[asianthree]

OP you are forgetting the one reason post is always posted as reasonable? If post would include the actual cost of the project, think of how many posts would be on the negative side.
Ya know How would that cost be reasonable?
You really paid that much for that __________?
Did you not get 3 quotes before you spent that much money?
Or the best

I only paid $_________, you chose poorly.(Indiana Jones)

Now the post that asks first does this sound out of line for cost, gets a far better response, for the project.

A personal example to rebuild our birdcage. No deviation in size, it’s a rebuild.

$25,000 First company (original) already had the engineering. Saw the pics total rebuild.

$19,880 Second company, guy was very nice, reputable company. Quote did not include demo. Comment was Wow this is a new cage, and needs a total rebuild, sorry for your loss.

$49,875 Third company walked out back, took one look at our house, and said when you own a premier house, never skimp on the rebuild. Even if your insurance won’t cover it, you need something impressive.

Guess which one I am going with…Dingdingding….#1

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

He said the cost was reasonable. After I went to look at the work I figured he probably got ripped off and paid $8-10k for a job that probably would've cost $5000 if it was done outside of TV. At a later time he let it slip that he paid almost $20k and that the company that did it said that was reasonable.

These kinds of things make me wish people would more openly share what things should cost.

It is almost impossible to compare contracting jobs just because of the countless variations such as size, materials used, and actual design. $10,000 may be high or inexpensive.

It is much easier to compare restaurant prices or rides to and from the airport.

[Papa_lecki]

Take something like a kitchen renovation
#1 costs 15,000
#2 costs 30,000
Way too many variables.

Customer cabinet vs stock
Laminate vs quartz
Re use appliances vs new - plus a huge range of appliance costs.
Plus customer silverwear inserts
Pot filler vs no pot filler
Variation in sink selected
Customer lights

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I had a neighbor in TV that had his front patio redone with hardscaping late last year. He said the cost was reasonable. After I went to look at the work I figured he probably got ripped off and paid $8-10k for a job that probably would've cost $5000 if it was done outside of TV. At a later time he let it slip that he paid almost $20k and that the company that did it said that was reasonable.

The poor guy has since been moved to assisted living for mainly declining mental capacity, physically he seemed quite fine. I have no doubt that he was taken advantage of due to his declining condition. These kinds of things make me wish people would more openly share what things should cost.

As people get older, and they have been out of the workforce, and they lose perspective, they occasionally listen to a sales rep or vendor (always a mistake). They also get funny and more trusting at times, because of the slow loss of independence

However, your judgement is from one perspective, and he is happy with his judgement from his perspective. . it's all perspective about the value of money, and of life. If he doesn't have much time left, he might be all happy about getting it done!

with humans, there is no reality, there is only a perspective.

[JakeW]

Reasonable is a word that is different for many, like when someone asks for a company that has reasonable prices. Some think $100 is reasonable others think it is too much. I would never say what I payed for something, the work may not be the exact same.

[rsmurano]

This is a worthless post. How many tasks/services will have the exact same cost between clients? I can think of 1: dryer vent cleaning?
If I told you that the cost of refinishing my driveway was $2000, you would have no idea if that is a good price or a bad price. You have to know how many sq feet they did, if parts of the driveway needed repair, how much sharkbite they used, etc.
Same goes for painting your house, cleaning your house, all depends on sq ft, quality of product used, prep time, warranty, etc.
If you asked this same question about what you spent on your car/suv, even if it was for the exact same year, model, trim, your pice could be thousands of $$$ apart because of options.

[McClendons]

The couple of posts talking about variables are spot on. We are often not talking commodities, so working to do a driveway at my house may be grossly different than another (cleaning etc). Timing matters, a vendor may be filling an open slot. Some vendors might offer discounts in some cases, I've gotten military discounts in a couple of cases.

To me, it is like buying a car....how much for your Toyota Canry? Well what model, what options, even paint colors can be hundreds of dollars. It's not fair to compare a base model with highly optioned prices.

[Kelevision]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Often, a poster will recommend a contractor who did a good job for them at "a reasonable cost". A reasonable cost means nothing to me. Why not tell us how much they paid for the service? Why is it that many posters seem to think that they should hide the actual cost. I have no problem revealing how much I paid for a specific service that many people are interested in. What am I missing?

The cost of what specifically? If it’s landscaping, I’d never offer what I paid because everyone does very different things. You tell someone you paid 2000 but you don’t give them every detail of what was done, then they want to use those same people and maybe they have more or less. The price wouldn’t be the same. If it’s something like painting your walls, then everyone would probably tell you what they paid because that’s a set price by size or wall or whatever.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

This is a worthless post. How many tasks/services will have the exact same cost between clients? I can think of 1: dryer vent cleaning?
If I told you that the cost of refinishing my driveway was $2000, you would have no idea if that is a good price or a bad price. You have to know how many sq feet they did, if parts of the driveway needed repair, how much sharkbite they used, etc.
Same goes for painting your house, cleaning your house, all depends on sq ft, quality of product used, prep time, warranty, etc.
If you asked this same question about what you spent on your car/suv, even if it was for the exact same year, model, trim, your pice could be thousands of $$$ apart because of options.

