What to charge

What to charge customers direct? Swb Lwb Xlwb Xlwb tail lift

Whatever you like, it's YOUR business

I know that smart arse, I mean roughly, like say would charging £1.20-£1.30 per mile for lwb be cheap or dear?

Wasn't trying to be smart actually!

Sometimes it just beggars belief that these type of questions are asked, One would have thought basics like charging should have been sorted in a business plan.

There are so many factors that can influence what to charge one's customer, for example we can charge £20 a mile [or more] for a local job!

My initial reply I stand by and I certainly was not trying to be a 'smart arse'

It is your business so if you want to run a successful operation charge as much as you can. It depends on your relationship with the customer, what goods are being transported, and many other things.

It's simple really. Charge what it costs, plus the amount of profit you want. If they pay it, you haven't charged enough.

Regards Smart arse

Another smart arse i see, only kidding! The reason i ask is a company has requested a pricing guide for example Swb - price per mile Lwb - price per mile Etc Basically they will be giving me alot of work so instead of me keep having to give them a price they want a fixed price! Just dont want to go in too low or too high I think ive got it ok? Just wanted to check

PS If you have all the ten vehicles listed in your profile, without a business plan and no idea what to charge, you're just about to go broke.

Business plan in this game? Are you bonkers, its dog eat dog, one day you can only do £100, next day you can do £500+

JLM transport said:

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Another smart arse i see, only kidding! The reason i ask is a company has requested a pricing guide for example Swb - price per mile Lwb - price per mile Etc Basically they will be giving me alot of work so instead of me keep having to give them a price they want a fixed price! Just dont want to go in too low or too high I think ive got it ok? Just wanted to check

JLM transport said:

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Business plan in this game? Are you bonkers, its dog eat dog, one day you can only do £100, next day you can do £500+

Charge em £30 per job all in, that'll keep you busy... And its a good business plan.. Dog eat dog n all

Right well thats just a stupid reply

I too find it a tad surprising the question has to be asked, but asked it was so only fair to answer.

If it were me I'd ring 3 or 4 local competitors and get quotes from then. That'll give you an idea, then decode if you just want to beat em on price or offer them something they don't already get. You can even get an idea on price from other courier companies websites. Plenty now have an online quoting facility

Decode should be decode!

Decide.. bloody predictive text lol

Cheers mate, i know what to charge local small companies, first big one im going for so dont want to screw it up!

This question pops up a lot these days. I think you will find that everyone has differant pricing structures. All depend on what service they want, what needs to be delivered, what is it urgent/non-urgent and so on. Like rob said, get a few quoted from competitors and then that will give you a good idea on the rough outline on what to charge. I do regular research to see what my competitors are charging. For a small van i've seen prices from £0.80pplm to £2.00pplm and thats before vat is added. Good research is key and then work out what your running costs are and profit aswell, you don't want to be undercutting yourself

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.

I wouldn't offer them anything beyond a guide based on say 3 jobs with a competitive price shown and loads of emphasis placed on customer service . The 3 jobs i would also aim to demonstrate the lowest ( small van ) price to be from there area and the others further away but still appropriate ( not Glasgow to Edinburgh when your not in Scotland ). The reason for this would be so that your not pricing yourself out of the market every time they require a job as they have a price list to bounce off and offer as a quote to your competitors. You do not want them to use say a £1 per mile inclusive list as a quote to be used to get a lower price from the next company on there courier companys list. You want to match that next company and not better it but get the job off the back of being uber reliable and always available, its also a point that you will not have the half hours get ready and warm the van time as a job is considered or made ready for you if they already have a quote in front of them which may show your not as fast as the next guy ( even though you are ). Rock up with your bit of paper , bring a picture of all the vans you can round up parked nicely with the drivers all in black next to them . Dont call them a smart arse ;-) and you should be fine .

AE... and you dont get paid for trying your best to obtain that work, many have said whats what for the best solution, its alright having the all singing all dancing virtual pics of an outfit to make it glitsy but performance says it all, but the end result for most companies are the 3 ability's, if you got that then your home dry, some may quibble on the cost, but Ive not time for penny pinchers.

As read further up, if you know what to charge for smaller companies then whats the difference between small and large, if theyre happy they will use you, Just charge the same as you do for the smaller companies, no point in being a busy fool just to get that customer, if you've done a plan youll be happy ...

You'd have the price's in your business plan wouldnt you?

Personally I try to get about £1:20 pm on my LWB, however Ive been asked by other courier firms to cover jobs and small van jobs are offered at around 80p pm a LWB £1:20 so to answer your question 80p to £1:20pm as a standard that's not taking into account other factors thought like waiting time and short notice Blah Blah Blah, also I take a lot of furniture so for example ill charge a min of £30 for this even if its 1mile you have to also take your time into account so if your going to do a local run say 2miles but you waiting 10min each end and traveling time say 10min your not going to charge £2:40! That would be stupid so work out what your time is worth also

This is all RELATIVE. Banging on about business plans to look professional means nowt. Run ya business how ya want, try and get as much as you can for the service you provide. Just because you are happy with a price today dont expect to be happy everyday. Big businesses go out of business everyday so ya gotta be flexible. Sticking to one price just because you have done it for the last few years and have your principles, wont guarantee loyalty of fickle customers forever.