Hi.

Just curious how most of you determine your prices for senior citizens. I always want to "take it easy" when it comes to charging senior citizens because (hopefully) I'll be one of them one day, but lately it's like I dont even want to do it because I dont make enough on a job. For instance, I stopped by an older customers house last Saturday to fix a doorbell. I told him I needed to buy a new buzzer and I'd be back next Saturday. In total, the job took no more than 1 hour and the buzzer cost less than $20.00. So I charged the 95-year old man only $40.00. Hardly even worth getting out of bed for if you ask me.

So do you guys knock off a percentage from your price, or how do you charge seniors for minor repairs?

Depends on the senior.

Sure, it's nice to give granny a break- but not all seniors are sweet little old ladies, nor are they necessarily poor.

I have learned some of them have learned to pile on the "sweet" to get an advantage...turn the tables, and they wouldn't give you a sneeze if they had pneumonia! Others will complain of 'living on a fixed income', while failing to mention that the 'fixed income' is triple your best month.
Many continue to be frugal, living modestly, figuring correctly that there's nothing wrong with that black * white TV.

The fact is, they generally already own everything that they need, and have minimal expenses. That pension doesn't seem so small when all it needs to cover is the light bill and groceries!

The little old lady up the street, well we all worked there, plumbers, roofers, painters, and us, well we really fixed things up for her, and even the neighbors chiped in with yard tasks, and we all felt good about helping her, then she passed on, and what do you know, the estate was worth well over 5 million plus.

Twp I work in has a policy that seniors are exempt from permit fees for all types`of building permits. As to my EC business, we do not do resi, so I have no policy.

John

"The fact is, they generally already own everything that they need, and have minimal expenses."

You hit the nail on the head, renosteinke. 99.9% of seniors have everything paid for, which is more than I can say for us "younger generation". When I first started contracting, I used to give a discount to seniors. Now they pay the same as everyone else.

The key is to be respectful and honest with them, do a good job, and then charge them your normal rate. Many of my best customers are seniors as they tend to pay right away, give repeat business and pass my name along to other potential clients. As a contractor you can fall onto some lean times where there is little income, yet seniors always have a regular pension cheque (or "check" for you Americans out there), and most time that money just gets deposited into their bank account.

"Twp I work in has a policy that seniors are exempt from permit fees for all types`of building permits."
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Some of the townships have funds set aside for seniors that need repairs made, we will help them find the funding, if they are in need, however, when we suggest they apply for help they suddenly, have money.

I give a seniors discount like restuarants and other places do. My seniors discount is 10%. This discount is factored into my overhead expenses.

A-Line,

Restuarants and other places usually have a larger profit margin, so they can offer a 10% discount, most service companies work on a much lower profit margin, some as low as 8%.

Senior work is about 30% of our work and the largest percentage of seniors are not in poor finincal condition, they control most of the luxury spending in todays market.

If we have a senior that is in poor finincal condition, we will try to help as much as we can.

LK,

Thanks for the info. I haven't been in business very long and just started the seniors discount thing because other contractors were advertising this. I guess I will need to rethink doing this. I was planning on including this expense into my overhead.

" because other contractors were advertising this."

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Watch other contractors, can be a sure way to go down with them, some use shoe box accounting, and have no business plan in place, Most are not prepared for business down turns or unexpected expenses, some set pricing by what others charge, not by what they need to operate.

Lk,

I agree. I used to set my prices by what other contractors were charging. I no longer do this. I now use breakeven software to calculate my rates. I saw one ad in the newspaper that read master electrician $29.50 per hour. For service work my rate is over $100.

Some time ago, I read a book "What Auto Mechanics Don't Want You To Know," or some similar title.

The author did a very good job of explaining such common schemes as the "$59 Brake Job" coupon, or the "lifetime guaranteed brake shoes."
The point being, many of these "discounts" are the means the dishonest use to get their fingers in your wallet- then watch out!

Just because we haven't seen any "expose's" of contractors doesn't mean the crooks have left us alone....where there's money, they show up. Hustling Granny is one of the oldest scams around.

Keep your eye on YOUR ball- not the other guys'.

I had a handicapped customer (he must have weighed 500 pounds) the other week. He asked if I could do anything with the price because he was on a “fixed income”. Now I got this job as referral and I know he owns several properties and isn’t by any means “poor”.

I bid the job based on a day and a half of labor but I told him that if I could finish in one day I’d knock something off. As it turns out my estimate of time was right on. Sorry Charlie but I’ve got bills too.

If anyone has an appropriate response to, “I’m on a fixed income,” I’d love to hear it.

Depends what you classify a senior citizen?

Is 55 a senior, 65?

I look at it a couple ways, first they deserve a break for making it this far.

Second, I look at it as: How do I want to treated when I get there?

I know some of you disagree, but that's just me....


Dnk....

Hey, most of the 'old folks' I know, (like me, f'rinstance!) grew up in a time when if you couldn't afford it, you didn't buy it. Don't assume were all poor-as-church-mice crumbling old farts whose brains have fallen into our pyjamas! My disposable income is a lot, lot higher than many folks round here slogging their guts out in the work ethic, trying to raise a family with a mortgage tied round their necks. I want no favors, just a good job done at a fair price. You want to get business, we oldies have got the money, not those young poser smart-arses up to their eye-balls in debt!

Rant over.

Alan

"Fixed income?"
You lucky bastard. Mine keeps going down.

I think the general consensus is not all old people are poor people. My dad turns 65 next month and is retired. He also just sold his business to his partners and made a very good living before that. He has more income from interest than most of us make as a living. He doesn't need a discount. On the other hand, my grandmother, who passed away a year ago, lived on a social security check of $750/month with no other income or savings. She needed any discount she could get. So I try to judge the customer based on any hints I can get and give a break if we can, but in the end we have to cover expenses and make a little profit on every customer. Some customers may have to use another contractor or dare I say a "handy"man that may have less overhead and can afford a lower price.

"Fixed Income" does not tell you what that income is.

It also assumes that the rest of us that are not on a fixed income can just make more if we need to. 'Cause if it's not fixed, it must be flexible, right? Or maybe it's not fixed 'cause it's broken!

Your income is not fixed because gas is a buck a gallon more than it was last year, your insurance bills went up across the board, your supplier just told you there is an energy surcharge on your materials and some bozo just robbed your truck.

"Fixed income" looks pretty good

What ever happened to random act's of kindness? 40 bucks is not alot of money in this case, I would of ask them to make a donation to a charity and wished them a good'ay.Also they more than likely would give you a good referall to their kids and family and it's pretty hard to get those these day's when it seems to be all about the money.