Delivery charges

[Julie Evans]

At the moment I charge for delivering clients curtains. I have tried many ways of calculating the fairest way and have decided to divide my hourly rate by 60 (MPH) and the add on fuel and running costs onto this. It comes to 47p per mile. I then start my fitting charges from the time I arrive at the clients house. I also charge for the return journey. Recently I have talked to one or two tradesmen who have said I should not charge the return journey. How does anyone else deal with this issue and is this a fair way of calculating it do you think?

Julie

[Penny]

Re: Delivery charges

Hi Julie
I do not charge to deliver curtains etc.. to a clients house. However if I am going to hang a job or be on site with my fitter then I work out how long I will be at the clients house so when I put the quote together and this is all included in the price.

[SusanF]

Re: Delivery charges

You could offer free delivery within a certain boundary. It is quite common within the general business community to charge mileage especially if you are going any distance. I think the inland revenues recommended charge was about 75p, which is what they would charge! but I can check this out if you want. Also What Car magazine have advice in their car mags on this subject as you also have insurance, depreciation, your time travelling etc to take into account too.

[thecurtainmaker]

Re: Delivery charges

Hi Julie,
I dont charge for delivery, unless it is some distance, but delivery is included in my price. But fair's whatever you want to charge and your customers will accept. I don't see why you can't charge for the return journey as well.

If you start your fitting charge from when you arrive, when/how do you present your bill? I like to hand mine over whilst at the customer's house and come away with a cheque!

[Louise]

Re: Delivery charges

If you want help in calculating journey mileage before you drive it, decide on your mileage rate, then try using one of the online journey planners. Put in your postcode and your customer's, it will work out the route and tell you how many miles it is.

The AA, RAC and multimap.com all offer this facility.

[Julie Evans]

Re: Delivery charges

I hate dealing with money and so I send out my invoices later - not good practice I guess, but I have not had any problems getting the money yet!!
The reason I charge mileage is that I do not supply my own fabrics and cannot absorb delivery costs within this markup. I itemize everything out seperately on the invoice as I am terrified of people thinking I am overcharging. All my making up is charged at an hourly rate of £13.50 and then all the extras are added on to this. I have a number or clients that involve a 60mile round trip so I would be working for nothing if i did not charge. I guess the alternative would be to put in a single figure quote or up my hourly rate!

Julie

[Louise]

Re: Delivery charges

Perhaps an alternative starting point would be to think what a courier would charge to deliver on your behalf - starting at a minimum of around £8....more if the parcel was heavy or long. Take a look at http://www.interparcel.com/ to get an idea of charges by weight etc. Then assuming you would charge more than that to cover your costs and time.......

[suel]

Re: Delivery charges

Hmm Julie - this is a tricky one. I do not charge specifically for delivery/hanging. But I hope my make-up charge takes this into account. One of the reasons I like to deliver and hang myself (not literally! ), is that there is no question if an issue arises over length or specification etc. I am on the spot, and if the client is happy, I take my cheque away with me. If not, I can see if there is a valid reason for complaint. I most certainly would not take on work involving more than one hours round trip from home, and if I am busy, I usually do not exceed a 10 mile radius, unless it is a repeat client who has moved out of the area etc.

If requested to make something for a client outside of this area, then I would use a courier, and work from clients measurements at their risk.

If I am asked to hang/re-hang clients own curtains (say after dry cleaning or something), then I would charge an hourly rate, based on the time I leave my house to the time I leave theirs. (I hand write my invoices in a book, therefore I would write it out whilst I am there).

Sue.