[G Griffin]

There`s a difference between knowingly undercutting and undercutting.
You may offer your service at a lower price, not knowing your competitors` price.
Or you may quote cheaper just to get a job.
Not much you can do about either.

[Helen]

You should always price as if it is the "only" property you have in that  area. That is where you "make" your money over time as the properties build in that one area.
The first property you take on should take into account the cleaning time, the fuel etc etc. Then as you build the area your fuel costs etc are already paid for by property number one.
So for a standard 3 bed semi with conny (whatever standard may be? They are all different round here) Say you charge £15 for the first one in the area, for example after fuel etc you actually make £6.00 profit. Then you take on 4 more in that same road that are exactly the same as the first so you charge them £15.00 each.  You've already paid the fuel costs etc on the first one, so your profit margin on the latter 4 will be higher. Never ever price lower because you already have some in that road. It will do you no good in the long run and these custies may just talk to each other and you may just lose all of them or have to reduce prices for some!

As for undercutting, there will always be someone who charges less than you and who charges more than you. The time to worry is when someone who charges more than you starts to take your custies!

[formb]

the point is undercutting is it fair game ?

Fair-game? Yes

Pointless? Yes

would you do it?

No

[dazmond]

what im saying formb is i have a run of very compact work that is a tad cheap compared to my other pockets(or scattered work).ive been cleaning these for 16 years(most of them).when i new custy moves in on these estates a charge a pound or two dearer than a neighbour as thats the "new" price i charge now.ill be upping them again in april.but i cant charge 4 pounds dearer for example than their neighbour!

if a potential custy asks me to clean their property which is not near other work of course im going to charge more due to travelling time/fuel as i price it up as a stand alone job.however if i could get upwards of 5 custies around that particular account i may reduce the price by £2 or so.i tried this out a couple of months ago and i could not get anymore custies at that particular price(£10-£12).i was simply too expensive in that area and the custies wouldnt pay it.

we are hitting very difficult times and there is so much competition around where i work.the summer brigade are now working all year round!their not going away!! : : :


dazmond

[formb]

what im saying formb is i have a run of very compact work that is a tad cheap compared to my other pockets(or scattered work).ive been cleaning these for 16 years(most of them).when i new custy moves in on these estates a charge a pound or two dearer than a neighbour as thats the "new" price i charge now.ill be upping them again in april.but i cant charge 4 pounds dearer for example than their neighbour!

if a potential custy asks me to clean their property which is not near other work of course im going to charge more due to travelling time/fuel as i price it up as a stand alone job.however if i could get upwards of 5 custies around that particular account i may reduce the price by £2 or so.i tried this out a couple of months ago and i could not get anymore custies at that particular price(£10-£12).i was simply too expensive in that area and the custies wouldnt pay it.

we are hitting very difficult times and there is so much competition around where i work.the summer brigade are now working all year round!their not going away!! : : :

dazmond

I understand your point about travelling costs, it is similar to how I price commercial contracts but for domestic I have a flat rate for pricing. If I end up having to travel miles to 1 house for £12 or so I will endeavour to get more houses in that area.

People are not always out to get the cheapest deal. I find if you have a fair price and offer a good service people will not be tempted to shift when the first summer monkey/dole cheat/fireman comes along.

Unfortunately my prices will go up in January but hey it's not my fault, take it up with the tax man!!!!

[G Griffin]

the point is undercutting is it fair game ?

Fair-game? Yes

Pointless? Yes

would you do it?

No

How do you know that you are not unknowingly undercutting?

[formb]

the point is undercutting is it fair game ?

Fair-game? Yes

Pointless? Yes

would you do it?

No

How do you know that you are not unknowingly undercutting?

That's besides the point really.

I have a pricing structure which I know to be both fair and profitable. I stick to it therefore I am not setting a price structure on the basis of what someone else might be charging.

[G Griffin]

Undercutting is selling something at a lower price than a competitor.
So you could do it unintentionally. I`m not saying you do or don`t Form B and believe that you price to suit yourself.
But some complain about it and could be doing it themselves.

[cozy]

Some good points made in this thread IMO. One thing that I don't agree with is the concept of "Greed".

