Deposits for FG jobs - suggestions?

I don't take deposits for FG jobs... but the jobs I get are generally under $2000-$2500.

I travel all over for my jobs... north south east west. I'm sure most people here would think I'm nuts, but hey... if the shoe fits.

Anyway, I do not take credit cards either... checks or cash. So when someone books a job, more times then not it is after I gave them the est. Couple days.. week, etc. They call, or I call, and the job is booked.


I've been thinking about taking deposits... if for nothing else then to put towards the supplies/film I'll need for the job itself. Only problem, since I don't take credit cards, and if they book a few days after the est. is given, I'm not really sure how I would even be able to take a deposit. Since I'm a small shop, I generally book about a week out. So they wouldn't really even have enough time to send a check for the deposit.


Anyone have any suggestions??? Or should I just forget about it unless they book on the spot when I do the est.?


It's not a huge deal... and I have never been burned... it would just help with the cash flow.

-R

get your business verifed through paypal and you can do it that way...then get a merchant account through them...or you can go through your bank.

i take usually 1/3 down at signing or more...ppl usually dont have a problem with that....im thinking about doing that for auto too..like $20 non refundable to secure their spot on my schedule book..i dont have the time to wait around for ppl and have them not show up and no call to cancel.

Bank account transfer maybe. Paypal works too but they take 3% commission plus a transaction fee of whatever you are paid. I use to sell a lot of items on e bay and i felt paypal was eating a lot of the profits but it does work and is convenient.

Yeah... I dunno. I like the paypal idea... but I'm not sure if my customers would be up for that.

what accounting software are you using...you may be able to get a merchant accout through them?...i know quikbooks does.

I use quickbooks... and I tried to get a merchant account thru my bank, but they said no. (low credit scores)

I had a merchant account when I first started several years ago, but no one ever paid with a cc and between the fees, monthly charge, etc. it just wasn't worth having, so I got rid of it.

And still, I hardly ever have anyone ask about paying with a credit card. Those who don't even ask just give me a check. Those few who do never complain that I don't take cards.... so I never really did much as far as looking into getting another merchant account again.

Except for times like today when I think about the whole issue of should I or shouldn't I take deposits.


-R

well, you can always ask them to send you a check.tell them when you get the check..you will call them to set up a time to come do the job...it should take but a few days to get a check for on of your clients..i know it only take a week to send something coast to coast throught USPS.

Deposits are a good practice.

I always ask for half down no matter how much the job is. It is just good business sense. You got to start doing whatever it takes to close the deal on the spot. I always throw something in as an incentive to close the deal on the spot...like, I will do that window or sidelights for free if you accept my estimate right now. Just tonight, I quoted a job for $1560.00 for a residential customer and the wife seemed a little hesitant to say yes, so I said, Well if you pay cash I will knock off the sales tax and an extra $60 off. The husband immediately said yes, gave me $750 cash as deposit and I was on my way. Oh and he gave me a couple of glass beer mugs..he is an executive at a glass factory...

BINGO I get 50% down the balance due on completion. deposit non refundable.

I AM THE SUNSCAPE SELECT AND MAC DEALER IN MY AREA. MY AVERAGE PRICE PER SF (BASED ON WHOLE FOOT MEASURING ONLY) IS FROM 7 PER SF ON SUNSCAPE AND 12 PER SF ON MAC CERAMIC. UPCHARGE FOR WOOD FRAMES AND ABOVE GRADE WINDOWS.
I REQUIRE A 40% DEPOSIT AND BAL DUE THE SAME DAY WORK IS COMPLETED. ALL PAPERWORK AND WARRANTY INCLUDING THE INSTALLATION WARRANTY (MY OWN CONTRACT) MUST BE FILLED OUT AND SIGNED BEFORE I INSTALL THE FILM.
WE CUSTOM CUT ALL WINDOWS PERFECT TO THE EDGE. ABSOLULTY NO LIGHT GAPS ALLOWED. IT IS OUR POLICY THAT IF YOU CAN SEE ANY IMPERFECTION IN THE JOB, CORNERS OR DUST. YOU THE CUSTOMER CAN REQUEST IT TO BE REPLACED. AS THE OWNER ON THE JOB. IF MY OTHER INSTALLERS MESS UP A PIECE OF FILM THEY PAY FOR IT 2 TIMES THE ACTUAL COST.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS..... MY CUSTOMER PAY ABOUT 40% MORE THAN OTHER SHOPS FOR OUR WORK AND THEY APPRICIATE THE DIFFERENCE.

GOOD LUCK

if they are serious about you doing the work they will give the deposit. When they call us back after some time has passed, and we determine that the estimate is still good, we will ask them to either bring us the deposit or put it into the mail, and we will start the process after we receive the deposit, and if the check is good, dont laugh, people still bounce checks.

We quit taking it on the hand shake, people change their minds on the job, film type, or the amount of windows they want you to do. Dont tie up your cash on their film. The deposit should cover the cost of film, materials, gas, etc, before you even start the job, no matter how large or small the job. We are a small shop, and use to tie up our own money and it caused many problems for us. Use their money to work on, not yours


we use to take credit cards, and quit that. we had a couple customers that called the credit card company and claimed the charge was not valid. Visa took the money back out of our account immediately, and we then had to prove the charge was legit. It took weeks to get our money back. Also, they take their sweet time to post funds to your account most of the time. I want my money when the job is done, and all of it, not minus the credit card companies % and batch charges, etc. And I dont like a company having that kind of access to my money.

exactly!

Someone said they had never been burned and that is excellent. I dont care if you have done tens of thousands of jobs before you get burnt, you will wish you had went through the trouble to get a deposit if (when) you do get burnt.

propay.com or charge.com easy to accept credit cards, just gotta know where to look. get yourself one of those cheap duplicate manual machines and keep it in the truck. for $30 a month from charge.com and pipeline data, i've been taking them for over a year. if you don't need it often, check out propay.com. they only charge $59 per year to take em all if you are within the limitations. punch it in an online virtual terminal, and get auto deposit into your account within 3-5 biz days. i like it. and my bank almost ripped me off for a couple of grand to sign up with them.

You can also offer something like 10% off if the job is booked and payed for on the spot, seems to work for me, and you can always add 50 cents to what you usually charge, that way when you give them the 10% you're not really eating anything.....

A lot of time the customer would go for something like that just to save a bit of money in their eyes

Just got finished doin an estimate and did exactly that. Went up on $ a little, gave the guy 10% off and actually end up making a little more......