[Paydaze7]

i was reading some of the overhead threads. was thinking about this. when you guys bid a job what percent do you figure in your bids for loss? we are running around 6 to 7% but we do mostly public work and plant in really bad conditions.. just curious what some of you guys figure...

[Matt Kulp]

When you say loss, do you meen plant material only? Or, are you referring to loss over the entire job (labor, material overages, etc..)?

[Paydaze7]

yes just plant material... total loss so if you plant 100 shrubs how many do you think build into your bid will die? what do you budget for replacement....

Originally Posted by Matt Kulp

When you say loss, do you meen plant material only? Or, are you referring to loss over the entire job (labor, material overages, etc..)?

[Matt Kulp]

To be honest, we don't figure anything for plant loss, but we don't do any public projects. We cover all plants under warranty for 30 days, and then after that the customer pays for an extended warranty. That being said, when we do have a loss, it is taken from the plant materials original mark up for resale.

[Paydaze7]

gotcha, it doesn't matter public or private work really.. when i figure up my costs i just figure on losing X amount and put that into the bid. i didn't know if anyone does it that way, just asking..

Originally Posted by Matt Kulp

To be honest, we don't figure anything for plant loss, but we don't do any public projects. We cover all plants under warranty for 30 days, and then after that the customer pays for an extended warranty. That being said, when we do have a loss, it is taken from the plant materials original mark up for resale.

[martinjohn]

we figure 10%

[kinnanscaping]

SO, now that we have come up with our systematically deduced, practically scientific percentage of 5% to 15% loss on plants, HOW do I plug that percentage into a mark up or simple rate to recuperate the loss? Bear with me, math was not my strong suit...Hypothetically: I pay $5.95 for a #1 shenendoah switchgrass. I charge the client retail @ $12. Do I then add my magic 10% for loss to that $12, making the final plant cost to customer equal $13.20? Thank you to those able to use simple terms for this mathematical and statistical dunce.

[Green4Me]

You are doing the math right. Not difficult math, just dollars and cents. Think of it in terms of your wallet and it sharpens your focus.
You might want to think of your pricing in terms of plant costs marked up plus, your labor costs to install to arrive at a bid price other that just doubling your cost. Just using the multiplier of 2x or 3 x to check your overall pricing based on your detailed cost workup, which is based on your labor hours, equipment costs, material costs and other miscellaneous costs. Your labor hours should include your overhead recovery costs, as we discussed in another thread.

I use the cost structure of Labor, Equipment, Materials and other costs. Your plant costs may have charges in each of these categories. Just doubling the cost of a $150 tree may not cover your costs. Then if you need to sharpen your bid, you might consider the type of plant materials and some have higher mortality rates than others. You may be able to adjust your percentages for warranty.

for instance, It always bugs me that a reforestation crew can just plant acres and acres of Douglas Fir trees and they live. Yet I plant 20 5' firs from containers, water and feed them carefully for 2 years and just before my 2 yr warranty is up, 4 of them just give up the ghost. Dang!

[Paul]

I always followed my losses by what type of work, then by plant types, then by where it's going, and by time of year.

For me it always settled to about 5%, This was added into overhead and not by the job.

[kinnanscaping]

Thank you all for additional clarity. I quit two-timing everything after my second or third job! My wallet told me, "This ain't right." Oh, and a great deal of reading on GroundTrades helped, too

[GLAN]

Great thread

[Gensparkie]

For the majority of gardens I'd say max 5%, usually quite a bit less, for tough zones like with heavy deer traffic or salty winds there is a higher failure rate, more like 10-15%+ over a few years. Deer seem to vary a bit in what they chomp and the seashore wind will make even the smallest misjudgment in water, siting, etc into a plant casualty.

Dogs, gophers, areas where there is more wildlife like rabbits and stuff, and poor native soil each bring up the percent a bit.

I also like to try at least a couple of new plants in each garden that I guarantee the customer will like and that it will also grow the way it should. If those need to be replaced then I take that out of my wholesale to retail markup and count it as a cost of doing excellent and unique work. It's well worth it to get to try out new varieties that I can then add to my repertoire.