Short answer: Often yes, but as a range with stated assumptions rather than a fixed price. A range gives homeowners the ballpark they want before phoning, without committing you to a number you cannot know before seeing the job. If most of your jobs can only be priced after a site visit, showing no price is the honest choice.
What are the arguments for showing prices?
Three arguments hold up: homeowners want a ballpark before they spend time on a call, a visible minimum can screen out enquiries that were never going to fit, and the details a visitor enters give you a head start on the quote. None of this is guaranteed, so check it against your own enquiries.
- A ballpark before the call. Many people will not phone a contractor without some idea of the cost. A page that says nothing sends them to a competitor that does.
- Fewer mismatched enquiries. Someone who sees your minimum job fee and decides it is too much never calls. That saves you a conversation. It also loses a person you might have persuaded. Both are true, and only you know which matters more.
- Better-prepared enquiries. An estimator asks for area, surface condition and the finish wanted. Those answers arrive with the enquiry instead of being dug out over the phone.
- Visible working builds trust. A number with its assumptions beside it reads as more honest than a number alone.
What are the risks of showing prices?
The main risks are anchoring, misreading and exposure. A published figure can become the number the homeowner remembers, however many caveats surround it. A job that does not fit the standard case will disappoint someone. And anyone, including competitors, can read what you publish.
- Anchoring. If a range is too low for the work that turns up, you start the conversation by explaining why the number you showed was wrong.
- Unusual jobs. Heavy staining, past moisture problems or crumbling concrete change the work. A calculator built for standard jobs should say so and send those visitors to you.
- Readable rules. If the calculation runs in the visitor's browser, the rates can be read by anyone who opens the page source. If your margins must stay private, a browser-side estimator is the wrong tool.
- Stale numbers. Material and labour costs move. A range nobody updates quietly becomes a promise you do not want to keep.
- How it is read. Whether a published range can be treated as an offer depends on where you work and how it is worded. Check your local consumer rules. This page is not legal advice.
Fixed price, price range or no price: which should you show?
Show a range when jobs are repeatable but vary with size and condition, a fixed price only for tightly defined products with no site variation, and no price when nearly every job needs a visit. Most flooring, fencing and sealing work sits in the middle, where a range fits best.
| Option | What the visitor sees | Fits when | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | One number, such as a price per item or a package | The product is standard and site conditions do not change it | Any job that differs from the standard case breaks the promise |
| Price range | A low and a high figure, with the assumptions shown | Jobs repeat, but size and condition move the cost | The range is read as a quote, or is too narrow for awkward jobs |
| No price | A description of the work and a way to enquire | Most jobs are bespoke or depend on what is found on site | Visitors who want a ballpark leave without asking |
How do you show a range without it reading as a quote?
State what the range assumes, round it outward, apply your minimum job fee, label it plainly as not a binding quote, and say what is not included. Then give the visitor a next step other than accepting. The wording matters less than the visible working beside the number.
- Put the assumptions next to the number, not in a footer nobody scrolls to.
- Round outward. Take the low figure down and the high figure up, so the range does not pretend to a precision you do not have.
- Show your minimum job fee when it applies, so small jobs are not a surprise.
- List exclusions in plain words: what is not covered, such as moving heavy items or repairing the slab beyond a stated amount.
- Name the flags that mean "I need to look": for example old coatings that are flaking, or a history of damp.
- Version and date your rules, so you can tell which numbers a homeowner saw when they call.
The demo estimator does each of these with invented prices, and how it works explains the calculation step by step.
When should you not show prices?
Skip public prices when your work is mostly bespoke, when every job depends on something visible only on site, or when your margins depend on a formula you cannot afford to have read. In those cases a good enquiry form that asks the right questions does more than a weak estimate.
Also hold back if you are not prepared to do a typical job at a price inside the range you show. A range you would not honour costs you more trust than no range at all.
How do you decide? Five questions
- Could a new employee follow your pricing if you wrote it down as rules?
- Do you know the smallest job you are willing to take?
- Can you name the three or four things that make a job cost more than the standard case?
- Are you comfortable with a competitor reading how your price is built?
- Will someone check and update the ranges when your costs change?
Mostly yes suggests a range will work for you. Mostly no suggests putting the effort into your enquiry form instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can a price range count as a binding quote?
It depends on where you work and how it is worded, so check your local consumer rules before you publish. Label the range as an estimate, state the assumptions, and agree the real price in writing after you have seen the job. This page is not legal advice.
Will showing prices only attract bargain hunters?
It can attract people who compare on price alone. Showing what is included and how condition changes the figure helps separate them from homeowners who want the job done properly. Watch the enquiries you get for a few months and adjust.
Do I have to show prices for every service?
No. Start with the one job you quote most often and can describe in rules. Add others only when each has its own tested rules.
How accurate does a price range need to be?
Accurate enough that you would be comfortable doing a typical job at a price inside it. Test it against several jobs you have already priced, including small and awkward ones, before it goes live.