A general questions concerning bids....

[whitewater]

This is not a priceing question, but maybe is..

Do you or know anyone that makes a really low bid and when they win it, then raise the price?

This summer I have been asking around investigating this practice. Not only in the printing industry, but also for contractors and whatever you get a bid on.

The flat stock printer down the street gave the basketball coach here a price on some things...he didn't even print them, he ordered them online, (the coach pays in cash) , coach went to pick up items and it was $50.00 more then what he thought..

I had a customer that works at a company that has to get quotes on shirts, the shirt guy won the bid then when the company ordered and went to pick up and pay there were more charges then what was quoted.

and same for contractors, they quote q price, start working on it and wehn about 3/4 way through say they need more money to continue...so either pay them or fire them and get someone else in there...takes time to do those things so the contractors has got you by the balls.


There are more examples I've come across this summer....

Is this a common practice, or is it the fault of the customer?

I know sometimes customers get quotes from us and then half way into it they change things to allow us to raise the price, but I am not talking about that..


Rob

[JBLUE]

That is one of the biggest complaints that customers have. So to solve that I have a guarantee that if I forget to tell them about something I eat it. That goes for set up, color changes, films, or any other misc charge that we have. They appreciate the honesty and the fact that I will stick to my word. Some of the vendors that I deal with pull that sh!t in the promotional product side and it pisses me off when I get the invoice.

[Gilligan]

Unfortunately that is a common practice with the contractors.

I hired a FRIEND (who is a contractor) to build my building.  Took MANY months too many to really even get started.  Then finally the sheet metal arrives and the tag is "missing"... I dig around and find it in the trash.  29 gauge instead of 26 like I specified.

He apologizes and says "want me to send it back"... Yes, but I need my building DONE more than I need the better metal... so he knocks off some money and puts up the flimsy sh!t.

He did end up leaving a few tools behind when he was done... I guess that's my consolation prize.

[Frog]

In my mind, it is simple.

A quote or bid is a specific price.
An estimate is a good guess with a little wiggle room. It also requires notification if somthing turns up cause an increase.

Then again, words seem to change their meaning.
We just had to buy a toilet and found out that in the model that we wanted, the "standard" height was special order, while the "elevated" model was the "standard" toilet that they stocked.

btw, any frustrated golfers out there giving up the game may be interested in this claim of the American Standard Champion 4, proudly displayed on the box.
Flushes a bucket of golf balls in a single flush. 

[Homer]

we have a guy in town that is famous for doing that "trick". quote the job low, get the order and deposit -go to pick up your order and it's 50-100.00 more than he said it would be. In fact, a few years ago, a dance studio was having this guy print recital programs, did them for a killer price -I guess. The next year, they go back and have them made again - they go to pick them up and the bill was something around 1500.00 MORE than the previous year (he was charging around 15.000 each for these books -outrageous). He explained that his paper supplier gave him a deal, so he cut the studio a deal, but he didn't get the paper deal this year so he charged more. .never told them a thing about it. . . Needless to say, we printed these books for the past 3 years. . .they almost went to blows over this bill for 1500.00. . .all because this guy is slime and pulls this crap. This is the same guy that drives by my shop and calls the city on me if I have a sign out front. . .

[Prosperi-Tees]

I have lost money when my wife quoted a price and her math was wrong on the price I gave her and had to eat the 60 bucks which was the majority of the profit on the job but your quote should be firm and we honored it like any reputable business should.

[Fresh Baked Printing]

State government contractors bid on government projects all the time only to have cost overruns that the state must cover to complete the work. It comes down to what's in the bid sheet.
For us screen printers, costs could certainly go up before the job is started or completed. For tight margin work, like contract printing, a few nickels of t-shirt price increases could mean getting paid or having to pay to complete the job.
Write the bid sheet to cover x% price variation and no one should be surprised. Customer communication really goes along way here.
Surprise price increases seem a little underhanded.

If I quote or bid a job for 500 Black Gildan 5000's but distributor availability only has 400 5000's and the remaining 100 would have to be Gildan 2000's, I don't charge the increase for the 2000's. I don't think that is fair.

