Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 12:42:10 pm

Title: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 12:42:10 pm
just put a price in for a nursing home, .. two buildings.... all fairly large windows, over 3 floors.

and filthy.

i charged £1 per window... so £150.. does that sound expensive?

they will let me know when head office is contacted.

normally i would price by the hour, but i could not really tell , as i have never cleaned anything this large before, so i went for the .. price per window... option. just thought i would ask and see what you all think.

Cheers

Gary.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much.
Post by: Slash on February 07, 2009, 12:43:28 pm
Not enough mate,double that if they are filthy or it's a days work.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 12:44:26 pm
i just thought,,, battle on first clean... then good money after that. ;)  ??
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: trike on February 07, 2009, 12:49:12 pm
i do a hursing home two floors takes four hours every month 90,coffee and cakes thrown in,i wouild stick with the 150,but charge a bit more if filthy,but if you get it every month,thats even better,good luck
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 03:32:17 pm
Thanks for replies, i think going by the lack of other answers... i did ok... ;)
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Oakley Windows on February 07, 2009, 03:35:53 pm
£1.00 is par for the course.

You'll make money by the simple fact that theres so many in one place, no packing up, no driving, no parking, sounds good to me.

Good luck

Matt
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: lovewindows on February 07, 2009, 03:42:41 pm
It depends on whether you get the job or not .
I try to price by what it's worth to me , i want £30 per hour if i can get it .
Trouble is someone else might want less !
I quoted on a big job recently and went with a price that was right for me , i didn't get it but i wouldn't have wanted it at less than the price i quoted,  i've messed up on a few quotes got the job and resented doing it for the price i said , i can always put the price up later ,but i reckon i've got to do it at that price for a while.  
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Mr Formby on February 07, 2009, 03:49:08 pm
If you get it no , if you dont yes
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 03:51:04 pm
If you get it no , if you dont yes



i dont understand
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 03:52:30 pm
if i do get it they may ask for a risk assessment and/or method statement, another learning curve , as i have never done one before. :o


thanks for replies.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Mr Formby on February 07, 2009, 03:57:36 pm
Quote
i dont understand

When they look at your price  and see you quoted £150
If you get the job they wont think its expensive .
If youdont get it they will think that £150 is expensive
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: supernova77 on February 07, 2009, 04:01:19 pm
How long is it going to take you to do? Work it out on an estimate of time taken.

Andy
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 04:17:24 pm
because its the first large job, and not experienced at pricing by the hour ( i did not know how long ).... i decided to price by the window.

Also, if i get the job and do it in a reasonable amount of time, then it will be ok .

i understand the " if i get it im too cheap"....thing.... but we would all be unemployed if we were too expensive.... if thats the case.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: macmac on February 07, 2009, 04:58:02 pm
If it takes you less than 7 hours then I would say that's fine. 150 a day is very much ok in this climate.  ;)

Be greedy at your peril !!!!! :'(

Tony
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: macmac on February 07, 2009, 05:15:01 pm
Quote
i dont understand

When they look at your price  and see you quoted £150
If you get the job they wont think its expensive .
If youdont get it they will think that £150 is expensive

So, they discuss the situation, think it is a bit expensive but realy like his manner, attitude & confidence & professionalism. They decide to go with it BUT Gazza is now left thinking he's too cheap. ???

Go with your own instinct Gazza, especially in these times, be sensible & you'll be ok. Listen to some on here & you'll end up with no new work- like the post "
Quote
Not enough mate,double that if they are filthy or it's a days work.
Listen to him & you've lost what could have been a very good job for you.!

Tony
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: dai on February 07, 2009, 05:16:38 pm
I took on a block of 12 flats charging £1 a window, there are 120 windows and after the first clean I can easily do them in 4 hrs. £120 for half a days work is OK with me, in fact £120 is my daily target on domestics.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: williamx on February 07, 2009, 05:17:56 pm
Gazza

Your profile doesn't say were you are, but around my areas I have known companys pricing jobs at 65p to 70p per window.

Some cleaners will say thats to cheap, because they are used to quoting at £1 per window, but they also worked off ladders, now they have wfp systems but still want to charge the same rate.

This is ok for small to medium size buildings, but when the jobs are bigger their prices need to reflect this.

What I would do is let them study your quote, if they reject it for a cheaper cleaner, ask how much he is charging and then you can decide to ether match it (but offer a superiour service) or beat it.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: macmac on February 07, 2009, 05:25:41 pm
Quote
What I would do is let them study your quote, if they reject it for a cheaper cleaner, ask how much he is charging and then you can decide to ether match it (but offer a superiour service) or beat it. 

The trouble is, you may not get that chance & so the job's gone. That's my point above, I'm not saying work for any less than you normally would BUT idiotic greed can very often take away any second chance you may have had.

Tony
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 05:30:47 pm
Thats why i went in cheap... its huge and 150 windows, including conservatories, glass entrances and doors is a heck of a lot,

i know its hard without you guys seeing it ...but i think i have priced it right for me.... i will know soon enough, you never know i may get it...and wish i never  had!!  ???

