How to tell if the renovation firm is more expensive

Quality comes with a price tag. But it is also important not to overpay.

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Before even getting a quotation, there are some tell-tale signs to know if the renovation firm charges high or not. If you are looking for something more budget-friendly, it might be easier to stay away from these firms.

1) Big branded companies

Once a company achieves certain branding status, they can, and are likely to price higher. Reason being they have higher purchasing power. Think about Toast Box, where a Kopi set costs $6 vs that of a normal coffeeshop that prices at around $4. The same concept applies.

2) Companies with many IDs

Not mutually exclusive with the above, but the rationale differs. Companies with many IDs are likely to have multiple managers, and these managers take a cut when their underling IDs close a deal. As such, the company is likely to price higher, such that the company, manager and ID all still earn a healthy margin.

There was even an incident where we heard that a renovation firm asked the customer “are you looking for a junior or senior ID?”, indirectly hinting at a price differentiation within the firm.

Furthermore, for the rare firms that have partial-salaried IDs, they also have to cover back this salary expense. Remember when you were doing a project work in school, probably only half the team were contributing, yet you still have to cover the work of the other half. Likewise, not all IDs can close deals. Hence, the firms charge higher to cover back the costs of these IDs who are unable to generate sufficient sales.

3) Companies that do excessive marketing

There are two reasons for this.

One, firms need to cover back the marketing costs. By pouring cash into these marketing platforms, firms tend to have to charge higher compared to a firm which does not, in order to cover back.

Two, many firms, especially interior designer firms, view themselves as “different” and deserving of a “premium” due to their design flair. As a result, they charge higher as they are not the “run-of-the-mill” interior designers.

Not wrong, the question is how many of them truly can provide that differential.

To conclude, and to reiterate, we are not here to criticise firms for pricing high. After all, quality comes at a price. What we are saying is that different renovation firms suit different homeowners. If you are looking for something more budget-friendly, rather than going one round and getting twenty quotes, it might be faster if you exclude firms with such characteristics. In all, make sure you do your own research!

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