Below I break a price into its parts: what goes into it, how to work it out with a method instead of by eye, and when to give a range rather than one figure. There are no rates or amounts here, because those depend on your city, your costs and your trade. What you need is a way of calculating that holds up at any rate.
Where the money goes that your quote never shows
The client pays for the result: the shelf is up, the tap has stopped dripping. You pay for the whole day. Between those two things is a hole, and most of your earnings fall into it.
- Travel both ways. Rush-hour traffic can take longer than the job itself.
- Parking. Circling the block, a paid zone, carrying the toolbox from two streets away.
- Supply runs. Driving to the DIY store for one missing wall plug or trap is an hour nobody pays for unless you count it.
- Return visits. The client bought the wrong part, something is missing, you have to wait for it to dry. Every trip back means more driving and more parking.
- Questions and quotes. Messages, photos, pinning down the scope. That is work too, it is just that nobody orders it directly.
If your price only covers the time with a drill in your hand, the rest comes out of your own pocket. With a few jobs a day, that “rest” ends up bigger than the work itself.
What a fair price is made of
Fair does not mean low. It means the client pays for everything you actually do for them, and you are not topping it up from your own money.
- Working time plus the time around it: travel, shopping, setting up, cleaning up after yourself.
- Tool wear. Bits, blades, batteries and eventually the drill itself all wear out. You replace them from what the jobs earn, so a share of that belongs in the price.
- Van and phone. Fuel, servicing, insurance, your phone plan. Without them there are no jobs at all.
- Fixings separate from materials. Most tradespeople include plugs, screws and small fixings in the labour price. Materials (flooring, paint, a mixer tap, a cabinet) are bought by the client or paid for separately. Rubbish removal and carrying materials in are usually a separate line too.
- Risk. A crooked wall, a seized bolt, old wiring. You cannot see it in the photo; it turns up on site.
- Tax and contributions. How much and which ones depends on how you are set up: unregistered activity (działalność nierejestrowana) comes with different obligations than a sole trader business (JDG), where ZUS contributions come in. Check the details with an accountant, but they have to fit in the price.
Anything on this list you leave out does not disappear. You just end up paying for it yourself.
How to work out a price, step by step
The method is simple and works at any rate. You calculate your base once, then for each job you add what is specific to that job.
- Work your rate out backwards. Write down what you want to live on each month and add your fixed costs: van, phone, tools, tax and contributions. Divide that by the hours someone actually pays for, not by every hour you spend away from home.
- Estimate the time for the work itself. Ask for close-up and wide photos, and ask about the wall type, the floor, the lift and parking.
- Add the time around it: travel both ways, finding a spot, carrying things in, covering the floor, cleaning up.
- Allow a margin for what you cannot see: an old flat, an unusual fixing, a material you have not worked with before.
- Split the items. Labour with fixings as one figure; materials, removal and carrying in separately. Tell the client plainly before they choose you.
- Check yourself against the market. The price ranges clients see are in the service price list. It is a reference point, not a verdict: if your figure is clearly higher, be ready to explain why.
- After the job, write down how long it really took, travel included. After a dozen or so jobs you will see where you get it wrong, and your quotes will start to add up.
Say a client wants two kitchen wall cabinets hung. Drilling and hanging them does not take long. But there is also the drive, parking, bringing the cabinets in from the hallway, levelling them and cleaning up the dust. Price only the hanging and you will get the job. You will also pay for the rest yourself.
Range, fixed price, and the race to the bottom
Give a fixed price when the scope is clear: you have photos and measurements and you know what the wall is made of. Clients like knowing what they will pay, and that alone often wins the job.
A range makes sense when something cannot be checked before you arrive, such as what is under the old tiles. Then say what the top of the range depends on. A bare range with no explanation looks like a loophole for raising the price later.
The mistakes that most often leave a tradesperson working for peanuts:
- Competing on price alone. The cheapest offer attracts people looking for the cheapest, and next time they will find someone cheaper than you. Clients also look at reviews, ratings and how clearly you write.
- Free travel. Once is fine. On every job it adds up to several unpaid hours a week.
- Buying materials with your own money and no agreement. If you shop for the client, write down in the messages what, for how much, and whether they pay you back against the receipt.
- Raising the price on site. The client feels cheated even when there really was more work. Ask your questions before you quote.
- No allowance for a second visit. If something has to dry or a part is on order, count that return trip from the start.
How it works on HandyMan24
On HandyMan24 you set the price yourself, separately for each job in an order. The platform does not dictate it. You may see guide amounts on an order, but the price field stays empty and going higher or lower changes nothing. If the client gave a quantity (metres, pieces), you enter a rate per unit.
Before you send an offer, you see how much commission you will pay if the client picks you. Sending the offer is free, and the commission comes off your HandyCoin account only when you are chosen. How it is calculated is explained in the article on professional commission. The client pays you directly for the work, in cash or by card.
Small jobs have a floor: each contract has a minimum amount. If the work costs less, the client either tops up the difference or gives you another job, and the top-up goes entirely to you. If there turns out to be more work on site, you propose a change of scope in the app and the client accepts it or not.
Everyone here works for themselves and chooses their own business form. More on how it works and which cities are covered on the jobs for professionals page.
Common questions
Should I charge for travel separately?
You can list it separately or build it into the labour price. What matters is that it is counted at all. On HandyMan24 you enter a price for the work, so build travel into it; small jobs also have a minimum contract amount.
Who pays for materials?
Usually the client: they buy them or pay you back against the receipt. Most tradespeople include small fixings in the labour price. Agree this before you send the offer and put it in the comment.
What hourly rate should I charge?
We do not give rates. Work yours out backwards: costs plus what you want to earn, divided by the hours someone pays for. The ranges clients see are in the service price list.
Does the platform set my prices?
No. You enter the price yourself in every offer. Guide amounts are only a hint.
What if there is more work on site than expected?
Propose a change of scope in the app. The client accepts or rejects it, and without their consent the price stays as offered. Repeatedly pushing amounts above your offer counts as a violation.
Want to test your pricing on real jobs? Sign up as a professional. Signing up and sending offers are free, and you set the price for every job yourself.
