[vangaurd]

local paper, this morning ,
cleaning section. any 2 items cleaned for £30.00
is this bloke for real!

[Charlie Payne]

could be a bait & switch tactic. crafty pricing to draw in the bait.  or he could be a cheap & cheerful bod, has'nt moved on since the first time he took up c/c, plenty of them about, bodge it & scarper merchants.   

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

i was working cheaper then that six months ago  did a front room hsl and a bathroom on saterday for 45 pounds with the truck mount the others wanted 30 pounds 

ten pounds a carpet here now not so very long ago i would of under cut them all just to get on the nevres but them days have long gone for me now

[brights cleaning]

who cares what these people charge?
concenrtrate on the great service that you do and don't waste your enery on other cleaners
there is a saying    " some poeple know the price of everything and the value of nothing" 
if they want a cheap price then let these guys do it
if they want a quality job, they might use you!

[spindle]

if somebody wants to do that for £30/45 let them

just means that it will be 1 less price shopper 4 me!!!!

[carpetguy]

Why would you assume to be doing a better job just because you charge more, so often nowadays this is not the case.

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hi Tony did that fella ring you on Saturday morning regarding the 3 piece suite? I could not make it so gave him your number.

[matt jones]

Hi guys,
I cleaned some carpets for a friend of ours back along and their neighbours was thinking of having theres done later on down the line, Anyway saw this person yesterday and asked weather they still wanted me to come and give them a quote, she replied we have already had it done apparently this local company cleaned the whole of their 5 bedroom house and they also cleaned the whole of their dentist surgery which they own for £200. I couldn't believe it, what is going on i would of charged more than that just to do the house. 
matt

[carpetguy]

You are in a competitive market and the local got the work why would someone NOT support the local business : :

[matt jones]

Well they knew me and i am local. Yet must of been the fact that they advertise stupidly low prices.
matt

[mark_roberts]

£45 for a lounge, HSL and bathroom???  thats just as cheap TM or no TM.

I worked out today my TM drinks £5 an hour on petrol.  You guys would be better off working in Tescos for £8 an hour.

Do yourselfs a favour and LEARN how to be in business before you go bottom up.

Mark

[melanie rowe]

i know the guy that did it, truck mounted in exeter, has no work ,so he really needed the money...............sad but true, its guys like this who spoil it for everyone else..........

[Dave_Lee]

Mark,
Well said, I am not as expensive as a lot of CCs I know, but for a Front room, Hsl, etc I wouldt be interested for less than £130 and thats only if they were on the small side. If I had to do it for £45, I would feel like I was paying them! Of course if the job only took half an hour thats another story, but you know as well as every PROFESSIONAL out there, that it cant be correctly, thoroughly, completed in that time, no matter what they say.
Dave.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

How long would you take to do it?

Shaun

[David_Annable]

Hi

Had a call last friday about a clean, so popped round saturday morning to quote and if accepteble do the job there & then.

My price £83, she says let me think about it.

I say is that more than you were expecting, Yes the last bloke that did it when we move in charged £35.

So you win some you loss some, she wasnt calling the last guy though was she!

Dave

[Mike Osbourne]

David

When people say that what do you say?

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

I just say then why arent you getting him back? If he was a pro hed be contacting you with postcards etc... offering you special offers.

I have a database of all my custys and i always look after them

[John Kelly]

A few years back someone, I can't remember who it was, stood outside a supermarket asking people if they had ever had their carpets cleaned. Out of the ones who said yes I think it was 85%, didn't know the name of the person or company that had cleaned them.
Most people think a carpet cleaner is a carpet cleaner. Thats why its so important to market to your existing customers rather than wasting money chasing new ones all the time.

[David_Annable]

Mike

To be honest she took me by surprise, I was expecting her to say " yes get on & do it ".

Any tips what should i have said ?

Dave

[carpetguy]

Hang on a sec' some of you are going on about charging pretty high prices and not being prepared to work for a certain price - often an hourly rate which is as much as many people earn for 30 to 40 hours in other jobs - but the same people are to be found seeking information about marketing and some clearly offer Special Offers or Discounts while the ones who are busy and taking decent money which I'd suggest £35 - £50 per hour sometimes more are regarded as " letting the side down " why ?
Looking back through posts there are a few where sensible discussions have teken place and others where people are just plain bolshi if they think someone charges less than them.
What I wonder about is the real value offered by people who charge high prices and whether they really do a better job which in most cases I very much doubt. Yes there will be a few who are excellent craftsmen and take pride in their work and do an excellent job, but there will also be many who simply charge high prices and do not give value for money.
They give the industry a worse image than the Honest Johns who charge somewhere in the region of £45 - £55 per hour - not as an hourly rate but charges that equate to that -  and give the consumer an excellent service and good value. Some responses suggest that the lower priced people don't understand the economics of building a business and will fail because they don't charge enough. REALLY !
The majority of operators are individuals who work alone and if good, build a rapport with clients and get additional work by asking for recommendations - leaving cards bottles of stain remover etc - ensuring their name is easily found.
Now if these people are earning £45 -£55 per hour and only working for 30 hours per week they are grossing £75000 per annum which should give a net of around £60000 which is more than many small businesses net for their owners and about 4 times the Tesco employee