Posted:  24 Apr 2012 18:50
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Anyone have a formula you use for it? I need to price out some trees. Any input welcomed. Thanks!

Posted:  24 Apr 2012 19:15
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
Do you mean how do you price a tree with ornaments, lights, etc., or how do you figure lease pricing based on known costs of all that stuff? Clem

Posted:  25 Apr 2012 22:17
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Both would be great. I know costs and all but what percentage of cost do you use for a lease price. We get everything wholesale, would charging the cost of wholesale be a fair rental price? make back your money first year and then make your profits on the product the second year? What would you sell it at?

Posted:  25 Apr 2012 22:58
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
Same as a plant lease would probably work.  That's what we used in our one-and-only, first-time holiday lease last year and the client felt it was fair.  Try to do a three-year lease, though...people tend to tire of their old holiday decor after about that long. Clem

Posted:  27 Apr 2012 20:27
Registered User Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  6 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
GreenDog, Before figuring your price you need to evaluate a number of things. Are you going to leave the exact same decorations on each year? Are you able to leave the tree decorated and will have little labor in prepping the tree the 2nd year? You should probably allow for some damage to the decorations. What about lights? You should probably allow for some money to repair lights even as early as the 2nd year, especially if you rebox the tree. Where are you going to charge for the labor to redecorate, refluff and change any ornaments or fix lights? Most of us charge these in the lease price as production labor and not in the install price which is only for actual installation and takedown. The major misconception about Christmas leasing is that if you get wholesale costs the first year and the same price the second or even third year is that you are making a bundle of money. Where are the charges to store the product, all the labor to handle it numerous times and the repair costs? Also, don't forget that we are designers when it comes to Christmas. That time and expertise should not come cheap. The market will usually bear as much or more as 2x wholesale plus installation labor for each year of a lease. This is especially true if you allow the client to change themes each year. Sorry if I'm rambling but this is one area of our industry that has not turned into a commodity and I'd like us all to keep it that way.

Posted:  27 Apr 2012 21:35
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
David's point is excellent...a plant lease involves one-time installation labor (and maybe periodic color changeout labor) that is billed separately as the up-front charge at inception.  The maintenance costs are billed in the monthly lease invoice.  This would be analogous to how you would bill a holiday lease, but annually instead of monthly.  The annual setup/takedown/storage/transportation costs are like the maintenance costs for a plant lease and must be figured into the lease rate for the number of years of the lease term (three times for a three-year lease, for example).  Analogous to plant replacement costs built into an interiorscape lease are the kinds of costs David listed (replacement decorations and lights), which should be figured in the same way (i.e., as occurring annually for each year of the lease; if your actual costs don't exceed your estimated/billed costs, good for you!). Clem

Posted:  27 Apr 2012 22:40
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Jan 2011	Posts:  798 Reputation:  43 User Rank: 10 - Blossom
Really, the simple central principle of leases is KNOW YOUR COSTS.  Because everything else in pricing a lease depends directly on your TRUE COSTS (i.e., EVERYTHING that you have to pay for in order to service the contract), if your costs are not accurate, everything else will be skewed in the same direction (usually in the direction of TOO CHEAP!). Because plant leases tend to go on forever compared to holiday decor leases, where clients tire more quickly of the look and want a new "wow" factor every so often, they are more reliable cash cows than are holiday leases.  But don't get me wrong...I anticipate that our first holiday lease, which began last year, will be very profitable for us.  And that's a Good Thing. Clem

Posted:  01 May 2012 15:01
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Feb 2012	Posts:  45 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Thanks Clem and David. I appreciate your help!

Posted:  12 Aug 2012 19:03
Registered User Currently Offline Join Date: Aug 2012	Posts:  8 Reputation: Unranked User Rank: 1 - Seedling
Edinburgh Vacation Rentals is run and managed by a Scottish family. We have 4 lovely and very different rentals to choose from. A 4 bedroom house, located very close to the city centre and within an easy walk to the zoo, grocery shops, parks and golf, a 1 bedroom Garden Flat in a fabulous location surrounded by shops, restaurants, parks, bakers, cafes, antiques, yet extremely peaceful and with its own patio, a 2 bedroom modern, stunning apartment just 5 minutes from the Royal Mile with parking and elevator, and a 2 bedroom apartment right on the Royal Mile.

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