My attitude to prices is get maximum price for your work. I don't have the competition in the areas I work that most of you do. I have one or two other WC's who are roughly the same price as we are. At least one is organised and delivers good standard work. Another one is a complete muppet. Charges Top price and cleans most windows but not ALL windows on the house. Has a 4 weekly round but tips up after only 3 weeks. A real winner  

That, to me is "Greed". Otherwise I charge what I can get away with but keep the prices sustainable. Good custies won't leave for a cheaper deal.The last one even offered to polish letter boxes and weed the path for the same price we charge for just the windows!!!   From all the leaflets I've seen dropped in the areas we work, I don't believe we've lost a single custy. Mind you, the leaflets were written by the muppet I mentioned earlier.

If you think some guys are greedy when setting prices, you need to look at your self worth and the worth you place on your service. If your opinion of yourself is so low that you think 10 quid an hour is OK, then that should tell you and others enough about your self worth.

[cozy]

Under-cutting is just selling the service cheaper than the competition.

I’m currently being undercut on a small group of properties, so what!

He will have to clean them for the next 9 years at his price to make the same money I did in the last 3 years. He has already taken 3 of those customers (I expect the 4 other customer to follow in the near future) I have already replaced the 3 lost at my price, which is a higher price to keep things up to date.

By the way Ewan, if you were a window cleaner, and you did actually lose so many custies in such a short space of time, I would be worried if I were you.

[Wc Solutions]

i know im not the cheapest wc in my area but im confident that none of my customers would change the wc to save a few £.

end of the day you can get nearly everything in life cheaper eg beans from lidl or beans from m&s, price isnt everything - quality counts for alot...

[Perfect Windows]

Under-cutting is just selling the service cheaper than the competition.

I’m currently being undercut on a small group of properties, so what!

He will have to clean them for the next 9 years at his price to make the same money I did in the last 3 years. He has already taken 3 of those customers (I expect the 4 other customer to follow in the near future) I have already replaced the 3 lost at my price, which is a higher price to keep things up to date.

Show us a single morsel of evidence that you're a window cleaner and we'd be more inclined to listen to you.

Vin

[cozy]

I know Ewan works for Sainsbury's, and he's apparently in the FED too.

[prestige cleaners]

what i do now is equal the undercutter, i had one go from £22 to £12 and another £20 to £8.

that way the undercutters dont win, and i just lower my quality levels to accomodate the drop in price.
if they have the cheek to moan about the quality, then they can go with the new guy.

[G Griffin]

what i do now is equal the undercutter, i had one go from £22 to £12 and another £20 to £8.

that way the undercutters dont win, and i just lower my quality levels to accomodate the drop in price.
if they have the cheek to moan about the quality, then they can go with the new guy.

Then haven`t they won?

[Perfect Windows]

what i do now is equal the undercutter, i had one go from £22 to £12 and another £20 to £8.

that way the undercutters dont win, and i just lower my quality levels to accomodate the drop in price.
if they have the cheek to moan about the quality, then they can go with the new guy.

Sounds to me like you are choosing to reduce your profitability and damage your reputation.

Vin

[prestige cleaners]

what i do now is equal the undercutter, i had one go from £22 to £12 and another £20 to £8.

that way the undercutters dont win, and i just lower my quality levels to accomodate the drop in price.
if they have the cheek to moan about the quality, then they can go with the new guy.

Then haven`t they won?

i think they win if they nick your custs, so no. i just have to work for less, but then make sure im only there for 5 mins!

[prestige cleaners]

what i do now is equal the undercutter, i had one go from £22 to £12 and another £20 to £8.

that way the undercutters dont win, and i just lower my quality levels to accomodate the drop in price.
if they have the cheek to moan about the quality, then they can go with the new guy.

Sounds to me like you are choosing to reduce your profitability and damage your reputation.

Vin

so if cust moans to someone, my windy lowered his price by half as i threatened to go with a cheaper windy, and now hes not as methodical, what do you think the reply is going to be to them?  :

and like i said, profit stays the same as im doing them quicker!  :

[G Griffin]

I meant if you lose them because you do a lesser job.
You might not bother but the undercutter has won the job.

Also, Vin has a point; it could damage your reputation, unless the new service has been agreed with the customer.

[prestige cleaners]

I meant if you lose them because you do a lesser job.
You might not bother but the undercutter has won the job.

Also, Vin has a point; it could damage your reputation, unless the new service has been agreed with the customer.

yeah well its worth a try, (hmm i can just hear me say to the cust, btw, im only going to be doing the glass and no front and back doors from now on, and no hard to reach windows,  :