Salvage Credit?

21 years ago

Do any of you work in salvage values for plant material that will be removed (and saved) during a garden revamp and provide a credit to the client?

Occasionally I get jobs that rare or valuable plants are either getting trimmed or removed and if it is something I can use or propagate to sell later I try and give a wholesale price credit for the material I plan on salvaging in my bid. It seems the ethical way to go and I think it helps make me more competitive in my pricing.

But at a "Green Networking meeting" I attended recently, I was told that I am stupid in doing it. "The client doesn't need to know what is trash and what is salvaged". I think that take is wrong; being fair to the client seems to me to be a better business model and reasonable, after all they may recognize their old plant down the roadÂ.

But I thought I would ask what everyone else does and see if perhaps wholesale price is standard for any of you that do give credits, or if there is another formula I should be thinking about.

Thanks,

Hap

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Comments (4)

mylu
21 years ago
Ethical is the only clear path to take.
It just shows me I would rather have you bid my job then others. Kudos to you!
calliope
21 years ago
People like you give me faith in mankind, and boy...did I need it today.
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bruceNH
21 years ago
Your doing the right thing. I will ask a client if they wish to trash or save plants and give an assessment on the value of saving or trashing.

If my customer wants to save the material, I save the material for them, if they wish to trash the material and I feel the material is of value I keep the material. I do not give a salvage credit. If, in saving any material adds cost to my customer, the added cost is subtracted from the invoice. In most jobs I do, I not have time to salvage, unless the material will be used on the job. The trash gets thrown on the truck and is dumped into the compost. If I have the time, energy and interest, I will retrieve it.
GreenieBeanie
21 years ago
We sometimes have this come up.

If we have another home for the plants, we give a credit for the labor to remove the plant, and if it is an extremely valuable specimen that we have sold at a premium, we will give a credit for 25% of the sale price.

If we do not have a pre-arranged home for the plants, we do not give a credit, and, sadly, we don't have time to do a lot of salvage and hold. But we encourage the client to offer the plants to their friends, and will sometimes do the digging and transplant, charging whomever seems appropriate for the service.

I think you're doing the right thing, but just be sure that you are being paid for your time.