Trust is the product
How We Actually Price
No figure on this site is typed in by a person. Every range is computed from gathered market observations, publishes only past a minimum-evidence gate, and carries its sample size and verified date. This page is the whole method.
The Gates
A page exists only when the data behind it clears a minimum-evidence bar — below it, we publish nothing rather than something shaky:
- Sold-price ranges: at least 8 verified sales of the model in the trailing 12 months.
- Asking-price ranges: at least 5 genuine, on-model current listings — attachments and wrong-model results are filtered out.
- Hire rates: at least 3 independent sources per machine class per city.
Where a model page shows asking prices, it says so plainly — asking is what sellers advertise, and negotiated sale prices usually land below it. Sold ranges replace asking automatically the moment sold data clears its gate.
The Computation
- Price ranges: low / typical / high are the inclusive 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of the observations, grouped into model-year and engine-hour bands. A band needs at least 3 observations or it isn't shown.
- Hire rates: the published figure is the median of independent source rates for that class and city.
- GST: every published figure is ex-GST. Prices advertised as GST-inclusive are converted (÷1.1); consumer-facing prices with no GST statement are treated as inclusive, per Australian component-pricing rules, and converted the same way.
Where the Observations Come From
Public Australian market sources, gathered and re-verified on a rolling basis: current marketplace listings, published hire-operator rate pages, direct quotes, and — as they clear the gate — verified sold results and anonymous owner submissions, each checked against market data before it can touch a range. Individual sellers and transactions are never identifiable; the published dataset is the aggregate. Where data arrives under a licensing partnership, the partner is credited where the data appears.
Calculator Assumptions
The running-cost and buy-vs-hire tools combine live market figures with a documented cost model. The current coefficients — all editable inside the tools — are: fuel burn 2.2 L/hr; servicing at least $900/yr or $1.5/hr; a track set at $1800 lasting 3500 hours; insurance and rego $800/yr; depreciation 8% of machine value per year; and 8 engine hours per hire day.
The Honest Limits
- Ranges are estimates, not valuations, and never financial advice.
- Coverage grows only as fast as evidence does — a model or city you can't find here hasn't cleared the gate yet.
- Sample sizes are printed on every range so you can judge the evidence yourself.
Price guides verified 5 July 2026. Hire rates verified 5 July 2026, 18 source rows behind 5 published city rates.