[dazmond]

I just love all the B/S logic used when pricing up a job. The reason why the is such disparity in pricing is because no ones wants to think his pricing is wrong and not up to date. If we applied a business approach we would all be closer to one price.My favourite one is when a cheap price is given is I have others in the street. This resulting in a lower price so the customer scores a gain. I would have thought you are in business for your own gain.Why the hell give a customer a discount just because they are in  a certain street. If it cost less to drive there surly its your own gain.
I find if you have to justify your pricing this way you need you business head read.
The same as prices rises surly they must be based on a sound business footing. If costs go up so must you pricing reflect this. Instead, because we don`t know what our expenses are we just guess a quid up or 50 p because the customer might just jump ship. It will take a lot more brain power and understanding of you industry for us to think alike when pricing.

the truth is we all charge different prices because we have many different personalities, life situations,areas we work,attitudes to business and life in general.also lots of window cleaners are not the sharpest knifes in the drawer and most of us are pretty clueless when it comes to business acumen.(i include myself in this!)

no pricing is wrong IMO.we are all free to charge what we think is the right price for US and our needs/lifestyle.


i also have some very compact estate work that is priced cheaper BECAUSE they are very close together to keep the competition from getting a foothold on my work(8 days work) and they are on a 4 weekly frequency.im happy,the customer is happy and other window cleaners soon give up the odd one or two they pick up as i clean the lions share and they cant compete on price,quality and reliability.so when they disappear i pick them up.

i know what my expenses are(around 5k a year)

[robbo333]

I agree with Daz. Everybody's needs are different and so are their expectations. Therefore they will price the same job completely differently, based on their own priorities. Some larger companies have overheads, rent, rates and wages to pay...and more. Others turn up in a car with ladders on the roof. Each price the job according to their needs and I genuinely believe there are actually no right or wrong quotes. After all, we are in the business of window cleaning and it attracts everyone, from every walk of life and you have to understand the market you are in. So deal with It! The trick is to decide 'where you want to be' in the world of window cleaning and 'set your stall out' accordingly.  After all, those people who do a 'cheap job' probably still do a good job. Still have families to feed and who depend upon them .  There is loads of work out there, just go and get it.

[SeanK]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

[Dave Willis]

£80 for that job day in day out.



I live in cuckoo land.

[Shane sharples]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

Well said Sean! I was wondering were you went!! Lol

[8weekly]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

When I started I bumped into a windy just finishing a Victorian 3 bed semi and he said to me "Who's gonna pay more than a fiver for that?". There are lots of old school guys around everywhere charging peanuts. It's up to you whether you choose to have your income dictated by these idiots.

[Smurf]

Don't beleive or as they say take with a pinch of salt what you are told by other cleaners as most keep their prices to themselves 

It's a simple case if you don't ask you don't get...If a customer snaps your hand off you are too cheap

[sunshine windows]

Picked one up this afternoon, old unreliable window cleaner, who she doesn't even have a contact number for  £15 every 6 weeks.

Got it at £40 once every 2 months.

Cream work is out there, you've just got to find it. Don't under sell yourself on what you think is a good hourly rate.

[Smurf]

That is probably why the last cleaner was so say unreliable as he underprice the job so badly that he can't be arsed to do it anymore.

Picked one up this afternoon, old  unreliable window cleaner, who she doesn't even have a contact number for  £15 every 6 weeks.

Got it at £40 once every 2 months.

Cream work is out there, you've just got to find it. Don't under sell yourself on what you think is a good hourly rate.

[Oliver James]

I charge £20 for a 4 bed detached  on six weekly plus 0.50 per 'unit' (a 'unit' is basically a pane, plus the plastic panel below it and the top light) for connie glass (includes doors),
That connie looks like it has 14 'units' so £7 extra.

Six weekly = £27
Twelve weekly = £40.50

That includes: Sills, frames, front door, garage door and the white of the upvc guttering on the connie.

Birmingham

[Walter Mitty]

When tax credits start to be withdrawn, I suspect that some of you are in for some rude awakenings.

Indeed.  Although the talk is of recovery, that can only happen if people have a reasonable disposable income.  Add the likelihood of mortgage rates increasing over the next couple of years and many people could easily £100 - £200 a month down.

[Rich Wilts]

We've just come out of the worst recession in living history, before that there were all the gloom merchants on here proclaiming the downfall of our service industry.

