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cozy

Re: Average price
« Reply #40 on: July 25, 2009, 04:08:02 pm »
That's the point MLSCONTACTCLEANER made earlier to a certain degree.So what would you do in his position ?

tompoole

  • Posts: 800
Re: Average price
« Reply #41 on: July 25, 2009, 04:10:54 pm »
£15.60

AuRavelling79

  • Posts: 26585
Re: Average price
« Reply #42 on: July 25, 2009, 04:50:40 pm »


A minimum £10 is a good general rule which I generally adhere to but it isn't an inflexible rule.

e.g.

Lots of compact small houses together. (few van moves)
Flats in OAP complexes.
Fronts only.
Fortnightly

But ... if it's a local authority semi size then nowadays that minimum is about right and even more so if the job requires a van move and hose reel in and out all for itself.

Mind you I have sections of compact old stuff at £7.50/£8.50 for which I would now charge £10-£12 and which still pays over £30 ph over a day.


Just thought I'd re-post this as it is the most sensible answer on this thread! ;D



Sensible post!


Agreeing to having a £10 minimum which you generally adhere to and then giving plenty of examples as to why you charge less than that minimum!

Acknowledging you have compact work that needs to be priced higher by 25-30%.


I read into this post you don’t know or understand the reasons for having a minimum price, and you knowingly continue to clean windows that are under priced.


Still think it’s the most sensible answer?



Pretty much - first the bits in red - I accept I can improve this and will raise it when I feel I will gain more than I lose. To get to a £10 minimum requires less than a 25/30% increase and the £11/12 jobs raise the overall average. I see little point in losing some even if I can gain others at £12 if it means more van moves/time spent. Now let me explain the other examples mentioned in my original post in relation to my round.

Small compact houses - this is one estate of a mixture of fronts only and full houses when they are in. They have three windows and a door at the front and the same at the back. For the full house I charge £10. But if due to access issues I cannot do the backs then I charge £6.50 for the front only so therefore am charging over £1 per window on a full house and over £1.50 per window when fronts only.

This estate earns me (depending on whether the backs are done every time) between £200 and £300 and can be done in an agreeable amount of time.

All day and the van moves no more than 400 yards. I believe if I tried to charge the £10 minimum then I would have custies ask to change frequency, phone beforehand or not bother. I feel no need to put that to the test.

Flats in OAP complexes.

I clean 16/20 out of 25 OAP sheltered flats (depending if they've died, gone to hospital etc ;D) with the van in one position. One person collects as much as possible before the day and the stragglers I collect on the day. They have seven windows each including a door and I believe that the circumstances of this situation allow me to charge £7 per flat. It is typically slightly under a mornings work with collections and banter included and I am happy with it.

If I charged £10 then I believe I would lose some or be asked to change the frequency or the caretaker would undercut me.

Fronts only

I've partially covered this above but I have a run of semi's on a main road which get quite mucky from the traffic. I clean the fronts only one month and the backs every other time. I charge £7.50 for the front and £12.50 for the whole house. I accept Ewan I could charge a tenner for the front but as there are three other window cleaners on this stretch charging £5, £7 and £10 for the fronts (I have the lions share (My 12 houses to their 3, 1 and 1 respectively) I feel I could lose some of my custies.

Fortnightly (edited)

Just understandable for those who have large areas like this. You could just do the glass quickly on two in three visits.

I'm not the most ruthless businessman, Ewan and I accept I could tweak here and there and probably will over time ... but thank you for your input I am always willing to learn.
It's a game of three halves!

Small but perfectley formed

  • Posts: 1747
Re: Average price
« Reply #43 on: July 25, 2009, 06:28:28 pm »
Are all the window cleaners with high minimum charges in the south of the country because here in the north you would not get £10 for a terraced fortnightly , as to frequency from experience fortnightly cleans take 20-25% less time than monthly so therefore reduced cleaning time = lower cost.
To all the window cleaners with £25 for 4 beds how many of these do you have on any pericular street ?.
Spit and polish

Moderator David@stives

  • Posts: 8829
Re: Average price
« Reply #44 on: July 25, 2009, 06:59:19 pm »
The point is with minimum, is if they wont pay a tenner you dont clean them , you find customers who fit your profile, not the other way around.

