[iain R Jones]

How do you go about pricing a job?
I have a 3 bed semi with 2 large windows at the front plus a smaller bedroom
Round the back bathroom,  kitchen conservatory but unable to get to the bedroom due to the conservatory

[Dave Anderson]

Pricing has many factors .... there is is no substitute to actually getting on the glass and working with different houses i.e location, first cleans, access, your speed, quality, technique, your financial situation, etc, etc ....The list is endless.

Do you clean windows now and with what method? that would be a very good starting point for others here to help you.

In the mean time  the best  suggestion would be for you read the wealth of information already here on this forum... if you type 'pricing' in the search box at the top of this screen there are 91 pages on this forum that will really help.

Cheers Dave and good luck.

[paul alan]

There arnt many windows the pole cant  reach!

Sounds like £15 in north wales, prices vary in regions!

How often is it cleaned?? Longer frequency costs more also, so 4 weekly could cost £12-£15 and 8 weekly could cost £15-£18 as a rough guide.

One off could cost  £30-£45.

[paul alan]

Upload some pictures and lm sure youll get some quotes!

[Stoots]

I just kind of look at it and say a price. Can't say I really count windows. I Must just base it on similar work I have not sure of the formula though.

[dazmond]

How do you go about pricing a job?
I have a 3 bed semi with 2 large windows at the front plus a smaller bedroom
Round the back bathroom,  kitchen conservatory but unable to get to the bedroom due to the conservatory

the truth is price what you deem fair for the job.you can do what you like as its your business.

i usually price on time(how long the jobs going to take me)and what i want for an hours work.sometimes i price per window.depends on location,size of property,how near it is to other work,awkward windows?access/parking issues etc,etc.

i guess your starting trad then?(you can reach most windows above conny roofs with wfp)

[Dry Clean]

Getting your pricing right is the hardest part of this job, the problem with asking this question on a forum is you will get a
nationwide answer that will leave you none the wiser.
Find out what the other shiners are charging in your targeted area and most importantly find out what they are actually offering
for the price, a price for a quick wipe of the glass wont cover a guy cleaning the glass frames sills and so on.
Don't try to win work by undercutting as it attracts the wrong type of customer.

[nathankaye]

Youve got some great advice here Ian, i would take it all on board and see how you go.
Its right we all started somewhere and it doesnt matter too much at this stage because as your experience and quality grows, so will your prices. When i first started my prices were lowish, especially with how they compare to now. However saying that, you dont want to get into a habbit of pricing low just to get a job, because no offense, you wont hack it and probably wont last a year. Because your slaving away for pitance and not making a wage. But be realistic and fair and as you start to grow you will know for yourself what aspects to take into consideration when pricing.

[iain R Jones]

Pricing has many factors .... there is is no substitute to actually getting on the glass and working with different houses i.e location, first cleans, access, your speed, quality, technique, your financial situation, etc, etc ....The list is endless.

Do you clean windows now and with what method? that would be a very good starting point for others here to help you.

In the mean time  the best  suggestion would be for you read the wealth of information already here on this forum... if you type 'pricing' in the search box at the top of this screen there are 91 pages on this forum that will really help.

Cheers Dave and good luck.

I did try to start about 4 maybe 5 years ago and unfortunately didn't take off maybe because I didn't try hard enough maybe started the wrong time, autumn time I did have a fairly good customer base but not good enough.
I was using traditional method.

[iain R Jones]

There arnt many windows the pole cant  reach!

Sounds like £15 in north wales, prices vary in regions!

How often is it cleaned?? Longer frequency costs more also, so 4 weekly could cost £12-£15 and 8 weekly could cost £15-£18 as a rough guide.

One off could cost  £30-£45.

I'm in the Somerset area not north Wales

[Dave Anderson]

First I would suggest.... Work out what you need to earn to live.... current outgoings could be the make or break for anyone starting.... Do you have a slush fund to tide you over whilst you build?

Be wary though, there is a world of difference between working for enough to live and earning enough to live 

Building a well priced and established round with good payers is not an easy task, granted the work itself is not exactly rocket science but getting to a stage where you can meet all your financial commitments without the hassles of constant late paying customers is 'nirvana' we all strive for.

Obviously I and others here do not know your individual situation (nor need to  perhaps if you do not have a slush-fund you could start Saturdays then go part-time... who knows what options may or may not suit... perhaps you could buy/rent a round.

If you do go down the wfp route... as with all things there are budget cars and then there are supercars the same can be said for wfp equipment.... you can make it as simple/complex >>> cheap/expensive as you want or failing that get yours ladders out and go trad as you have previously.... again all upto you.... But the best advice I have seen here is.... find out what your local market is paying.... I can tell you what is right where I am but thats going to be naff all use to you.

Again good luck starting.... Remember the game is simple.... Get 1 job, get another, get another...so on and so forth...clean them and then repeat.

