about my pricing for local jobs
Whenever I work on building projects I work on a sliding scale. I want to feel good about delivering quality work in a reasonable amount of time at a price that my clients can afford. I want both of us to be happy.
In Chattanooga – men, at my same level or less experience – work for a day rate of $400 when they do private jobs; like me they are uninsured and unliscensed.
I have been doing construction and fabrication for a long time now and I’m good. I own a lot of tools. I also (flips hair) think I am pleasant to work with. In 2017 I started noticing that I would get push back from clients about “how expensive I was” when I bid jobs. I also noticed that male colleagues were regularly charging more. My husband Jon regularly earned more than me even though we trained up together. But I really noticed when a carpenter Jon and I worked with (and helped train), who had five years of experience to my twenty-five, charged $15 more an hour than me and would get no pushback, sometimes from the same clients who pushed back on me about my bids. He is central casting’s idea of a carpenter – Italian, burly and handsome – and I make more sense in a sewing room, but this inequity lit a plume of rage inside me that festered for months.
When I took an inventory of my resentment I realized a few things:
I want people of all financial means to be able to afford quality work
I want clients who are pleasant to work with, communicate promptly and respectfully, and pay on time
I want clients who know I am equal
I need to bid at the same price as my collegues
I need a minimum of $250/day to survive as an independent contractor
I decided to shift to a sliding scale. I bid at $400/day for labor and my clients tell me what they can afford. They know their own financial situation.
A sliding scale shifts the conversation from “what is the best deal I can get” to one of relationality and “what do I need”. I have worked almost exclusively for friends and neighbors my whole career and I want both parties (myself and my clients) to walk away feeling that what they are giving – and what they are getting – is fair. I like it, I hope you do too.