[SeanK]

The thing is when you set your own prices your never really happy, there always that feeling in the back
of your mind...could I be getting a bit more.
Soupy is spot on, set your own targets and aim to achieve them.

[supernova77]

James,

Your signature says it all.

bish bash bosh 

Andy

[8weekly]

I been cleaning windows now for 7 years
im water fed and trad im always listening to
other window cleaners and reading on this forum about
how much they charge for a day rate and im gob smacked
One guy said £300 pounds. who would pay that much for a clean
i mean anyone can clean a window cant they i have never earned that much
for a day on a domestic property i just cant believe somone would pay that
  or am i wrong?? i clean for some big property's and they moan at a £100  a day i dont think i would have a business at all if i was charging £300 pounds a day

Wayne Rooney only kicks a ball about??

Oh, and I bet that no one ever actually moaned at £100 a day. You just expect them to.

[Clever Forum Name]

He is not saying £300 a day on domestic houses.

He is is saying £300 on one house. One clean.

Last big house I quoted was £270 and she was like oooohhh no we paid £130 and they were here all day. So two men all day for £130. Probably the OP

[Perfect Windows]

In our area there will be customers who expect a day's work for £100.  There will also be some who expect to pay £200 (probably more people in this group than the first group).  There'd be fewer who expect to pay £300 and there'll be some who are happy to pay £400+.  In different areas the numbers may be different: Kensington higher, Livingston lower.

The same goes for the price of a clean of a standard house, if we're discussing that rather than a day rate.

Basic economics says that there will be suppliers at each of those levels.  If you doubt the lower numbers, imagine someone on the dole who's offered £50 cash for a day's work.  He'll probably take it.

So, as far as I'm concerned, it's your choice which market you go for.  I'm not suggesting you should go for the £400 customers, as they will be tougher to gain and retain (you'll need to offer a good service - not just get their windows clean) than the £200 people, just that it's up to you which market you go for.

And it's not a matter of "getting away with" anything.  If someone's happy to pay a price (whatever that might be), they'll be happy customers.  Very happy.

So, go for whatever day rate you want and don't care about what other people are doing.

Vin

[J.D]

I think James is undercover and looking info ! Are you a taxman James?

[Jonny 87]

Seank........

If all you can earn is £100 for a FULL day (like the original poster mentioned)

Then yes you may as well get a job in mcdonalds, or Aldis. They pay £14 an hour ish.

Unless of course like yourself you only spend £3.99 a year on all your fuel/equipment and insurances.

 

[SeanK]

Seank........

If all you can earn is £100 for a FULL day (like the original poster mentioned)

Then yes you may as well get a job in mcdonalds, or Aldis. They pay £14 an hour ish.

Unless of course like yourself you only spend £3.99 a year on all your fuel/equipment and insurances.

 

£14 an hour in Mc Donalds. any wonder shiners have to charge so much in your world.

[richywilts]

Just put in our BIGGEST ever quote for a domestic property. Inside & out £2400.00. Been accepted. Will take 4 blokes 2 days to do.

is that a builders clean

[Immaculate windows]

Never do a day rate. Day/hourly rates are for gardeners etc, and that severely limits their achievable income!
I am a one man band, admittedly not in a poor area, and my round is far from compact, but i still aim to earn £150 per day which imo is at least what you need as a self employed man. Sometimes i earn more, sometimes less (wintertime/short days etc).
Never cracked £300 in a day tho, altho have gone mid £200's on a fair few occasions, but these not the norm.
Plus...I am old lmao

Graham

[koopmaster]

Mine the same as above but I did crack £361 beginning of last month.  first time ever.....  and he was a musician and music producer (my own simon cowel)  so was loaded.

I did spend half a day there and then went off and did more houses to get that high.  paid for 2 days at Disney paris...

[SeanK]

To be honest Graham its not always about working in a rich or poor area its more about what you do for
the money.
If your working in a poor area your not going to be cleaning the frames doors and sills as you wont get the price
needed to cover this amount of work.
So in them circumstances your going to need more compact work and do more properties over the day to make
a reasonable living.
Even what you say about needing a £150 a day for a self employed man, that could be more than enough in some areas
but in the likes of London wouldn't be near enough.
Is it possible to earn £300 a day or more, I'm sure it is in certain parts of the U.K. but would them prices be the
average over the whole country I very much doubt it.

[Tom-01]

I know a couple of window cleaners who have had a 'good day' and then tell people that's what they're on every day, because they did it once, so its not always accurate. If I did my best day ever every day I'd only need to work two days a week!

[Tom-01]

And they were so knackered they didn't work the next day!