Find 1 job at a time and don't accept rejection too personally....

tip...when you go out looking for work....obviously dress smart, never admit you are just starting and carry yourself like you have been in the game for years.... no-one knows what you are...act confident, be fair, polite and courteous..... a rejection is another step to success.... its a numbers game, once you are  established.... work will find you... honestly it will - Yeah I thought this was complete and utter pooh when someone told me when I started.

[paul alan]

There arnt many windows the pole cant  reach!

Sounds like £15 in north wales, prices vary in regions!

How often is it cleaned?? Longer frequency costs more also, so 4 weekly could cost £12-£15 and 8 weekly could cost £15-£18 as a rough guide.

One off could cost  £30-£45.

I'm in the Somerset area not north Wales

No lan, lm in north wales. I was giving you a guide as you asked.

I did say it varies in regions.

[dazmond]

First I would suggest.... Work out what you need to earn to live.... current outgoings could be the make or break for anyone starting.... Do you have a slush fund to tide you over whilst you build?

Be wary though, there is a world of difference between working for enough to live and earning enough to live 

Building a well priced and established round with good payers is not an easy task, granted the work itself is not exactly rocket science but getting to a stage where you can meet all your financial commitments without the hassles of constant late paying customers is 'nirvana' we all strive for.

Obviously I and others here do not know your individual situation (nor need to  perhaps if you do not have a slush-fund you could start Saturdays then go part-time... who knows what options may or may not suit... perhaps you could buy/rent a round.

If you do go down the wfp route... as with all things there are budget cars and then there are supercars the same can be said for wfp equipment.... you can make it as simple/complex >>> cheap/expensive as you want or failing that get yours ladders out and go trad as you have previously.... again all upto you.... But the best advice I have seen here is.... find out what your local market is paying.... I can tell you what is right where I am but thats going to be naff all use to you.

Again good luck starting.... Remember the game is simple.... Get 1 job, get another, get another...so on and so forth...clean them and then repeat.

Find 1 job at a time and don't accept rejection too personally....

tip...when you go out looking for work....obviously dress smart, never admit you are just starting and carry yourself like you have been in the game for years.... no-one knows what you are...act confident, be fair, polite and courteous..... a rejection is another step to success.... its a numbers game, once you are  established.... work will find you... honestly it will - Yeah I thought this was complete and utter pooh when someone told me when I started.

excellent post dave.post of the week for me this!

[capn sparkle]

First I would suggest.... Work out what you need to earn to live.... current outgoings could be the make or break for anyone starting.... Do you have a slush fund to tide you over whilst you build?

Be wary though, there is a world of difference between working for enough to live and earning enough to live 

Building a well priced and established round with good payers is not an easy task, granted the work itself is not exactly rocket science but getting to a stage where you can meet all your financial commitments without the hassles of constant late paying customers is 'nirvana' we all strive for.

Obviously I and others here do not know your individual situation (nor need to  perhaps if you do not have a slush-fund you could start Saturdays then go part-time... who knows what options may or may not suit... perhaps you could buy/rent a round.

If you do go down the wfp route... as with all things there are budget cars and then there are supercars the same can be said for wfp equipment.... you can make it as simple/complex >>> cheap/expensive as you want or failing that get yours ladders out and go trad as you have previously.... again all upto you.... But the best advice I have seen here is.... find out what your local market is paying.... I can tell you what is right where I am but thats going to be naff all use to you.

Again good luck starting.... Remember the game is simple.... Get 1 job, get another, get another...so on and so forth...clean them and then repeat.

Find 1 job at a time and don't accept rejection too personally....

tip...when you go out looking for work....obviously dress smart, never admit you are just starting and carry yourself like you have been in the game for years.... no-one knows what you are...act confident, be fair, polite and courteous..... a rejection is another step to success.... its a numbers game, once you are  established.... work will find you... honestly it will - Yeah I thought this was complete and utter pooh when someone told me when I started.

Wot he said ^^  Plus when canvassing tell 'em you're cleaning a 'few' others in the street would you like to be added to the round?

[nathankaye]

Dont be overly put off if you only get one customer on this street and one customer that street.
I started many great rounds this way. Persevere and keep providing a great services for a fair price in your area. (I often find that people opt for middle ground.) When others see you as being regular n reliable they will approach you to clean theres. Especially if others suddenly stop or become irregular.  (Ive lost track of how many other shiners have come n gone  in the areas where i work. Even when they look flash with all the kit!!) So dont be discouraged, ive gone from only cleaning one house in a large cu de sac to cleaning virtually all of them. Being regular speaks volumes because you may not realise it but people wil be watching and let other neighbours be the guinea pigs first before they ask you

[Stoots]

I was cleaning a house for £14 yesterday when a guy on the opposite side came out.

Can you clean mine, my cleaner has gone awol.

