[dave f]

i was out a couple of wks ago doing a spot of canvasing  when asked for a quote i gave what thougt was a good price plus a quid its a decent size semi not a lot of windows for size . a week or so later i turned up ready to get stuck in after about 10 mins out of the blue a voice said howdo you manage to workk and make a living at those prices youve halved mine i nearly fell off my pointers it tururns out it was her regular wfp guy oops i had no idea that there was a regular w/c later on managed to speak to house holder she says she wasent happy with price or job now ifeel im the scape goat and upset a fellow w/c any advice the last thing iwont to do is get a bad name as iwork trad on my own so dont have many overheads as you will apreciate ican be that much cheeper or am i missing somthing like up my prices alot risking loosing alot of custys what dou you think?  

[GWCS]

dont worry there will always be people dearer or cheaper than you.

Your way of running your business if just that, you way.

If you like pricing thing up cheaper to other and are happy with that price so be it.

Another window cleaner may well be more expensive but then they either

a) charge more to cover costs as they have fully thought about taking into account your accounting costs, days off sick, days on holiday, down days due to vehicle in the garage

b) charge more for a better service

c) just charge more cos they can.


Just taking £10 an hour or whatever is not the whole picture you should be looking at. Because you not actually earning that £10

[trevor perry]

if your happy with your price and can make it pay at that then i wouldnt worry it is up to customer who cleans their windows and if the other window cleaner was doing a poor job and overpriced then he deserves to loose the work.
 

[Ian_Giles]

As Trevor says, if you are happy with the price you are charging then don't worry too much.

As a general rule, WFP is faster than trad, but has higher costs, so pricing should be about the same for most standard work.

Out of curiosity, how many windows in this semi and how much are you charging?

Without knowing your location or price, my own charge for a fairly standard semi (about 10 or 12 windows including doors) is around £10 to £12 and I rarely ever get a refusal at that price.

Ian

[Sean Dyer]

Yeah dont worry mate

they obviously were not a loyal custy whther they are like that you will find out, or he couldve been not a very nice person?

£10 sounds right-ish to me

[dave f]

up north i charged 9 quid 9 windows

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

hi mate
£10 is a great price went to a house yesterday new customer she was paing for a semi £22.50 i charged her £10 got a cuppa out of her now have 2 more so keep your prices desent you will king of the area

[tomy jackson]

thers a gardener with add in po window chages £7 per hour .?/

[john66]

Dave been reading what you have posted.Ithink you have been a littie spare with the truth i also work on the same area as you, along with 3 others window cleaners that are trad and water fed and there have found you to be under cutting them just to get the work.So it a load of ba$$ocks that you donot take others peoples work.Under cutting all it does is lower the price for all of us.like to kmow your thoughts on that

[matt cloud]

I had the same proplem december last year i was charging £10 the same as most of the other shiners in the area, some chap started up and started doing the same work for a £5 , lost a few buts thats life . 

[Martin ccs]

alot of window cleaners (including myself) i know charge £1 per window and £2 per bay window with conservatorys being £5 to £10. wfp or trad.

[dave f]

never under cut in my life gave a fair price on all my jobs if i know there is a w/c i wont do them how ever if they ask for a card  thats a nother story after all its down to the custy who cleans their windows dont you think

[john66]

What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.

[daz1977]

john  how many custys ahve you lost to dave f

[poleman]

Will the really John66 stand up 

[Murdie window cleaning]

What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.

When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.

If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.

[JSMC]

yeah agree no one owns an area. people who think like this are complete clowns.

I imagine asda saying oh sorry we wont opena store in htis town tesco are here. LOL

it's called business

[martinsadie]

yeah agree no one owns an area. people who think like this are complete clowns.

it must be a circus around here ,cause theres a lot of clowns 

[lcwalker]

What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.

When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.

If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.

I agree you have to be out for yourself, but i would have my price and wouldn't want to undercut any other w/c to get a job.

[Murdie window cleaning]

What a load of ba%%ocks when you were out knocking on door, others w/c customers told you there was a window cleaner in the street never mind the area but you still under cut.As for asking for a card you were posting them and going back to the house to collect them and finding out how much they charge.

When I'm out canvesing if a customer tells me there is a cleaner does that street I thank them for there time and move on to the next house. No cleaner owns an area or street and I picked up 4 jobs in one street yesterday even though there is another cleaner does some of the houses in that street.

If I knock and am told they allready have a window cleaner then that's different, I say that's fine and move on. I never ask how much the other cleaner charges.

I agree you have to be out for yourself, but i would have my price and wouldn't want to undercut any other w/c to get a job.

Not much chance of me undercuting any cleaners round my way. I was out canvasing today, I knocked on this one door, the guy answers and informs me he already has a cleaner. I'm just about to walk away when he stops me and says "out of intrest how much would you charge" I say that look I'm not out to pinch other cleaners work, but I have a look round the back and tell him £7 would be my price. He then tells me his current cleaner does them for £5. He said I'd strugle to get any at that price, so I hot 3 just along the road from him