[Klean07]

Had a couple of my customers tell me about this new guy that's offering any house for just a fiver! But as I pointed it out to them that he probably won't last long at those prices!! However if any of my customers decided to go with him then that's up to them but when he lets them down or doesn't do work properly they needn't bother calling me!

[nathankaye]

Any house with an outside tap 😂😂

[Phil J]

Can I have his details, he can do half my round!

[Smurf]

Had a couple of my customers tell me about this new guy that's offering any house for just a fiver! But as I pointed it out to them that he probably won't last long at those prices!! However if any of my customers decided to go with him then that's up to them but when he lets them down or doesn't do work properly they needn't bother calling me!

You sound a bit bitter bud. Just  what until they get all get a leaflet pushed through their letter box offering free clean from a well known franchise then by the sounds of it that will really p you off. lol

[duncan h]

Had some guys canvas for me. They went out of my area (another tale) he phoned me up asking how much for a 5 bed with a cony. I said about £25 without looking. £1 a window/ door and £5 for cony as a guide. She said this guys doing them at £5 WFP. I said walk away from that estate.
How can they be arsed grafting for £5. Yes it only takes 15 mins but after fuel, van etc, it shard work
My thought is charge £20 and do less work for more money

[paul alan]

There aint no way around it, ye always gets what ye pays for!

It'll be a fivers worth of work, most people judge what theyre getting by what theyre paying. Anyone stupid enough to go down that route will soon realise.

He may start at £5 per house, but 6 months down the line he'll be ped off to high heaven that he's not earning £x like us window cleaners with standards, his "standards" will fall even further as he tries to scramble around to make any decent money.

It just wont work, the market has already set the price, any drastic deviation will arise suspicion from anyone with half a brain cell.
You wouldnt by a £10k motor for £2k without wandering WTF!

Just sit back and watch him fail miserably.

[Miko67]

Where are you's based?
Most houses in glasgows estates are 5-10
That's wat most charge , still a good amout traditional around too.

[Smurf]

Where are you's based?
Most houses in glasgows estates are 5-10
That's wat most charge , still a good amout traditional around too.

That must be bloody hard going at those sort of prices. But  still there seems to be plenty cheap cleaners down south too. Made me laugh when a walk up asked for a price to clear her house guttering opposite to where I was working. I quoted £85 then she said "don't worry as the last chap only charged £20 last time. I will get him back to do it again."  My reply was best you do. lol

[trafficjamz]

Tell them to ask Mr. Fiver for him to produce his insurance certificate 

[Tom White]

They don't last; trust me.

We had a grafter around here a few years back.  We nick-named him 'Mr 50% guy' because he offered cleans for 50% cheaper than his normal (cheap) going rate for the first four months.

A member here asked me about him too since his granny lives in this area and he wanted to know if he was safe.

Surprisingly he made it through the first winter and I saw him around until the autumn and I've not seen him for a few years now.

I think he'd had a good crack at building up a business, he obviously was a grafter, he'd leafleted 'everywhere', but packed it in, in the end.

[Johnny B]

I have always found it best to concentrate on doing your best job for a fair price, and let everyone else get on with their own business.

John

[Smurf]

I have always found it best to concentrate on doing your best job for a fair price, and let everyone else get on with their own business.

John

What some potential custards may think is a fair price some may think it's expensive. Likewise others may think it's too cheap so you can't bloody win. lol

Now I just go in with what I think is a high price every time now and bugger me if some don't say that seems very reasonable still. Then you walk back to the van thinking oh bugger maybe I could have asked for more.

Pricing jobs so to turnover a good/healthy net profit has got to be the hardest part of any service based business surely?
After all any numpty can sell on price alone but those sorts tend to last not very long.

[Johnny B]

Yes, more often than not I get the response that my prices are very reasonable.

I don't actually think to myself that I have underpriced and wish I had charged more. I am happy with what I charge and earn, my customers say they are, and so long as I can deliver and maintain a good standard of work and reliable service, then everyone's a winner and it's harder for others to compete.

