[suffolkclean]

I was hoping some of you could share your pricing for e.o.t cleans I'm thinking of charging this:-

Studio Flat £85, one bed £115, 2 bed £145, 3 bed £185, 4 bed £270 & 5 bed £320 Including internal windows not inside Oven.
How does this sound? Do you suggest I print this off & go round visiting letting agents, smart with business cards etc.

[Pennine Cleaning]

Hi Suffolkclean the prices you are quoting here are similar to what we charge at Pennine. Oven is additional £30.00 and carpets are extra. all ex vat

[Steve Chapman]

Hi,

You need to double those prices to make any serious profit from this.
remember your actual profit is probably somewhere near half of what you are charging i.e. do you really want to get £40 for cleaning a studio flat?

We've been doing eot for 13 years and believe me it is hard work and most letting agents expect a high standard, the worse thing you can do is undervalue yourself.

When we started doing this as an add on service i actually overpriced because i didn't want to do too many, and its surprising how many will pay top price for a good clean, we've kept those prices high ever since

Just completed a 1 bedroom flat clean this week £550 - Although someone had died in there so it was pretty bad 

regards
steve

[suffolkclean]

Hi Steve I understand exactly what your saying but will I ever get any work from letting agents if I price high. If they have lower prices from elsewhere, do you think they would ever give us a chance? Our standards are very high & I do think we should be rewarded for doing a good job. Instead feel we work really hard for peanuts - I would love to charge more

[Steve Chapman]

Most agencies priorities are : high standards and quick turnaround, i.e. doing it at short notice, and while they have to justify the cost, most charges come out of a tenants deposit or from the landlord, they are more concerned with getting a good job done so they can re-let.

What you need to do is give them a reason just to use you!

My approach is and always has been with these agencies is to offer them something free for themselves, for us its free carpet cleaning for any of there private homes, but could be a proportion of free office cleaning, obviously it has to be justified by the return, we get work nearly every week from the agencies, so a few carpet cleans here and there is well worth it.

Believe me if there is something in it for themeselves they will not go looking elsewhere!  Who would ?

This is just something that works for us, obviously you need to tailor it to your own business, but hopefully some food for thought,

Dont work for peanuts, as you need to plan for the long run and have money to run the business and cover the quiet periods.

regards
steve

[TVCS]

Steve, very good advice there mate.  I am pretty new to EOT cleaning and found your replies to be very helpful and sound advice. You obviously know what you are talking about .  I will now look at revising some of my prices.
Ant
TVCS

[suffolkclean]

Hi Steve
I've been looking at costs since getting your advice, what do you think about these prices:-

Studio Flat £110, 1 Bed Flat £150, 2 bed Flat £180, 3 Bed Flat £210
2 Bed House £210, 3 Bed £255, 4 Bed £325 & 5 Bed £400
This would include inside windows & Oven £30 Extra??

[The Great One]

Hi

I don't feel you should give certain set prices.

You may walk into say a 2 bed flat and be out in 2 hours, other times you may be in there for 12 hours, you cannot price the same, no 2 circumstances will be the same. You may just get a sparkle clean, after builders or a full trashed student let, they are all priced differently, also you always come across extra that either the LA or inventory clerk has missed, as they don't always get into every corner.

Regards

Martin

[suffolkclean]

Hi Martin
What do you suggest then with regards to pricing, as they are all so different how can give costs to potential customers?
Or do you give yours an hourly rate. I need a way to create a pricing structure without giving them an hourly rate cos there's less money in it that way.
Please help

[Steve Chapman]

You do def need a pricing structure as you need to give guide price to the customer / agency, the best way to cover yourself is to do two things,  give them a minimum and maximum price for different size properties so you have a degree of flexibilty and its a must to go and view each property ( i factor this into the price ) only then you wont end up with any nasty surprises.

Bear in mind that some 2 bedroom flats can be bigger than a 3 bedroom house  etc and most cleaning will be carried out in the kitchen and bathroom, so its good to see how big / small they are!

Always charge separatley for cookers (they can take a couple of hours if they are bad) and any appliances and always list them separatley on the invoice so its obvious where the money has been spent.

