Prices!

[Megavolt]

Thanks everyone for replying.

I think I shall put them a little and see how it goes!

What to out of interest

 

[HappyHippyDad]

What to out of interest

£35 (or maybe £40) 1st hour, £30 p/hr thereafter.

 

[Hellmooth]

I vary from £40-£50 for call out that includes first hour, then £25-£30 per hour for general domestic sparking, I mainly do gate automation though so a call out can be from £75-£90 and £40-£50 per hour thereafter.

That's good you're busy, where is your work coming in from? Do you advertise?

 

[Englishman]

Am I the only one who charges the same for the second hour as I do for the first?

 

[Hellmooth]

Am I the only one who charges the same for the second hour as I do for the first?

First should always be more as you have to get to the job and back, including fuel etc?

 

[Hellmooth]

If the job is an hour round trip then it is taking away an hour you could be earning elsewhere.

 

[Octopus]

£35 (or maybe £40) 1st hour, £30 p/hr thereafter.

I would make your rates divisible by 4 so you can work out 15 minute charges easily!

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I vary from £40-£50 for call out that includes first hour, then £25-£30 per hour for general domestic sparking, I mainly do gate automation though so a call out can be from £75-£90 and £40-£50 per hour thereafter.

That's good you're busy, where is your work coming in from? Do you advertise?

I've been self employed for perhaps 3 years Hellmooth. I used 'rated people' to get some work to start with and I found them very useful as I could choose small, simple jobs. I then advertised in the local paper for about a year which got me more work. I made sure I did a good job, charged a fair price and now my name gets floated around so I haven't advertised for perhaps the last year now as 'word of mouth' gets me the work. Plus I have a local builder who has started to use me so I cant see myself advertising in the near future.

 

[Hellmooth]

I've been self employed for perhaps 3 years Hellmooth. I used 'rated people' to get some work to start with and I found them very useful as I could choose small, simple jobs. I then advertised in the local paper for about a year which got me more work. I made sure I did a good job, charged a fair price and now my name gets floated around so I haven't advertised for perhaps the last year now as 'word of mouth' gets me the work. Plus I have a local builder who has started to use me so I cant see myself advertising in the near future.

Fair play mate sounds like you're doing good! If word of mouth is getting you enough work then you're obviously doing something right!

 

[vxwestie]

This £££ for the first hour? whats that about.
Having never done it, its something I need to think about.
I can see it makes sense when you have a string of jobs 1-2, 2-3, or less than a day, BUT are you guys implying you do it for every job?
What happens if you a 5day job, full days, do you charge extra for the first hour of EVERY day?
what happens if you don't turn up to a 4 hour job until 3pm? do you charge extra for that first hour and then extra for the first hour at 8am the next day?
What about the 4-5hr job that you can only do a couple hours on the first visit and then again for the first hour in the next visit a few days later when you've had to wait for materials to arrive?
How do you maintain consistency?

 

[telectrix]

say you have a call to a shower not working. you getr there and it's just an isolator swap. so you charge £45 to cover time from home/base and time on site. if it's more complex, e.g. after 1 hour you've changed the faulty isolator and then find there's another problem, you then charge less per hour as you're already there. jobs entailing several hours or days even, you lower rate accordingly. the longer the job, the lower the rate as you have continuity of work.

 

[Octopus]

As above.
On jobs like kitchen refits if I charged my first hour rate each time I visited site I would be too expensive.

 

[vxwestie]

Phew, that's exactly what i thought.
Totally agree that it is the way to go.
The trouble is, I hardly ever pick up new customers and have to find a way to implement it to all clients

 

[Octopus]

Phew, that's exactly what i thought.
Totally agree that it is the way to go.
The trouble is, I hardly ever pick up new customers and have to find a way to implement it to all clients

Interesting comment! Why not?

 

[vxwestie]

Interesting comment! Why not?

I have too much work as it is. lol
I don't advertise as I don't need to. I rarely lose customers....

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Ha! Already confused!

I did a job which lasted 7 hours today, got home and started the invoice and got a little confused!

I wrote it out as £35 first hour followed by 6 hours @ £30, but then thought that doesn't seem fair as my day rate would be £200, so I lowered it.

I think whats confusing me is 'when do you use your day rate?' Do you use it whenever you have done a single job which has lasted a day or would you use your hourly rate for that, and only use your day rate for larger jobs that are perhaps taking 2+ days?

 

[Octopus]

Ha! Already confused!

I did a job which lasted 7 hours today, got home and started the invoice and got a little confused!

I wrote it out as £35 first hour followed by 6 hours @ £30, but then thought that doesn't seem fair as my day rate would be £200, so I lowered it.

I think whats confusing me is 'when do you use your day rate?' Do you use it whenever you have done a single job which has lasted a day or would you use your hourly rate for that, and only use your day rate for larger jobs that are perhaps taking 2+ days?

I do similar, and sometimes I point out to the client that you have saved them money.

Bottom line is you "used" up the day, so the client should pay for the day (if not more!)

 

[happysteve]

HappyHippyDad, trading as Happy Hippy Electrical Services

INVOICE

Install stuff, fix stuff, perform essential tests and issue Electrical Installation certificate

Labour:
- First hour @ £35/hr: £35
- 6 further hours @ £30/hr: £180
- Day rate discount: -£15

Materials:
- Stufff: £---

Total: £---

Thank you for your business.

 

[vxwestie]

I can see it working for the smaller 1-2 hr jobs, but I could never implement to all my customers for 6-7hr jobs.

 

[Octopus]

HappyHippyDad, trading as Happy Hippy Electrical Services

INVOICE

Install stuff, fix stuff, perform essential tests and issue Electrical Installation certificate

Labour:
- First hour @ £35/hr: £35
- 6 further hours @ £30/hr: £180
- Day rate discount: -£15

Materials:
- Stufff: £---

Total: £---

Thank you for your business.

I never break down invoices - theres one total unless its been quoted as "bits"