I had one customer tell me a while ago that another guy was knocking doors and charging a lot less than I was, but I knew I had nothing to worry about because at the prices he was charging he wouldn't survive, and since I started up here in Ireland I have never knowingly lost any customers to an undercutter.

 I very rarely bump into other window cleaners doing residentials as they all seem to be falling over themselves doing shops (although I have a weekly morning's worth of those too and am still picking up new ones occasionally).

I would just say that we can name our price and potential customers will all have their own views as to their reasonableness due to their own economic circumstances or the value they put on window cleaning.

John

[slap bash]

Tell them to ask Mr. Fiver for him to produce his insurance certificate 

|He does not need to produce an insurance certificate it`s not required by law. Its one of those things we buy that's not needed.

[CleanClear]

Reading through this very forum shows me that window cleaner employers pay between £8  to £10 PH, and expect £30 to £40 worth of work PH cleaned by the employee. Now i'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but come on... is anyone really suprised by this ?

[dazmond]

Yes, more often than not I get the response that my prices are very reasonable.

I don't actually think to myself that I have underpriced and wish I had charged more. I am happy with what I charge and earn, my customers say they are, and so long as I can deliver and maintain a good standard of work and reliable service, then everyone's a winner and it's harder for others to compete.

I had one customer tell me a while ago that another guy was knocking doors and charging a lot less than I was, but I knew I had nothing to worry about because at the prices he was charging he wouldn't survive, and since I started up here in Ireland I have never knowingly lost any customers to an undercutter.

 I very rarely bump into other window cleaners doing residentials as they all seem to be falling over themselves doing shops (although I have a weekly morning's worth of those too and am still picking up new ones occasionally).

I would just say that we can name our price and potential customers will all have their own views as to their reasonableness due to their own economic circumstances or the value they put on window cleaning.

John

brilliant post.i couldnt have put it better myself!

i agree absolutely.theres no need to be greedy.price WHAT YOU THINK IS A FAIR PRICE for both you and the customer.

[8weekly]

Reading through this very forum shows me that window cleaner employers pay between £8  to £10 PH, and expect £30 to £40 worth of work PH cleaned by the employee. Now i'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but come on... is anyone really suprised by this ?

Yes.

[nathankaye]

Reading through this very forum shows me that window cleaner employers pay between £8  to £10 PH, and expect £30 to £40 worth of work PH cleaned by the employee. Now i'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but come on... is anyone really suprised by this ?

Yes.

Look at any employed job out there and see how much the employees make and then see how much the  employer makes.
I clean windows for a chap who employs workers in a 3rd world climate to produce his products. He pays pitance and makes a fortune even with shipping costs.  This is the difference of being employed and self employed.
So mamy would argue that there prices are fair for their work and effort put in and not being greedy at all.  I consider myself being fair when i give my prices and the same price structure exists throughout my extensive round. Hence why some prices are being adjusted on recent work ive taken over (after 2yrs of cleaning them) as i cannot justify why im cleaning smaller houses for same price as the bigger ones.

But i think its smurfs post that said, what one person considers a fair price another may consider it too cheap or too high.

[Spruce]

Daughter lives in Norton on Teesside. It a new housing estate. Her house has a third bedroom in the attic.   Windie knocks on the door this weekend to offer a window cleaning service. He can't reach the top windows with his trad pole but can reach the 2 first floor windows.

Quote for fronts only as access to the back is through the locked garage.  2 first floor windows, 1 downstairs kitchen window (faces the road), 1 downstairs toilet window and glass on the front door; £2.

[NWH]

£2 lol yeah well you can't even begin to think he's doing it for a living can you,I know quiet a few trad workers in my area I talk to from time to time and I know roughly what they do money wise a day they also openly tell me not really knowing what work you can do WFP. The fact is there are still dozens and dozens of mainly traditional window cleaners working as self employed but are barley earning a living,there's very few WCs that view this job with potential they see it as an easy life that's part time with little hassle.My point is some of the prices mentioned would not sustain a  business, it would top up the wife's income and give a bit of cash in hand but if there's nothing left over after expenses i.e. household as well as business costs it's not a business it's living hand to mouth.