Moderator David@stives

  • Posts: 8829
Re: Average price
« Reply #45 on: July 25, 2009, 07:06:43 pm »
I am I think, well half a one anyway

groundhog

  • Posts: 1806
Re: Average price
« Reply #46 on: July 25, 2009, 08:03:20 pm »
The point is with minimum, is if they wont pay a tenner you dont clean them , you find customers who fit your profile, not the other way around.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!  :)

Gordon Saunders

  • Posts: 174
Re: Average price
« Reply #47 on: July 27, 2009, 10:12:33 pm »
 My average prices is about £20 but that figure is a bit weighted by some of my large houses that i do. I have  a couple of dozen large country houses some of which take me nearly a day to clean inside and out.

 On the subject of minimum price i dont have one ,all my pricing is done to achieve my required hourly turnover rate. i think the cheapest job on my round is £3.00 (2 windows 1 door) No way would customer pay £10 for that . Its next door to bigger job in an area of compact work otherwise i simply wouldnt do it ( or maybe for a tenner  :D)

seandyer2003

Re: Average price
« Reply #48 on: July 27, 2009, 10:45:29 pm »
some sensible people at last, i wish more would admit that actually they dont insist on a minimum for a small job which could be quite profitable even though its not tenner but is compact....

seandyer2003

Re: Average price
« Reply #49 on: July 27, 2009, 10:56:52 pm »

In Chepstow there are two proper jewellers - neither of which I clean! - my price for the one would be no more than a fiver and the other no more than £4.00 (bear in mind they are both in the middle of a great many other shops I do in town) and that might sound cheap but it would be darn good money for me, a pro-rata rate of over £100 an hour, and that is the crux, even though these prices might sound cheap, when, like myself, you are a window cleaner with an awful lot of shop fronts to do, my pro-rate is above £100 an hour.
the jeweller would be on no more than me!! For the jeweller to pay out £4.00 would equate to little more than a pittance to him it's true, but I would never base my prices on how posh I perceived his business to be...whether charity shop or posh shop my prices are the same.


the above there is a quote from ian giles

Proof that a good wage can be earned from compact work with "cheap" (less than tenner) prices!! PLease dont get me wrong i am not against a minimum charge but i am just not so naive as to think i can get away with always charging that for every transaction no matter how small, or thinking that doing so is always good business sense......

(hope you dont mind me using your wuote ian but it proves my point)

anyway im out of this thread now otherwise it will never end :)

cozy

Re: Average price
« Reply #50 on: July 27, 2009, 11:06:49 pm »

In Chepstow there are two proper jewellers - neither of which I clean! - my price for the one would be no more than a fiver and the other no more than £4.00 (bear in mind they are both in the middle of a great many other shops I do in town) and that might sound cheap but it would be darn good money for me, a pro-rata rate of over £100 an hour, and that is the crux, even though these prices might sound cheap, when, like myself, you are a window cleaner with an awful lot of shop fronts to do, my pro-rate is above £100 an hour.
the jeweller would be on no more than me!! For the jeweller to pay out £4.00 would equate to little more than a pittance to him it's true, but I would never base my prices on how posh I perceived his business to be...whether charity shop or posh shop my prices are the same.


the above there is a quote from ian giles

Proof that a good wage can be earned from compact work with "cheap" (less than tenner) prices!! PLease dont get me wrong i am not against a minimum charge but i am just not so naive as to think i can get away with always charging that for every transaction no matter how small, or thinking that doing so is always good business sense......

(hope you dont mind me using your wuote ian but it proves my point)

anyway im out of this thread now otherwise it will never end :)

Post of the week, Spot on

mlscontractcleaner

  • Posts: 1483
Re: Average price
« Reply #51 on: July 28, 2009, 11:36:25 am »
So am I correct in thinking that unless a potential customer has a house/shop big enough to warrant a £10 fee (minimum) you'd leave it alone ??? ??? ???

If this is the case it would seem that you're missing out on an awful lot of potentially good custom.

Personally I take the opinion that if someone wants me to clean their windows, providing they pay on time and don't mess me around I'm happy to do it. If it's a £10 house then fine; if it's a front with two windows and a door; obviously not a £10 customer, that's fine too.

