[stevegunn]

What are most people charging per m2 for domestic work

[Mark@Eco-Powerclean]

I like to do inspections before I do the job. This not only allows me to do burn/dye bleed tests, but also to look at who I'm working for, what sort of area the house is in, and how good a quality the carpets are. I don't have a 'fixed price' per sq m as such, but vary it slightly depending on those factors.

I've already found out that you can lose jobs by pricing below a customer's expectation of cost. One prospective client, living in a five bedroomed detached house with swimming pool, games room, axminster everywhere and everything else that goes with a £1m+ property, actually told me that she got someone else in to do a job because she thought I was way under what she perceived as the going rate. As such, I was regarded as 'cowboy' even though she'd seen certificates, full pictorial schedules of the work to be done and just about everyting else. 

I've learnt my lesson now, and if I ever get through the front door of a £1m+ property again, it's a minimum of £5 per sq m. 

[Ken Wainwright]

Steve

Don't be so bl00dy nosey

Safe, happy and profitable cleaning
Ken

[neil 47]

I,ll tell you steve,

They all charge what ever they think they can get lol

      Neil

[Chris Bailey]

£2.5 - £5 depending on work involved, my perception on their disposable income (i.e. how big is the house!)

typically £3 - £3.40m2

[Gavin Reardon]

Hi Mate

Between £4.00 and £4.50

I would rather get one job at that that price than get two  jobs at
£2.00 - £2.50 which is the price I think a lot charge

Half the work twice the money  

Regards Gavin

[Mark@Eco-Powerclean]

Between £4.00 and £4.50

Right that's it! I'm telling the missus to start packing and we're on our way to South Wales.

Over here, if I typically quote at £3+ I'll be claiming income support in about three months.

[Gavin Reardon]

Hi Mark

Thats why you have to quote £4.00 - £4.50 to stop  myself having to claim income support!

Im lucky I live in a city that is booming at the moment and lots of new home owners who have cream carpets and like to keep them clean

Plus I aim my work at the customers who have carpet at a cost of over £25.00 + per m2 so to pay me £4.00 a m2 is cheap!

Have you ever tried to Quote more?

Regards Gavin

[Mike Halliday]

I love these topics on how much we all charge, for every 1 person charging 5pounds a m2 there's 10 people charging 1.5pounds but won't own up to it because they feel inferior

I'm going to charge to charge 20pound a m2 then I'll only have to do 2 jobs a week

at the moment I charge about 2.62m2 (I think I've never actually worked it out)

steve you asked the question, so why not tell us how much you charge.

Mike


......................................

Ps Sorry Steve just been over to another forum and saw your answer there, you charge about the same as me

[Ian Rochester]

Mike, I'm with you on this, some unbelievable prices being stated here, £4.50 - £5.00/m!!

WOW!!

I've just worked it out that to get Gavin in to clean my livng room carpet would cost me £140 and probably close to £700 for the full house!! 

Would I pay that, would the average customer pay that? unlikely, not in this area anyway.  But if you are getting those prices and are making a good living and the business is growing, then good luck, but I would say you are leaving yourself wide open to be undercut by a lot of very good cleaners who would still make a very good profit at prices a lot less than that.

There is another thread on another forum about how quite March has been for some, I can quite believe it if they are pricing this high, but its not been quiet for us we have been busy all year and picking up new and repeat business all the time.

[Big_Fish]

LIONHEART

So how much do you charge then?

We charge up to £6 + VAT.
We definitely didn't have a slow March (or jan/ feb).
You are right though, the "average" punter wouldn't pay £700 for a house clean. The idea is to market to those that are not "the average"!!

Nicky

[Gavin Reardon]

HI Lionheart

Well if you have a 35 m2 Living room then it would cost you that!

But you must charge more than me to have a living room that size 

How many customers have a 35 m2 living room? in Cardiff were Land is at a high price houses are getting smaller and smaller

I find most customers Living rooms are about 20 m2 - 25 m2 which works out at £80 - £100 and for the standard that we work at, this a good for us and the customer.

