Stop quoting washer install fees on a gas range

The first fridge or range usually shows up the same way. A renter who already has your washer and dryer texts: "Do you guys do stoves too?" You've got a range sitting in the shop that came in on a free-haul run, so you say sure. And then you quote it like a washer, because that's the only install price you've ever had.

It's an easy mistake. It's also the one that eats the whole first month of rent on that machine.

A washer install and a range install are different jobs

A washer in a laundry closet is hot, cold, drain, power. You've done hundreds. You know roughly how long it takes, what's in the truck, and what goes wrong (a crusty shutoff valve, a drain hose that's too short).

A range is a different job. An electric range might just be a plug, but you need to know which plug before you load it, because the cord on the machine and the outlet in the wall don't always agree. A gas range adds a fuel connection, and on a lot of crews that means somebody other than you does the hookup. A fridge with an ice maker needs a water line. A dishwasher goes under a counter, with supply, drain and power all in a space nobody likes working in.

None of that is exotic. But every one of those is a different amount of time, a different set of parts, and sometimes a different person. If the price you quote doesn't move with the job, you're paying for it.

What the install fee is actually covering

Before you set a number, write down what that install costs you. A rough list:

• Time on site. Not the brochure time. The real time, including the part where you move the old range out of the way and find the outlet behind it.
• The second person. Ranges and fridges are two-person carries more often than washers. If you pay a helper, that's on this job.
• Parts that leave with the machine. Cords, hoses, water line kits, a fitting. Small, but they add up across a year.
• Anyone you hire for the connection. If a licensed installer handles your gas hookups, whatever they charge you is part of your cost. Whether you can make that connection yourself depends on where you operate, so check with your local licensing office. We're not going to guess at it here.
• The return trip. Wrong cord, wrong fitting, no shutoff. Some share of installs need a second visit. Price a little of that in.

Then add it up. Say your helper costs you $25 an hour and a range install takes the two of you 90 minutes, plus $20 in parts. That's about $58 before you've counted your own time or anyone you hired for the hookup. Use your own numbers. The point is that the washer number you've been quoting was never built for this.

The fee belongs in writing before you show up

The other half of the problem isn't the amount. It's when the renter finds out.

If the install fee only comes up when you're standing in the kitchen, it turns into a conversation. "Oh, I thought delivery included that." Now you're negotiating with a range on a dolly behind you. You'll knock it down to keep the peace, and next time you'll quote it even lower to avoid the conversation.

Put the install fee on the rental agreement as its own line, separate from delivery and separate from rent. The renter sees it, signs it, and the card runs for it with the first payment. No haggling at the door. One operator we follow charges at the end of every install and doesn't leave without it, and it's hard to argue with that habit.

We wrote about the rest of that first charge, and why the recurring rent should start on install day too, in Autopay that starts on install day.

Give every appliance type its own default

The fix is boring. Stop thinking of "install fee" as one number. Each kind of thing you rent gets its own.

• Washer, dryer, or a set
• Electric range
• Gas range
• Fridge, with and without a water line
• Dishwasher
• Whatever else you take on (window AC, microwave, freezer)

Each one gets a default install fee and a short note about what that install needs. "Check the outlet matches the cord." "Measure the doorway, not just the gap." "Gas hookup, use the licensed installer." Then when you write up a new rental, you start from the right number for that machine and only change it when the job is unusual.

If you're still in a spreadsheet, that can be a tab with one row per appliance type: install fee, notes, typical parts. Copy from it every time. It isn't fancy, but it beats remembering on a Saturday.

How we handle it in DrumFleet

In DrumFleet, you set up your own appliance types, each with its own default pricing, including an install fee and installation notes. A new contract fills those in from the type, and you can change any line before you send it. So a gas range doesn't start from your washer price.

When the renter opens the agreement to sign, the install fee is listed on its own line under what gets charged today. It's charged with the first payment through autopay on your own Stripe account, and the renter gets a receipt.

Plans go by active rentals: Launch $29, Starter $49, Growth $99, Pro $199, with every feature on every plan. If you're adding ranges or fridges to the fleet and want each one priced like the job it is, start a 14-day free trial with every feature.

Either way, go look at what you quoted on the last range you put in. If it matches your washer number, that's the one to fix first.