# Residential Pricing.



## DodgePlow (Aug 29, 2002)

Just wondering how you guys price your residential accounts.
Do you increment the same way as tyour commercial accounts; like 2-4, 5-7. 8-10. Or do you do it diiferent for residential?

Thank You


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## Snoworks (Jan 22, 2002)

In my neck of the woods, we charge residential in the following manor.

1-5.99" = Set price $40.00
6"-12" = Set price x 2 =$40.00

Our snowfall totals for the year avr. around 40 to 48", so we don't have many storms over 8".

For contractors in high snowfall areas, I believe they break it down into smaller increments. Just like you listed.

Chuck B.

PS. - Welcome to plowsite.


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## dmontgomery (Oct 3, 2003)

I am working on pricing myself. So is that to say if you get 8" it will be $80??

And is that for 1 push.......what if you go to the same place twice for 8"......is it then $160....

Thanks for the help........

Derek


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## Snoworks (Jan 22, 2002)

Yes, using my pricing structure, you would charge $160.00 if you plowed twice at 8". 

Chuck B.


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## Snoworks (Jan 22, 2002)

Well, let me correct myself! If you get a total of 8" of snow, and you plow twice - lets say 4" and 4" - the cost will be $80. If you plow the driveway twice - lets say 6" and 2" - the cost will be $120.00. If you plow the driveway twice - lets say 8" and 8" - the cost will be $160.00.

Chuck B.


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

This part of the business can be trouble some for folks here is how we have done it in the past. We are a smaller company so we can afford to wait for the storms to pass sometimes. What we will do is read the weather report see how many inches we are getting. When we get to the Job site for the first few storms of the year we take a reading and bill for that amount. We do have price points such as small drive way single car could be $35 for 2-4''
5-6'' is double the rate, +7'' $ x 2.5


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

kg26;1647205 said:


> This part of the business can be trouble some for folks here is how we have done it in the past. We are a smaller company so we can afford to wait for the storms to pass sometimes. What we will do is read the weather report see how many inches we are getting. When we get to the Job site for the first few storms of the year we take a reading and bill for that amount. We do have price points such as small drive way single car could be $35 for 2-4''
> 5-6'' is double the rate, +7'' $ x 2.5


So because you wait your customers have to pay more for plowing?


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

grandview;1647208 said:


> So because you wait your customers have to pay more for plowing?


Well, wouldn't that be the same as just charging for multiple visits ?

I had to go back to a customer that wanted it plowed @ 4" last year. I went there, cleared the drive, then left. The snow continued to fall, and I went back and did a second pass. It was at about 6" each pass. I just charged them the same rate for each visit, as it's no big difference, time wise, to either do 4" or 6". They paid without question. Sometimes they benefit, other times I do, based upon mother nature..

10 year old thread, eh ? We must be bored......


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Dogplow Dodge;1647218 said:


> Well, wouldn't that be the same as just charging for multiple visits ?
> 
> I had to go back to a customer that wanted it plowed @ 4" last year. I went there, cleared the drive, then left. The snow continued to fall, and I went back and did a second pass. It was at about 6" each pass. I just charged them the same rate for each visit, as it's no big difference, time wise, to either do 4" or 6". They paid without question. Sometimes they benefit, other times I do, based upon mother nature..
> 
> 10 year old thread, eh ? We must be bored......


Not based on what he posted. It would cost the customer less if he came back twice then one time and billed two and a half times


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

grandview;1647208 said:


> So because you wait your customers have to pay more for plowing?


Not really if you plow with the storm on an 8" storm you may hit the same house 2x maybe even 3x, and bill for each visit. you still moved 8" of snow and were compensated accordingly. It's really no different instead of plowing with the storm because at the time we were a smaller company we waited until the storm had passed. We still moved the same amount of snow... We don't have plows at the time we didn't even have snow blowers. So why should we not be compensated for moving the same amount of snow as other LCO's?


