My cousin told me to always add a 'stupid fee' to client quotes.

I was complaining to my cousin last month about this one client who kept asking for tiny changes like moving a button 2 pixels left. He laughed and said he adds a 15% markup on every project he calls the 'stupid fee' for clients who are going to be a pain. I thought he was joking until I tried it on a new roofing job for a guy in Phoenix who wanted 4 color samples and 3 site visits before signing. I bumped the quote by $200 and he accepted it without blinking. Now I use it every time a client asks more than 5 questions before they commit. Has anyone else tried something like this to weed out the time wasters?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan46213d ago

A roofing job in Phoenix this time of year is brutal enough without extra site visits. I get why you'd add that fee, but I see it a little different. Charging extra for asking questions just feels like you're punishing people for wanting to be sure about a big expense, and that might chase off the good ones too. @sanchez.ivan I bet that paint chip tax works wonders though.

brooke44814d ago

My cousin does the same thing in his landscaping business. He calls it the "annoyance tax" and adds exactly 20 percent for anyone who asks for more than 3 free estimates or sends follow up emails every day for a week. I started doing it a few months ago on a kitchen remodel where the client wanted 7 different cabinet color mockups. I tacked on $500 and they paid it without a single question. Does your fee ever scare off the clients you actually want?

sanchez.ivan14d ago

Sometimes you just gotta charge a surcharge for the "how many colors do you want this thing painted" tax (which I've definitely added for overly specific paint chip requests).