Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 08:03:25 pm

Title: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 08:03:25 pm
what do you think is a reasonable price per window nowadays? I  work in 2 middle class areas, but would not get what alot of cleaners on the forums say they are  charging which is £1 per window. On some of my larger houses I could charge that but not on the average semi. Also come Oct when fuel duty goes up again, was planning to increase prices accordingly. Does £1 per house seem reasonable or is that a bit excessive? I currently charge £4 for 10 windows on a council house and £4.50 for 8 windows and two doors on a private semi on different street, was thinking of going to 5 and 5.50. Previous price increases have been 50p and up until joining the cleaning forums I was charging av of 50p per window, and £1-2 for large windows or patio doors
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: Tosh on June 17, 2008, 08:30:56 pm
Does £1 per house seem reasonable or is that a bit excessive?

That's the basis for giving a decent quote, but there's much more to it than that.  It really depends on the job.

For new work on standard residential properties, I always count the windows and doors (which we clean) and charge £1 per window; then round up and maybe add some more if we don't really want the job; or if there's some awkward access areas; or if the customer appears to be a bit 'demanding'.

There's no formula to pricing; it's a bit of an art; I honestly think it all boils down to how much do you want the work?  If you don't really want it, price high, if you want it price reasonalbly; never price cheaply 'cos you'll end up giving a shoddy service and eventually dropping the job.

Round my way, there's lads getting (probably) £20 for the same sort of properties I'm cleaning for £10, and there's (probably) others who're doing similar properties for £5.

I bet it's the same all over the UK.

PS.  I'm from North Shields, but live and work in South East Wales: I see you're a fellow Geordie!
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: peter holley on June 17, 2008, 08:32:50 pm
i live in one of the poorest part of the uk.... south wales, and i have a minimum charge of £10, ....  from experience i'v learned that if you underprice , you can get stuck in a rut , and it,s hard to put prices up ...
eg.   i lost about 10 houses in one area because i put my prices up by £1  three years in a row..... and they still weren't brought up to the right price level ....the problem was that i had spoilt them for years with redicuosley low prices...in the end i was glad to lose them as i resented doing them cheap.

sometimes it,s best to risk losing customers by increasing the price, rather than working for peanuts
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: WCE on June 17, 2008, 08:33:23 pm
Aren't you up north if I remember correctly? Down here in the south midlands I charge £1 a window min. So the 10 windows you talk about would cost the householder at least £10. However, I understand that prices are lower in the north so maybe someone more from your way than me can give you better advice regarding price. (Ether that or move down here! ;)
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 08:38:29 pm
PS.  I'm from North Shields, but live and work in South East Wales: I see you're a fellow Geordie!
Quote
Oh aye , I live just west of the "toon" 30 seconds from the A69
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 08:42:45 pm
Theres no way I could get £1 / window, I live in ex council house 7average size windows and 3 small ones , the local window cleaners charge £3 for my neighbour,and it takes them abut 10 mins trad.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: sjm on June 17, 2008, 08:53:20 pm
Theres no way I could get £1 / window, I live in ex council house 7average size windows and 3 small ones , the local window cleaners charge £3 for my neighbour,and it takes them abut 10 mins trad.
Maybe you can branch out a bit ? You say you could never get £1 a window ? Even in ex metro houses it can be done  ;D  I charge this for all houses including ex metro ( and they are crying out for reliable wc ) Be confident and price accordingly  ;D
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: darragh windows on June 17, 2008, 08:59:36 pm
even if you put all the houses you do up just 50p which no worthwhile customer could dissagree with, think how much extra that would give you a month and if you do happen to lose one or two the rise will make up for it less work for the same money
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: Rob.Hall on June 17, 2008, 09:00:57 pm
I count the windows and doors then put a price to them. Basic.

I then look at the type of windows and add more if they are small pains, arched, odd shape or if they are hard to access. etc etc.

After this I look at access and any problem areas.

This seems to be a good rule of thumb for me.

In some cases I tend to work on how long the job will take as well if I am not sure.



Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: Tosh on June 17, 2008, 09:17:35 pm
Theres no way I could get £1 / window, I live in ex council house 7average size windows and 3 small ones , the local window cleaners charge £3 for my neighbour,and it takes them abut 10 mins trad.

I bet you it takes one window cleaner more like 15 to 20 minutes per house, from arriving to departing.

But that aside, why don't you start targetting the posh rural areas?  Get a load of leaflets (I know a good on-line place where you can get 5000 glossy A4 leaflets for £100) and make time to shove them through doors of posh places.

Okay, you'll end up with a load of drive-betweens, but just make sure you price these jobs well.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: kris martin on June 17, 2008, 09:27:43 pm
i bet i could do it in 7 mins (trad) and do a good aswell, 15 - 20 mins not a chance i may as well go home.. 5 mins wfp
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 09:31:10 pm
i bet i could do it in 7 mins (trad) and do a good aswell, 15 - 20 mins not a chance i may as well go home.. 5 mins wfp
t It was 2 blokes  they do it in 5
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: kris martin on June 17, 2008, 09:32:36 pm
id also charge it minimum £4.50, but i would never get away with charging some of the prices i hear on here
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: Tosh on June 17, 2008, 09:38:24 pm
i bet i could do it in 7 mins (trad) and do a good aswell, 15 - 20 mins not a chance i may as well go home.. 5 mins wfp

Sigh!   ::)
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 09:44:07 pm
id also charge it minimum £4.50, but i would never get away with charging some of the prices i hear on here

Thank goodness for that somone in the same position as me
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: supernova77 on June 17, 2008, 09:49:46 pm
I just look around the house and work out roughly how long it will take to clean all windows and quote accordingly.

Andy
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 09:59:45 pm
thats one thing I find hard to do ,estimate time
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: kris martin on June 17, 2008, 10:02:23 pm
id also charge it minimum £4.50, but i would never get away with charging some of the prices i hear on here

Thank goodness for that somone in the same position as me
your not alone mate, dont worry... i was worrying but now i know your in the same boat as me i feel better...  i think £4.50 for a house that takes under ten mins is not bad
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: RPCCS on June 17, 2008, 10:04:18 pm
agreed 100%
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: kris martin on June 17, 2008, 10:11:25 pm
by over £3 as well

i try and do about 8 though
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: NWH on June 17, 2008, 10:12:20 pm
id also charge it minimum £4.50, but i would never get away with charging some of the prices i hear on here

Thank goodness for that somone in the same position as me
your not alone mate, dont worry... i was worrying but now i know your in the same boat as me i feel better...  i think £4.50 for a house that takes under ten mins is not bad

Get in your van and drive to a house and then clean there windows with pure water that you have purified with filters and resin that costs money to do all year round,think again in the grand scale of things £4.50 is nothing to give someone any service regardless if you have 1 in a road or 50.Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: WCE on June 17, 2008, 10:22:36 pm
id also charge it minimum £4.50, but i would never get away with charging some of the prices i hear on here

Thank goodness for that somone in the same position as me
your not alone mate, dont worry... i was worrying but now i know your in the same boat as me i feel better...  i think £4.50 for a house that takes under ten mins is not bad

Get in your van and drive to a house and then clean there windows with pure water that you have purified with filters and resin that costs money to do all year round,think again in the grand scale of things £4.50 is nothing to give someone any service regardless if you have 1 in a road or 50.Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.

It's the same old thing, someone could have 100 customers another 10.  The person with 100 customers charges them £1 each the one with 10 charges £10 each. They both make the same money but I know which one I'd rather be. I go for quality not quantity. Kriss you mentioned in a post the other day that you and the person you worked with did 100 houses per day. Have you ever thought that maybe you have to do so many because your prices are low? If you put them up by £1 than on a 5 day week that would be £500pw extra for you and your partner or £250 each (£50 a day).     
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: supernova77 on June 17, 2008, 10:25:20 pm
Quote
Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.

£400 for a mornings work??? Yeah right!

Andy
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: NWH on June 17, 2008, 10:30:57 pm
Quote
Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.

