I had a couple of dudes come by and give me a bid on some general landscaping. Nothing fancy, just pruning, cleaning up, replacing old landscape edging. I thought the bid was a little high ($475) what do you thing would be reasonable to offer? My fear is always insulting people by offering less than what they bid, but I think I need to get over this fear.
For such a small job this might not be worthwhile but I always ask contractors to break down bids for me…materials, labor, profit. If they quote you $20 a foot for edging you know they are not on the level.
I always tell people they are competing. If they think they have a solo bid quite often it changes things.
And beware the …“you’ll need to pay us 50% up front so we can buy materials” scam. Don’t pay a dime until the work is done 100% to your satisfaction. There are contractors out there who’ll take that 50% and you won’t see them again until you’ve called 50 times and threatened legal action, then they’ll show up some day do a half assed job and demand the rest.
Any contractor who can’t float materials on a $450 job, is a contractor you don;t want to be doing business with.
Just roll over to Home Depot some morning and look for a few hispanic men standing around the parking lot. Offer one $100 and the job is done. You buy the materials. Be nice and give him a drink or two during the day. Do you speak spanish?
I don’t speak Spanish but wish I did. We have a few Home Depots here but the hombres don’t hang out looking for work at them. I kind of wish they did.
Yes, get over the fear. The worst that will happen is they’ll tell you they won’t do it for that…well they may point and laugh and then tell you you’re out of your mind…but that should be the worst that would happen 
Seriously I quoted something the other day an the customer came back and said they had less than half that in the budget and asked if I could do it for that price. I simply said “Thanks for the opportunity to quote and let me know if you have any projects up for bid in the future”
Of course I was laughing and pointing at them at the same time I was sending them the response…but they don’t know that.
A cautionary note don’t try and run them down on the job by harping. I’d get a couple more competitive quotes and then ask the ones that you like if they can do it a bit cheaper. Trying to run them down might get them to take it but then you run the risk of “getting what you paid for” and ending up with a shoddy job.
~Matt
Anyway, the bid you got sounds high. I had some guy come out a few years ago and rip out a bunch of yew bushes. He did it for $150. A regular tree trimmer wanted $750. I found him via a business card tacked up on the community board at the local grocery. There’s a whole lot of people who do this kind of work, for cash, and would probably do it much cheaper than a regular landscape company. Of course, they don’t tend to be licensced or bonded or have insurance…so there is some risk.
Craigslist might also be a good place to find cheap help.
hate to say it but some unsavory men will take advantage of the uninfomed female, which you are clearly not.
Right. I have the wisdom of ST behind me, so I’m super-informed.
I think I may just HTFU and do it myself this weekend. It will be a good hamstring and lowerback workout. I can spend the $400 on a spa day 
You know that if I lived nearby I’d be there to help in a heartbeat!
I think I may just HTFU and do it myself this weekend.
I can’t even tell you how envious I am that you can even consider doing yardwork of any kind over this coming weekend. Likely, if I am outside it will be to shovel snow. It is getting to the point that I am scared to even look at the weather forecast!
If there wasn’t the small problem of about 2500 miles I’d give you a hand. That is some of my favorite stuff to do.
Bernie
You just need to host the next ST Gals get-together and we’ll all help you get your yard in shape!!
There are direct flights from Denver, what time should I pick you up at the airport?