Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Patti on January 21, 2008, 03:28:01 pm
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Hi everyone,
I'm usually pretty good at pricing, but restaurant/hotel dining room chairs have me stumped. Last year we did 250 at a hotel and I know I undercharged. :'( Now we've 50 to do at the end of the week and I don't want to get it wrong again.
Any advice?
Patti
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Patti,
You say you have 50 to do, so you must already have the job,
if , as you say you know you undercharged , just add on x amount to what you charged last time so you know you arnt undercharging.
surly you must have some idea how long per chair from your past experience, simply add on x amount per chair to make it worth while.
Geoff
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Yes we have the job already because it's part of a contract that includes hotel carpets, they want 50 chairs done while we are there. Sometimes dining room chairs are a real pain to clean - candle grease/red wine stains etc.
Just wanted to see what everyone else charges.
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without stain removal about a £1 a chair. But stains changed that dramatically. How do you charge it on carpets? Think of it that way.
Pete
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Thanks guys
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Hi
I do a local curry house every 3 months 75 chairs i charge £110 thats no stain remover just a quick extraction clean and they are very happy with this there staff even line the chairs up for me
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A bit on the low side and you would be best to use a good enzymatic cleaner, dwell, aggitate, extract, dry the woodwork.
£1.50 - £2 depending on condition...................I would have halved that for 250 units.
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Patti have you seen them?
How long do you think they'll take to do?
Sometimes looking at an hourly rate can be better, under charging can get to you but over charging could lose you the client! IMO if you think to do a good job with spot removal may take you 2 hours times that by your hourly rate.
Shaun
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We think that if we don't have any stains to try and remove, they'll maybe take 1 1/2 hrs - something like that. Me lining them up and hubby cleaning them!
Thank you everyone, really appreciate your advice.
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Dining chairs from domestic, or commercial users, don't really get cleaned when stain free, however you seem to have gien it some thought already, but, if there are two of you, your time might be better spent in on of the other essential tasks!!!!!!!
rob
When I worked with my wife, we worked as a team, not duplicating, but working through the various tasks in a failry regimented way, only overlapping towards the end.
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Charge between 2 and 5 quid a chair dependant on amount of fabric,fabric type and condition.
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Charge between 5 to 7 quid give a 10 to 20% discount for quantity.
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I hate doing this sort of work but heres a tip. Get a big box or table anything which lifts the chairs off the ground to a more comfortable working height. You'll feel the benefit after the 100th chair.
Mark
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There are only 50 and two people
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£5 for seat only and £7 - £10 with back (depending on style/height of back) ............ cut 10-20% for volume though.
Customers like something off price for more items.
Your per unit cost can be doubled what it was before as your are only doing a fifth of that job and volume discount would not be as high ;)
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Chris, wots your mob mate. Need to speak to you about something that might be of interest to you.
Pete
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All my contact details are on my superbly appointed website............. ;D
http://www.strakercleaning.co.uk/form.php
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For prices suggested it's the old equation of how much per chair against how long it takes to clean. This again is dependant upon how much fabric, what type and what level of cleaning is expected. Never mind the actual number of chairs.
Personally I love the idea of a stand for putting a chair on. When the chair is on the ground I am never sure whether to kneel down to clean it or bend over. Either becomes distinctly uncomfortable.
Also as has been mentioned there is a real logistical problem of moving the chairs to where you are cleaning as opposed to moving to where the chairs are. Neither is satisfactoy but if you have somebody to help move the chairs it speeds things up tremendously especially if you don't have to get up and down off your knees.
One time I did a lot of chairs was when cleaning the rows of chairs in the auditorium of a lacal amateur dramatic theatre. I think there were about 15 rows of approximately 20 chairs. There was certainly not much room to move, the chairs are obviously static and everything was done in pretty much a sideways action. I was knackered (but well paid for the year in which I did it.)
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aschris stated i charge also 5.00 to 7.oo a chair seatand backing and just landed 18.00 but this lso covers the fact it s after 6pm and friday night,chemicals and travel.
hope it helps ;)
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suzuki
What difference does it make being Friday and are you seriously suggesting someone paid you £18 per chair, for dining chairs............that would equate to around £200 an hour .
I'm really finding some of the posts on here regards pricing are way beyond reality and it occurs to me, that the grasping, must have it now, and maximum return, for minimum effort which prevails in our modern society has arrived in this industry.
Problem is, they talk a good talk, not unlike their stetson wearing counterparts.
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coincidence,
I am going to price 80 dining chairs, along with the rest of the upholstery and carpets at a pub in Hull tommorow.
I have a funny feeling I wont get £18 per chair though ??? :'(
geoff
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Robert perhaps you are under valueing your services at todays rate? just a thought.
Shaun
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£200 per hour, Shaun, equates to approximately £4000 - £6000 per week, for moderate hours worked, our care business turnover is in line with the upper figure...............but it pays a wage to TEN carers, runs, two cars, an office and still leaves a surplus of approx' £2800.