[Clever Forum Name]

I know a couple of window cleaners who have had a 'good day' and then tell people that's what they're on every day, because they did it once, so its not always accurate. If I did my best day ever every day I'd only need to work two days a week!

Yep my thoughts exactly. Cleaners get confused with Best day Vs average day. What does annoy me is when people say 2/3/400 aint possible every day on domestic. it is very possible.

If i did all my cream work in one day i reakon it would be close to a £500 day. Now if i could replicate that every day for 4 weeks i would be laughing. Can i do it, nope. Too many new wc's now.

[Immaculate windows]

Well Sean, my ethos is I will be a window cleaner, and not just a glass cleaner. A window when bought includes frames, so to clean a window includes frames (for me anyway). So obviously I am going to cost more than somebody who just makes the glass clean and leaves the frames minging. THis works fine for me, maybe I'm just lucky, although I like to think it's because my customers appreciate a job being done properly as opposed to a job being done cheaply and hurriedly, and also the benefits are your best (recommended) work is likely to be for peeps who want the job doing well and are prepared to pay a little bit more.
Our area here is swarming with windies who work for ridiculously cheap prices, so I have no desire to compete on their terms as I take pride in what I do, and there are plenty of custies prepared to pay for the service, might have to travel a wee bit between most jobs but who cares 

[dazmond]

i think for most of us well established WFP window cleaners(up north anyway).£180-£250 turnover is the norm for a  6 or 7 hour day "on the glass".as for day rates for large houses.i dont clean any that take all day to clean.if i ever do then my minimum charge would be £200.

lots of other things come into play though like bad weather,shorter days due to low motivation/time of year,unexpected days off due to illness/injury/van repairs/MOT etc and of course time off for holidays that are unpaid.

add on expenses,insurance and tax then the £180-£250 average day rate isnt that great.ok better than a lot of unskilled jobs.you can still make a good profit at the end of the year to keep you motivated to carry on with window cleaning but IMO if your day rates more like £100-£140 then your gonna struggle to make a good profit at the end of the year after all expenses and tax are deducted.in fact id go as far to say that you ll only just "get by" paying bills and have very little disposable income to spend on the luxuries in life unless you price better and work more efficiently.

i speak from experience and the OP seems to have the same attitude that i used to have years ago which thankfully ive changed due to this forum,being more focused and motivated and adopting a professional approach in all areas of my business esp in regards to pricing work,organization etc.

[SeanK]

Well Sean, my ethos is I will be a window cleaner, and not just a glass cleaner. A window when bought includes frames, so to clean a window includes frames (for me anyway). So obviously I am going to cost more than somebody who just makes the glass clean and leaves the frames minging. THis works fine for me, maybe I'm just lucky, although I like to think it's because my customers appreciate a job being done properly as opposed to a job being done cheaply and hurriedly, and also the benefits are your best (recommended) work is likely to be for peeps who want the job doing well and are prepared to pay a little bit more.
Our area here is swarming with windies who work for ridiculously cheap prices, so I have no desire to compete on their terms as I take pride in what I do, and there are plenty of custies prepared to pay for the service, might have to travel a wee bit between most jobs but who cares 

Graham totally agree with you as I work the same way myself, but there are areas where I couldn't work as I couldn't
get the money needed to cover my ocd.
Was just pointing out that you can still make money in these areas by using different methods, if a person can only afford to
have their glass cleaned then they will appreciate you as much as somebody who can afford a complete clean.
Never confuse genuine decent people who cant afford to pay £20 a month to have their windows cleaned with chancers who
want something for nothing and stupid window cleaners who are prepared to work for it.

[Immaculate windows]

Graham totally agree with you as I work the same way myself, but there are areas where I couldn't work as I couldn't
get the money needed to cover my ocd.
Was just pointing out that you can still make money in these areas by using different methods, if a person can only afford to
have their glass cleaned then they will appreciate you as much as somebody who can afford a complete clean.
Never confuse genuine decent people who cant afford to pay £20 a month to have their windows cleaned with chancers who
want something for nothing and stupid window cleaners who are prepared to work for it.
   

Fair comment

[SeanK]

Talk about chancers, woman approached me this week she lives in a big five bed detached...
My window cleaner has quit would you be able to do mine and what would you charge.
I said £15 but it will be going up in the new year to £17.
She went pale and said my last cleaner only charged £5 I will text you and let you know... I replied O.K.
There's more chance of me winning the lottery than she has of me cleaning her windows even if she agrees to my
price.
I just cant stand anybody who would expect somebody to do that amount of work for so little money.
The thing is I know the guy was cleaning them for that price.