ECN Forum
Posted By: sparkync Electrical Pricing Guide - 05/20/13 02:03 PM
What is a good electrical pricing guide that I can go by instead of calling supply house every time I need to do an estimate. Sometimes I need just a general price to go by which don't have to be exact. I know wire especially goes up and down. Thanks
Posted By: Justinelectric Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 06/23/13 06:49 AM
"X amount of dollars for labor, I'll charge the materials to your account"
Posted By: twh Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 06/23/13 07:52 AM
One of my wholesalers has on-line pricing. Maybe you can find a local supplier that offers this service.

I track costs with my invoicing software. That also allows me to see which wholesalers are charging too much.
Posted By: sparkync Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 06/25/13 04:49 AM
twh, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of invoicing software do you use that lets you see wholesalers pricing? Thanks..
Posted By: twh Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 06/25/13 02:48 PM
Originally Posted by sparkync
twh, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of invoicing software do you use that lets you see wholesalers pricing? Thanks..
These are separate. I track costs with my invoicing software. I also have access to on-line pricing. The software doesn't access the on-line pricing.
Posted By: SafetyWired Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 07/11/13 01:49 AM
I use a estimating software called Vision, and have pricing through a software called Epic which is used in conjunction with Vision. The Epic is pricing and is updated every six months. It is pretty accurate.
Posted By: sparkync Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 07/12/13 11:20 PM
I tried the website for "Vision Estimating Software". Thought it would be interesting to see. Their videos hang up and just stop. They need some help on their website if they want to interest more customers.... Looks like it might be good if I could just see how it works:(
Posted By: SafetyWired Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 07/14/13 01:38 PM
Originally Posted by sparkync
I tried the website for "Vision Estimating Software". Thought it would be interesting to see. Their videos hang up and just stop. They need some help on their website if they want to interest more customers.... Looks like it might be good if I could just see how it works:(


Try this http://www.visioninfosoft.com/
Posted By: HotLine1 Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 07/14/13 10:48 PM
Interesting link. Pricey at <$700 for a year, or >$1600 for weekly updates.

When I was an active EC, I used a paper 'price book' from a local small supply house.

It was a four column setup, a,b.c & 'retail'. Swapped it for a 'newer' version when they got a 'new' version. Yes, it was 'dated' but served the purpose for me for a long time. Best was the 'price'; "give them my business"

One problem with trying that today around here is there are no more 'local supply houses'
Posted By: SafetyWired Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 07/15/13 04:01 AM
When your landing multiple six figure jobs a year by bidding against other EC's $700. a year is a drop in the bucket. If you want to play the game and succeed you use the tools that work for you.
Posted By: cookcc Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 03/04/14 07:48 PM
What software do you use if you don't mind me asking?
Posted By: cookcc Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 03/04/14 08:11 PM
Sorry, I guess should of continue Reading I just downloaded the demo I'll see high works for me.
Posted By: Tesla Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 03/05/14 01:04 AM
The heart of day to day bidding is materials pricing.

EPIC is a pricing service that is pretty popular. Strictly speaking, it's not a bid creating machine, it's a well maintained database.

The BIGGEST element in a correct bid is your labor. This turns on how slick you are in saving time, and your rate of compensation.

Generally speaking, ECs underprice their bids. Then they're out of business -- to be replaced by fresh victims -- who repeat the cycle.

&&&

At this time, it's a pretty good bet that ECs are under bidding, under charging for PV arrays. Many of the expenses are going to pop-up in the out months, the out years. The EC will still be on the hook -- liabilities wise -- while the revenue from new work will have collapsed.

This is what's happended in Spain, Germany,... and Europe.

The players scaled up in a segment that was so uneconomic that it destroyed the national budget.

Would you believe that Spain was accepting solar juice at $ 0.58 per kW-Hr? And in scale? Wholesale? shocked

Once these rates were passed on through to the rate payers, the economy folded up. While the big firms could, and did, get special exemptions; all of the small firms had to pay full boat. Their power bills destroyed their businesses.

Naturally enough, all of the Spanish ECs that had been installing these arrays saw their action evaporate -- overnight, too. cry

&&&

Which is another way of saying, stay within a niche that is not utterly dependent on politics or this or that tax break. You usually end up having the rug pulled out from underneath you. Changes, contractions, are impossible to plan for. Typically your entire equity is at risk -- when your last batch of clients can't pay their tabs.

%%%

So, you should put some sugar in your bids for errors, uncollectables, price shifts, etc. You can't bid truly tightly and survive.

A LOT of the cheesy work that we see posted here at ECN was the direct result of a low bid. This drives small businessmen/ tradesmen to cut corners -- even stupidly -- because the pressure is on.

Almost never totted up: the time required to mobilize and de-mobilize at a job. It's the kind of labor consumption that fades in the memory.

Towards correcting that, buy a cheap stop watch or two. Then punch them active when you begin -- and clock them when you're done. The figures will be eye-opening.

Sorry, no bidding program can spit such figures out.




Posted By: Tesla Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 03/05/14 02:40 AM
http://www.visioninfosoft.com/products/electrical/epic/pricing/

There are others, but EPIC has quite a following.
Posted By: ElectricianBud Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 05/18/17 04:17 PM
You need to consider things like: labour, materials and the type of job.
Posted By: Potseal Re: Electrical Pricing Guide - 12/25/17 04:29 AM
I remember my journeyman going over, and over, and over the details of every job, trying to get the bid just right.

Eventually, after driving us all nuts, he'd finally be satisfied and submit it.

Sometimes he'd get the job. Sometimes a bigger outfit (who am I kiddin' - everyone was bigger than us) would come in and get the job. It would make him crazy because he couldn't fathom how the competition could...oh, they bought the job. How did know that? He was pretty good at getting detailed information on bids that was meant to be confidential.
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