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

kg26;1647205 said:


> This part of the business can be trouble some for folks here is how we have done it in the past. We are a smaller company so we can afford to wait for the storms to pass sometimes. What we will do is read the weather report see how many inches we are getting. When we get to the Job site for the first few storms of the year we take a reading and bill for that amount. We do have price points such as small drive way single car could be $35 for 2-4''
> 5-6'' is double the rate, +7'' $ x 2.5


If you plow 2 times it will them 70 bucks,You wait till it stops snowing and plow once,it costs them87.50. Based on what you posted on pricing either you charge them a flat fee each time or total inches


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## trevier (Dec 24, 2007)

my area in NH goes like this, 
1-9= 30
9-14= 1 1/2 times
14-20= double
20 and over= 2 1/2 times


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## jrs.landscaping (Nov 18, 2012)

$75 to plow 20+ inches of snow?


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## BC Handyman (Dec 15, 2010)

here, me, per visit(as I may have told u already dog) i do it
0.1-5.99" $x
6"-12" $x
over 12" $x
they have choice of 1 or 2 visits per 24hrs & each property is evaluated & priced for that property.


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## MajorDave (Feb 4, 2011)

10 year old thread, eh ? We must be bored......[/QUOTE]

Hey Dog - look at your Post count on each entry!!

Well, you know, here in NY/NJ/LI we get more $ for those pushes, but we are usually paying more in everything else. You can get a driveway for $75-100 for 6 " depending on where you are…Short Hills - Huntington - Great Neck verses Hempstead or Newark.

I go by your method for residential. Most want it when its done, so I price out for total inches. Commercial is about the trigger cause they are doing business as it snows…3" fall = push it….3" falls = push it.


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

grandview;1691090 said:


> If you plow 2 times it will them 70 bucks,You wait till it stops snowing and plow once,it costs them87.50. Based on what you posted on pricing either you charge them a flat fee each time or total inches


I understand what it is that I am saying, my clients have no problems with it. I don't understand why you are not seeing what it is that I am saying. I'll try it again. Just like you on a 2-4"storm it is one pass. So let's say if your price for a 50' driveway one car wide was $10
For that storm you Grandview landscaping would charge for what? One pass correct? Grossing you $10.00 Well so would we. Here is were the difference is. 8"storm you visit the house what 3-4 times? So at 3 passes you would bill what? $30.00 if in fact you only had to go back 3times.

My company had price points based on inch accumulation. Why? Because we were not making passage. we removed snow after the storm had passed. Still moved the same amount of snow, still made about the same amount of money. $10, 2-4" $20, 5-7" $30, 8-9" 10"+ hourly rate. (Figures used in this post are for example purposes only)


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

MajorDave;1691577 said:


> 10 year old thread, eh ? We must be bored......


Hey Dog - look at your Post count on each entry!!

Well, you know, here in NY/NJ/LI we get more $ for those pushes, but we are usually paying more in everything else. You can get a driveway for $75-100 for 6 " depending on where you are…Short Hills - Huntington - Great Neck verses Hempstead or Newark.

I go by your method for residential. Most want it when its done, so I price out for total inches. Commercial is about the trigger cause they are doing business as it snows…3" fall = push it….3" falls = push it.[/QUOTE]

Right because they want it done once and you need to make your margins. Well the more snow is there the more fuel it will take you to clear the snow.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

kg26;1691970 said:


> I understand what it is that I am saying, my clients have no problems with it. I don't understand why you are not seeing what it is that I am saying. I'll try it again. Just like you on a 2-4"storm it is one pass. So let's say if your price for a 50' driveway one car wide was $10
> For that storm you Grandview landscaping would charge for what? One pass correct? Grossing you $10.00 Well so would we. Here is were the difference is. 8"storm you visit the house what 3-4 times? So at 3 passes you would bill what? $30.00 if in fact you only had to go back 3times.
> 
> My company had price points based on inch accumulation. Why? Because we were not making passage. we removed snow after the storm had passed. Still moved the same amount of snow, still made about the same amount of money. $10, 2-4" $20, 5-7" $30, 8-9" 10"+ hourly rate. (Figures used in this post are for example purposes only)


Good for you if your customers don't mine having snow in their driveway 12-24 hours after it snow.


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## MajorDave (Feb 4, 2011)

Actually most of my residentials are cool with that, but it has never been 12, let alone 24 hours for me. I just try to do what they want me to do and I try to exceed their expectations…customer service goes a long way. Bottom line is we all may do things a bit differently, but in the end the snow is pushed and the customer is not stuck (hopefully!) --- if they are happy and you are - all is good.


