I ask this question because I am incensed that a Bulgarian friend was knocked down on his price by a fellow Bulgarian who will probably even charge for the phone call he made on behalf of the Brit for translation.
This man hand scythed a small plot in the heat which took two days work plus a few other tidying up jobs. He wanted 50levs but was knocked down to 30levs. He also has to wait for his money until the Bulgarian go-between happens to be passing on a weekend. It now transpires that the garden in question needs clearing on a two weekly basis and flowers planted etc so it is a proper gardening job including watering. So far the owner has no electric machine either strimmer or lawnmower.
What do you think is reasonable for this job? The man is a villager who is retired and is only on a small pension.

Without knowing what it entailed, I don't know what a fair price is, but 50 leva certainly appears reasonable to me, next time he should ask for 70 Leva and get knocked down to 50, also I assume you don't know whether the Bulgarian go-between is pocketing the difference between 50, and 30?

Cheers

Ted the Red

You assume correctly Tedthered, but the gardener thought that would be the case. The 30levs he was knocked down to was for 2 days work. Anyway, the punchline is that we have heard that he won't do the job for 30levs so the Brit owner will be without anyone. I believe that the job will entail more and more work so some sort of contract should be worked out otherwise too much will be asked for too little money. In our village people would rather go without than work for a pittance which I agree with. I never understand why manual labour is so badly paid anywhere in the world. Not forgetting that the said gardener will have charge of keys and might be required to notify any house problems that arise. Bulgarian peasants are not 'stupid'. This is really nothing to do with me and I won't interfere, but I do feel for our Bulgarian villagers. I just wondered what other Brits thought.
If people say they cannot afford 'help' because of costs in Britain then they have no business being in Bulgaria and expecting Bulgarians to work for nothing. This is just my opinion and probably not a popular one, but I felt I had to vent my spleen as it were. Its even worse when a Bulgarian 'middleman' will most likely pocket the difference for making a phone call and delivering wages when he feels like it.
There, I feel better now.

I won't say what we paid two men to clear our field ( but a lot more than your villager). It was all done by hand and no machinery. They took two and a half days. And yes all grown up again now. Fifty lev was a very good rate and he should get that every fortnight for the regular work.
Middle man should be told where to go....

Thanks for that Itchyfeet. I think the Brit involved will find he will have no gardener thanks to the 'middleman' which is a pity because we know the guy will do a good job. Interestingly, he worked for another foreigner who played the same games. They haven't got help anymore either. I understand that sometimes it works the other way and British folk have been criticized for paying too much but 50levs is a fair rate especially working by hand. If it was a one off when the land really needs a good clear which would need a scythe or industrial size strimmer (expensive!) its different, but an ongoing job means a realistic and ongoing wage has to be set.

I don't think there is a given price anymore it depends on who you speak to and who you know? some of the locals will work for 20/30 leva but then there are others who will indeed ask for more. I think if they think you will pay they will ask for as much as possible but if you have a good contact in the village you will get a good rate.

We are currently paying 20 lev perday for gardening and general labouring work. which i'm told by the local policeman is the going rate. however he did say we are expected to provide drinks and a hot lunch as part of the daily wage. Only trade people get more money. these seem to be identified by providing their own equipment and skill. So I would say 50 levs for two days work is pretty good.

Yes but he was knocked down by a fellow Bulgarian to 30levs and he wasn't provided with any equipment so used scythe and no drink or hot lunch! Your info is useful but of course it so much depends on what work is actually involved.

One man asked for 40lev for 1.1/2 hours work - needless to say our neighbor told him were to go.

We pay a regular gardener 30 lv and he's more than happy with it although we do also give him lunch.

i checked and trade person is anyone providing their own equipment and expert knowledge. so if your guy has to provide his own equipment and work unsupervised, without direction, then he is a trade person and intitled to charge as much as he can get. althought getting it might be another matter.
general labouring is usually land clearing, tree chopping, fencing, hole digging, rubbish removal. apparently it covers all unskilled labour. All a bit beyound me really as most of the stuff seems to require some expert knowledge.