Talking to a framer changed how I price my work

Last Thursday I was on a job in Austin and the framer next to me said I was charging too little for my drawer boxes, he showed me his hourly rate and it was almost double mine. I sat on that for two days and realized I was pricing based on fear of losing customers, not on what the work is actually worth. Have any of you bumped your rates after a conversation with another tradesperson, and did you lose anyone over it?

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foster.ruby7d ago

wait, so he just showed you his rate out of nowhere? i mean, that's pretty direct for a jobsite conversation, most guys i know would hint around it or talk about their truck payment instead. did you ask him how he got to that number, like did he break it down by materials and shop time or was it more of a gut feeling he's stuck with? because i think the fear part is real, but the math part is what actually convinces you to change the price. if you bump them up, are you planning to tell your old customers why, or just let the new quotes do the talking? i've seen guys lose one cheap customer and then panic, but i've also seen them keep everyone because the work was never really about the price.