# residential pricing



## Malach636 (Aug 3, 2004)

I am located in upstate NY. Is there anynone out there that charges a customer X amount of dollars for the season. If so how do you figure your pricing. Thanks for the help.


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## mikekinney (Jan 3, 2004)

TAKE YOUR AVERAGE AMOUNT OF SNOW% DIVIDE THAT INTO YOUR DIGGER DEBT X =TIMES YOUR RATE


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

You could do a search for "seasonal contract". Here is a thread that discussed that and other methods. Seasonal is discussed on the second page.

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16948&highlight=seasonal+contract


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## Bchlawns (May 14, 2004)

Just charge by the push. Dont drop your plow for under $25 per plow. Good Luck
Bchlawns


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## mikekinney (Jan 3, 2004)

THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRIGGER DEPTH (SORRY)


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

I plow residentials---all my contracts are 'per push'. My residential rates start at $35 Cdn. and go up from there for larger driveways. I have one little old lady that I take care of for $25 but I keep trying to get rid of that one but she won't stop calling me!!!!


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## gpin (Dec 5, 2003)

Residential driveways: Try to get paid cash on the spot. I have found that homeowners are happy they are dug out the day the snow falls. If you bill later or monthly they feel that you are robbing them after the snow melted.


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

I second that--especially for city driveways.

My personal preference, as far as residential work goes, is to pick on the local rural communities where the yuppies are moving in and building houses over our farmland (Niagara's peachlands.... go figure). These people don't own tractors and their driveways tend to be large, they can usually easily afford the service and if you establish a good reputation with them they don't mind paying. I do this with a retired doctor and several large business owners and have yet to have a problem with any of them. The worst was a check that was a week and a half late. I can handle that.


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## Smitty58 (Dec 23, 2003)

When you do residentials, what all do you do? Do you just plow the drive or do you als do the walkways with a blower or shovel?


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

A lot will depend on your area, custom and the customer's expectation. For me, I only plow driveways. I don't do any sidewalks or anything that would require shoveling or a snowblower.

Everything I do is from the cab of a truck.


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

I work from the cab of the truck too, with the exception of the one job I mentioned wanting to be rid of.


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## Strongmd (Nov 30, 2000)

We offer seasonal pricing. If people want to prepay 8 plowing visits by 11/5, they will get a $5 discount per visit. There are 2 caveats:
1. the money is non-refundable
2. you still have to pay per visit after 8 visits, but you'll still pay at the reduced rate

This works well for us. We've done this 2 years now and are up to about 30% prepay. During the two years we've done this, we had a 15 visit winter and a 9 visit winter. We charge per visit, not storm, and some storms are multi-visit. Some people do it for savings and others do it because they have to write less checks.


I'm thinking of going to a 10 visit minimum prepay for this winter.


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

> _Originally posted by Strongmd _
> * If people want to prepay 8 plowing visits by 11/5, they will get a $5 discount per visit. *


Just wondering - Do you mean 5%?


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## Strongmd (Nov 30, 2000)

No, it's usually $5. Most driveways are in the $30-$50 dollar range/visit. If we did 5%, we'd be getting into prices like $47.50, etc. We send out proposals that might say $45/per visit, or $40/visit w/seasonal plan. It works out to 10-15% There are a few w/$10 discounts on $50-$100 driveways.


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## jhook (Jan 24, 2004)

We will do sidewalks too. I send out a seperate sidewalk guy. He drives his own car and I pay him $13/hr. I don't get out of the truck myself.


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## ebonang (Jan 13, 2004)

Smitty58 said:


> When you do residentials, what all do you do? Do you just plow the drive or do you als do the walkways with a blower or shovel?


I do most of my work from the cab, except for a few elderly customers that I have. For them I shovel the walkway and landing for the door they use the most. It's a little extra work but it keeps them happy and they are more than happy to refer their friends and relatives to me.


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## qualitylawncare (Jan 16, 2004)

Most contractors I've seen locally and from invoices my lawn care customers have showed me are in the $150.00 range for an entire season (which averages 14-16 pushes per season).. My seasonal contracts are based on 15 visits and any additional visits are billed monthly. I've heard some horror stories about guys offering unlimited visits, hoping that it won't snow much and they will have to plow maybe 8-9 times and then they end up over 20 trips and go broke. Thats why I set mine up different.

My minimum price for 15 visits is $270 + tax..


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## Dwan (Mar 24, 2004)

Take your average yearly bill for the last 3 years add 25% then require thm to pay in advance. do not do this with over 1/2 of your customers or you could loose. it gives you money up front to get ready for winter. It also alowes your customer to know how much they are going to pay for the year in advance. If you have a lite year it will cary you for the year and if you have a heavy snow year the other jobs will make up any loss you may receive. Just be sure your pricing is high enough to make a money.

Dwan


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