Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: R-CLEAN on July 10, 2008, 03:16:55 pm

Title: 2 three seaters
Post by: R-CLEAN on July 10, 2008, 03:16:55 pm
hi all, some one rang me up the other day and asked for a price for cleaning 2 three seater sofas. i priced them £80 and they said they had had other quotes for £40, £45 and £70. i know it depends on a few things but roughly how much do yous charge for 2 of these cause i thing £40-£45 is to cheap for the work involved and they'll get for what they pay for.

i haven't been doing this long so it might take me longer 2, how long roughly would it take yous to do this job.

cheers Ralph
Title: Re: 3 piece suites
Post by: richie on July 10, 2008, 03:23:23 pm
Ralph,

I price upholstery at a rate of between £28 - £35 per seating area.  So a 5 seater suite will cost between £140 - £175.  The average time for myself to clean a 5 seat suite is 1.5 - 2.5 hours.   £80 is too cheap.

Richie.
Title: Re: 3 piece suites
Post by: R-CLEAN on July 10, 2008, 03:29:27 pm
sorry sorry sorry  ;) wrote that wrong it was 2 three seaters

i'll edit top one now

cheers Ralph
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Mike Osbourne on July 10, 2008, 03:44:49 pm
Similar to Richie

£140 for most but put another £40 on it if really manky and difficult to clean material. Some suites or clean and easy fabric so use some sense.

Never understand how some say this is expensive when it can take 2-3 hours and is far more tedious than CC, well it is to me anyway.

You might want to take a view though that you need to do some volume to get plenty of experience. Don't worry about the £40 brigade find someone who will pay you and do a good job.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: davep on July 10, 2008, 04:43:08 pm
Where are you based Ralph?
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Joe H on July 10, 2008, 04:45:35 pm
 2 three seaters would be £120

and like Mike I find fabric suite cleaning tedious but like cleaning leather ones.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Mike Halliday on July 10, 2008, 04:51:01 pm
£150-£160ish but they would qualify for a 'living room for free'

although this is 6 seats its actually only 4 arms unlike a normal 5 seater suite which would have 5seats and 6arms so it would take the same time as normal 3pc suite 2.5hrs-3hrs
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Doug Holloway on July 10, 2008, 05:12:47 pm
Hi Guys

£120 - £180 depending on lots of things !

Cheers

Doug
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: davep on July 10, 2008, 05:26:52 pm
Mike would you reduce that price if they had no carpets?
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Mike Osbourne on July 10, 2008, 05:48:12 pm
Joe,

Glad it's not just me then. Leather is far nicer to work with, but here I do struggle on price, haven't fathomed out why with lots of £90 quotes being declined despite best efforts.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Mike Halliday on July 10, 2008, 05:48:44 pm
Dave,

No they'd get free stainguard :)

Mike
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: COLIN BRIGHT on July 10, 2008, 06:17:18 pm
£82.00 each    or £125 each with protector
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: markpowell on July 10, 2008, 07:02:57 pm
I have put my prices up last month fron £15 per seat to £20 and still getting the same amount of work.
It would take me around 3 hours to clean 2 x 3 seaters.
Mark
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: mark shannon on July 10, 2008, 07:05:31 pm
£105 each at £35 P/S would go cheaper if lightly soiled or fixed cushions

Even at that price upholstery feels like hard graft and very time consuming.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: *paul_moss on July 10, 2008, 07:13:33 pm
Joe,

Glad it's not just me then. Leather is far nicer to work with, but here I do struggle on price, haven't fathomed out why with lots of £90 quotes being declined despite best efforts.

Mike try this on your next 3 leather quotes  £150.

Let us know what the response is  ;)
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: bennymon on July 10, 2008, 07:16:02 pm
three seater sofas i would charge ninty pounds each  :)
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Susan Dean (1stclean) on July 10, 2008, 07:55:40 pm
three seater sofas i would charge ninty pounds each  :)

ive just upped the price of mine and i woule do them for 70 pounds  ;D
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: richie on July 10, 2008, 09:22:24 pm
OK,  if it is 2 x 3 seater sofa's my price would be £84 - £105 EACH.  The prices vary depending on level of soiling & the actual size of the sofa's.

Richie.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Andy Hogarth on July 10, 2008, 10:28:00 pm
I charge £25 per seat so £150 for me

I find upholstery cleaning pretty hard work too, maybe I need a better hand wand ;)
Gwrightson, what's that one you have???? When you was showing me the ropes I used it and now everything else seems crap haha

I loose a few upholstery jobs because of the price, but doing them for less doesn't appeal to me one bit.

Andy
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: nick p on July 10, 2008, 10:56:36 pm
£150 for 2 3 seaters i do a 3pc for £132
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: allstar homecare on July 10, 2008, 11:25:34 pm
i charge 45 for a 3 x2 seater upholstery if it is local and not to dirty and it only takes me an hour and do leather for 60 and give free scotchguard with leather and some people ring for a quote and dont get back intouch so it cant be that cheap other wise why dont they get back intouch .  and i offer to do it free again if not happy but never had to call back has i make sure customer is happy before i leave .if any one in leeds ever get to busy and need a hand i would be willing to help im trained and fully insured . and offer a quality service .
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Doctor Carpet (Ret'd) on July 10, 2008, 11:33:34 pm
Any advance on £105 per sofa? :)

 Come on there must be somebody out there? ???

