Fair Price Guide: What Things Should Really Cost
A fair-market price is what a well-informed buyer pays in a competitive market — not the first number on a quote. The problem is that most people never see one. Sellers hold the pricing data, and every line item on an estimate is written by the person who profits from it. Second Opinion flips that imbalance: our AI compares your bill, quote, or contract against live market benchmarks and tells you what the price should really be before money changes hands.
Why quotes vary so much
The same job can vary by hundreds or thousands of dollars between providers. Materials carry real regional differences, but much of the spread is padding: labor hours stretched to look reasonable, generic parts billed at premium rates, and line items priced to be hard to compare. A midrange bathroom remodel, for example, fairly lands between $6,000 and $15,000 — a quote far outside that band deserves scrutiny, not a signature.
The fees to watch for
Junk fees are the fastest-growing category of overcharging: "permit processing," "shop supplies," "administrative fees," and weekend surcharges that a fair quote would simply bundle into the price. Watch for vague "allowance" lines, deposits above 10–15 percent, and any clause that waives your right to dispute charges — a serious red flag no reputable business uses.
Negotiate from knowledge, not hope
Every Second Opinion analysis ends with a negotiation script built from your specific document: which line items to challenge, what local competitors charge, and exactly what to ask for. Fair businesses respect an informed customer — and the ones that don't have told you something valuable too.