You’ve priced the job properly and sent it over. Then it comes back: “That’s a bit more than we were hoping.” Or the blunter version — “That’s too expensive.”

Most trades do one of two things at that moment: knock a few hundred quid off on the spot, or get defensive and start justifying every line. Both lose. The first tells the customer your price was never real; the second turns a conversation into an argument. There’s a third option, and it wins more jobs than either — because “too expensive” is almost never a statement about your price. It’s about value, budget or trust, and you can’t fix it until you know which.

Why you should never discount on the spot

It destroys trust. If £4,800 becomes £4,300 the second someone frowns, what was the £500 for? The customer doesn’t think “what a good negotiator I am” — they think “he was trying it on,” and every number you give them after that is treated as an opening bid.

It trains people to push. Discount once and you’ve taught that customer, and everyone they recommend you to, that your prices are negotiable.

It comes straight out of your pocket. Knock 10% off and you haven’t lost 10% — you’ve lost a big chunk of your margin, because your costs don’t move. Work out your real day rate and you’ll see what a “small” discount actually costs you.

Silence is a better first response. Pause and let it sit for a couple of seconds — a surprising number of customers fill that gap themselves, with the real objection.

What “too expensive” actually means

Four different problems hide behind the same three words, and each needs a different answer.

1. “Compared to what?” They’ve got a cheaper quote. Sometimes it’s like-for-like; more often it isn’t — different materials, different scope, or someone who’ll be back for more money halfway through.

2. “I can’t afford it right now.” The price is fair, the money isn’t there this month. A timing and scope problem, not a price problem.

3. “I don’t see why it costs that.” They can’t connect your number to the work — usually a quote that wasn’t itemised clearly enough. The most common one, and your fault more often than theirs.

4. “I’m just seeing if you’ll move.” Some people always ask; it costs them nothing. A calm “no, that’s the price” is a perfectly good answer.

You can’t tell which you’ve got from the words alone. So don’t guess — ask.

Ask before you answer

Two or three questions will tell you everything. Keep them light and genuinely curious, not defensive:

“That’s fair enough — can I ask what you were expecting it to come in at?” Now you know whether you’re £200 apart or £2,000 apart. Completely different conversations.
“Have you had other prices in? What’s included in theirs?” You’re not slagging off a competitor — you’re finding out whether it’s even the same job.
“Is it the total that’s the issue, or the timing?” Separates “can’t afford it” from “won’t pay it.”

Then listen properly. If they expected a couple of hundred less on a several-thousand-pound job, that’s not really a price objection — it’s someone who wants to feel they’ve had a fair conversation. If the other quote is barely half yours, somebody has misunderstood the job.

Reframe on value, not on cost

Now make the difference between you and the cheap quote visible. Not by attacking anyone — by being specific about what your price buys:

Scope. “Mine includes taking up and disposing of the old floor, and making good afterwards. Worth checking whether theirs does — that’s usually where the gap comes from.”
Materials and standards. Name what you’re using and why. Vague materials are where cheap quotes hide.
Reliability. Turning up when you said and finishing when you said. Most people have been burned by this once and will pay to avoid it again.
Guarantee. What happens if something goes wrong in six months? A lot of cheap quotes have no answer.
Certainty. A fixed price is worth real money next to a number that creeps — make sure they know which they’ve got (the difference between a quote and an estimate).

The line to remember: “I’m not the cheapest, and I’d rather be straight with you about why.” Said calmly, it lands as confidence, not arrogance.

Change the scope, not the number

This is the most useful move in the whole conversation. If a customer genuinely can’t reach your price, don’t cut your rate — cut the job.

Phase it. Do the bathroom now, the ensuite in the spring. Same rate, smaller bill this month.
Reduce the spec. A cheaper tile, a standard suite instead of the premium one, paint instead of paper.
Take something out. They do the strip-out or the decorating; you do the skilled work.
Offer a stripped-back option alongside the full one. Two clear prices for two clearly different jobs.

Every one of these lets the customer feel in control while your margin stays intact. The message is: my price for the work doesn’t change — how much work we do can.

Offering options is far easier when your quote is itemised line by line, so the customer can see exactly what comes off and what it saves. A lump sum leaves you nothing to work with. (Here’s what a professional itemised quote should include.)

Three responses you can copy

1. When they say you’re more expensive than another quote

Thanks for being straight with me. I’m probably not the cheapest, and I’m happy to explain why. Mine includes [X, Y and Z] — I’d double-check whether the other price does, because that’s usually where the gap is. If it covers all that, fair enough; they may just be hungrier than me this month.

2. When the budget genuinely isn’t there

Completely understood. Rather than cut corners, let’s look at the job itself. We could do [part one] now and [part two] later, or use [cheaper option] instead of [premium option] — that brings it down without changing the standard of the work. Want me to price that up as an option?

3. When they’re just testing you

I’ve priced it as keenly as I can and still do the job properly, so that’s my number. I’d rather give you a price I can stand behind than one I have to revise halfway through. If it doesn’t work for the budget, no hard feelings — and I’m happy to look at a smaller scope if that helps.

Notice what none of them do: apologise, get defensive, or beg.

When a discount is actually fair

There are legitimate reasons to charge less, and they all give you something in return:

The job genuinely costs you less — it’s next door to another job, or fills a gap in a quiet week.
They’re committing to more work, or paying a bigger deposit.
You’ve been handed a real advantage: easy access, materials on site, no parking or disposal costs.

That isn’t a discount, it’s re-pricing on new information — so say so: “Because I’m already working on that street, I can take a bit off the travel and set-up.” Reason attached, price integrity intact.

When to walk away

Some jobs aren’t worth winning. If someone is grinding you down before you’ve started or clearly shopping purely on price, that behaviour doesn’t improve once you’re on site — it gets worse, and it often ends in an argument about payment.

Walking away politely is a professional skill: “I don’t think I’m the right fit for this one on budget, but thanks for asking me to look — best of luck with it.” You’ve lost nothing but work that would have cost you money and weekends. Price is rarely the real reason jobs are won or lost anyway — here are the reasons that usually matter more.

The takeaway

“Too expensive” is the start of a conversation, not the end of one. Pause instead of discounting, ask what they expected and what they’re comparing you to, then make the value visible. If the budget genuinely won’t stretch, change the scope rather than the rate. And when someone just wants the cheapest possible number, let them have it from someone else.

Hold your price with a good reason and you’ll lose the odd job. Drop it every time someone flinches and you’ll lose the business.

Queezy builds clean, itemised quotes on-site, so when the price question comes up, the answer’s already on the page. Join the waiting list to get in early.

"That's Too Expensive": How to Handle Price Objections