£400 for a mornings work??? Yeah right!

Andy
I`m not joking i don`t lie or joke about earnings,this guy is the nicest genuine bloke you`ll ever meet.Theres 2 of them and start at opposite ends 100mtrs each,it takes them a morning at a fiver a pop.I can`t see why you think that`s strange,thats only 40 terrace houses each in a MORNING not an hour.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: Niall McAllister on June 17, 2008, 10:32:05 pm
I tried £1 /window, sometimes it seems way to much, other times not enough. Now I am going with how long it will take. I know what I want my hourly rate to be, so I work out how long it will take, then divide by the hourly rate.
eg £90/hr
20 minute job
=£30 for job.

I wish that was my hourly rate :D
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: peter holley on June 17, 2008, 10:36:47 pm
Quote
Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.

£400 for a mornings work??? Yeah right!

Andy
I`m not joking i don`t lie or joke about earnings,this guy is the nicest genuine bloke you`ll ever meet.Theres 2 of them and start at opposite ends 100mtrs each,it takes them a morning at a fiver a pop.I can`t see why you think that`s strange,thats only 40 terrace houses each in a MORNING not an hour.

seems like good one to me ...but it must take ages to collect :o :o :o
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: NWH on June 17, 2008, 10:37:32 pm
Quote
Saying that i know someone that charges £5 a clean in road full of terrace houses,they only get the front cleaned mind and he does 80 of them in a morning lol.

£400 for a mornings work??? Yeah right!

Andy
I`m not joking i don`t lie or joke about earnings,this guy is the nicest genuine bloke you`ll ever meet.Theres 2 of them and start at opposite ends 100mtrs each,it takes them a morning at a fiver a pop.I can`t see why you think that`s strange,thats only 40 terrace houses each in a MORNING not an hour.
you ve just reduced it by 50%
Ok he has someone helping him i should have said that in the first place,sorry.If some think that`s not possible in a morning working as a PAIR,they should go back to ladders.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: supernova77 on June 17, 2008, 10:38:25 pm
Quote
I`m not joking i don`t lie or joke about earnings,this guy is the nicest genuine bloke you`ll ever meet.Theres 2 of them and start at opposite ends 100mtrs each,it takes them a morning at a fiver a pop.I can`t see why you think that`s strange,thats only 40 terrace houses each in a MORNING not an hour.

Originally you didn't say it was 2 guys... You said it was 1 guy cleaning 80 fronts a morning at £5 each!

 ::)

Andy
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: NWH on June 17, 2008, 10:39:55 pm
Yes i`ve apologised for that,stop nit picking lol. ;D ;D ;D ;D :-* :-* :-* :-*
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: paul saunders on June 17, 2008, 10:47:56 pm
Is that trad or wfp?
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: NWH on June 17, 2008, 10:53:27 pm
WFP,you are joking.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: paul saunders on June 17, 2008, 10:57:14 pm
NO!
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: geefree on June 18, 2008, 07:39:47 pm
i need some roller skates i think so i can keep up .. or a pole in each hand  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: dai on June 19, 2008, 10:43:15 pm
One way of getting a good price rise, would be to get someone to post leaflets to all your customers offering to do their windows for £3 more than you charge.
Next time round tell them your struggling to make a living with your present prices, and you are going to have to put them up £1.50.
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: kris martin on June 19, 2008, 10:47:30 pm
what a good idea :D
Title: Re: Prices and increasing
Post by: geefree on June 20, 2008, 12:46:45 am
i think its kind of the wrong time to be hitting people with increases just now, given the economic climate etc,

i have just introduced a little ploy which increases things slightly , without much effort.

XXXXXXXXXX WINDOW CLEANING SERVICES

I Have now introduced , GARAGE DOOR cleaning into my round, using the pure water system, which produces excellent results,

If you would like to take advantage of this service, please let me know on my next visit, or when you post your cheque.

The price for cleaning your garage door would be £...............


Thank You.

Gary.

It works for me, i have increased  the prices by more than a pound , for a couple of minutes work.