Also always try and get a detailed work order from the agency as each will expect attention to certain details and expect you to be a mind reader, if you have the list then it will save a lot of hassle in the long run if they think you have missed something or should of done something extra,

regards
steve

[kelly acs]

I recently designed some brochures to distribute to local business's ie letting agents shops etc.

What I did was a table with a price GUIDE and every price was bottom end ie carpets FROM £13 per room. (it would have to be a very small room)! It works though. I also included a special offer in my price where is a customer choose three or more services they would recieve 5% off their final bill.

I would have to agree with the advice above though never have set prices you just don't know what state the property is in until you go and look at the job!

[rosie]

Hi Steve,

Could you email me with some tips on end of tenancey cleaning please i have a few people who want domestic cleaning done, but looking at what a few people have said on here, it seems there is more money to be made in this direction.

The thing is i am new to this game and just need a bit of help and advice.

Im not afraid of hard work by any means. i Just need to know what to charge what products do you use, do you make a list of the things you would clean, ie doors, windows, etc, etc. do you have to have a contract drawn up.

I would be to greatful if you could take a little time to put something together for me please.

Thanks Michelle

rozybell@hotmail.co.uk

[suffolkclean]

Hi Steve

I would also love to know how much you charge too - if you are willing to share this info please email me too I would be really grateful.

babsglitzybitz@yahoo.co.uk

[mk1]

You do def need a pricing structure as you need to give guide price to the customer / agency, the best way to cover yourself is to do two things,  give them a minimum and maximum price for different size properties so you have a degree of flexibilty and its a must to go and view each property ( i factor this into the price ) only then you wont end up with any nasty surprises.

Bear in mind that some 2 bedroom flats can be bigger than a 3 bedroom house  etc and most cleaning will be carried out in the kitchen and bathroom, so its good to see how big / small they are!

Always charge separatley for cookers (they can take a couple of hours if they are bad) and any appliances and always list them separatley on the invoice so its obvious where the money has been spent.

Also always try and get a detailed work order from the agency as each will expect attention to certain details and expect you to be a mind reader, if you have the list then it will save a lot of hassle in the long run if they think you have missed something or should of done something extra,

regards
steve

Hi Steve
I've been looking at costs since getting your advice, what do you think about these prices:-

Studio Flat £110, 1 Bed Flat £150, 2 bed Flat £180, 3 Bed Flat £210
2 Bed House £210, 3 Bed £255, 4 Bed £325 & 5 Bed £400
This would include inside windows & Oven £30 Extra??

good advice steve what ever works for you 

best advice is never ever give a price with out seeing the property to be cleaned NEVER. that for us is a golden rule.

suffolkclean for a guess you are in suffolk if you can get them prices go for it in our area not a cat in hells chance.
in my opinion you would be lucky to charge say £325 for a 4 bed and then £400 for a five bed £75 for an extra hours work ?? i would not pay it would you ??

a good trained cleaner can do all woodwork ,window light switches plug sockets dust the lamp shade remove marks from walls and hoover a room in 1 hour max. (i would base this on averge bedroom in average condition) bearing in mind the golden rule 

as steve says bathrooms and kithcens is where the time goes to. you never can tell how quickly or slowly you will get on so price with those in mind 

we have been in the e.o.t for about five years and tend to work with about 3/4 different agents all the time they trust us and we trust them. things have got a bit more tricky since the tennants deposit shceme has come in to force. also be aware that some agents will ask for say 5% or 10% of your invoice  we have stayed  away from these agents as we work hard enough for every thing we get with out giving 5% or 10% away.

its a very competive market so my advice is do not over price do a quality job and on time and for price you quoted and the agent should stick with you. but it takes time and with time you get experience 

waffeled on a bit sorry so good luck.

[suffolkclean]

No problem - thanks for that. Are you able to give me an idea of your costs? It's so difficult to know what to charge I've been charging £12.50 per hour and want to get away from the hourly rate thing, but it's very difficult when you get a list for LA with cleaning listed not always the whole property. Can you help me?? Steve thought my original prices at the top of the page were too cheap