How To Pick Your landscaping Tradie with APC

First Published: 14 June 2017 | Updated: 6 March 2025

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Choosing the right landscaping Tradie can be one of the most important factors when planning any new project! Whether you’re after a retaining wall quote, paving quote or a total backyard makeover, you will want to make sure you take the time to find the right team!

We always recommend selecting your products first so your Tradie knows exactly what product they are installing. This helps to ensure you get an accurate quote, as well as to get the right Tradie for the job and the Tradie knows exactly what product they are dealing with.

Why IT’S BEST TO choose your products first

At APC, we want our customers to get the most suitable and qualified Trade. We recommend choosing and purchasing your products first. This is because –

• It helps to choose a Tradie that is experienced with your project type and product
• Choosing your product means the Tradie knows exactly what they will be using
• You will get a more accurate quote
• If you have the product on order or on site, you will get a quicker response from a Tradie to come quote on the install. 
• Often when one job falls over for a Tradie, they are quickly looking for another job to go to. When the product is on site they are likely to turn up on your job instead.
• Tradies won’t have as many overheads with the cost of pavers, so they don’t need to outlay money for the product.
• Sometimes the fear on bigger jobs for Tradies is asking for large deposits which unsettles the relationship with the client before they start the job.
• By purchasing before the Tradie, you also don’t have to worry about the hidden markup the Tradies sometimes have.
• You, as the client, gets a clearer picture of the labour rate.
• Some Tradies may not (for varying reasons) get the pavers for the same price.
• Some Tradies have been known to source seconds pavers and sell them at firsts rates.

BEWARE OF HIGH PRESSURE SALES TACTICS

Beware of high pressure sales tactics where the company wants both decision makers there to make you sign up on the spot. Offering discounts off the quote to make you sign up straight away, with the promise to use your home as a display home and put signage out the front and offering terms of payment.

These companies also pick and choose what jobs they will do and only take on sizeable jobs, wasting customers time and often, from experience, the salesperson selling the job may over promise and under deliver.

These companies may not be competitive in price and they are using tradies that can’t find work anywhere else. At APC our priority is to help support you choose the right product for you and to find the right tradie for your job, without the pressure!

Tips On How to Find the Right Tradie

When it comes to paving or retaining walls, you’ll need to consider whether you’ll hire a professional contractor or DIY.

You can hire a licensed contractor and they can do the job for you.  At Australian Paving Centre, we can put you in touch with local paving and landscaping contractors. You can request a quote online and we’ll put you in touch with the right Tradie for your project.

Our preferred tradies operate independently of APC. We do our best to match a local tradie to your project, however you must conduct your own due diligence on these businesses. Please ensure they are currently licensed and insured for the work they are undertaking.

• Find someone local. Local Tradies should respond to quotes quickly because they are concentrating on work in their local area. If they are local, they are generally on-site more often and readily available to attend to the project for any rectification work or additional small jobs. If you don’t use a local Tradie in the first instance, it is most difficult to get the same Tradie back to do a small fiddly job.
• Your local Tradie must be licensed for the work they are quoting to complete. Their builders’ license will have a summary of what work they are authorised to do.
• Your Tradie must be insured in case something goes wrong on the job. Accidents can happen!
• The Tradie should provide a written quote. It is not unreasonable for them to ask for a deposit prior to starting the job. A deposit of between 33% and 50% is fair for the small operators.
• Ask to see some local work similar to what you are asking them to quote and inspect it.
• Look for the local Tradies’ Facebook page or Instagram page and check out their work. Some have websites, but most are very basic. If they don’t have a website, this should not deter your choice because a lot of these Tradies do not have a website. Good Tradies find their work through word-of-mouth and referrals. The Tradies having to rely on service-based internet companies for quotes may not produce good quality work.
• Try not to use a business where the person quoting the project does not work in the industry in a hands-on capacity. Many people find that those that only quote the jobs and do not get involved in installation invariably over promise and under deliver. These types of business structures are more expensive due to higher operating costs of covering the salesperson or the quoter as well as the installation team.
• For best results and better value for money, use the small business owner-operators who quote and build the project they have quoted for you. When the Tradie who quotes the job builds the job, you get a much better result of what you are looking to achieve.
• Research and purchase the pavers, retaining wall and landscaping products yourself. It provides a cheaper overall cost for your paving, landscaping or retaining wall project and you buy the product you like and not the product the Tradie makes the most money out of.

At APC, as our stores are local and we are dealing with local Tradies regularly, we can connect you with the right Tradie for the job. You can either visit us at APC or you can request a quote online here and we’ll match you with the best local Tradie.