5 ways customers try to underpay you (and how to spot them before you start the job)

After 8 years working with Canadian trade owners, I have noticed the same five customer patterns come up in almost every conversation about jobs that went sideways. The good news is, these are predictable. Once you know what to watch for, you can spot them in the first 10 minutes of a sales call.

Here are the five patterns and the exact tells.

Pattern 1: "I will supply my own materials"

The customer offers to buy the tank, the wire, the fixtures, whatever, and just have you install them.

Why it is a problem: You lose your markup on materials, which for most trade shops is 20-30% of job profit. Worse, you inherit the warranty risk. If their cheap tank fails in 8 months, you are the one driving back and replacing it. The manufacturer warranty often gets voided because you did not buy the unit.

The tell: They mention it in the first conversation, unprompted. They have already priced it out at Home Depot or Costco.

What to do: Either decline politely ("we use our own materials so we can stand behind the warranty"), or quote labour-only at a higher rate with a clear no-warranty-on-materials clause in the contract. I have seen shops do both successfully. The mistake is letting it happen without changing the price. This often shows up alongside the scope-creep pattern, which is its own can of worms.

Pattern 2: "I will pay you when I get paid"

The customer wants to pay you only after their own project closes, their tenant pays them, or their renovation is finished.

Why it is a problem: They are financing their cash flow with your labour. You become an unsecured creditor on a project you do not control. If their deal falls through, you are last in line to get paid.

The tell: They want to negotiate payment terms before they have agreed to the scope. Or they bring up some version of "I am good for it" in the first call.

What to do: Deposit before work starts, no exceptions. The amount depends on the trade and the job size. For service work, 50% deposit. For larger jobs, milestone billing tied to phases. The customers who push back on this are the ones who would have stiffed you.

Pattern 3: The chronic re-quoter

The customer asks for three quotes, picks the cheapest, then "needs to make a few small changes" once you start work. The small changes always move the price up to where the other quotes were.

Why it is a problem: They were always going to pay the higher number. They just used your low quote as the entry point. By the time the change orders happen, you have already invested time, mobilized materials, and feel committed to finishing the job at a margin you should not be working at.

The tell: They mention the other quotes a lot in early conversations. They reference specific line items from competitors. They ask for itemized breakdowns of your quote so they can compare.

What to do: Either decline to itemize ("we quote the full job, not line items") or build in a change order rate that is 1.5x your normal rate. Make the change order policy explicit in the contract. The customers who do this professionally will respect it. The ones who do it sneakily will find a different shop to victimize.

Pattern 4: "My buddy says this should be cheaper"

The customer references an absent third party. A friend who is a contractor, a brother-in-law in the trades, a buddy who got it done for half what you are quoting.

Why it is a problem: You are now negotiating against a person who is not in the room and cannot be questioned. The absent third party is always cheaper, faster, and somehow has none of your overhead. This is a manipulation tactic, conscious or not.

The tell: "My buddy is a [your trade]" comes up within the first conversation. Sometimes paired with "I know what this should cost."

What to do: Do not engage with the comparison. "I cannot speak to what other shops charge. Here is what we charge and here is what is included." If they keep pushing, walk. There is no version of this customer who pays you fairly. Either they hire their buddy, or they hire you and complain about the price every step of the way.

Pattern 5: "I lost my chequebook. Can I pay you next week?"

End of the job. You are packing up. They cannot pay right now. Cheque coming. Just a few days.

Why it is a problem: This is the single most reliable predictor of a non-paying customer I have ever seen. Owners who have been in the trades 20 years can tell you within 5 minutes of meeting a customer whether this is going to happen. The pattern is that consistent.

The tell: They were vague about how they would pay during the quote conversation. They asked for an "estimate" instead of a "quote." They wanted to "discuss" the deposit. They did not pay the deposit promptly.

What to do: No payment at the end means no key handover. No release of completed work. For service work, get paid on the truck before you leave. For larger jobs, structure milestone billing so the final 10-20% is the only payment outstanding at completion. Never let the unpaid amount be large enough to make taking them to small claims worth your time.

The meta pattern

If you see one of these in a first conversation, raise your price. If you see two of them, walk. There is no version of these customers where you make money. The shops that scale are not the ones that take every job. They are the ones that decline the right 20% of jobs.