[kevin James]

I've been a wc for 7 years, 3 years wfp. My experience, in line with the prevailing economics, means I can charge £6.50 for a 3 bed & still earn £30 /hour. I'm now advertising this in local press & am getting custies changing from guys charging £16.50. Sound sense or not?

Kevin. 

[Dean Aspects]

If you are happy with your hourly rate then it doesnt matter what others charge

But why not charge a minimum of £10 you earn more per hour and are still more than competitive with your competition

On the other side the window cleaners you are taking work from might not see it that way and take offence and react towards you

Its your business you run it the way it suits you

[mattywig]

You could charge £10, still be very competitive but earn 50 pound an hour instead of 30.  That would be sensible.

[JJWindowCleaners]

If your happy with your daily takings, why are you concerned about others?   Business is business.  If you have worked hard, built experience & are happy with £6.50, no one else's opinion should count.

Your in business to please yourself, not worry about local competition & how much you might upset them.    Your not running a charity or doing it out of the good of your heart.   In the "current economic climate", you have to look after yourself.   Selfish?  yes.   Should you care?  hell no!  

Would you rather keep charging high & plodding along, losing a few to other cheaper guys, risking losing it all, or do as you plan and get in there to secure your future.

[chrisyg]

charge whatever you are comfortable charging.

If you want to charge less, then charge less, if you want to charge more then charge more.

So long as you are making a living with your prices, that is sustainable to you and your family then do what you feel is right.

Price is not the be all and end all - there is also other things to think about like your service, your manner etc...

[Ian Lancaster]

As everyone says, charge what you feel comfortable with.  I have to say £6.50 sound low to me, you must be flogging yourself to death to keep up the £30/hour rate for a full day, five days a week.

You're only an 'undercutter' if you canvass and ask people what they're paying now, and then offer to do it for less.  There's nothing legally wrong with that, but if you do it, watch your back

[Andrew McCann]

No wonder you are getting the custom at your prices. Good on ya if you can make a good living at that. £16.50 for a 3 bed? They deserve to lose it. Like others I would say you could still get the new business at a higher rate of say £10 to £12.00 but what you charge is up to you.

Keep it up I say.

Andrew

[matt]

seriously, 10 quid for a 3 bed is about right

[seandyer2003]

As everyone says, charge what you feel comfortable with.  I have to say £6.50 sound low to me, you must be flogging yourself to death to keep up the £30/hour rate for a full day, five days a week.

You're only an 'undercutter' if you canvass and ask people what they're paying now, and then offer to do it for less.  There's nothing legally wrong with that, but if you do it, watch your back

This is true!! I can do 30 an hour on ladders, but not all day, only for about 6 hours, not 8 only sometimes in summer when im feeling fit I have done a 40 hour week once to just see if it was possible but i was hurting, stick to £10 a house and have an easy day

But you arent under cutting as such, you are being sensible with your business

[Davo]

I've been a wc for 7 years, 3 years wfp. My experience, in line with the prevailing economics, means I can charge £6.50 for a 3 bed & still earn £30 /hour. I'm now advertising this in local press & am getting custies changing from guys charging £16.50. Sound sense or not?

Kevin.

Doesnt sound like sense to me, I presume you dont have much work on.

Your advertising will just make people in your area more price conscious.

Mark

[kevin James]

Doesnt sound like sense to me, I presume you dont have much work on.

Your advertising will just make people in your area more price conscious.

Mark

Not really, we have 750 customers on a 6 week interval. I'd rather it was eight weeks so they really appreciate you coming, plus it allows for the drop outs which will be inevitable in the coming months.

Kevin.

[luther1]

£30 an hour and a seven hour day brings in good money doesn't it. Todays prices would be £10 for a 3 bedder but how many people do 5 an hour every hour? I have estates where i park my van and don't get back to it until 4 o'clock and they aren't £10. I'd rather have 5 £6.50 house in  a row than have to drive to each one.It sounds ok to me!

[Davo]

Doesnt sound like sense to me, I presume you dont have much work on.

Your advertising will just make people in your area more price conscious.

Mark

Not really, we have 750 customers on a 6 week interval. I'd rather it was eight weeks so they really appreciate you coming, plus it allows for the drop outs which will be inevitable in the coming months.

Kevin.

That makes even less sense to me. Why would you want to reduce the cleaning frequency and still charge the same price as a 6 week clean for an 8 week visit? I understand you want to give your customers value for money but I presume your existing customers still pay £6.50 a clean but now will only see you every 8 weeks not the original 6.

Mark

[luther1]

I do agree with that.Reduced their prices by a tenner but also reduced the frequency???

[ftp]

knowing the areas i would say you are very competetive at those prices and would think you have a good chance of mopping up the market. Problem is you'll then get so much work i would think you would need to employ - then your margins may be too small. I would have thought those prices would be extremely low as you get to the largest city in the area.
Getting quite worried. 
Have you always charged so low for three beds? If not then some existing work would have to be reduced to fall in line.

[trevor perry]

if all his customers average out at £6.50 and is doing 750 in six weeks then that is 125 houses a week with a turnover of £750 a week, these are good earnings even after taking out running costs so i say well done your competitive not a undercutter.

[ftp]

That's 25 a day - you'd need it nice and compact to keep it up every day. Is that for one person?

[trevor perry]

25 a day is easily achievable i used to do more than that when i used ladders with wfp i bet he can do that many in a 6 hour day.

[Tosh]

I reckon Kevin James (the original poster) is going to make a rod for his own back and seriously regret taking on loads of cheap work.

He must be desperate?

[trevor perry]

I reckon Kevin James (the original poster) is going to make a rod for his own back and seriously regret taking on loads of cheap work.

He must be desperate?

  if the figures i worked out are correct then he is making a good living out of it and with the economic climate as it is then i feel he has more chance of retaining his customers so not having to waste time finding replacement work.
  kevin states others in his area charging £16.50 for a semi if times get hard then i can see getting rid of window cleaner would be something most people would do but at £6.50 every six weeks it only works out at just over a pound a week so unless things are really bad they will keep you on.