# Friendly competitor says i bid " too low"



## Spike7 (May 18, 2012)

had a situation where , i`m helping a guy in a similar trade out on one job .he is also a maintenence man for a property manager my wife works for.
he gave them a bid on some work 
they asked me to give a bid also, i guess they felt he was high( we didn`t know we were bidding against each other at all)

what the job is doesn`t matter.
by his cost was $7800
my cost was $4700
after the fact he called 
he said ,
"that client has alot of money , you should have charge way more they would have taken it ."
he made me feel like i was a sucker.
i bid my job correct , and made a good profit.
i try never to work for my wifes boss , because of a conflict of interest ,( she is the bookeeeper and knows the numbers of most projects) but he calls me once every 3 or 4 months and asks.
this guy said " next time call me , and we`ll work our bids so one of us gets it , and we`ll keep our prices close"
he said if he had known i was bidding , he would have told me to bid higher than him , and that he`d give me a kick-back.

i bid my job where i made a profit without thinking " he has way more in his budget"
when you know a client will pay much higher , is it ethical to arrange your price accordingly?
i`m not squeeky clean, but i truly try to be fair , i want to make as much as i can .
am i foolish not to take that info into consideration?


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

It sounds like you should have better communications with your friendly competitor. With a low bid, you may have wandered into a bad job without any real information or background on the situation or customer.

You also may have been used (for reputation or your contacts) to get the other guy down, so he will just have to lower prices in the future if he loses work for a drastic difference.

You cannot be profitable unless your competition is also profitable and he may have had the same policy.

Dick


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## summithomeinc (Jan 3, 2011)

concretemasonry said:


> You cannot be profitable unless your competition is also profitable
> 
> Dick


I never heard it put like that. But Damn ain't it the truth. Bidding would be alot easier if everyone bid to make a profit.


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Don't go throwin' around crazy words like "profit" around here, they'll run ya outta the joint. :whistling


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

Spike, you need to look out for yourself, not your friend. Do you really believe you would have received the kick back? Why would he need to give you one? You bid the job, you made what you wanted, end of story. It bugs me when guys come up and tell me to charge more, customer can afford it. So your not a sucker, you bid the job and they took your bid and did the work.

Lowest bid doesn't always get it, some people will pay the higher amount based on presentation and reputation. Some guys can't read plans and either bid not enough work, others bid too much, some clients can't read the scope of work you provide, the list goes on and on. Just remember, look out for # 1


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## EricBrancard (Jun 8, 2012)

> this guy said " next time call me , and we`ll work our bids so one of us gets it , and we`ll keep our prices close"
> he said if he had known i was bidding , he would have told me to bid higher than him , and that he`d give me a kick-back.


Kind of getting into the territory of collusion here. My advice to you would be to avoid doing things like this.


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## ryanshull (Nov 1, 2012)

YOU CAN'T BUY INTEGRITY!!! If you are licensed, insured, and doing high quality work without shortcuts, and meeting the financial goals of your company, paying your help, and your overhead, and making a wage that satisfies your own needs.......... keep bidding just like you are. Who knows?..... maybe there was a third bid somewhere in the middle or closer to yours. Your price can go up with your good reputation when you are swamped, and down a little in slow times to get more bids (don't undercut yourself), but don't let someone else tell you HOW MUCH to bid. To make a long buisness class short, All you have to know for your bids is how much it costs to run your buisness, and how much profit you want/ need to make. If you aren't scoring any bids, maybe you can cut some overhead costs, or just need to be more realistic about profit goals. If you get every single bid you lay out there, you might be able to bid higher and start upgrading your tools and equipment..... so on and so forth. What someone elses costs are has nothing to do with your bid.


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Paragraph spacing. :whistling


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

ryanshull said:


> YOU CAN'T BUY INTEGRITY!!! If you are licensed, insured, and doing high quality work without shortcuts, and meeting the financial goals of your company, paying your help, and your overhead, and making a wage that satisfies your own needs.......... keep bidding just like you are.
> 
> Who knows?..... maybe there was a third bid somewhere in the middle or closer to yours. Your price can go up with your good reputation when you are swamped, and down a little in slow times to get more bids (don't undercut yourself), but don't let someone else tell you HOW MUCH to bid.
> 
> ...


See, it's easy.


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## J L (Nov 16, 2009)

J F said:


> See, it's easy.


You've got way too much free time :laughing:


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Yes, I do. :laughing: Where you been, Jake?


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## J L (Nov 16, 2009)

Working a lot. :thumbsup:


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Strange concept. :blink:


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

EricBrancard said:


> Kind of getting into the territory of collusion here. My advice to you would be to avoid doing things like this.


Price fixing is illegal


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## Big Rig (Feb 23, 2009)

YOU CAN'T BUY INTEGRITY!!! AMEN! 
I would stick to YOUR method. Sabotage may be lurking on the horizon if you take the course that your "Friendly competitor" is suggesting.


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## ryanshull (Nov 1, 2012)

Thanks for the grammar lesson.


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## Greg from K/W (Jan 28, 2010)

You could be charged with collusion and racketeering if you get caught doing that. That is very illegal and you would stand for a jail term.


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## Spaint90 (Dec 26, 2011)

Kind of sounds like your "friendly competitor" is a scheming jackass, they type that fill the chithole of the universe.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

I'd stay away from this "friendly competitor". He'll throw you under the bus just as quickly as he tried to do to these clients.

Edit: Just imagine if these clients were your folks or grandparents. You did it the way I would. No sneaky deals.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Spike7 said:


> had a situation where , i`m helping a guy in a similar trade out on one job .he is also a maintenence man for a property manager my wife works for.
> he gave them a bid on some work
> they asked me to give a bid also, i guess they felt he was high( we didn`t know we were bidding against each other at all)
> 
> ...


Thats called collusion. What your buddy suggested is illegal and IMHO unethical. Being squeaky clean pays dividends later and in good sleep now.:thumbsup:


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