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

MajorDave;1692063 said:


> Actually most of my residentials are cool with that, but it has never been 12, let alone 24 hours for me. I just try to do what they want me to do and I try to exceed their expectations…customer service goes a long way. Bottom line is we all may do things a bit differently, but in the end the snow is pushed and the customer is not stuck (hopefully!) --- if they are happy and you are - all is good.


Could not of said it better.


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## jbsplow (Sep 16, 2013)

I'm new to the industry as well, I haven't been able to sleep over this topic cause I didn't know if I was loosing my ass or what, but this is what I do. Yesterday we got 8'' of heavy wet snow, For ex: A 50$ driveway I do I charged a extra 20$ for, and a 35$ driveway I charge a 10-15 extra for. Most of my customers are retired or are just summer homes on lakes so I can get there when ever. If its snowing all nite into the morning I will go open them up so they can get out to work. One swipe in and one swipe out for half the driveway rate. They like that and im still making money.. For example 1-5 50$
6-12 70$ 
12+ 100-110$


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## jbsplow (Sep 16, 2013)

there's a lot to factor in though , if the driveway has a lot of back dragging your going to charge a little extra, all depends on how easy the snow can be moved away, I guess trial and error I had to start somewhere, everyone's going to learn from your mistakes if your loosing your ass


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## jbsplow (Sep 16, 2013)

AND if they don't want to pay or complain There not worth having, tell them to go hire someone that will plow there driveway for a 12 pack


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## kg26 (Feb 5, 2013)

grandview;1692050 said:


> Good for you if your customers don't mine having snow in their driveway 12-24 hours after it snow.


O

Funny thing is they didn't mind. That's one of the good things about not having pita customers. seriously they were not waiting 12-24 hrs.


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## wilsonsground (Jun 29, 2012)

I use to charge my resi's per every 8". Ex. 40$ up to 8" over 9-16 $80 and so on. But that didn't matter if i came once or twice. I priced according to the amount of snow that had fallen. But after reviewing everything for the past few years i switched everything to per push. I was sick of the complaints of those customers that would actually measure what they had at their house. So there's no arguing with how many times I come. Well i guess they could if they're that guy, but then id drop them. I told everyone why i was changing my pricing the way i did and everyone was cool with it. Why shouldn't you be getting paid for every time you're there? Especially if you're a business and not some joe blow doing for fun. Those are the guys that make it hard for us in the business to get what the jobs really worth. But anyway, after changing my pricing structure i lost 1 of 45 customers and picked up 10 more this year. So I'm not complaining. Per push is the way to go in my opinion on residential s. I don't plow residential s under 2" unless on call, and i do my best to not let more than 4-5" build up between pushes, so in some cases i have to hit my first drive with 1/2-1" on it when the storms coming in fast.


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## M&M (Sep 8, 2008)

Right because they want it done once and you need to make your margins. Well the more snow is there the more fuel it will take you to clear the snow.[/QUOTE]

I never understood why residential contractors use the fuel argument for charging extra. For example my route can take me 6 hours or 10 hours. I burn roughly 1 gallon of fuel per hour. At say $4.00 per gallon, that's only $16 more in fuel. Now divide that by 55 driveways that's literally $0.30 per drive. Even if your numbers are lower and you have more windshield time and split that $16 between 25 driveways it's only $0.64 per drive.

As far as plowing goes, I could care less what gas costs.


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## Ajreeves (Jan 14, 2014)

Resi's are a big part of my summer work so I like to keep them happy. For the first push I charge them 100% of our agrees price and 50% of that price for each push after that.


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## mkwl (Jan 21, 2005)

I price all of my non-seasonal driveways based on the inch- 2-6" = $xx.xx, 7-11" = $xx.xx, 12-16" = $xxx.xx, and 17"+ is priced at the 16" rate plus $14 for each additional inch of snowfall (though we rarely get more than 16" here). I have found this to be the best method for me- as I prefer to plow with the storm- pricing by the inch prevents the "oh just wait till the end of the storm" people. I typically plow every 6" in large storms- clients get better service and I don't have to try to plow a lot of snow at one time.


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