Homer, why would the printer or dance studio not state or ask what this years costs will be? Seems like a lack of communication on both parties or at the very worst, both parties are burying their heads in the sand to get the work or to get a cheap price.

[screenxpress]

Guess the studio got caught up in the old -

ass/u/me

[Screened Gear]

I lost a 18,000 shirt order to a guy that bid it with a 30 cent range. I fell in the middle of his range. I am not sure how that works.

[whitewater]

When I give a quote I tell the custy no hidden charges...it is what I tell them....If i mess up i eat it...simple as that...and I explain to the customer when they picked up that I messed up and it may not be the same next time. Just to give them a heads up.

[tpitman]

The only time I've ever adjusted a quote was immediately afterwards after finding a mistake in my math or something I forgot to add in, such as an upcharge for 2X and larger shirts. I also make sure to include sales tax, or the necessity of a tax exemption form, so they don't feel "misinformed" when the bill is presented. If I find an error once work has begun, I eat it. I think these companies that lowball to win a bid should be held responsible to honor the bid. All this crap you read about governmentally-financed projects having "cost overruns" that aren't the result of a change of specification mid-project, but of a low-ball bid, should be resolved in court with the contractor forced to perform. Why the governments roll over is beyond me, except they squander money since it isn't theirs anyway, and they can always raise taxes or borrow more.
At the end of my lease on my commercial building, the landlord, a prominent company in Orlando, pushed me to renew, and they were willing to drop my rent. The leasing officer flat out told me they wanted to keep me as a tenant because I was never late with my payment. WTF?? I always thought that was how it was supposed to work.

[JBLUE]

The only time I've ever adjusted a quote was immediately afterwards after finding a mistake in my math or something I forgot to add in, such as an upcharge for 2X and larger shirts. I also make sure to include sales tax, or the necessity of a tax exemption form, so they don't feel "misinformed" when the bill is presented. If I find an error once work has begun, I eat it. I think these companies that lowball to win a bid should be held responsible to honor the bid. All this crap you read about governmentally-financed projects having "cost overruns" that aren't the result of a change of specification mid-project, but of a low-ball bid, should be resolved in court with the contractor forced to perform. Why the governments roll over is beyond me, except they squander money since it isn't theirs anyway, and they can always raise taxes or borrow more.
At the end of my lease on my commercial building, the landlord, a prominent company in Orlando, pushed me to renew, and they were willing to drop my rent. The leasing officer flat out told me they wanted to keep me as a tenant because I was never late with my payment. WTF?? I always thought that was how it was supposed to work.

We just renewed our lease too. 2 years in this spot and not a single late payment. When my land lord called he thanked us and said we were the only business on the street that payed on time. He owns about a hundred buildings in the complex. I cant believe people pay late either.

[Northland]

I never boost my price at delivery..... but I do warn customers that my quote is time sensitive.
Sometimes they wait so long to place their order, the the price of the blank has changed... I do pass those costs on, but the custy knows that before ink kisses cotton.

[Homer]

Baked -that was the kicker, the printer said it would be the same price as the previous year, but check this out. He charged the studio 15.00 per book, and after the paper sale or whatever -they came out to be 12.00. He billed them @ 12.00 without saying that is a sale price. When they came back the following year, he said sure -same price as last year - only until they picked up the books did he say -oh yeah, last year, there was a sale on paper -this year is full price of 15.00ea. He never mentioned anything about a deal until the year after. The studio understood that as 12.00ea because that's what they paid -he understood it as 15.00 because that's the normal price. . .Sneaky fker does this all the time. . .and I agree, don't do anything until numbers are discussed, never assume, they were both at fault, however, this printer slips on fees after the fact all the time. . .you just can't pull this type of crap. .

[mk162]

You guys are leaving so much money on the table by doing this.  You can easily get extra money from a customer by changing details at the last minute.

Just kidding.  we eat crap that we missed all the time.  I let people know that they got a deal.  My favorite though is I sent a quote to a customer and he was not happy there was a setup fee on the order.  I explained that the setup fee he paid last time was for embroidery, and the one on the quote was for promotional items...and that would be there with every order.  It's easier to`