# How do I price a mulch job?

Price mulch as materials with a markup plus crew hours, job costs and profit. ProfitDrawer's landscaping guide bids an example install: 8 cubic yards at $40 delivered ($320) marked up 20% to $384, 12 crew hours at $45 ($540 for spreading, edging and bed prep), $40 for truck and fuel and $25 for disposal, for $989. Adding 15% profit gives $1,137.35, so the example bid is $1,140. Example numbers only.

How to build your own mulch bid:

1. **Measure the beds** and work out the cubic yards you need.
2. **Materials:** your delivered price per yard times the yards, plus a markup (the example uses 20%).
3. **Labor:** crew hours times your cost per crew hour. In the example, 2 people for 5 hours is 10 crew hours for spreading, plus 2 crew hours of edging and bed prep. The $45 per crew hour covers wages or your pay plus a share of insurance and equipment.
4. **Job costs:** truck, trailer and fuel, and disposal of old debris.
5. **Profit:** a percentage on top of the total cost.

Landscapers often bid installs this way (labor plus materials with a markup), quote maintenance as a flat price per visit and charge hourly for small odd jobs.

The free price per job calculator can do this math for one-off jobs. Check what local companies charge so your bid lands in a sensible range.

- Source: [How to Start a Landscaping Business (Costs, Licenses and Pricing)](https://profitdrawer.com/guides/how-to-start-a-landscaping-business.html)
- Updated: 2026-10-29
- Published: 2026-10-29
- Category: Pricing and profit
- Canonical: https://profitdrawer.com/answers/how-do-i-price-a-mulch-job.html
- Publisher: ProfitDrawer (https://profitdrawer.com)