 All the comments have no doubt frightened off many from commenting who charge less, do a good job and are perfectly happy with what they charge and have happy clients. :'(
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: allstar homecare on July 10, 2008, 11:36:26 pm
i find customers get a good service and a good price are even happier  :'(
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Jim_77 on July 10, 2008, 11:42:32 pm
Interesting thread!

some people ring for a quote and dont get back intouch so it cant be that cheap other wise why dont they get back intouch

If you think that price is the only deciding factor then you're just as much to blame as the pesky price-shoppers who ring their way through the yellow pages!

It's how you sell the job and how you sound to the customer.  Can they hear you clearly?  Is there a machine whirring away in the background?  Are you puffing and panting because you just had to run down/up stairs to get your phone?

Are you gruff with them?  Do you put on a fake phone voice to sound a bit posher?  (don't scoff, it works!).

The first impression people get of you is your ad, if that works and they ring you, the second impression is the first couple of exchanges of conversation on the phone.  You can win or lose a customer in this tiny amount of time.

As far as selling the job goes, you need to concentrate on the benefits they are going to get from using you to clean for them. 

Ever thought that you sound too cheap to people?  I wouldn't hire you if you were charging half as much as someone else to do the same thing.  I'd be convinced that you do a crap job.

I'm not inferring that you do a crap job of course :)  But if you're worth it, price to match.  Don't get hung up on what other people are charging.

The next 3 quotes you do, work out what you normally quote and add 20%.  See what happens.

Do you normally just give pricing out straight over the phone or try to physically get round there and present yourself to customers?  I find I have a fantastic conversion rate and get a higher job ticket from on-site quotes, and the phone quotes are no better than 1 in 3.

There are ways of converting "can you give me a price for..." into a home visit.
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Mike Osbourne on July 10, 2008, 11:59:25 pm
Joe,

Glad it's not just me then. Leather is far nicer to work with, but here I do struggle on price, haven't fathomed out why with lots of £90 quotes being declined despite best efforts.

Mike try this on your next 3 leather quotes  £150.

Let us know what the response is  ;)

I will do that Paul!

Do you think £90 is too cheap and puts them off?
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: allstar homecare on July 11, 2008, 12:10:29 am
i will try and give it a try to put 20% on and let you know the out come .
you are probably right in that im worrying what other people are charging and thats why my prices are what they are but the other way i see it is i can do a proffesional job and do a 3x2 seater in an hour and 45 pound for an hours work is better then standard wage in normal job £5.50 an hour .
im quite new to all this but done alot training and know how to do a good job and hate cowboys who rip people of and thats why i offer a free clean again if not and then if not still happy full refund and on contracts i other a free small room clean to show what a quality service i offer and that im no cowboy and hope it gets my foot in the door not had a lot look yet but stuff is in the pipe line so alot can change yet. :o
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: gwrightson on July 11, 2008, 06:33:44 am
andy,

it is the hydramaster   Drimaster

Geoff
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Doug Holloway on July 11, 2008, 07:57:43 am
Hi Guys

Allstar

You really do have to get the minimum wage out of your head, is that all you are worth?

You are a businessman offering a quality service , have many overheads and investments in your business.

You should be looking to take, that is not make 60 Pounds per hour plus.

If not you will be forever struggling and will eventually give up.

Cheers

Doug
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: jacko on July 11, 2008, 08:11:47 am
Went to quote for 2x 3 seaters & 2x 2 seaters on Weds. Total £280 Custy nearly fainted but accepted and booked it up.

Just had call to say he'd bought his own cleaner for half the price of my quote and was not going to need my services!

Good luck to him! 

Win most - Lose some....
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Susan Dean (1stclean) on July 11, 2008, 09:42:13 am
i will try and give it a try to put 20% on and let you know the out come .
you are probably right in that im worrying what other people are charging and thats why my prices are what they are but the other way i see it is i can do a proffesional job and do a 3x2 seater in an hour and 45 pound for an hours work is better then standard wage in normal job £5.50 an hour .
im quite new to all this but done alot training and know how to do a good job and hate cowboys who rip people of and thats why i offer a free clean again if not and then if not still happy full refund and on contracts i other a free small room clean to show what a quality service i offer and that im no cowboy and hope it gets my foot in the door not had a lot look yet but stuff is in the pipe line so alot can change yet. :o

i here what your saying and ive been there for 15years myself and over 20 years befour with my farther at the rains

how ever over the last 16 months ive took note of what people have said on here and other fourms and with alot of help from them ive gone from 30 pounds a full suite to 70 pounds in the 16 months

ok people will mock you maybe not as much as they did me because most of them can now see why and how cheaper people like us tick but try and get out of this markit as soon as you can , dont leave it too long as the longer you leave it the harder it will be to get some real money for your cleaning trust me its a figth everyday to get my old custy to paid some where near what i want
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: Joe H on July 11, 2008, 10:06:09 am
Went to quote for 2x 3 seaters & 2x 2 seaters on Weds. Total £280 Custy nearly fainted but accepted and booked it up.

Just had call to say he'd bought his own cleaner for half the price of my quote and was not going to need my services!

Good luck to him! 

Win most - Lose some....
Right him a letter offering your help should he need it........ perhaps with the drying of the suite!
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: clinton on July 11, 2008, 11:56:38 am
Am with joe on this one lol,bet when he has finished it will be like blackpool tram lines  :D
Title: Re: 2 three seaters
Post by: cleaningmaster on July 11, 2008, 09:53:41 pm
Doug
im down in bournemouth, and i cant charge anywhere near £60 per hour.
Its supposed to be rich down here but they wont pay up.
If i tried to charge that kind of money i would starve!!!
I know iv only been going for 3 yrs ( 21yrs in cc) maybe i need to tweek
my marketing

Daryl