The Burly Thread: Charging for your services

[CollinsHaulin]

Removed a fridge for an old lady she wants to give you $10.00, she already gave you ice tea and cookies while you were there... You advertised for free removal, do you take the $10?

Yes, consider it a tip. Can you afford not to?

[Stangit]

Removed a fridge for an old lady she wants to give you $10.00, she already gave you ice tea and cookies while you were there... You advertised for free removal, do you take the $10?

Yes I would. It makes her feel better, and I sure could use it.

[Russell]

In the end it doesn't matter; paying for scrap, doing free removals or charging for service. The strong will survive and adapt. I started doing free removals to paying for things to now running a functioning legitimate co. They all present their own sets of problems and challenges. Opinions don't really matter.

Alligators, sharks, roaches have remained unchanged for millions of years. Most species have to adapt, if they don't, they fail. In the end gumption and strength win.

[porkchop01]

My brother and I have a junk removal business and the way we do things is we charge for all clean up jobs. Then we have what is considered our local area of about 20 miles in any direction and Appliances, Scrap Metal, and Escrap is free picup. Outside our local area is min of $20 depending how far we must go just to cover fuel. If a customer has a quick pickup item that doesn't require a trailer and doesnt fall into the above category then we charge according to what it is and how far we have to go for it and to the landfill. With us being a small outfit right now, this system is working really good for us. Not to many expenses right now, so that helps us with our prices.i also posted our prices and services on our business FB page and have seen an increase in our customers. So i guess my thought is sometimes you need to charge for your services and sometimes get the metal, escrap, ect. for free cause that customer you picked up that free dryer for may have a good paying cleanup job in the future.

[VERYOLDGUY]

Lot of good opinions on here.
Cold hard facts.
If you have to charge more than someone is willing to pay then you have exceeded the market value of your service/product.
If you have a larger operation then you have more investment and must realize a greater profit in order to realize a suitable rate of return on your investment.
Smaller operation has less cost and therefore higher rate of return but smaller net return.
Depending on how you market your business depends on how much investment is required.
Clean out business versus say a recycle business versus a removal business etc...

So all of you are some what correct due to the way you market and sell your services.
Think of it this way...

If you want to go from Texas to New York there are a lot of ways to get there. Each one has it's advantages and disadvantages.
You should travel the route that best suits your needs and resources.
Doesn't make anyone more correct than the other just makes it different.

[Bear]

.

Think of it this way...

If you want to go from Texas to New York there are a lot of ways to get there.

I lived in Texas a longgg time, and New York was the one place I never wished to go to! haha ; )

[VERYOLDGUY]

I lived in Texas a longgg time, and New York was the one place I never wished to go to! haha ; )

Well....Never been to NY either, but I sure do like Texas. You guys ever leave the union and I will be moving my whole family.

[taterjuice]

Icing it is !

[Sirscrapalot]

Mmm..icing...

Nothing to see here! Carry on!

Sirscrapalot - Iced chocolate chip cookies are groovy.

[happyisthealero]

I would love to charge, but for the most part I pick up computer items for free How do I start charging and still make money off of the computer scrap with out the customer getting PO at me?

[TheRecycleBin]

I would love to charge, but for the most part I pick up computer items for free How do I start charging and still make money off of the computer scrap with out the customer getting PO at me?

1 - How would the customer know you are making money both ways unless YOU tell them?
2 - What is wrong with making money?
3 - Don't you have business costs to cover?
4 - If you have to drive a distance, you have fuel costs running in the $4.00/gal range or about 40 cents EVERY mile. One computer will gross about $10 (that is not profit that is GROSS)
5 - Depends on the quantity of computers you are picking up. if it's a truck load then no need to charge if you don't want to. If it's 1, 2 or even 10, then you should reconsider.

JMHO

[happyisthealero]

1 - How would the customer know you are making money both ways unless YOU tell them?
2 - What is wrong with making money?
3 - Don't you have business costs to cover?
4 - If you have to drive a distance, you have fuel costs running in the $4.00/gal range or about 40 cents EVERY mile. One computer will gross about $10 (that is not profit that is GROSS)
5 - Depends on the quantity of computers you are picking up. if it's a truck load then no need to charge if you don't want to. If it's 1, 2 or even 10, then you should reconsider.

JMHO

your making a lot of good points TRB I will reconsider and recalculate, I never even thought about how much it costs me per gallon thanks

[Libertytow]

Profit isn"t a bad word gouging is if what you are doing seems grossly excessive you should look at how you are doing things

imho of you aren"t making $1 a minute something is wrong i buy metal and average that # but i have to watch my costs as well

[TheRecycleBin]

Profit isn"t a bad word gouging is if what you are doing seems grossly excessive you should look at how you are doing things

imho of you aren"t making $1 a minute something is wrong i buy metal and average that # but i have to watch my costs as well

I agree that gouging (greed) is bad and that it is what is at the root of many of our social problems today. However, making a profit in business has been Demonized by many of the less energetic crowd (class envy) who don't know the difference or understand that profit is how you grow your business. Just to clarify, the term "gross profit" refers to income BEFORE expenses, not "excessive profit" as some have come to believe.

I heard a saying once that is very true - "The best thing you can do for the poor is NOT be one of them". The only way to not be one of them is to make a profit and then use it for good purposes. Those purposes can be as simple as buying a new truck (keeps the assemble line workers employed), add another person to you payroll, or donate some to a charity of YOUR choice. Without profit you can't do any of this. The problem is, to many people have been brainwashed into thinking that somehow this is a bad thing.

Even the Bible says that money is OK, it is the "love of money that is the root of all evil" - it is the "love" - translated "greed" - that gets us in trouble.

Never promote greed, be fair and honest in all you do, and help others succeed is how we do business.

Time to get to work. Have a great week.

[PAScrapPappy]

Nice post Burly and pretty to the point most people don't understand the cost of doing business... let me add one thing to it...Once you have every penny accounted for and now your total cost of operation add 15% more this helps cover the unforeseen dribble of money every business looses but few realize.. Things like a driver doing 45 mph in a 55 zone wasting time(Time=money) or those stops they make to grab a drink more time or getting lost on the way to job (Time+extra fuel = more money lost ) I could go on with a 100 more things that leach off the bottom line...My point is when you finally pinpoint your absolute cost of operation just add a bumper and price off of that... you'll notice a increase in your profit....

[BurlyGuys]

Nice post Burly and pretty to the point most people don't understand the cost of doing business... let me add one thing to it...Once you have every penny accounted for and now your total cost of operation add 15% more this helps cover the unforeseen dribble of money every business looses but few realize.. Things like a driver doing 45 mph in a 55 zone wasting time(Time=money) or those stops they make to grab a drink more time or getting lost on the way to job (Time+extra fuel = more money lost ) I could go on with a 100 more things that leach off the bottom line...My point is when you finally pinpoint your absolute cost of operation just add a bumper and price off of that... you'll notice a increase in your profit....

And with all that being said, you still have to come in with a price the customer is willing to pay.