30 Sep Landscape Lighting Buying Strategies, Myths and Flawed Reasoning
By Mike Gambino
Low price
Definitely tempting, no doubt. Nobody wants to find out they could’ve paid less, or worse, that someone else paid less, or worse still, that someone you know paid less and you’ve got to hear about it. Good negotiation is certainly a profitable skill, but is a good deal always the best price or is value measured in more than just money?
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When
you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.”
― John Ruskin (prominent social thinker from the Victorian age)
A Buyers Market
Tough economic times can be very advantageous to the prospective buyer and extremely challenging to those with goods to sell. The pressure of meager sales, the constant drain of overhead and the uncertainty of the immediate future can lead to some very impressive bargains or some very disappointing outcomes. The upside is motivated discounting. The downside can be short sales, poor service, no warrantee or a disappearing contractor with a big deposit.
Get three bids and go with the one in the middle
Actually, in challenging economic times, the high bid is generally the right bid. Sounds contrary to good logic but really makes more sense than you might think. When the economy slows down, money is more valuable. And as prices fall, so does service, quality and accountability. Got to sell more to make up for the lower price. Got to seek out the sale instead of service the sold. Quality landscape lighting Design builders are defined by their high quality. If they’re known for their cheap price they’re called cheap builders. Cheap is not Good and Good is not Cheap.
Timing is everything
Absolutely. And how many happy stories ended with “I’m so glad I waited” and how many disappointing ones with “I wish I would’ve went for it”. Waiting for “better” times only guarantees that you’ll pay more as the economy grows and improves. How many things can you think of cost less today than they did 5 years ago or how about even 1 year ago? Going for it gives you the best return for your money, helps keep good people working and improves the value of your most dependable investment: your home.
It’s more than I thought it would be
That’s a good thing. Really. Think about it. If it’s less, what’s missing? A complete price usually includes things you didn’t think of in the first place. What is more disappointing, to pay more than you expected or to pay less only to find out later that a lot of essential features were not included, ending up costing more in time and money than it would’ve in the first place.
I need time to think about it
Haven’t you been thinking about it for so long already? Time is passing while we’re busy planning our time. In the time it takes to justify your decision to do what you already know you want to do, the project.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional 
landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 26 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
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