Price the list before you drive over.
The customer emails a list of eight things and four blurry photos and asks what it'll cost. Redline turns it into a quote with each task priced from your rates, your minimum and trip charge in, and a line for anything you won't touch, so you both know the scope before you knock.
From a list to a quote
Paste the list, attach the photos
Forward their list into the chat or type it in, and attach up to 6 photos. Redline reads the photos you send.
Price per task or by the hour
Flat prices for the jobs you know ("TV mount is $150"), an hours estimate for the rest. Your rates come from memory.
Say who supplies the parts
Customer-supplied fixtures as a $0 line, your materials at cost plus your markup. That's the line that decides whose problem a bad fixture is.
Write what's out
"Electrical beyond fixture swaps by others", "no permit work". A $0 line on the quote keeps the list from growing on the day.
Save, email, book
The quote saves on their file and Redline drafts the email for your Gmail. When they say yes, book it next to another job in their town.
An eight-item list
Draft for Sarah Kim:
Pictures and mirror x 4 $80
TV mount (65 in, drywall) $150
Bathroom faucet replacement x 2 at $110 (customer-supplied) $220
Sliding door adjustment $75
Recaulk tub $95
Hall light fixture swap (customer-supplied) $85
Drywall nail-pop repair x 2 $60
Trip charge $35
Total $800.
Out of scope as a $0 line: electrical panel work. Save it?
Approve the quote and it saves to her file. The email with the list and total is drafted for your Gmail, ready for you to check and send.
Quotes and emails wait for your review. Example prices only.
What goes on a handyman quote
- Each task on its own line, flat or by the hour
- Trip charge and your minimum, when they apply
- Customer-supplied parts named as such, at $0
- Your materials at cost plus your markup
- Out of scope as $0 lines: panel work, permits, anything you don't do
- Return trips, like a second coat on a patch, priced in
The list always grows
Every honey-do list has a ninth item that shows up when you arrive. That's fine when it's a five-minute job and a problem when it's a door that needs a new jamb. A quote that lists each task gives you something to point at: this was the list, this is the new thing, here's what it adds.
Redline won't tell you what your license allows. That's between you and your state. What it will do is put your boundaries in writing on every quote, so the conversation about the panel happens in the email, not in the customer's basement.
Straight answers on handyman quotes
Redline does
- Turn a customer's list and photos into a priced quote
- Use your flat prices, hourly rate, minimum and trip charge
- Mark customer-supplied parts and out-of-scope work
- Save the quote on the customer's file
- Draft the email from your Gmail
Redline doesn't
- Check what your license allows
- Estimate hours for jobs it hasn't seen you price
- Look up hardware store prices unless you ask it to search
- Let the customer accept the quote online
- Text the quote to the customer
Questions contractors ask
Can I quote a not-to-exceed amount?
Yes. Quote the hours you expect and add a line that says the job won't go over a set amount without their OK. Your terms, your wording.
What happens when they add things on the day?
Add them to the invoice total and name them in the line. See the handyman invoice app.
What if their photos are useless?
Price what you can see and add a line for the rest: "water damage behind the vanity, priced on site". Then the visit starts with an agreed list, not a blank check.
More for handymen
Price the next list before you leave the house.
Quotes are free on every plan. Solo adds invoices and card payments, with a 7-day trial on the web.
Keep reading
- Handyman softwareBill the extras added on site, keep your minimum and markup, and pack short jobs into a day.
- Handyman invoice appHours, minimum, trip charge, materials and add-on tasks, billed before you leave.
- Handyman scheduling softwareShort jobs packed by town, realtor deadlines kept, and a messy week tightened in one tap.
- Carpentry softwareTrim by the foot, built-ins by the piece, written exclusions, lumber deposits and rot change orders.