What should my son charge to mow lawns?

[princesscj]

Good morning! My son who is 12 is going to try to mow some lawns this summer to earn money for a school trip to Washington DC next year. It was $600 this year , I and can't see paying that for just him for a long weekend (That's Disney tickets in my eyes for the whole family! ) So, he really wants to go, so we said he had to earn some on his own.....

How much should he charge????? Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[teresajoy]

Good morning! My son who is 12 is going to try to mow some lawns this summer to earn money for a school trip to Washington DC next year. It was $600 this year , I and can't see paying that for just him for a long weekend (That's Disney tickets in my eyes for the whole family! ) So, he really wants to go, so we said he had to earn some on his own.....

How much should he charge????? Thanks in advance for your help!!

We have about a half acre, and we've paid between $5 and $10. The other day a kid came and wanted to mow the lawn, but he had no idea what prices he was going to charge, so make sure your son has a price before he gets started.

 

[soccerchick]

We have about a half acre, and we've paid between $5 and $10. The other day a kid came and wanted to mow the lawn, but he had no idea what prices he was going to charge, so make sure your son has a price before he gets started.

Holy cow that's cheap!

I'd say $20 - $25, esp. if he's going to bag and edge.

 

[pweyl36]

My son would charge $20 and he would get it.

 

[Jen76b]

It depends on the size of the yard. Not sure what my size is but it's not big. To hire a company to come out, they charge $20 - $25 for front and back which includes edging. I would say less for him since he wants to get business, so I'd say $15.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We have about a half acre, and we've paid between $5 and $10. The other day a kid came and wanted to mow the lawn, but he had no idea what prices he was going to charge, so make sure your son has a price before he gets started.

Wow is that cheap.

We have two acres and 5 years ago paid the man $75 for a mow ans $100 if he did the trimming too. He trimmed about once per month. He did supply the mover, trimmer and the gas.

 

[kileybeth]

I think I need to move.

It is $30-$40 for the young inexperienced kids around here and $75-$100 per cut for a company to come out and just cut and trim.

This is for under a half acre.

Have him set a price for straight cut, cut and trim, and vary cost depending on yard size (have him make up catagories ie. ~~ postage stamp rate, standard yard, 1/2 acre, jumbo spread) then have him make a flyer, delivery to each door and try to give 1st time/ multi cut discounts.

This is a great job with very flexible hours.

oh, does he have his own equipment and gas? gotta figure that in too. If he has sibling, working in pairs is often the best plan for that age. My 12 and 14 year olds do team babysitting and it really takes pressure off them and person hiring them feel more comfortable with 2 for 1 kind of thing.

Good luck. DC is great and totally worth it.

 

[Green Tea]

Around here probably $40 a time to mow an average suburban yard. If someone is paying $5, they are getting off insanely lucky!

 

[Frantasmic]

If it is just mowing, I'd say $15 for front yard and $25 for the back.

Add $10 if edging is involved and $15 if edging and blowing the remains into the street are involved (ideally it would be good to sweep the clippings so they don't go in the street and down the water main, but nearly no one does that on my street)


except me.

So $25 for both yards if just mowing; $35 if edging, and $40 if you sweep or blow the clippings away.

 

[Hannathy]

We have fairly large lots but nowhere near 1/2 acre and it is about 25 for cutting and extra if you want any trimming for kids to do it more for a service. My MIL who lives in the suburbs of Philly pays $35 for her yard and it is small tract home size lot.

If my DH could pay a kid $5-$10 to cut it he'd never start the mower again!



My nephew cut grass all the way thru HS and made out well. What works the best if he can get a group of scheduled customers that want it cut every week then you can plan things and if you do a good job they will call you for extra jobs like trimming bushes or cleaning decks, coating driveways,etc.

 

[java]

We have an acre and it just went up to $60 a week!! I would say for a smaller yard he could easily get $20(I would pay that!)

 

[kellia]

I think for a 12 year old, $20 is a good price. Lawn companies charge about $25-30 here, extra for edging, and our yards are not large.

My question to you- does he have a lot of experience and do a good job? He isn't going to run over people's bushes or into the fence? I just have to ask because 12 seems kind of young to me. Our dd is going to be 12 soon and dh and I have been arguing because I say she is too young to use the lawn mower yet, I'm afraid she'll get hurt or break something. But, I am very over protective... as dh keeps telling me!

 

[DOOM1001]

We have about a half acre, and we've paid between $5 and $10. The other day a kid came and wanted to mow the lawn, but he had no idea what prices he was going to charge, so make sure your son has a price before he gets started.

My house is on 1/2 an acre also,and I have no clue how much grass you have but $5-$10 that's insane!! That's like the rates for a condo with a patch of grass out front.Our lawn service charges $50,which is very fair when you consider the size and during the hotter the months here in Miami where it gets to 93 everyday with nasty humidity we should probably pay the guy $80.

 

[VanessasMom]

We have a professional service come and mow/pickup clippings/weedwack for $30. We have 1/2 acre. I would be willing to pay $20 for a neighborhood kid. My parents have 1/4 acre and pay the next door neighbor kid $15 for just cutting.

 

[Kimmumum]

My DS12 gets paid $25 by one set of neighbors to cut and weedwhack. They do have a smaller yard but a steep hill.

He mows another lawn and gets $20 but gets $30 if he pooper scoops.

 

[jessica52877]

I would never pay a kid more then $20 to just mow, we have about 1/2 acre I would figure and $20 seems high to me. I would figure it on hourly basis that it would take and go about $7-8/hr.

 

[missymagic]

find out in your local paper what the local mowers are charging. You dont want to under charge because the cost of fuel only increases. You need to cover the cost of fuel plus make some profit. He should mow your lawn say you have an ahlf acre or one acre (not sure what properties are like in your area) see how much gas he needs..what the charge is to replace it. So he know what profits will be. For half acre i would probably suggest 15-20 and additional 10 if trimming... now remember some people want it bagged and taken away..additional charge for disposal??? or do you have somewhere to dump it. Some people will even give an extra tip if they know he is saving for a school trip. People like to give more knowing it is for an educational purpose.

Good luck.

 

[paladin]

I agree with missymagic - check in your local paper/pennysaver to see what prices are in your area. As you can see from the responses here prices vary greatly depending on where you live, so what might be fair some place would be vastly under paying (or over paying) somewhere else.

 

[cinamin27]

I just paid $30 to a lawn company for the first time to mow & edge my 60' lot on the rental house I live in. That is using a riding lawn mower, the 2 other companies I got quotes from were $35 & use the bigger commercial riding lawn mowers.
After reading these posts, I must ask, why are you willing to undercut & pay a teenager LESS for the same type of work (if of course they do just as good of a job as a lawn company)? In fact I bet the teenager is working harder as they are probably using push mowers rather than a riding lawn mower? When I was searching for companies, the first one I checked with quoted me $35 & I watched and waited for him to cut the grass across the street from me, it literally took him a total of 15 minutes to cut & edge & another 5 minutes to pack up & leave. if this guy did 3 yards in an hour (which he can do when he has several houses on the same street to do) he would be making about $105 an hour but some of you want to pay a teenager $20 for about 45 minutes to an hour of the same work (or more!)? not too fair if you ask me.

 

[twinklebug]

My DS12 gets paid $25 by one set of neighbors to cut and weedwhack. They do have a smaller yard but a steep hill.

He mows another lawn and gets $20 but gets $30 if he pooper scoops.

$25 would be quite reasonable for a 12 year old I'd think.

I'd hate to think what happens if he doesn't pooper scoop before mowing