Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dave f on October 06, 2009, 01:42:45 pm
-
i was out a couple of wks ago doing a spot of canvasing when asked for a quote i gave what thougt was a good price plus a quid its a decent size semi not a lot of windows for size . a week or so later i turned up ready to get stuck in after about 10 mins out of the blue a voice said howdo you manage to workk and make a living at those prices youve halved mine i nearly fell off my pointers it tururns out it was her regular wfp guy oops i had no idea that there was a regular w/c later on managed to speak to house holder she says she wasent happy with price or job now ifeel im the scape goat and upset a fellow w/c any advice the last thing iwont to do is get a bad name as iwork trad on my own so dont have many overheads as you will apreciate ican be that much cheeper or am i missing somthing like up my prices alot risking loosing alot of custys what dou you think???? ??? ???
-
dont worry there will always be people dearer or cheaper than you.
Your way of running your business if just that, you way.
If you like pricing thing up cheaper to other and are happy with that price so be it.
Another window cleaner may well be more expensive but then they either
a) charge more to cover costs as they have fully thought about taking into account your accounting costs, days off sick, days on holiday, down days due to vehicle in the garage
b) charge more for a better service
c) just charge more cos they can.
Just taking £10 an hour or whatever is not the whole picture you should be looking at. Because you not actually earning that £10
-
if your happy with your price and can make it pay at that then i wouldnt worry it is up to customer who cleans their windows and if the other window cleaner was doing a poor job and overpriced then he deserves to loose the work.
-
As Trevor says, if you are happy with the price you are charging then don't worry too much.
As a general rule, WFP is faster than trad, but has higher costs, so pricing should be about the same for most standard work.
Out of curiosity, how many windows in this semi and how much are you charging?
Without knowing your location or price, my own charge for a fairly standard semi (about 10 or 12 windows including doors) is around £10 to £12 and I rarely ever get a refusal at that price.
Ian
-
Yeah dont worry mate
they obviously were not a loyal custy whther they are like that you will find out, or he couldve been not a very nice person?
£10 sounds right-ish to me
-
up north i charged 9 quid 9 windows
-
hi mate
£10 is a great price went to a house yesterday new customer she was paing for a semi £22.50 i charged her £10 got a cuppa out of her now have 2 more so keep your prices desent you will king of the area
-
thers a gardener with add in po window chages £7 per hour .???????/
-
Dave been reading what you have posted.Ithink you have been a littie spare with the truth i also work on the same area as you, along with 3 others window cleaners that are trad and water fed and there have found you to be under cutting them just to get the work.So it a load of ba$$ocks that you donot take others peoples work.Under cutting all it does is lower the price for all of us.like to kmow your thoughts on that
-
I had the same proplem december last year i was charging £10 the same as most of the other shiners in the area, some chap started up and started doing the same work for a £5 , lost a few buts thats life .
-
alot of window cleaners (including myself) i know charge £1 per window and £2 per bay window with conservatorys being £5 to £10. wfp or trad.
-
never under cut in my life gave a fair price on all my jobs if i know there is a w/c i wont do them how ever if they ask for a card thats a nother story after all its down to the custy who cleans their windows dont you think
-
What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.
-
john how many custys ahve you lost to dave f
-
Will the really John66 stand up :o
-
What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.
When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.
If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.
-
yeah agree no one owns an area. people who think like this are complete clowns.
I imagine asda saying oh sorry we wont opena store in htis town tesco are here. LOL
it's called business
-
yeah agree no one owns an area. people who think like this are complete clowns.
it must be a circus around here ,cause theres a lot of clowns ;D ;D ;D
-
What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.
When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.
If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.
I agree you have to be out for yourself, but i would have my price and wouldn't want to undercut any other w/c to get a job.
-
What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.
When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.
If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.
I agree you have to be out for yourself, but i would have my price and wouldn't want to undercut any other w/c to get a job.