I can think of a lot more than one item. Mike Scott Plumbing has fixed prices for a lot of items, including a disposal, expansion tank, water heater, replacing push-pull valves, and they will give you a phone quote for many other items and they will also quote you an hourly rate for other work. Also, what about installing a ceiling fan, light fixtures, and other electrical tasks. Replacing a roof on equal sized houses, or power washing a house, or painting the exterior of a courtyard villa. Most people want to know what these things cost, not that you got a "reasonable" price. That doesn't provide any useful information at all.

[rsmurano]

Couple more things. Quality is very important to me for regular services like lawn care for example. We might have the same size yard but not all services are done equally. I’ll pay extra if I can count on somebody instead of having to call them every month asking what are they going to perform the work.
Cost of parts. Look at the prices for painting/stain. Big difference in costs. I would pay extra for a product/service that uses a better quality product that lasts longer so I will save money in the future b not having to perform this function as often.
It’s not always the current price to compare but over the length of time this work will provide you

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

Couple more things. Quality is very important to me for regular services like lawn care for example. We might have the same size yard but not all services are done equally. I’ll pay extra if I can count on somebody instead of having to call them every month asking what are they going to perform the work.
Cost of parts. Look at the prices for painting/stain. Big difference in costs. I would pay extra for a product/service that uses a better quality product that lasts longer so I will save money in the future b not having to perform this function as often.
It’s not always the current price to compare but over the length of time this work will provide you

I agree that quality is important and that there are always variables to consider. But, posting that you paid a reasonable price is not very helpful to someone who is trying to select a contractor.

[rsmurano]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I can think of a lot more than one item. Mike Scott Plumbing has fixed prices for a lot of items, including a disposal, expansion tank, water heater, replacing push-pull valves, and they will give you a phone quote for many other items and they will also quote you an hourly rate for other work. Also, what about installing a ceiling fan, light fixtures, and other electrical tasks. Replacing a roof on equal sized houses, or power washing a house, or painting the exterior of a courtyard villa. Most people want to know what these things cost, not that you got a "reasonable" price. That doesn't provide any useful information at all.

What is Mike Scott plumbing going to swap a push/pull valve for? Another push/pull valve, or a much better valve that costs 3x as much. I would never use these type of valves and when I have to replace them I will use better quality valves. Water heaters come in different quality, sizes, and types, go online and see how many different types of water heaters you can get.
Shingles, same thing, quality quality quality vs cheap cr@p that you have to replace much sooner.
Ceiling fans? Size? Speed? Do you need extra support because the fan is heavy? How many blades? Go to Lowe’s and you will see a 100 ceiling fans for sale ranging in price from $40 to $500 or higher. Light fixtures vary in size and might require more labor to install some over others.
Everything matters, there is no size/price hat fits all

[Mrmean58]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Often, a poster will recommend a contractor who did a good job for them at "a reasonable cost". A reasonable cost means nothing to me. Why not tell us how much they paid for the service? Why is it that many posters seem to think that they should hide the actual cost. I have no problem revealing how much I paid for a specific service that many people are interested in. What am I missing?

Each project is unique based on scope, services provided, materials selected, etc. The reasonable cost response tells you the poster was comfortable and satisfied with amount they paid for their individual project.

[paulajr]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Often, a poster will recommend a contractor who did a good job for them at "a reasonable cost". A reasonable cost means nothing to me. Why not tell us how much they paid for the service? Why is it that many posters seem to think that they should hide the actual cost. I have no problem revealing how much I paid for a specific service that many people are interested in. What am I missing?

I can sum it all up..
Because, it is really None of your business what I paid….

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

What is Mike Scott plumbing going to swap a push/pull valve for? Another push/pull valve, or a much better valve that costs 3x as much. I would never use these type of valves and when I have to replace them I will use better quality valves. Water heaters come in different quality, sizes, and types, go online and see how many different types of water heaters you can get.
Shingles, same thing, quality quality quality vs cheap cr@p that you have to replace much sooner.
Ceiling fans? Size? Speed? Do you need extra support because the fan is heavy? How many blades? Go to Lowe’s and you will see a 100 ceiling fans for sale ranging in price from $40 to $500 or higher. Light fixtures vary in size and might require more labor to install some over others.
Everything matters, there is no size/price hat fits all

Really? Mike Scott replaced two push-pull toilet valves with quarter turn metal valves for $60 each plus a trip fee of $75. When the guy was at my house, he said that they could replace the water heater for $900. Some plumbers will charge $2,000 for the same job. I would never buy a ceiling fan from a contractor, but some electricians have a fixed price to replace an existing fan with one that you provide. The same for light fixtures. I would replace my roof shingles with the same type that the builder uses on almost every house in The Villages.