Pricing & quoting
Guides on pricing & quoting for UK trades — how to win the work, price it properly, and get paid on time.
Guides in this section
Day Rate or Fixed Price?
Day rates protect you on unpredictable work but make customers anxious. Fixed prices win jobs and carry the risk. When to use each, and how to cap a day rate.
How to Handle Variations and Extras
Unpriced extras are the biggest cause of disputed final bills on domestic work. Here is the ten-second habit that prevents almost all of them happening.
How to Price a Job Properly
Pricing on gut feel is how trades end up busy and broke. Here is how to build a day rate that covers what you actually spend, then price jobs from it.
How to Price When Material Costs Are Rising
Quotes that sit for months while prices move can turn a profitable job into a loss. Here is how to protect yourself without inflating every price you give.
How to Say No to a Job
The jobs that cost trades money are usually the ones they knew to avoid. How to spot them at the quote and decline without damaging your reputation.
How to Write a Quote That Wins Work
On domestic jobs the quote does most of the selling. Here is what to include so the customer can actually compare the numbers, and choose you.
Quote or Estimate: Which Should You Give?
A quote is a fixed price and an estimate can move. Getting the distinction wrong, or not stating it, causes more disputes than almost anything else.
Should You Charge for Quotes?
Free quoting is unpaid work that customers price into nothing. When charging for a quote makes sense, when it costs you work, and the sensible middle ground.