From my angle we've never been so busy.


If you can't make it in an industry where there's more glass than shiners and there's more herberts than competent's, let alone professionals, then you really should be on the till at Asda.  It's like taking candy from a baby this game.

[SeanK]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

When I started I bumped into a windy just finishing a Victorian 3 bed semi and he said to me "Who's gonna pay more than a fiver for that?". There are lots of old school guys around everywhere charging peanuts. It's up to you whether you choose to have your income dictated by these idiots.

The fact is if all the other shiners in your area where charging a fiver for that type of property and doing a decent job then
you would have found it hard to get 4 times that amount for the same property.
So obviously the norm would be closer to what your charging.

[8weekly]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

When I started I bumped into a windy just finishing a Victorian 3 bed semi and he said to me "Who's gonna pay more than a fiver for that?". There are lots of old school guys around everywhere charging peanuts. It's up to you whether you choose to have your income dictated by these idiots.

The fact is if all the other shiners in your area where charging a fiver for that type of property and doing a decent job then
you would have found it hard to get 4 times that amount for the same property.
So obviously the norm would be closer to what your charging.

Well he didn't think it was the norm and he'd been going 25 years.

[Rich Wilts]

You  miss 8weeklies point.  The issue was in the old boys head, his attitude/belief system. If 8weekly had the same attitude then he'd be being paid £5.00 too, but he believed different.

[Ian101]

We've just come out of the worst recession in living history, before that there were all the gloom merchants on here proclaiming the downfall of our service industry.

From my angle we've never been so busy.


If you can't make it in an industry where there's more glass than shiners and there's more herberts than competent's, let alone professionals, then you really should be on the till at Asda.  It's like taking candy from a baby this game.

agree 100% ............. except to add proper people will pay proper prices ... hence reason for my post to start with as thinking I can get more for same effort .......... on a price increase drive at them moment ... best to date £90 up to £220 yes obviously under-priced to start with but now got nothing under-priced ... nothing to do with costs going up I just want a wage rise and think its best to get in now before any future interest rate rises ( Nov / Dec this year I reckon)

[SeanK]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

When I started I bumped into a windy just finishing a Victorian 3 bed semi and he said to me "Who's gonna pay more than a fiver for that?". There are lots of old school guys around everywhere charging peanuts. It's up to you whether you choose to have your income dictated by these idiots.

The fact is if all the other shiners in your area where charging a fiver for that type of property and doing a decent job then
you would have found it hard to get 4 times that amount for the same property.
So obviously the norm would be closer to what your charging.

Well he didn't think it was the norm and he'd been going 25 years.

So was it the norm then, where all the other shiners in the area only charging a fiver for these types of properties until
you came along and decided to charge £20 ?

[8weekly]

Most people aren't stupid and they know what sort of money window cleaners are charging in their areas.
So if you come along in your shiny new van giving it all that and try to charge way above the area average then you might get a
few dimwits who will pay it but most wont.
The guys getting the higher money on here are no better business people than anybody else they have just hit an area
where the shiners before them have set a nice price and they are reaping the benefits.

When I started I bumped into a windy just finishing a Victorian 3 bed semi and he said to me "Who's gonna pay more than a fiver for that?". There are lots of old school guys around everywhere charging peanuts. It's up to you whether you choose to have your income dictated by these idiots.

The fact is if all the other shiners in your area where charging a fiver for that type of property and doing a decent job then
you would have found it hard to get 4 times that amount for the same property.
So obviously the norm would be closer to what your charging.

Well he didn't think it was the norm and he'd been going 25 years.

So was it the norm then, where all the other shiners in the area only charging a fiver for these types of properties until
you came along and decided to charge £20 ?

I've no idea. I knew what I wanted to earn and priced accordingly.

[Smurf]

I think where some seem to go wrong on pricing they are thinking too much on the amount of time they think a job will take and how much per hour they want rather than pricing the job up properly (its true value)

Obviously trad cleaners have less overheads/running costs than wfp guys and some old school trad guy’s just clean glass so this is the mindset of the cleaner and is down to the individual if they want to work smarter or harder for the same reward no matter where they  live.

The fact is all prospects will find a price either too dear or too cheap again which boils down to their mindset.
 

[Rich Wilts]

"Obviously trad cleaners have less overheads/running costs"

And a hugely restricted profit compared to WFP.