If a customer's carpet is worth say £650.00 and that is just for the carpet then why wouldnt they pay £100.00 to getting looking like new. It saves having to buy new one. Paying to have it fitting, the stress of going out and choosing one.It saves  having to empty the room of all there things etc etc

but I have forgot to tell you that my price always includes vat, carpet protector and a small bottle of stain remover. but this costs me pennys but allows me to charge my price. 

Just you guys wait until you speak to Martin R to day at MK he will tell you that you must charge these prices to make very good money 

Regards Gavin
 

[rob middleton]

do the people who charge upto £5/m advertise and get business in a different way to those who are cheaper. or do u still do leaflets etc?

[Mike Halliday]

It would be better for all the people who have quoted a M2 price also put a amount per hour they earn so we can compare like for like, I once talked to a carpet cleaner who charged 190pound to clean a suite ( which is 70pounds more than me) but he took 4.5 hours to do it so his hourly rate was actually less than me.

The same goes for carpet cleaning, its Ok to charge 5pounds m2, but if you are taking 1.5 hours to clean & protect an average living room then you may be earning about the same as a 2.50/m2 cleaner who is cleaning for mr Average.

and don't forget its alot easier to find average customers because there's a lot more of them about

Mike

[shaun_pearson]

Good point mike.
I price on how long a job will take. I usually try and get £30-£40 per hour. Sometimes it takes longer than expected so I earn less per hour sometimes it takes less time so more per hour.

[Matt Read]

Well said Mike...i think its easy to get wrong impressions on here..the onsite hourly rate is prob the most important stat . Most cc on other threads seem to average £35 to £45 per hour...that seems about right to me.
There will always be regional variations,and a lot of the newer guys to cleaning on here must think wow when they see some of the figures quoted.

I can't believe the guys charging £4 sq m and up started out that way ...imo you need to learn the trade on the way up ,a training course and  sky high rates won't get your business off the ground. But once you have a customer base, confidence ,knowledge,been ripped off a few times by advertising reps etc etc you can gradually increase your prices ,offer a better service, target diff customers and pick and choose your customers a bit more. Every walk of life has people who always earn more ,do a better job,seen every problem and got round it... not all of them are telling the truth ..so to reassure the newer chaps to the trade you can get up to the higher rate eventually....but only to a certain market place....mrs jones on the council estate isn't going to pay £5 per sq mtr ...but you will learn a hell of a lot cleaning these types of houses,,,and they always make good tea !

[Karl Wildey]

Well down Astroclean I could not have put it better myself

[jcbdfa]

these threads always seem to bring out the worst. quoting for work is probably the make or break skill for any business. charging per square m is a very simplistic way of charging. an hourly rate is probably a more useful tool as far as business planning goes. £5 is a cracking rate although it is usual to apply protector at a separate rate. i get lots of work from carpet retailers and typically charge £2.5 m2+vat(guaranteed) for only this service. cheaper with no guarantee. talking to a texatherm salesman he reckons 98 p is average!!!

[Len Gribble]

Jcbdfa

.98p is that domestic or commercial

Len

[Ian Rochester]

Gavin,

Yes our livng room is near enough 35 sq m, but I doubt I charge as much as you to afford it, the North / South divide is apparent in lots of differing aspects, house prices being one and cleaning services obviously being another.

I would probably charge about £55- £60 to clean my own living room carpet and I would be happy to get that price for the job.  When I do quote it is generally on how long I expect it to take rather than the actual measurements.

Within this region I am not considered cheap, like you I promote a superior service to others and rely on recommendations and reputation for getting a lot of work, often without having to quote for the job prior. I like to think people know they will get a professional job and will be willing to pay a fair price for it. 

There is a cc in this area, no names, who advertises £22 for any carpet, before Christmas he was doing it for £18!!!.  He appears to be just as busy as me and I have not heard any negative comments about his standard of work.

There are without doubt areas in the country where price is no object, people just want it done, I would love to be in such an area.  But there are probably as many areas, if not more where you need to be price competitive to get the work, or you sink very quickly.