[PaulKing]

Ok there i can feel like I am goning to be shot down in flames here, but what the hell.

Seams that a lot of people under charging for the srevice they provide and feel free to comment that others are over charging, would'nt it be good if every one could get at least £100 ( sure that's too low to some and a dream for others)  for cleaning a three piece suite.

I charge somewher around £150  for a TPS and have not had one person in the last year say that too expensive on the phone, so think I will be upping the prices before spring, as must be too cheap if everyone say yes?

So the question is what is the  highest price that anyone would charge for a 3+1+1 with reversible cushion in a "normal" wet cleanable fabric with "normal" soiling expectingh to spend betwen 1 1/2 to 3 hours cleaning using whatever sytem you uses. In Mrs smith house on a "normal" housing estate.

Honest truth is I hope someone is doing £250+ ( someone has to be)
as I want a few pointers,  one job at £250 is equivelent to at least three at £100 so instead of expanding, I want to increas the profit margin first.

If you charge less please don't post and flame me, or anyone else who is good enough to post, this is a forum for ideas and I want ones that work, Honestly let face it why would i be interested in LOWERING my prices, i have full books as it is,  just sit tight and see if you can pick up some pointers. By listening you learn at a much faster rate than talking.

[Kev Loomes]

In the instance that you describe we charge £172.00 and if they wanted protection then add another £86.00 (for which we get on approx 50% of quotes).

Its all about the length of time doing the job, the outcome and the dryness. Some people are happy wizzing over a suite in an hour with minimal results. So for this they are quite happy charging £40.00-£60.00 - good luck to them. Others want to give the best results possible and wont have it any other way and charge accordingly.

I cant see the point of battling with the cheapest myself as you will always be known as that (I think confidence also comes into play here). Give the best that you can, charge more, and you will soon have a reputation for such work. This is also the most profitable approach and you do less work, and have your machinary lasting much longer 

If I was you Paul, if you think your worth it raise your prices by 10% and see what the response is like. If it doesnt change raise it again by the same amount and so on. You will find your level - and stick to it.

[stevegunn]

I know servicemaster charge £250 for a suite,I was of the same opinion as other people "they wont pay that" but gradually increasing my prices and they still come back.The ones you lose because of price are not the customers you want I have had the busiest January/February since I started and I'm not going round killing myself trying to cram as many jobs in as I can.I'm up to £103 for a suite which is not bad considering I was charging £65 a year ago. 

[*paul_moss]

Paul
Go with it,I charge min £135 to £200 for a TPS and get loads of work.
Look profesional ,sell profesional and clean profesional.
Then charge profesional, they pay with a smile every time  

[*paul_moss]

Gunny
Glad you have increased your prices
Know its hard in your area cos of the comp,but I did the same a couple of years back and havent looked back.

[Robert Watson]

Good post Paul.
We're not doing this work for a laugh.
If you can do the job correctly and achieve the desired result, then you should
strive to get the best possible price. Its easier said than done, as different people have different
price objections. Its definitely a confidence thing as Kev says.
Had one today, quoted £110 for 2 hours work. Silence. I thought I was too dear.
He says "that sounds too cheep", where others would chase you.
If I could bottle confidence, I'd be the richest man in the world.
Then I wouldn't have to clean any more suites 
Just got to keep working at it.
Cheers.
Rab.

[will01]

for a tps my prices start at 65.00 (solid unit, no loose cushions) up to 120.00 for a 321 with 10 or more removable cushions.

I doubt if I charged more than that that i would get any takers as my prices are based on the local cd. Plus there are 6 others who all compete with each other in the free local paper. They're charging 50.00 for a tps tops.

However it might be worth a try to have a leaflet drop a bit further away, hike my prices up and see what happens.

Again surely it's all down to whether you live in or close to affluent areas. On many occasions I know I've sold the clean only to be told point blank by the customer that the only sticking point is the price. They want the suite cleaned by me but simply don't have the available funds. If the moneys not there no amount of selling is going to get you the job.

Will

[mark_roberts]

All depends on what you want from your business.  Some chrage £200 and spend 4 hours and then go home.  Others will charge £100 and spend 2 hours and then do 3 more.


Its getting the balance with what your marketing will achieve.  No point in charging £250 if your only doing two jobs a week.  Also the higher the price the more is expected from you in service.

Mark

[AquaMagic]

I try and quote £100 for a suite based on £20 a seating unit, however if someone has a 2 and a 3 seater although there is less to clean i dont lower my prices, i fact on occassion i have quoted this for 2 * 2 seaters, id say to put a figure on it id say iget around 85% of suites i quote for so maybee i should put up my prices a little, my the way i visit as many jobs as possible to quote before hand so this may "massage" my figures a little.  I really think your geography plays a large part, people use London as an example as the place to get the high end customers, but i dare say London could also host plenty of low end customers, i wouldnt know im a Northerner.  In my local rag ive got 2 or 3 that suggest they will clean a TPS for £40 so at £100 im rewasonably happy for now untill Sheffield Shaun gives me the secret of how to charge enough to buy a small Republic or a Chem Dry franchise.

