Honest pricing presentation means the price a customer sees on your website, your ad and your quote is one they can actually pay, with every mandatory charge already inside it. Done well, it filters out bargain hunters before they tie up your phone and builds trust with serious buyers. We are a marketing and consulting service, not a law firm or a contractor: we design how prices are presented, and you and your advisers decide what they are.
Why this matters more than it used to
Canada's Competition Act prohibits false or misleading representations, and the Competition Bureau has been explicit about one pattern in particular. Its drip pricing page describes advertising a price that cannot actually be obtained because mandatory fees are added later; the only stated exception is fixed charges imposed by government on buyers, such as sales tax. The Bureau's broader guidance on misleading representations also covers the general impression an ad creates, not only its literal words.
For a boiler company, the practical risk sits in the gap between a headline price and the final invoice: a "from $6,999" ad when nobody pays less than $9,000, or a "system fee" that appears on every quote but on no advert. This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific campaign, check with a lawyer.
What this service is
We review every place your prices appear, then rebuild the presentation so it is consistent and defensible:
- Starting prices set from real jobs, with the job they describe written out.
- All-in wording, so fixed charges like standard disposal or commissioning sit inside the number.
- Inclusion and exclusion lists for each package on your service menu.
- Rebate presentation that shows the full price first, then any program, with a link and a checked date.
- Quote templates that start from the same package names and inclusions the customer saw online.
- Ad copy rules, so Google and Meta ads never promise a lower number than the landing page.
Who it is for
Owners who are ready to publish prices but nervous about it, owners who already publish prices and suspect they are too low to be real, and companies whose sales team routinely explains "that price was just for the basic unit". If your enquiries are mostly people asking "how much for a boiler?" and then disappearing, this service is often the fastest fix.
A worked example of an honest from price
Take a standard condensing replacement package. Look at the last 30 jobs sold as that package. Sort the final invoice totals, before tax. Suppose the lowest five were between $8,900 and $9,400, the middle was $10,200, and the highest was $13,100.
A defensible starting price is near the low end of the real cluster, say "from $8,900 plus tax", with one sentence describing the job that price buys: a like-for-like swap in an accessible mechanical room with existing venting that meets current requirements. Advertising "$6,999" because one job three years ago sold at that price is the kind of claim that creates complaints. The guide to from prices goes through this method step by step.
Timeline
Two to four weeks. The audit of existing prices, ads and quotes takes about a week. Setting starting prices and writing inclusion lists takes another one to two weeks, depending on how quickly your records can be pulled.
How results are measured
- Share of enquiries that mention a package or price from the website.
- Quote-to-job conversion, before and after.
- The gap between advertised starting price and median sold price, which should be explainable in one sentence.
- Pricing complaints and "that's not what the website said" moments, tracked by the office.
Mistakes to avoid
- Hiding mandatory fees in the fine print. If every job pays it, it is part of the price.
- Advertising after-rebate prices. Programs change and eligibility varies; show the full price.
- Letting ads drift. A promotion that ended in March should not still run in November.
- Using "starting at" with no description. Say what the starting job includes.
When prices are ready, a positioning-led website gives them a home. Call, text or email to start, or read our own plan prices, which follow the same rules.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to show a from price for boiler installs?
Starting prices are common and can be fine, as long as the price is genuinely attainable and includes every fixed mandatory charge apart from government-imposed ones like sales tax. We are not lawyers; for a specific ad or campaign, ask a lawyer who handles advertising law.
Can we leave out permit fees and disposal?
If every job carries them, treat them as part of the price. A fee every customer must pay belongs inside the advertised number. Genuinely optional or job-specific items, such as an extra zone, can be listed separately as add-ons.
What about rebates?
Show the price before any rebate, then the rebate separately, with the program name, a link and the date you last checked it. Never advertise a post-rebate price as if it were the price, and never imply a customer will qualify.
Should we show prices on Google Ads too?
Only if the ad price matches the landing page and the quote. Mismatches between ad, page and quote are the most common way honest companies end up looking dishonest.