If you want to consider what constitutes VALUE consider what these 10 ladies deliver to peoples elderly relatives when others turn their back on them / pretend they don't exist.................kind of keeps things in perspective, at least, it does for me !
rob
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Don't Joe Polish and Howard Partridge etc etc charge £1000's an hour? although charging £200 an hour is beyond me the US cleaners get away with it and it's far cheaper to live there.
But I was just pulling your leg (you old glaikit ;D)
Shaun
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cant understand that reply, carpet guy :-\ ???
what are you trying to say??
from my deductions,
£6000, 10 carers say min £200 each = £4,000
another say£ 500 for n.i.s etc = £ 500
2 cars running cost, purchace etc = £ 500
an office to run,with staff I guess + £ 500
heaven Knows waht else, insurances , heating lighting etc ect cost to be added and yet you have a surplus of £2, 800
doesnt add up to me, but never mind because I havnt got a clue what your on about
geoff
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sorry shaun I dont believe you ;D ;)
geoff
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Shaun
American carpet cleaners charge a lot less than here, been following their forums for years. J P and marketing gurus are selling to people who desperately want their products.
Geoff
You are guessing.................carers earn around £6.50 an hour including NHI and most work 16 hours per week, we don't run Ferraris, so its nearer £400 for cars, office costs are £57 per week, inclusive, the two partners run the business, including the office. So its nearer £2400 gross.
Just doing a comparison on £200 an hour for cleaning compared with £6.50 an hour for looking after other peoples relatives.
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Like you Robert I follow the US boards but some do $1k a day, okay they are better sales poeple than us and also they sell alot of protector and multideal carpet cleaning they are alot more clued up, I know some would say they have bigger homes but also they have bigger rooms and most charge a set price per room ie 200 sq ft not like our room which are smaller so I think that one is a swings and round abouts.
As for £200 an hour well don't forget that is gross (no pun) so there may be alsorts of things to come out of that and the hard work of getting the job in the first place which may have taken 2 hours.
Shaun
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Shaun
I love success and will always praise what I reckon to be " earned success " but the " get as much as you can " whether experienced, or not is what I regard as coyboyism and something to be discouraged, as it undermines the integrity of the entire industry.
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I see your point but what you think of what an acceptable hourly rate will differ from others dependant on where they live, to what they have spent to get the job etc, experience in that field and so on.
We've stated on here before everyones circumstances are different that is why we cannot say what we can and cannot charge per hour.
Shaun
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I have been paid £200 an hour to stand still for photos ............... 10 years ago and 3 hours work, was way over the odds then ( I am not normally regarded as MODEL material :o)
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Airfix ;D
Shaun
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I've also earned the occasional £120 fee, for locaton work with T V and Advertising people, but gave it up, as it was costing me too much, to not be working.
Sure was'nt chosen for my looks.
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To everyone,
wow! All I asked was for an idea of what you guys charge! 32 replies and a whole conversation about how much Americans earn. You lot are so funny.
Anyway, carpet guy.
Yes 50 chairs and two of us. But hubby doesn't really need me, I just go along to keep him company, help a bit and to give the customer the bill. Plus alot of our customers like a husband and wife team.
Thank you again everyone for the tips.
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suzuki
What difference does it make being Friday and are you seriously suggesting someone paid you £18 per chair, for dining chairs............that would equate to around £200 an hour .
I'm really finding some of the posts on here regards pricing are way beyond reality and it occurs to me, that the grasping, must have it now, and maximum return, for minimum effort which prevails in our modern society has arrived in this industry.
Problem is, they talk a good talk, not unlike their stetson wearing counterparts.
yo carpet guy dont spit your dummy out buddy :-* firstly having re read my quote i must say that i had made a mistake did not mean to put 18.00 and to be fair understand that you may have been suprised bud, it should have been x18 chairs :-[
i also would like to point out that i have been in the cleaning business for 22 years and on my own for this year 13!!! i too have been and am often watching this site for a long long time .
GOING BACK TO THE CHAIRS ANY WAY JUST CLEAR THIS UP ;D TODAY I HAVE been awarded the little job along with a carpet clean- i quoted the chairs to my client as im a subby at the cost of 7.00 per chair and my client as added a further 3.oo so they have been quoted 10.00 per chair! ;)
i would also like to inform you that i am no cowboy 8) and to prove you how good i am in my 13 years have had not had to return to a job and never had one bad or non payment ;D
lol as for me working a friday night yes i make peple pay for me giving
up my friday night, nice if you can get it and i do ;)
lol RANT OVER BUDDY ;D
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carpet guy ........... was paid VERY good money to prance around as a Womble :o
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When the wombles were around, Chris, I played squash 5 times a week and trained twice weekly in Kung Fu, so I was in good shape.
Today.............15 stone at 5' 9" I look like a womble.
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Robert are you Tobermory?
Shaun