Why the cheapest quote is usually the most expensive

You've got three quotes. One is noticeably cheaper. It's tempting, and sometimes it's genuinely the right answer — some trades have lower overheads, or want the work that week.

But often the gap isn't the same job at a better price. It's a different job.

Here's how to tell which you're looking at.

Cheap quotes are usually shorter

Read them side by side. The cheap one is nearly always the vaguest.

That's not laziness. A vague quote is a quote with room in it — room for things to turn out to be "extra" later. The detailed one has thought about what the job involves and priced it.

The test: which quote tells you what isn't included? That's the one written by someone who's been through this before.

What usually gets left out

The things that reappear as extras:

• Making good — plastering, painting, the mess left where something was moved
• Taking the old one away — skip hire and tip fees are real money
• Materials at a decent grade — an "allowance" of £20/m² when you'll choose £50/m²
• The unexpected — what happens when they lift the floor and find rot
• Certificates and sign-off — electrical and gas work needs it, and it isn't free

None of these are dishonest. They're just not mentioned. And every one of them is a conversation you'll have while the job is half-finished and you have no leverage.

The three questions

Ask all three trades. The answers tell you more than the numbers.

1. "What's not included?" A good trade answers immediately, because they've thought about it. Hesitation means it hasn't been considered — which means you'll find out later.

2. "What happens if you find something unexpected?" You want a version of "we stop and price it with you before continuing." You do not want "we'll sort it."

3. "When can you start, and how long will it take?" A price with no timescale isn't a plan. And a trade who can start tomorrow on a big job is sometimes just available, but it's worth asking why.

What "expensive" usually pays for

Insurance, certification, materials that don't need doing again, and the time to do it properly.

Also, quietly: coming back. The trade who's local, established, and expects to still be here in five years has a reason to fix the thing that goes wrong in month three. The one who was cheapest and is now forty miles away has none.

When cheap is genuinely fine

Not every low quote is a trap.

• Small, simple, self-contained jobs with little to go wrong
• Someone local with low overheads who doesn't need to cover a unit and a van fleet
• A quiet week, and they want to keep busy

The difference is whether the cheap quote is detailed. Cheap and specific is a bargain. Cheap and vague is a deposit on an argument.

And the dear one isn't automatically better

Expensive and vague is the worst of the lot. Apply exactly the same three questions.

The thing you're actually choosing between isn't prices. It's how much thought has gone in before anyone's picked up a tool.

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Send this to anyone about to pick a trade on price alone. It's the most common expensive mistake in home improvement.