Post Prices online?

[Tech bud]

I'm trying to make a decision if I should post my prices online or make them contact me to inquire about prices. I can see the pros of both:

Post online:
Pros:
If they contact, you know they're a buyer.
You can weed out who's willing to pay.
Cons:
They may not call because of price.
Competitors can see your rates when researching you.
They may have a misunderstanding of what the price includes and that might deter them.

Not posting online:
Pros:
They have to contact you for prices. (I have sales experience, so this could be a benefit.
Cons:
They may not get into contact with you, for someone who does have their prices online.

I'm trying to decide on what I should do. What are so more pros/cons of pricing online? And what do you all suggest?

 

[LifelineIT]

All my prices are on my website. This weeds out lots of calls from people who expect something done super cheap AND it gives them a realistic expectation of what to expect their invoice to be.

I'm also one of those weirdos who does flat rate pricing for many things, though.

 

[Tech bud]

I think I am also, I keep thinking of more pros then cons to having it posted online and I also use flat rate prices. but still would like more feedback in this subject.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

If you're cheap, post your prices.

If you're expensive, don't. People don't always realize that expensive may mean better value for money. So when, or if, they call you can convince them that you may charge double what everyone else does, but you'll do it in a third of the time

 

[cypress]

If you're cheap, post your prices.

If you're expensive, don't. People don't always realize that expensive may mean better value for money. So when, or if, they call you can convince them that you may charge double what everyone else does, but you'll do it in a third of the time

I think that was well said. Personally I would post them and let people know ahead of time. If they are looking for something custom or looking for you to take on a project or multiple computers have them call you for a quote.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

Also, I've found that when people give a vague description of their problem (ie my laptop is slow) and ask for a quote, it's better to tell them something along the lines of:

"well it's hard to say for sure, but I can sort out most issues of this kind within X hours"

this gives them an "it's probably going to cost" amount

rather than:

"it's hard to say, it could be the hard drive failing in which case it's going to be £70 for the drive plus two hours labour for cloning, and maybe another hour to clean up the system...."

this will make them think that they might as well go out and buy a new computer for that amount!

 

[lcoughey]

We just started posting our prices in 2013. Within the data recovery world, too many people are made to believe that clean room data recovery labs are scammers out to gouge their clients and that clean room data recovery services are thousands of dollars. 99% of of our single hard drive recoveries are quoted $900 or less.

Not to sound insensitive, but it is nice to weed out clients who aren't able to or willing to pay our pricing, as well. With a free assessment, we can spend several hours and sometimes a day or two on it and it really sucks when you quote the client and find out that they weren't even willing to spend the minimum price.

But, the main reason for our posting the pricing our website is to better support our re-sellers. Now they can quickly let their client know what they think they can expect before sending it in for an assessment.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

We post a smidgeon of prices on the front page so they get a tastes of our fees, otherwise they have to go to the prices pages for more detailed price list. I do not care if my competitors know my prices.

I think it shows an openness and honesty that most people will appreciate and respect. It weeds out deadbeats or wasted calls and time. It prevents wasting time talking to competitors as they can get the prices already without wasting my time on the phone pretending to be a customer.

 

[jamiesev]

I have all of my prices for home users and business listed, but not school prices as I agree those individually depending on size of school, hardware being used etc

 

[CTech]

I try to fix prices and post them on the site but i tend to just end up charging £20.00 per hour. Much easier than remembering and publishing different prices.

 

[Martyn]

I try to fix prices and post them on the site but i tend to just end up charging £20.00 per hour. Much easier than remembering and publishing different prices.

How do you make a living at £20ph?

 

[CTech]

I average around 30-35 hours of work per week and my partner works full time

Low outgoings too!

I'm assuming you charge considerably more?? I have a fair bit of local competition so I can't go much above £20

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Not to be disrespectful but that is job with all the risks of ownership not a business. Sorry.

 

[CTech]

Tony, at 24 years old, earning 4 times the amount of my average SEG counterparts makes it worth the risk.

It's not all about money, it's love of the job

 

[Martyn]

I average around 30-35 hours of work per week and my partner works full time

Low outgoings too!

I'm assuming you charge considerably more?? I have a fair bit of local competition so I can't go much above £20

Yes I do at £45ph first hour. There has been a lot of new start ups here and work has slowed right down. I see yours are mainly drop offs I was thinking you were mobile mainly.

 

[CTech]

Yes I do at £45ph first hour. There has been a lot of new start ups here and work has slowed right down. I see yours are mainly drop offs I was thinking you were mobile mainly.

I've been trading since I turned 18 in 2008, I'll admit it's slowing now due to a couple of new local retail shops but still at £20ph it gives me a reasonable income. Nothing extravagant by any description but charging any more would lessen the work through the door

People in the area are very cheap lol

 

[DataMedics]

I too find posting my prices to be helpful for weeding out customers who can't afford my services

However I do have a disclaimer on my site that mentions that in some "rare cases" the price might be higher, and they'll need to get an evaluation done.

That way they can't hold me to a price that's impossible to keep.