Value-based pricing for service shops
Cost-plus pricing leaves money on the table on your best jobs and loses you money on your worst ones.
Cost-plus is a floor, not a price
Your direct cost plus a markup tells you the minimum you can charge without bleeding. It doesn't tell you what the customer would happily pay. Those two numbers are rarely the same.
Anchor on outcome value
A plumber saving a flooded basement and a plumber installing a new fixture are doing similar work for very different value. The price should reflect the value delivered, not just the hours spent.
Where cost-plus still wins
Commodity work, single-faucet swaps, standard tune-ups, competes on price and convenience. Use value-based pricing where you can defend it; use cost-plus where you can't.
Take your version of this question further
This is one operator-tested angle on the question. Your shop, your size, your trade, and your team change the answer. Ask your specific version inside Ask a Shop Owner to get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.