Dene

[Andy Foster]

Hello

I am a newbie to CC and took my price guidelines from reading past messages on this forum.
At the moment I charge either £20 per seat (for fixed cushions) £25 per seat (for loose cushions) or £30 per seat (for loose cushions with a few small cushions).
I've only had one person who didn't want it doing, but when asked why, she said that the suite only cost her £100 second hand from a friend, so not surprised she didn't want to spend that again on getting it cleaned.
I have a lot of competition round my way and am sure that if I lowered my prices I might be a bit busier, but I'd be working a lot harder too.
It normally takes my 2-3 hours to do a loose cushion suite (don't forget I'm new to this and like to make sure I'm doing it right) and that to me is a good hourly rate... not to some but it is to me.

Had several customers book me in for 12 months time to go back so must be happy both with price and service.

Andy

[Kev Loomes]

At the end of the day EVERY area has plenty of people offering to clean suites for peanuts - our area certainly has. North London (which we still cover) is probably regarded as one of the most competitive in the country (just check out the YP its as big as a house!).

For instance, we could easily lower our prices to compete and get much more work. But why should we? We regard our work as high quality and charge as such. We probably do a third of the work rate as cheap cleaners - working cleverer not harder!

If you can sell well (and back it up), offer fantastic service, are properly trained and qualified, enjoy meeting custy's (which shows), have good machinary and are confident in your overall package, you cant go wrong.

Dont be tempted to join the price busters - why kill yourself for nothing? Let them get on with it. You've also got more chance of failing in business and will find it very hard if you decide to increase your prices down the line.

Be professional - charge professional. Ignore everything else.

[Len Gribble]

This lad and partner is working for £45 full valet plus buffing dull paintwork and its today Sunday (he did one earlier no buffing took them 3hrs! I took pity and gave him polishing cloths.





Prior had a word with wife do you want your car done quote I’m not paying that I can get it done for £15 unquote wasn’t asking her to pay, glad am not in the car valet game.

£25 to £30 per bum

Len

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I honestly don't know what the other cleaners in my area charge, perhaps they charge what the customer tells them, ie if they pull a face at £60 they next time will charge £55, it's down to you to how much you can charge, from talking to new customers I'm not sure that my local CDry and Service master and Rainbow charge the high prices as said earlier and the latter 2 don't really do that much domestic suite cleaning anyway.

Shaun

[Ian Rochester]

Like Steve we have gradually increased our prices up here, were at £12/seat in the summer, currently at £15/seat, by the end of March it is going up to £20/seat.

However I think that will be about our ceiling up here, my main competitors only charge £48 and £60 for a full suite clean, I'm already at £75.

Still, it pays for a few good bottles of red at the weekend!!!

Cheers...........Ian

[Mike Halliday]

tell them its £110,  if they go for it then you've got the job, but if they say that's too much say....

"of course that includes applying a stain-guard when we finish if you don't want the protector we could lower the price, how much where you thinking of spending?

then say nothing until they say how much they wanted to spend, if they say £25 just leave

if they say £80 umm & arrr then say " OK its a bit lower than our usual price but I'll do it for that price"

this works for any initial price you quote from £40 to £400

always start high because you can always come down, but if you start low you can't go up

Mike

[Steve Chapman]

We've been doing something similar for a while now, where we quote for a premium service, but if they seem reluctant offer them the silver or bronze and make them realize they will get less, i.e. stainguard, immediate drying etc.

We find most still end up going for the premium service as they can see they will get a much better job done, they just realize then what they are getting for their money.

It's a good way of educating people as well ,as most haven't a clue whats involved in cleaning a suite.

Sometime ago I went to  clean a suite of an old dear, and after vacuuming it she started to pay me after saying how lovely it was :

I was sooooooo tempted to just go, but i didn't

But it is good to tell them what they will get for their £100 or so!

regards
steve

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think the key word here is "visit" an onsite inspection is a must to quote and get high end jobs, most cusyomers shop for the cheapest over the phone but go out and visit them to sell them your wears!

Shaun

[ValueValeting]

This lad and partner is working for £45 full valet plus buffing dull paintwork and its today Sunday (he did one earlier no buffing took them 3hrs! I took pity and gave him polishing cloths.





Prior had a word with wife do you want your car done quote I’m not paying that I can get it done for £15 unquote wasn’t asking her to pay, glad am not in the car valet game.

£25 to £30 per bum

Len

Not all of us 

Same issues as carpet cleaning - there are the cheapies who want to work hard for their pin : money and then there are others - as someone else has posted in this thread its a confidence thing, if you are confident in your abilities you will get the appropriate remuneration - for what you have described the 2 chaps as doing you'd be looking at a bill of £200 and about 5 man hours (1 man)
from any valeting company that will still be trading in 12 months time. The two muppets in youtr piccie are running a van + "business" from an hourly turnover of £7.50 per man hour - get me their number will ya I could use a couple of mug subbies

[Len Gribble]

Phil

There not a million miles away Orpington.

Len

[AquaMagic]

Shuan i think you have hit the nail on the head, i close nearly all business i visit and pre-inspect, recommendations are also dead certs but you cannot try and charge more as they allready know your prices.  I also agree that confidence is a big big part of how you can set your prices, ive only been going a year so my prices reflect that, maybe after another year ill put them up more.

Dene