Do you barter with tradespeople?

[MsLumley]

Or just accept their quotes? We’ve never tried to haggle with builders but wondering if I’m missing a trick here? Or if they’ll just tell me to piss off and refuse to ever do business with me again? For context, I’m looking at getting some new windows and the quote has come in £600 over our budget. I just don’t know if buyers are in a strong enough position to barter over prices at the moment. WWYD?

I got 20% off the price of my windows by offering to pay cash...

I negotiated with my builders but that was before covid . Things have changed so I'm told ! So glad we got it done before !

I would ask for a breakdown for sure, really nicely!

Then say, ‘we have had a couple of quotes and you are our preferred option, but the other quotes from xyz are coming in at £xyz. Is there any possible negotiation on price?’

That is polite and respectful, it’s helpful to them to know what competition is charging, they should come back with either ‘okay we can take 5% off’ or ‘no, sorry but our costs are just so high and we can’t without dropping quality’. Either way no harm done.

I feel you though, we are just about to tender for a lot of work and actually I feel for builders too, so hard to know what’s going to happen in next year, a lot of work around at the moment, but will there still be in a years time with peoples’ budgets absolutely crushed?

@helpfulperson

At the moment I'm more likely to beg and plead than negotiate. Get three quotes is good advice but I'm struggling to get a second quote for a job.

Yep same here - normally I'd always go with the three quotes thing but at the moment all the main trades are so busy that you pretty much have to deliver a sales pitch to make them want to take your job on.

Our last big plumbing job went to the only guy who replied - we contacted five decent sized local firms for quotes.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

If I were getting quotes for 'once in a lifetime' job like new windows, extension or new roof, I would get three quotes and see how close the prices are. If the person I preferred was higher I would consider asking them to match a lower quote to get the business.

On more recurring jobs e.g. painter/decorator, once I have found a good, reliable trade person, I don't haggle as consistency and known quality is more important to more than price.

I agree: this is the approach I have used (for really big jobs might get up to 5 quotes)

Sometimes I will mention a small and large job and ask a tradesman to do the small job & give me a price for bigger so they are motivated and I can check if I’m happy with them

Ideally, I’d get someone in via recommendation and I’d know the rates my friends/neighbours have paid

Agree with others that comparing prices is difficult at the moment. We recently contacted nine businesses about a job we wanted doing.

Six either didn't return calls or ignored emails. One replied to say they were booked solid until summer 2023. One said they were busy but could fit us in at the start of May - but only to look at the job, and couldn't do the work until late autumn.

The final one is starting in mid April!

When people say barter i imagine them offering a sheep and a dozen loaves if the tradesperson does the job!
I would say negotiation isn't a binary thing, is just part of discussing the job. You share your priorities and they share theirs and eventually you get a solution either you have a deal or there's no overlap between your positions.
If you say price is important to me is there anything you can do, they might give other options for materials, timescales, work quality that could save you money.
What they are less likely to do is sacrifice their own money so you can benefit from the work, as they won't benefit from that. If they are valuing themselves at a given rate, they can get that rate from someone else, and you also have the risk of presenting as a difficult customer to avoid.
Good luck!