if I don’t agree with them. I mean you no disrespect, anxiety or agitation, so I will thank you for your interaction and step out of this discussion with you. I wish you well.

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dont tell me you have a beeper for this. :grin:

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Did a quote today and was asked for an outside only price and in/out price.
Out was the high side of $200. In/out was the better part of $650. There was no dishonesty or price gouging involved. The homeowner knows that it will cost extra for in/out of Pella windows. (4 panes per window plus 1 screen each).
Whether he books or not - who knows? Ran into the guy on my rounds of canvassing a new neighborhood with door hangers and stopped in his driveway to explain why I’m walking up his driveway. :wink: Before I made it to the neighbors yard he called me back to leave an estimate as he was off to run an errand.

I estimate the complete job may take over 6 hours? Lands me pretty close to my goal of hourly rate. AND no gutters this time. Whew!

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Today’s def of gouging: my wife is driving home in a little Hyundai from Fairbanks, 600 miles away. Has a flat tire 20 miles south of the nearest gas station. Mechanic wants $160 for travel and labor, probably a realistic price and not gouging but not cost effective.
My wife eats at the local restaurant to calm down then offers a dude $20 to help her, he wants $50!! She says she will do it herself.
I have never been more tempted to use profanity on the Internet.

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