Why is the cost a secret?
 

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?

Just a guess: while you might thank them, they may fear that a majority of ToTV experts will criticize them for paying too much and getting ripped off. I might use “reasonable price” rather than subjecting myself to that.

BINGO

It would be open season.

Maybe, but I still don't get it. If I am getting ripped off, I want to know about it. The purpose of the thread topic is to share experiences with contractors and services.

I think that if I was going to look for an opinion, I would post my quote before acceptance, and ask if any have done a lot better with the selected company.

Everybody thinks they got the best price - maybe?????

When I see this, I tend to send a PM to the poster asking for a reply or a phone call to clarify. For example, I recently mentioned the cost for a driveway refinish, and one of the immediate comments was very negative about the cost, and yes it was high, but there were other reasons for this choice WHICH ARE NOT PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE or meant to be public knowledge.
SO IMHO, just contact the poster to ask about the 'reasonable' cost.

That is why they need to post the price. They may think they are getting a reasonable price, but they may not be.

This forum is kind of funny that way. I also use some other types forums (cars, golf, etc) and people are much more open about saying how much various services cost. I think when it comes to having work done on your house, people are a little secretive about it.

I think people should be at least willing to post a ballpark price for things they get done. Information is valuable even if it's not an exact amount.

Agreed, reasonable to one person may not be reasonable to another

Also reasonable for someone that are used to NY prices may be different than Midwest prices.

The cost for a service can vary quite a lot for what might seem the same effort. If you have your roof replaced and all that was required were new shingles and it cost X dollars, it will be considerably more expensive if the other person's roof deck needs partial or complete replacement.
If you have a brake job done on your car and all that was needed was pads the cost will be minimal compared to needing new rotors, pads and calipers. How do you expect to judge the cost when there are unknows variables that affect the price.

I agree. Reasonable is a weasel word. It tells you nothing.

This applies to other things than contractors. People always say that restaurant prices are reasonable or that a ride to Tampa airport is reasonable.

If you tell us the number, people can decide for themselves whether it is reasonable.

reasonable cost is a judgmental term which has different interpretations based upon a view of wealth as a status.
There are many posters who have much more e money than others. . there is no reasonable standardization scale, as there are many unique to the individual's point of view about money, wealth, needs versus wants. .

I/we try to find out prices ourselves, and then make our own judgements based upon our needs versus wants. .

YMMV

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.