Not much chance of me undercuting any cleaners round my way. I was out canvasing today, I knocked on this one door, the guy answers and informs me he already has a cleaner. I'm just about to walk away when he stops me and says "out of intrest how much would you charge" I say that look I'm not out to pinch other cleaners work, but I have a look round the back and tell him £7 would be my price. He then tells me his current cleaner does them for £5. He said I'd strugle to get any at that price, so I hot 3 just along the road from him ;D
-
What you charged tallies in with exactly what I have been charging and ive had no complaints. They were probably vastly overcharging
-
There is not such thing as overcharging as your price is your price. I cannot understand how anyone knows the cost of another businessman. If you under charge you will find out you cannot afford to grow your business. So there is experienced and not so good bis.man
-
There is such a thing. Some people may value the job they have to do as say £10 but because of greed or what they think they should earn. They charge £15. Thats what I would call overchargng,
-
To be fair if a customer is willing to pay £15 for a job you thinks worth a tenner I would say fill your boots.I've got customers that I've thought would take me 45 minutes so I've quoted accordingly.Then in actual fact it's taken me half hour so it could be seen than I've charged too much.If a customer accepts the quote I don't see a problem.The reverse is the same though.I've got customers who I've underquoted so all in all it probably evens out.
-
Absoultely, I agree fill your boots. But also dont be suprised if they get a quote elsewhere and realise they can get a good job done cheaper like the situation we have here
-
i think half the problem is ... a w/c has paid for a round and then somebody canvasess and gets a few that puts his nose out of joint ,gone have the days where this is my patch etc...its called free enterprise get over it move on i have lost 3 custys this week to other w/c thats life
-
hi john think you must have wrong w/c dosent cost me owt for my cards etc i get em for nowt try vista print very good for freebies regards
-
Sod the other wcs and get all the work you can
Good Luck
-
up north i charged 9 quid 9 windows
don't go under a tener i go £10 £15 £20 £25 and so on depending on the job tell em take it or leave it.
-
are them prices monthly
-
yes, well every 6 weeks i do.
-
8 on some. and others 5 weeks it all depends on what the cuzy wants .but to keep it simple thats how i price. if you get someone say hmm just say have a think and give me a call .
they will say ok then , they don't want the trouble in haveing to find another window cleaner that s quid cheaper. does this make sence .
-
Dont you feel open to being undercut????
Id be thinking about them customers who would be put off by the price also... Maybe abit cheaper would mean more customers and a superior service at a very affordable price
-
ye and working your nackers off for a crap price .
-
but if you have 10 customers in a street and you lose 6 to another wc I.E Whos cleaning same quality for lower price your in trouble but the bigger your customer base the more insulated you are from loosing work and your business
-
Hi Guys
some answers to your questions , i have lost only two custormors to dave f.know of others that have lost more.The promblem we have with him is that he is under cutting to get the job.This in turn can drives prices down which is not good for anyone. The window cleaners in his area all try to keep pricing at the same amount and we dont have any promblems with each other.Now i know its up to any one who they have doing there windows but w/c that start up by canvassing seldom last and its the longstanding w/c that deal with there poor pricing.I also think there is enough work out there for everyone so there is no real need to under cut .i work on plenty of streets were there is 2/3 w/c and we donot think its solely our patch
-
depends what u charge,if u are chargin fairly at £1 a window,and sum1 comes along and says i'll do it for 50p then fair enuff,but if u charge £10 and sum1 does it for 8-9 quid,it not that bad of an undercut,different wc have different charges,sum want to earn £40 a hour,sum are happy with £25,but i dont agree with askin how much the other wc charges and then undercuttin on purpose,that is wrong,but if a custies asks how much u charge even tho they have a window cleaner and u charge less than the current window cleaner without knwin wat he charged b4 u quoted,then theys nothin wrong with that. they alot of wc were i live who believe in it bein 'my patch' and that is stupid,coz wen we do a street we dont do every single house on it usually,and if the current wc ant bin bothered to knock on the houses that he dunt do and try to give em a quote,then it is own fault,but anyways,it a crazy buissness sumtimes
-
just a quick replyi hope this aint some kind of witch hunt ive been in this game to long to be botherd any way i always make sure i dont nick, poach any work .i can give very competative price work cos idont do wfp have nobody else to pay and have very little overheads imay be wrong but with the current trend credit crunch etc every body is pullining their belts in and with a lot of redundancies alot more poeple jumping on the band wagon i for one no 3 guys taking up window cleaning the weather will sort afew out and when recesstion is over i dont think they will be much greaving.me thinks ;Dhappy new year
-
do you make enough to pay the bills, keep a roof over your head and food on the table? thats all you need to worry about :)
-
i agree with that. also dependes on your life style
-
well dave if being in the game from August is a long time God knows how long we have been in it. :o
-
hi john aint been in since august its just a new area. ;D al the best