The usual worry is that published prices scare people off or let competitors undercut you. In practice, the homeowner who can’t find a number doesn’t assume you’re cheap. They assume you’re expensive, or they call the competitor who did post a number.
Three levels of price
Exact prices
For things you can price without seeing the house:
- Trip charge or service call fee, and what it covers.
- Diagnostic fee, and whether it’s credited toward the repair.
- Hourly rate, and how you round.
- Maintenance plan, monthly and yearly.
- Lawn mowing by lot size.
- Common flat-rate jobs: a standard water heater swap, a drain clearing, an outlet or a ceiling fan.
Ranges
For jobs that depend on the house: a roof by the square, a panel upgrade, a kitchen remodel by scope, an exterior paint job by house size. Give the range, then list what moves it up or down. That list is as useful as the number; it shows you know the work.
No number
Anything you can’t responsibly estimate online: insurance claims, hidden damage, structural work, anything that needs an inspection or engineering. Say why there’s no number and what the next step is.
Write it so it holds up
- Date your prices, or at least the page, and update it.
- Say what’s included and what isn’t, like permits, haul-away and parts.
- Say whether nights, weekends and holidays cost more.
- Explain your pricing model in one paragraph: flat-rate, hourly, fixed or cost-plus.
Prices filter, and that’s good
A remodeler who publishes “kitchens typically run from X to Y” loses the calls that would never have closed and saves hours of estimates. The homeowners who still call are already comfortable with the number.
How do you write a price page?
- List the jobs you do most often.
- For each, decide whether you can give an exact price, a range, or no number.
- Write what’s included in each price: parts, labor, permits, haul-away.
- List what changes the price, in plain words.
- Add your fees: service call, diagnostic, after-hours.
- Date the page and set a reminder to review it when your costs change.
What about price shoppers?
Published prices attract some people who only care about the lowest number, but they would have called anyway and taken up an estimate visit. A price page lets them rule themselves out. Meanwhile, homeowners who value what you explain around the price, warranty, licensing, cleanup, call already comfortable with the number.
Prices and trust
A price page is also a trust signal. It tells homeowners you’re confident in what you charge and that there won’t be a surprise at the end. For trades where online reviews warn about bait-and-switch pricing, like garage door repair, that alone can win the call.