Thanks for all the help again. :)
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: gary evans on February 07, 2009, 05:37:33 pm
I am near to a lot on here, & constantly bump in to realy low prices. 65p - 70p
is very fair for commercial upto & around quarterly, but if this is going to be monthly, you need to be less. Saying that it depends on meterage for me so i would need to see windows, type & size etc.

Without looking & guessing i would go in high for first clean £150 to £200 then max £100 per clean after.

Am i to cheap, i say no, & prob only get 50% or less what i quote.

Theres companies i know would quote £50 - £60 for them on  a regular base.

Gary
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Slash on February 07, 2009, 05:38:22 pm
Quote
i dont understand

When they look at your price  and see you quoted £150
If you get the job they wont think its expensive .
If youdont get it they will think that £150 is expensive

So, they discuss the situation, think it is a bit expensive but realy like his manner, attitude & confidence & professionalism. They decide to go with it BUT Gazza is now left thinking he's too cheap. ???

Go with your own instinct Gazza, especially in these times, be sensible & you'll be ok. Listen to some on here & you'll end up with no new work- like the post "
Quote
Not enough mate,double that if they are filthy or it's a days work.
Listen to him & you've lost what could have been a very good job for you.!

Tony
Depends where in the country you are,if it will take you all day from 8-5 ,I charge alot more personally and drop the price after first cleans as they do take longer and why sacrafice a good days wage from other properties and loose money on one,it also depends on your daily income and what you make,I am not greedy but reasonable with pricing,after all we proper WC's are not a charity.
Up north is different so cannot quote like we can down south.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: mikethechamois on February 07, 2009, 05:42:33 pm
not if you can do it in a day and your happy with the price

what you also need to think about when pricing is what is your srvice worth to them, they dont want a cheap job

they want a competitivly priced job done well
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Slash on February 07, 2009, 05:49:20 pm
On a first clean for me is usually double or if they are not that dirty I tend to stay with the regular price but on a property that is filthy I would charge double without thinking twice or even a bit more if they are really bad,If I did'nt get the job for what I think it was worth there is always an idiot that will.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Chameleon on February 07, 2009, 06:17:34 pm
If you feel it's right , then it's right!
After-all you are the one doing the work!
After doing the job for the first time, you will know if your happy doing it!

If like so many of us, if you wake up in the morning , thinking OH NO I have to do that house today... it's under-priced! ::)

At the end of the day, prices vary county to county! ;)
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Slash on February 07, 2009, 06:33:29 pm
VERY TRUE ;)
I get that feeling sometimes but it's because they like to talk alot but before I attend the properties I ring my missus to ring me back in say 10 minutes to say there is an emergency.
I think they are getting a bit wise to it now though ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Helen on February 07, 2009, 06:48:41 pm
just put a price in for a nursing home, .. two buildings.... all fairly large windows, over 3 floors.

and filthy.

i charged £1 per window... so £150.. does that sound expensive?

they will let me know when head office is contacted.

normally i would price by the hour, but i could not really tell , as i have never cleaned anything this large before, so i went for the .. price per window... option. just thought i would ask and see what you all think.

Cheers

Gary.
What regularity did they require and did you specify that in your quote?
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Chameleon on February 07, 2009, 06:53:49 pm
VERY TRUE ;)
I get that feeling sometimes but it's because they like to talk alot but before I attend the properties I ring my missus to ring me back in say 10 minutes to say there is an emergency.
I think they are getting a bit wise to it now though ;D ;D ;D

 ;D ;D ;D yes guilty of that as well!
Mind you the wife usually tells me it's my fault, I don't get to speak to many, so I make up for it when I get the chance!  :-[

Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 07, 2009, 07:15:20 pm
wELL I WILL KNOW SOON ENOUGH, BUT YOU GUYS HAVE GIVEN oops.. me  a little more understanding of pricing these type of jobs, ... i agree, that maybe i should have dropped the rate a little, because of the amount of windows, but in real terms.... this must be only a small fry job to some of you guys, big to me... but i didnt think it big enough to drop the rate from a £1 to 75p.....

will see what happens, i dont know how long it takes these places to get back to people, probably a week with no reply means i lost it?.

Thanks, some really helpful replies.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: williamx on February 07, 2009, 07:24:02 pm
It normally takes 3 to 4 weeks if they are looking at other quotes.

Best of luck

Also if you don't get it, try to find out why, it will help you when you have to price another big job again.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Mr Formby on February 07, 2009, 07:52:16 pm
I would call them after a week and ask if they got your quote. If so is there anything the needed to ask about it .
When I send it in I would add ( if you have them )

Insurance cert
Safe Contractor ( or similar )
Fed cert
Risk/ method
All in a binder / folder
and of course your quote
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: alanwilson on February 08, 2009, 12:01:25 am
sounds ok to me

really need to see the job though.

hope you get it mate.
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Tosh on February 08, 2009, 03:01:38 pm
Gazza,

I bet you're one of at least three quotes and I bet you don't get the job purely on your price.

Someone will go in cheaper and it'll be someone whose more than capable of giving the impression that they do a good job too.

I'd bet money on it!
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: geefree on February 09, 2009, 04:53:51 pm
ok i will let you know when i know  ;)
Title: Re: Is £150 too much. ?
Post by: Tosh on February 09, 2009, 05:02:39 pm
Good luck; you never know though.