[wayne zabel]

Hi Guys,can you give me an idea about what you would charge to do a 3 and 2 seater sofas please.

Ive had 3 calls over the weekend and being a newbie and not that experienced and needing practice I have quoted a price of £70/80.Is this a low price?

Its been a case of "OK I'll call you back".........So on the last call I asked what other prices they'd been quoted.

Your the most expensive we've had I was told.Weve seen an advert in the paper for a carpet for £15 and £25 for a 3 piece. I told her that no one can do a 3 piece for £25 and to be very careful.I doubt I will hear back.

What do you think of my price?

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

You're opening up a right can of worms now Wayne 

[Colin Day]

£25 per sofa?

Get me their number, they can do mine next time

[David Rogers]

Hi Wayne,

I had a very similar experience the week I launched. In fact it was my first ever call! (barring family & friends). It was for a carpet clean on 2 x bedrooms, the upper landing, and the stairs (so the upstairs of a small/mid sized terraced home).   I quoted £65 which I thought was fair as I was offering a thorough service not 'splash & dash'.

The guy said there was a company in the local free rag doing £10 for any carpet area and that he'd called and they'd do the work for £40 (£10 an area).

I never got the business and I spent all weekend wondering if I should have gone cheaper. The next week I saw that ad in the rag and I realised I knew the guy - he was the total knacker, trouble maker from school and I happened to know that he was turning up for business in a 16 year old rust covered Escort Estate, and was using a really old battered Extracta (I'm talking about 15 years old, before they even went to the BX, CX, DX etc range).

I was very glad I stuck to my prices - if you charge fair prices (rather than under-valued prices) it simply means you'll filter out a lot of the crap work, often in dirty houses, on not-nice areas, and you'll get better work and earn more money.

Stick with it Wayne - £70 is exactly what I charge for a 3 pc suite - it's a fair price and I'd never go lower than that.

Cheers,

Dave

[Mike Halliday]

the only time i give a price over the phone is when i don't want the job,

Like Steve said this can open a can of worms with lots of varying opinions but you should be able to sell a price of around £70-£80 over the phone with practice

if you want to go over £100 then you will always need to give a home quote

[wayne zabel]

I always tell thm that I always look at Upholstery before doing it as not all can be wet cleaned, so as to get to the house,but these were total price shoppers who just wanted an idea.As soon as they say that I always fear the worst.

[garry22]

This is why I am going to put prices (or minimums) on the next revamp of my websites.

I want those sort of people filtered out before I speak to anyone personally.

I know some people will disagree but that approach is working in other sites I am involved with so I am going to try it in carpet / upholstery cleaning.

Wayne,

Minimum £ 95.00 but this may rise a lot shortly.

[Steve. Taylor]

As a guide i work around £20 a bum

3 seater = £60 2x armchair £40 but hey thats me if others can do it for less good luck next

[wynne jones]

If you are getting calls from a local rag, that's what you get.

Some will advertise elsewhere and quote well over a ton and get it. If you can't be arsed to go and see it though then forget it.

[Simon@arenaclean]

Always quote on site, £20 to £25 per seat. It's an opportunity to demonstrate, clean white towel and a bit of MS in a spray bottle. I explain how I will clean it, how long it will take. You don't really have to sell or justify it, just explain it. A customer's main objection is price not service and if they reject your price over the phone you have mislead them about the value of your service, so don't give a price.

Simon

[Paul W Jones]

When you look at how long it's likely to take to clean a three piece suite properly £70.00 isn't a lot of money.  If a customer is prepared to let someone clean their suite for £25.00 then let them take the risk! 

[Ricky M]

if you want to go over £100 then you will always need to give a home quote

Mike no disrespect but we are now always over £100 on full suites and Ive not gone out to give a quote as yet , do you feel that if your asking higher prices you should give them face to face consultation ?     

[Simon Gerrard]

We are over £100  but only ever quote over the phone. We just haven't got time to go out and see people unless they are commercial customers then we always do.

Simon

[JandS]

Why do we always moan about price shoppers.
For one thing it gets the phone ringing and maybe
a sale.
The other thing is, when we want something done
the first thing we do is ring round and yes, we price
shop.

John

[Ricky M]

We are over £100  but only ever quote over the phone. We just haven't got time to go out and see people unless they are commercial customers then we always do.

Simon

more or less same as.

[Mike Halliday]

Ricky I do believe if you are giving a higher price then you need to be face to face, but like you say some can give higher prices over the phone but it take experience and knowledge, a new starter would find it hard.,

I'm speaking from my own experience, when Iwent over £100 my conversation rate went well down(but this was 5-6 years ago)

[David Rogers]

If you are getting calls from a local rag, that's what you get.

Some will advertise elsewhere and quote well over a ton and get it. If you can't be arsed to go and see it though then forget it.

Who in the posts above yours said they were advertising is the local rags?

If you're referring to my post you've mis-read it. 

[Simon Gerrard]

The thing is with home quotes is that they take up an awful lot of time and ok, you may end up with higher prices but then you have to include £50 per hour driving around the place doing the quotes in the first place and while you're doing that you're not earning, so is it really worth it?

Simon

[Dave_Lee]

You also have to take into account how long it takes you. If you are a whizz and get it done and away in an hour then £70 is not bad money, regardless of whether it has been properly done. On the other hand if you are a perfectionist and spend  3 hours on it, then you may want nearer £200 than £70. Your costs also make a difference. It costs more to run a TM but time taken is normally less than with a porty. A lot wont consider charging less than £150 whereas a busy TMer taking only 1.5 hours may charge less. I last used a porty 7 years ago and was charging £85 for a 3 piece suite, then.

[stuart_clark]

we charge between £20 and £30 per seat unit, I dont clean that many in an average week, say about one a day but realy thats all i want! I can make a lot more money cleaning carpets and the comversation rate is a lot more