[Alex Allen]

It seems to me there have as this thread progressed been some more realistic responses. This isn't about 'oldies', this is about either 'dolies' or marketing skills, strategy and confidence. There are custards down here in the south who will only have cheap-as-chips window cleaners, so dont work for them.

Get out there and market yourself. Its your responsibility, so what if someone wants to do it for pocket-money, that isnt limited to the north, theres a fireman down here does it for thalf the price I do. I get a call, the custard says matey hasnt been round in ages I say I charge twice what he does. Theyre generally happy to pay the extra because half-a-job-bob aint worth nought.

This is simply a numbers game, get out there and eventually youll build a round of worthy custards, the others can sink with their bodgit-n-scarper ladder monkey.


How do you know they are getting all these benefits? Have you been told either by them or the dole office? Or is this something you imagine they are doing because you cant get by on what they are?

and thats what its all about!

don't undersell yourself

undersell is what some window cleaners do all the time
beside the handful of tight customers, its the window cleaners fault he gave then the price in the first place

look at all the post asking about how much for this job
how do you price commercials
charge more for bigger houses (thats my favorite  )

my rate is the same for all buildings, they just take different amounts of time to clean

I dont just blame the oldies, you blame those who carnt price

[DavidWright76]

£6 for a bungalow? For the front, back & sides, i'd charge from 10 to £15 here in London. Couldn't i get that much in Kent?

[barry mallett]

how can anyone say 6 quid or 10 quid for a bungi  . without seeing em . i do a row of oap bungis 4 windows . 2 front 2 back . anyone wanna geuss how much .  your minimum charge wont work on them . the way you should look at it is . is it worth stopping for 10 cheap bungis next to each other . if i had a minimum charge of a tenner a job i would earn £200 an hour on this work . ialso trad these but dont need a pointer

[DaveG]

Barry, a lot of guys here earn that every hour dont you know

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

you are jokin aint ya mate £6 for a bung wat planet are you on £10 is standard price but all depends on how many windows there are i think newbies are killing the business get a grip man

[barry mallett]

who me

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

pop up here and try and get £10 for a 'standard' bungalow and you would be out of business.
I do sell my services very well thankyou.
Read my original post.
I am happy charging £6.00 as thats MY going rate for one.
I am not happy with people charging £2.50
I have nothing against them I was just getting my point across that 'Its not always Newbies that can kill prices in an area'

As regarding the 'dolies' yes I know of 2 in my area who claim 'everything going' and clean windows for £2.50 an hour!!!!!! Working for someone else, abit of beer money as they put it.

Whether it be a newbie or an oldie cheap prices do not do the trade any good at all.
I understand that people have different amounts per day that they are happy with but why charge so low and become a very very busy fool.....?
With the right price they could work half a day for the same money...!

[Steve CM]

pop up here and try and get £10 for a 'standard' bungalow and you would be out of business.
I do sell my services very well thankyou.
Read my original post.
I am happy charging £6.00 as thats MY going rate for one.
I am not happy with people charging £2.50
I have nothing against them I was just getting my point across that 'Its not always Newbies that can kill prices in an area'

As regarding the 'dolies' yes I know of 2 in my area who claim 'everything going' and clean windows for £2.50 an hour!!!!!! Working for someone else, abit of beer money as they put it.

Whether it be a newbie or an oldie cheap prices do not do the trade any good at all.
I understand that people have different amounts per day that they are happy with but why charge so low and become a very very busy fool.....?
With the right price they could work half a day for the same money...!

your right about cheap prices thats why you need to charge a tenner minimum. 6 quid is to cheap

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

too cheap for down south just right up here IMO 

[Jackal]

how can anyone say 6 quid or 10 quid for a bungi  . without seeing em . i do a row of oap bungis 4 windows . 2 front 2 back . anyone wanna geuss how much.  your minimum charge wont work on them . the way you should look at it is . is it worth stopping for 10 cheap bungis next to each other . if i had a minimum charge of a tenner a job i would earn £200 an hour on this work . ialso trad these but dont need a pointer

how much are your bungs then barry

[suds window service]

