unethical?

Sometimes when i cant be bothered dealing with a work client or I simply don't like them I will quote a ridiculously high price not expecting to hear back. I did this the other day but the client said OK. I took the money of course but tbh I feel slightly wrong about it. Would you say it's unethical?

Companies do this all the time. They don't want the work but don't want to be seen to be not in the running so quote too high.

Unethical? Not really. It would be unethical if you were taking advantage.
 
Common within the construction industry.

A job may be horribly complex and laden with risk, or there may be another reason you don't want to work. But to withdraw from the tender might risk future opportunities. So price it high - you probably don't win the job, but if you do, you at least have the higher profit margin.
 
cant be bothered dealing with a work client

Thats not unethical, its just lazy bad business, like Bernard Black and Basil Faulty. Part of maturity is not acting like a spoilt brat and throwing your toys out the pram.

quote a ridiculously high price not expecting to hear back. I did this the other day but the client said OK

Your motive was poor, but business is business. If you start to worry about the ethical implications of overcharging, you will never be able to visit a retail high street ever again. For the sake of your own profitability, you want to generate the highest income with the least effort. In any deal, thats a case of not going so high you get laughed off for a fool, nor underselling yourself to end up working too hard for minimal profit. Now did this client accept this price because they are a fool, or have you been underselling yourself making you the fool? Rarely is business mutually beneficial, and one party will 'gain' more than the other, determined by the business skills of the parties involved. A sucker is born every minute, so who is the sucker here?

Markets are not determined by fixed prices, but what real people are prepared to pay for goods and services. If your client was prepared to pay what you quoted them, that is their decision not yours.
 
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Kwerks pc repair business.

fatcomputergeek.jpg
 
totally reasonable thing to do assuming you dont have some hold over the client..

IE if I had someones PC to diagnose and fix and told them it would be £1500 that would be wrong, however if some random person rang me and asked how much to fix a machine and I said £1500 thats fine..
 
I'd be lying if I said that I've never done this before, I think it's just part'n'parcel of working in a service industry.

Irritating but profitable when it backfires of course.
 
Not too different to Insurance companies giving bonkers quotes to people that they clearly dont want the business of.
 
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How is it unethical? It is priced in hassle factor.

I have clients that I trust and like working with who I work with for peanuts and other bad mannered, huffy, bratty (usually extremely wealthy people from the middle east) who are charged the earth because it is hell working for them.
 
How is it unethical? It is priced in hassle factor.

I have clients that I trust and like working with who I work with for peanuts and other bad mannered, huffy, bratty (usually extremely wealthy people from the middle east) who are charged the earth because it is hell working for them.

I'm the same, except with fewer Sheikhs.
 
Sometimes when i cant be bothered dealing with a work client or I simply don't like them I will quote a ridiculously high price not expecting to hear back. I did this the other day but the client said OK. I took the money of course but tbh I feel slightly wrong about it. Would you say it's unethical?

If you are in your own business it is up to you who you deal with. I would say it isn't unethical as it's your business.

If they haven't done their own quotes that isn't your problem.
 
Don't be silly. You've potentially just justified a rise in price for all your work. :)

Also there is no real "backfire" you should have offered them a price you'd be willing to do it for. If they accept if you win, if they don't, you win.
 
A lot of you are assuming this is the only work Kwerk has been offered.

If I had a full calendar and didn't really want/ need the hassle of extra work on top I would do the same. If they accept the higher price then you are being paid more to fit the work into an already busy schedule (basic supply and demand).
 
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