If every business took your stance we'd have security guards on the doors of Asda making sure everyone was spending a set minimum amount before letting them in; and I don't fancy paying a tenner for the Sun and a packet of cheese and onion crisps ;)
Come and talk dirty to us!!!

martinsadie

Re: Average price
« Reply #52 on: July 28, 2009, 02:46:30 pm »
my minium price is £1  ;D ;D

seandyer2003

Re: Average price
« Reply #53 on: July 28, 2009, 06:28:44 pm »
"You may not have set a minimum price but it does exist the difference is only some set there own minimum price"

it exists in your head mate

More philosophical window cleaning garbage

is ewan the yoda of shining, i bet he has a light sabre shaped wfp lol

ftp

  • Posts: 4694
Re: Average price
« Reply #54 on: July 28, 2009, 06:40:06 pm »
Ewans Elite Cleaning company. "most jobs too small".  Commercial and domestic Call Ewan for that ripped off feeling.

Egg on glass? Call us now - prices from £35.00 a window (plus travelling time, petrol, lunch and a beer call out etc).

seandyer2003

Re: Average price
« Reply #55 on: July 28, 2009, 06:55:37 pm »
No - like - "your posts"


seandyer2003

Re: Average price
« Reply #56 on: July 28, 2009, 07:19:25 pm »
There is no question about expense ewan, read your own posts in the thread

i said your ideas on minimum price were in your head - where did epenses come from??

NO one mentioned them lol

And no i am not going to feed the troll anymore, get back under your bridge troll :)


Londoner

Re: Average price
« Reply #57 on: July 29, 2009, 08:57:42 am »
There is such a thing as minimum effort. By that I mean it takes the same time to drive to the job, park, set up, pack up, ring the doorbell, collect the money etc. This is irrespective of whether its the biggest job on your books or the smallest.

I have minimum prices but they are for my guidance in pricing up jobs. Since I make my own rules I can if I wish break them.

Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2997
Re: Average price
« Reply #58 on: July 29, 2009, 02:21:25 pm »

In Chepstow there are two proper jewellers - neither of which I clean! - my price for the one would be no more than a fiver and the other no more than £4.00 (bear in mind they are both in the middle of a great many other shops I do in town) and that might sound cheap but it would be darn good money for me, a pro-rata rate of over £100 an hour, and that is the crux, even though these prices might sound cheap, when, like myself, you are a window cleaner with an awful lot of shop fronts to do, my pro-rate is above £100 an hour.
the jeweller would be on no more than me!! For the jeweller to pay out £4.00 would equate to little more than a pittance to him it's true, but I would never base my prices on how posh I perceived his business to be...whether charity shop or posh shop my prices are the same.


the above there is a quote from ian giles



Proof that a good wage can be earned from compact work with "cheap" (less than tenner) prices!! PLease dont get me wrong i am not against a minimum charge but i am just not so naive as to think i can get away with always charging that for every transaction no matter how small, or thinking that doing so is always good business sense......

(hope you dont mind me using your wuote ian but it proves my point)

anyway im out of this thread now otherwise it will never end :)

I don't mind you using the quote, but you are taking it out of context.
In the  quote of mine that you used I was talking about shop fronts, a very different ball game where pricing is concerned....
Many are too cheap, and they remain that way because of very intense competition...almost impossible to get into because the prices are so cheap, but still very sought after, the problem being that you need a great many of them for them to then become worthwhile...

Residential is very different, and for those I most certainly DO have a minimum (if slightly flexible) price.

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES

AuRavelling79

  • Posts: 26585
Re: Average price
« Reply #59 on: July 29, 2009, 03:42:41 pm »
So is there an argument that minimum price has to be rated against daily rate?

I infer from this that:-

For example if I can reach a good daily rate off of compact work (shops or very small compact properties) then that negates the need for a minimum rate of £10 (in my case) - but I might put in a minimum rate of say £5/£7 for an area with these special circumstances.

If I were to put in a £10 minimum in these compact areas I might find gaps appearing, or even worse new w/c's appearing and me having to move my van more inbetween jobs.

Therefore I will take on board some of the advice herein this thread and:-

1) Raise all my prices where I think it advantageous to raise the average.
2) Apply a minimum for new business of a type of property e.g.


Absolute minimums:-

I choose not to do shops as I have no wish to be "tied" over short periods.

£6 for house fronts, aiming for £8
£10 local authority semi's, aiming for £12
£20 detached 30's style houses aiming for £25

It's a game of three halves!