A Conversation About Perceived Value

A customer asked a contractor how much it would cost to do a project.

The contractor gave him a quote - £4500

The customer responded - That seems really high

The contractor asked - What do you think is a reasonable price for this job?

The customer answered - £2500 maximum

The contractor responded - Okay, then I invite you to do it yourself

The customer answered - I don't know how to

The contractor said - Alright, then how about for £2500 I'll teach you how to? So besides saving you £2000, you'll learn valuable skills that will benefit you in the future

The customer answered - Sounds good! Let's do it!

The contractor responded - Great! To get started, you are going to need some tools. You will need a chop saw, table saw, cordless drill, bit set, router, skill saw, jig saw, tool belt, hammer, etc

The customer answered - But I don't have any of those tools and I can't justify buying all of those for one job

The contractor responded - Okay. Well for an additional £300 I can rent my tools to you to use for this project

The customer answered - Okay. That's fair

The contractor responded - Great! We will start the project on Monday

The customer answered - I work Monday to Friday. I'm only available on the weekends

The contractor responded - If you want to learn from me then you will need to work when I work. This project will take 3 days so you will need to take 3 days off work

The customer answered - That means I'm going to have to sacrifice my pay for 3 days or use my vacation time!

The contractor responded - That's true. Remember, when you do a job yourself you need to account for unproductive factors

The customer answered - What do you mean by that?

The contractor responded - Doing a job completely from start to finish includes time spent to plan the project, pick up materials, travel time, fuel, set up time, clean up and waste disposal amongst other things. That's all in addition to the actual project itself. And speaking of materials, that's where we will start on Monday so I need you to meet me at the lumberyard at 6am

The customer answered - At 6am?! My work day doesn't usually start until 8am!

The contractor responded - Well then you're in luck! My plan is to start on the deck build by 8am. But to do so we have to start at 6am to get materials picked up, loaded and delivered to your job site

The customer answered - You know, I'm realising that a lot more goes in to a job than what a customer sees in the finished project. Your quote of £4500 is actually very reasonable. I would like you to handle the project

Conclusion - When you pay for a job, especially a custom job (whether it's a physical project or digital project), you pay not only for the material and the work to be completed. You also pay for knowledge, experience, custom skills, tools, time to plan, time to prepare, professionalism, work ethic, excellence, discipline, commitment, integrity, taxes, licenses, sacrifices, liabilities and insurance. If you request a quote for custom work to be done, please don't disrespect a service provider by trying to get them to lower their prices. If their quote exceeds your budget, there's nothing wrong with getting other quotes. Just remember - you get what you pay for. Service providers - know your worth and be confident in it. Consumers - recognise their worth and be respectful of it.