Would be interesting to hear what Suds has to say on the subject, he's from Middlesborugh, im sure his prices aint to diffirent from down south

Stockton on tees mate. we have prices right across the spectrum we do a day of bungalows all cheap really ranging from £5 to £8 point is they all go into making a day rate that we need to operate.
  in time and a lot of moulding these prices will rise, we do however keep an average price of £10 for all the work we have on the books.
    bottom line is to target the areas where you can get £10 per bungalow they are out there even in the north. and to prove it i,ll get one this week....no to prove its not a fluke i.ll get two.
                                               regards David (its not that grim up north) suds.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

davy lad!   
got a few £10 bungalows myself (even a 12.50) just couldnt believe a 20yr old round had £2.50 bungalows.
Even the dolies charge more
 

[Steve CM]

So we go from it can't be achieved. To someone saying it can to then the op saying he has a few of them.

You just couldn't write it could ya. 

[richard jagger]

I don’t think prices should be bases on the 1 £ a window only. Which I also use as a guide but I have a turn up charge to pay for petrol and the costs just to arrive at a custies home. This arrival cost is I charge for difficult to reach windows. I also believe if you have houses in a compact street that prices should discounted as you needed to canvas each one of them. This sort of compact round is called profit..Do you think Tesco would charge less for beer because the sold a lot on one day. 

[Matthew Bateman]

I find that the £1.00 a window charge is pretty generous. It certainly covers all expenses and leaves a very generous sum after that.

[AC Window Cleaning]

There is some proper chancers though,(customers) i was canvassing a bungalow road last week and gave a bloke a price of £8,pretty large 3 bed jobbie and the windows were quite high in places so A frame would be needed on most of em."well my last WC did the frames aswell for a £5?!" Wheres he now then mate? i asked,"err well he didnt come back"
I wonder why!
Didnt get it as he wouldnt budge,i wouldnt get out the van for a penny less than £7 down there.

[suds window service]

So we go from it can't be achieved. To someone saying it can to then the op saying he has a few of them.

You just couldn't write it could ya. 

yes of course it can be achieved the longer kent has his business the more he will refine it just like you probably have.
its a long learning curve when you reach the end of it you can enlighten us all.

[Spruce]

Hi Suds,

there are some real rundown Council Estates in Stockton, especially heading toward Norton.

Judging by the state of the place, I don't believe many would even bother with window cleaning.

So the only way one could get better pricing is to look to cleaning in better, more up market areas.

We have a fair bit of work in Skelton, and the problem we face is the perception among the public is that a 3 bed semi is £6 to £6.50 to clean. Cleaning in Guisborough is better priced, but the place is teaming with window cleaners.

Hourly rate is not always what you charge per house. I have been told of a window cleaner who only does the fronts of a couple of streets of town houses. 1 upstairs window, 1 downstairs window and door for £2.00. But he does most of the houses, ie about 40 and finishes them in a couple of hours. That's a magic hourly rate for up here. Not worth canvassing that area - one would pick up a couple but not worth the effort.

[dazmond]

thing is with some of you guys(mentioning no names!)that say "nothing under a tenner" yet moan about being on the "bones of ya arse financially" at times!!

ive got lots and lots of very compact work under a tenner and i make a half decent living and im never skint!!

also i have a very good cashflow most of the time.


if some guy wants to charge cheaper than you and keep his round very compact with less chance of other window cleaners having a slice then it makes good business sense IMO.

obviously if their doleys/scroungers that  are charging crazily low prices they should be reported.



regards


dazmond

[barry mallett]

jackal , they are £3 each . takes me half an hour. next to each other , dont need the pointer . just pull up get bucket out . they pay for each other .  if i could do these bungis all day every day . i would be on about £500 a day ,  thats blown the £10 minimum charge out of the window