First thing I said was how much was he charging?

£4.10

Really, can't get anywhere near that price sir, I would be about triple that

Point is two things. Firstly never clean someones windows for £4.10 but most importantly is don't take pricing advice from a forum bevause prices are dictated by your local competition. If you are working in an area with a few of these idiots you are going to have a struggle on to get top whack.

[dazmond]

I was cleaning a house for £14 yesterday when a guy on the opposite side came out.

Can you clean mine, my cleaner has gone awol.

First thing I said was how much was he charging?

£4.10

Really, can't get anywhere near that price sir, I would be about triple that

Point is two things. Firstly never clean someones windows for £4.10 but most importantly is don't take pricing advice from a forum bevause prices are dictated by your local competition. If you are working in an area with a few of these idiots you are going to have a struggle on to get top whack.

did you get the job?

i dont agree mate.

the old guy that had a hell of a lot of work in the areas i clean was charging peanuts.eg 4 bed house with large conny £8-50!ive been cleaning it for years now for £30.
ive picked up around 200 jobs at much better prices than he was charging(he still cant believe how much i get for some of them!).he was crap though.didnt touch frames,still trad,no add on services,different doleys with him every week.he had 4 lads working for him at one time.now hes 71 and still window cleaning albeit it part time.he s lost a lot of work and given some to his son.no bank transfers,text night before.all cash or cheque.old car with ladders held on by a bit of rope.

[Dry Clean]

I was cleaning a house for £14 yesterday when a guy on the opposite side came out.

Can you clean mine, my cleaner has gone awol.

First thing I said was how much was he charging?

£4.10

Really, can't get anywhere near that price sir, I would be about triple that

Point is two things. Firstly never clean someones windows for £4.10 but most importantly is don't take pricing advice from a forum bevause prices are dictated by your local competition. If you are working in an area with a few of these idiots you are going to have a struggle on to get top whack.

did you get the job?

i dont agree mate.

the old guy that had a hell of a lot of work in the areas i clean was charging peanuts.eg 4 bed house with large conny £8-50!ive been cleaning it for years now for £30.
ive picked up around 200 jobs at much better prices than he was charging(he still cant believe how much i get for some of them!).he was crap though.didnt touch frames,still trad,no add on services,different doleys with him every week.he had 4 lads working for him at one time.now hes 71 and still window cleaning albeit it part time.he s lost a lot of work and given some to his son.no bank transfers,text night before.all cash or cheque.old car with ladders held on by a bit of rope.

Every town will have its cheap quick rub over the glass shiner and if your fortunate him or shiners similar will be your only cheap competition, problems start when you have cheap guys doing a half decent job, put it this way Iv yet to meet a customer who's ambition is to make me wealthy.
The secrete is to get a price that will make you a nice living without having to bust your hump while at the same time not pushing
the customer to constantly question it or what they're getting for it.

[dazmond]

I was cleaning a house for £14 yesterday when a guy on the opposite side came out.

Can you clean mine, my cleaner has gone awol.

First thing I said was how much was he charging?

£4.10

Really, can't get anywhere near that price sir, I would be about triple that

Point is two things. Firstly never clean someones windows for £4.10 but most importantly is don't take pricing advice from a forum bevause prices are dictated by your local competition. If you are working in an area with a few of these idiots you are going to have a struggle on to get top whack.

did you get the job?

i dont agree mate.

the old guy that had a hell of a lot of work in the areas i clean was charging peanuts.eg 4 bed house with large conny £8-50!ive been cleaning it for years now for £30.
ive picked up around 200 jobs at much better prices than he was charging(he still cant believe how much i get for some of them!).he was crap though.didnt touch frames,still trad,no add on services,different doleys with him every week.he had 4 lads working for him at one time.now hes 71 and still window cleaning albeit it part time.he s lost a lot of work and given some to his son.no bank transfers,text night before.all cash or cheque.old car with ladders held on by a bit of rope.

Every town will have its cheap quick rub over the glass shiner and if your fortunate him or shiners similar will be your only cheap competition, problems start when you have cheap guys doing a half decent job, put it this way Iv yet to meet a customer who's ambition is to make me wealthy.
The secrete is to get a price that will make you a nice living without having to bust your hump while at the same time not pushing
the customer to constantly question it or what they're getting for it.

i agree.i price fair for the job i do.not too high/not too low.

[NWH]

I wouldn't price on what it costs you to live otherwise you'll price to low i price on what I want for the job not by the window or the hour,price a job by the hour and you could end up cleaning downton abbey for £50-£60 lol. With WFP you can clean as we know far far quicker and can't be compared to trad cleaning time wise,the thing is in some areas there's a lot of WFPolers driving down prices by cleaning 50-£60 houses for 25 now. They've gone from earning good money traditionally to average money and running like busy fools with the pole.