LOL! they always jack up the price by 40-50% so I negotiate hard.

OP, honestly, if you are asking about it then you aren't made to negotiate. Sorry

Anonymous wrote:It is a feast or famine thing for these guys. When they need work, their prices will reflect that. When they don't need it, their rates will be high.

exactly they barely work, they'll work a few months then go off and get drunk or high on vacation for most of the year, not reliable people

Anonymous wrote:I don't worry about how much profit small businesses are making. I look at competing offers, reputation for quality, value of the result, and if I can afford it.
People deserve to earn a living like I do.

Of course. But for most of use, our first duty is to make sure we use our hard earned money wisely to take care of our family. I'm doing a disservice to my kids if I'm overpaying a contractor when the money could have been used to finance their education. My duty isn't to make sure the contractor earns a living. That's the duty of the contractor. When we negotiate, we are each fighting to maximize our respective positions. It's fair game.

Anonymous wrote:We get multiple bids and so far, the companies we narrowed it down to gave us unpadded bids.

We don’t negotiate per se but we might ask if there is a way to reduce costs. For example, can we use substitute fixtures or buy them ourselves.

How do you know they’re unpadded? They don’t add a “bs” line to the proposal.

Anonymous wrote:^^ this, and it also helps if you have a back of the envelope understanding of the work that needs to be done and relative effort. For example my DH often tries to estimate how many FTE days a given project will take X daily rate for skilled labor, to get a sense if quotes are coming way out of whack.

This doesn’t work, or at least it didn’t for me. I got a quote for polishing some new marble tile floors we installed—so this was just labor, no materials involved (except for some capitalization and/or depreciation for the machine they already owned).

I emailed them back, told him the rate seemed high based on the number of hours of labor this would require, and asked him if he could reduce the quote. They never responded back. This was at the end of a big renovation so I was already tight on cash and just decided not to do the job instead of getting other quotes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:get a few estimates from more than one contractor - then decide

This.

I also check reliable sources online to see if the estimates are reasonable. If anything seems off, I decline the estimate.

"This sort of project costs between $10 and $100/sq ft, or $5K-$50K depending on materials quality, and region of the country". So helpful.

Anonymous wrote:They give you a figure. You stare at them with no expression. They will immediately start stammering and lower the price. Then you tell them that's not good enough. Then they lower the price again. If they're a good contractor you accept. Works every time. Follow me for more tips.

I just an email with the project description and the bid, and an offer of a 10% discount if sign it soon.

I've never had someone offer me a price orally in person. That's ridiculous car sales behavior.

I don't worry about how much profit small businesses are making. I look at competing offers, reputation for quality, value of the result, and if I can afford it.
People deserve to earn a living like I do.

It is a feast or famine thing for these guys. When they need work, their prices will reflect that. When they don't need it, their rates will be high.

I just tell them what I was prepared to pay and ask how we can get it down to that price.
For example we are good at painting so remove painting from the quote. For a basement they were charging us 6x the material cost for a vinyl plank floor so we ended up doing that part ourselves. I have never been able to get them to actually lower their profit margin so you are all more savvy than I am.

Anonymous wrote:I don't negotiate other than maybe the scope of the work. If I get a few estimates and they are relatively close together I assume that's what the job costs. I figure they are giving me their best possible price up front and if not they don't want the job that badly.

This. The contractor is telling you what your job is worth to them.

I’m shocked to see so many people don’t negotiate! i guess this is why they come up with these crazy prices. I always get multiple bids and always negotiate. Never have i ever agree to the face value /list price quote . It’s just a starting point. Scope creep always happens because i add things mid project, but i find that adding things is wayyy cheaper than getting pricing up front.

I recently had a demo and reinstall of an entire bathroom. All materials included 20K

Does anyone know approximately much these bathroom/kitchen remodelers make who have a small crew, maybe 3 guys?

They give you a figure. You stare at them with no expression. They will immediately start stammering and lower the price. Then you tell them that's not good enough. Then they lower the price again. If they're a good contractor you accept. Works every time. Follow me for more tips.