If you’ve been wondering how to put your prices up as a tradesperson, you’re not alone. Every year, materials cost more, fuel prices climb, and insurance seems to creep up, too. But while your costs rise, your rates often stay put, so your profit takes the hit. But raising prices can feel awkward. What if customers push back? What if you lose work? Read on to discover some tips on how you can make decisions, talk to your customers and keep your business healthy.
Check Your Foundations: Know What It’s Costing You to Run a Job
Before you can decide how much to charge, you need to know exactly what’s going on with your business. At Tradermate, we always encourage our clients to crunch the numbers. After all, what felt like a decent profit can vanish once you factor in rising fuel, materials, and tool costs.
Action Tip: If you’re using Xero (our favourite cloud-based accounting software), run your Profit and Loss report for the past 12 months. Look for areas where expenses have climbed. You might find this has happened for materials, van maintenance, or subcontractor rates. Seeing those numbers clearly helps you spot where your profit margins have quietly shrunk. If costs have risen 10%, but your prices haven’t, you’re effectively paying that 10% yourself.
Once you’ve got the facts, you can make decisions with confidence instead of guesswork.
Measure the Market: See What Other Trades Are Charging
You wouldn’t quote for a job without checking your measurements first, and the same goes for pricing your work. If you haven’t updated your rates in a while, you could be selling yourself short. Customers expect some increase, especially after seeing the cost of everything else go up.
Ask around at the merchant, chat with subbies, or check local trade forums to see what others are charging. You don’t need to undercut everyone to stay busy. In fact, fair pricing often attracts better clients who value good work over cheap fixes.
Action Tip: Create a simple “rate sheet” for your most common jobs, things like emergency call-outs, minor repairs, or full installs. You’ll quickly see where you’re under or over. It also gives you a clear baseline when quoting new work, so you’re not pricing on gut feel.
Lay It Straight: How to Talk to Customers About Higher Rates
The thought of explaining a price rise can be worse than doing it. But a short, honest message goes a long way. Most customers will understand that your costs have gone up, too, and they’ll appreciate that you’re upfront about it.
Keep it clear, confident, and friendly. You don’t need to apologise or over-explain, tell it like it is.
Action Tip: If talking money makes you cringe, write a short script and practise it. Keep it friendly and factual, something like, “We’re updating our prices in January to cover rising material and supplier costs, but we’ll always keep things fair.” Once you’ve said it a couple of times, it stops feeling awkward and just becomes part of running your business.
Build a Stronger Business for the Year Ahead
Raising your prices as a tradesperson isn’t about charging over the odds; it’s about running a sustainable business that rewards your hard work. When you understand your numbers, compare your rates, and communicate clearly, a price rise is easy to justify.
If you’d like help reviewing your figures or setting up reports in Xero, get in touch. We’ll help you see exactly what your business is earning and where there’s room to grow.