Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: ryanst1982 on August 30, 2009, 03:20:05 pm
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Hi all
Can I just get some advice and views on what you all charge for your service. For example, charge by the window, by the size or just a standard amount depending on house type.
If people dont wanna disclose there charges obviously thats cool but any advice would still be greatly appreciated. Cheers
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As many have said on here,
Work out an hourly rate for your service and then work out how long it should take to clean. Also factor in travling time to the job or is it near other cleans.
Then stick an extra quid onto it ;)
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walk up to the house, look at the amount of cars and the type of cars, the type of road they live in and the type of house, and what school catchment they live in and apply plenty of rich tax - charge about £5 a window ;D
If they live in a terraced or semi - say sorry you cant afford me you peasant, go find some benefit cheat who can do it for 10p.
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walk up to the house, look at the amount of cars and the type of cars, the type of road they live in and the type of house, and what school catchment they live in and apply plenty of rich tax - charge about £5 a window ;D
If they live in a terraced or semi - say sorry you cant afford me you peasant, go find some benefit cheat who can do it for 10p.
:D
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it all depends on part of country your in
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If Only GWCS.
I live in North Kent. Sittingbourne area.
On that note does anyone on here w/c in or around that part of the world??
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hi ryan me again, i charge £10 for a semi and 15 for a house with conserv i in ashford...while you here u got any 25 litre containers or where i can them?
so since we spoke how are you doing and how many custys u got now??
andy
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Ian lancaster is in sittingbourne.
On domestic houses, i price up by counting the windows and multiplying by whatever rate i charge per window. I have a minimum £10 charge and price per small to standard size window from 80 pence upwards.
The few jobs i have done that were swathes of glass, i still count them up 1st. But try to price based on the time i think the job would take.
When in doubt, i price somewhere between the 2.
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I find the easiest way is to charge a set price of what you can clean at arms length without moving position, probably easier to imagine if you have been trad before :) so in general I would charge £1 a window if I could clean it trad without moving from a central position, If I do need to move its a big window and would be £2 or more depending how many times I've moved.
You will soon get an idea of what is expectable price wise in your area though,
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Hope this helps. Ian Giles posted it a few months ago, and I reckon it's about the best answer to pricing. This is what he posted.
Quote from: Ian_Giles on March 20, 2009, 08:32:43 PM
Don't charge by the hour!!
Break down windows into a unit cost.
Then it is just a case of walking around a job, counting up the windows, breaking them down into what you consider to be a unit and multiply by whatever you have allowed as your unit cost.
It makes pricing far more accurate and takes out a large element of 'guess-timation' from the equation.
If you are fairly new to the game then you need to know what the average time it takes for an experienced window cleaner to clean your average window.
In basic terms, an average casement window, about 45" tall and about the same in width, with 3 panes of glass, one narrow opening light above a single fixed pane, and a longer opening pane to the one side will take approx 90 seconds to clean, including any detailing thats needed.
And that is to a good standard including the sills wiped down properly.
Oh, the above is for trad window cleaning, but generally, even if WFP, it is best to price up as for trad.
AS Simon said, to begin with you will be miles slower than someone experienced, but these are the people you are pricing against, so you need to be competitive...
AS your skills and speed increase then so do your earnings.
What you charge per window (or unit) is up to you, and is also to a degree governed by your location in the country.
My own unit charge is £1.00, and my rate - per - minute - worked is also £1.00
This does not mean earnings of £60 an hour...not by any stretch of the imagination...there is a world of difference between the rate - per - minute - worked and what you eventually earn per hour.
The rate per minute is the time taken when you are actually at the windows cleaning them, no allowance for talking to customers, setting up or putting away or driving between jobs, or time off because of the weather/holidays/sickness/breakdowns and so on.
I'm WFP so my time per window is more like 30 seconds rather than 90 seconds and an average semi will take me around 10 minutes to actually 'clean'...but there is no way I will average 6 semi's an hour!!!!
Mr average on a good day will ...er...average about 3 0r 4 an hour over a full days work, oh, and for most an average days work will rarely be more than 6 hours before he (or she) is heading off home. That isn't to say many don't work considerably longer hours, we often work much longer ourselves (6am starts and 5pm finishes).
Something else to ALWAYS remember is that your hourly turnover rate (perceived not actual!!) is not your wage! it is your business income/turnover from which you take your wage....
Have a minimum charge and over and above that, price per unit and NOT per hour.
Ian
Cozy
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Hi AJS, STill not started canvassing yet. Missus is off work next week so thats when it all starts. Have you tried the cleaning spot website for those containers.
Thanks for all posts guys, Is Ian Lancaster on this forum does anyone know?