[Paul Coleman]

At the end of the day,it is a business we are running.I can fully understand the £5 price up north,that is not the issue.the issue is that i priced a job up at £12,which included a very small conservatory,and in order for me to do a descent job,that was a reasonable price.People that say a fiver are fools to themself.I worked on site as a bricklayer before this,earning about £120 a day.I did not intend to have my own business and earn less than when i was working for someone else.Its no wonder window cleaners are looked at like scum,half of them bring it on themselves.By the way,this is not intended as a dig to the plenty of descent people on this forum,some of whom seem great fellas.

I do have a couple of £5 jobs left over from the bad old days but we are talking about bungalows that take no more than 10 minutes so I don't mind too much.

[Londoner]

I do some OAP flats for £5 but I do them all togeather.

Now if you want to talk prices listen to this. My mate lives in Harwoods Road Watford. Its right opposite Watford Football ground so some of you may have visited the area in the past. They are 3bed victorian semis and terraces. What I call "square windows" if you know what I mean.

He found out his next door neighbour was paying £25 (yes thats right £25 )  to have her windows cleaned.

He said you should talk to my mate, he does window but she said no she was happy with the WC she had got.

Now I think thats unbelievable but I promise you its true.

On of my newish customers was quoted £30 by another cleaner for a bigish semi but she declined it.  ( I charge her £12 )

The whole thing about prices seem to me its how much front you have got. If you have confidence, and you don't need the work, you stand to get more.

On the other hand my friend John has been paying £4 to the same old bloke for twenty years.

[poleman]

We have a min price of 15 pounds maybe I am a "Southern Rip Off Merchant" :

Andy

[matt]

whats wrong with 5 quid jobs




as i can afford to have the week off  shock horror   

4th week off this year (1 in center parc, 2 weeks down the coast and this week enjoying a few days off sun and going to see the red hot chillie peppers in reading)

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[James Giles]

We have a min price of £25 and have work coming out our ears. We are going to have a 3rd van on the go in next month or so.

[poleman]

Did not know it was you Tam, I would agree with you, what with the low prices in scotland

Andy 

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[busydaffodil]

£5 to clean a house of windows.  Bargain!  Though the local window cleaner here charges £4.50.  I chose a WFP guy who charges £10.   I'm more than happy to pay that too.

Each to their own, I say.    Live and let live.    Charge what you like & whatever makes you happy & earns you a decent living.   

[matt]

Each to their own, I say.    Live and let live.    Charge what you like & whatever makes you happy & earns you a decent living.   

well said

[rosskesava]

We charge good prices for our work. When we started we charged £5 for a semi but things progress. Now the same job would be £12 - £15.

Sometimes we give a quote and the person recoils in shock and horror but there always people prepared to pay and it's case of finding them.

I know I'm lucky to live in a reasonably affluent area and as The Shiner says, the Pink Pound around here (in the Brighton area) is worth a bomb but I cannot believe that there are not well of people up North or anywhere else come to that.

What is odd that I have a window cleaner do my windows. He charges me £4 which is ridiculous. I've offered him more but he won't take it as he charges everyone else around here the same and 'that is it'.

What is odder is that we also do a number of houses around here. The same type and size of houses that he does. We use them as time fillers if we finish early and we charge £12 without a conservatory and £16 with.

I spoke to him about his prices and I think that he is scared to ask for more and I also think that because of his posture, he probably would loose jobs if he put his prices up.

The point I'm making about prices etc is that sometimes there is more to getting good priced jobs that simply asking a decent price. I don't know what it is though.

Cheers

[ronaldo]

Tell the customer what you are willing to clean their windows for and as long as your happy with the price then thats all that matters, if the customer thinks your to expensive then let them ring somebody else.
At the end of the day the cheapest is always the cheapest but not nessacarily the best.
Round here most of us wc,s have a set price as we all no each other near enough and this helps keep the price up and we,re always smiling/ 

[matt]

Tell the customer what you are willing to clean their windows for and as long as your happy with the price then thats all that matters, if the customer thinks your to expensive then let them ring somebody else.
At the end of the day the cheapest is always the cheapest but not nessacarily the best.
Round here most of us wc,s have a set price as we all no each other near enough and this helps keep the price up and we,re always smiling/ 

same here

on the new estates most know the going price, and that keeps them ok, if you get asked you normally get the job, if they ask some1 else its allways about the same price

[clevs]

Customers will pay if they get there moneys worth, Ive got alot of work just by saying "of course I wipe the cill's. would be stupid not too"  Cant belive how many so called shiners out there dont wipe the cill's or a quick wipe around the frames, it ant hard come on.....

[Paul Coleman]

I have been pushing the boundaries a bit on prices recently.  I dislike being that way but my financial situation from past mistakes isn't leaving me much choice.  I can live with getting 1 in 3 of the jobs I quote for.  My view of work is more like Matt's inasmuch that it is part of my life but not my life.  In some respects, I believe that I am getting the best of both worlds because of my situation.  I am getting new work now at some pretty good prices but I also have a set of priorities that I am happy with.
No-one ever laid on their deathbed wishing they had done more overtime.

[matt]

I have been pushing the boundaries a bit on prices recently.  I dislike being that way but my financial situation from past mistakes isn't leaving me much choice.  I can live with getting 1 in 3 of the jobs I quote for.  My view of work is more like Matt's inasmuch that it is part of my life but not my life.  In some respects, I believe that I am getting the best of both worlds because of my situation.  I am getting new work now at some pretty good prices but I also have a set of priorities that I am happy with.
No-one ever laid on their deathbed wishing they had done more overtime.

when you biz gets to a point when you can take or leave new work, then you can afford to "push them a little" , im lucky i can do that, and yes sure new houses i pick up are a few quid more than the same of my old work

[beefy]

the estate i just moved from had a load of 2&3 bed houses A few flats & afew bungalows all housing association types i charged all the houses £3 & 2.50 for flats & bungalows it took me 2  6hr days to do £180 id of lost them all if id gone to a fiver, i used to labour for 6.50hr who needs a fiver a house???

[Paul Coleman]

the estate i just moved from had a load of 2&3 bed houses A few flats & afew bungalows all housing association types i charged all the houses £3 & 2.50 for flats & bungalows it took me 2  6hr days to do £180 id of lost them all if id gone to a fiver, i used to labour for 6.50hr who needs a fiver a house???

Yes it definitely depends where you live (I see you are in the Lake District).  I was visiting a friend who lived near the S. Yorkshire/Notts border some years ago.  While I was there the window cleaners called.  They charged £3 for a job that I would have priced at £6 in the south.  Part of that £3 was going to the local round landlord (maybe we should call them roundlords    ) as they were renting the round.

I believe there are two main reasons for this.  Firstly, the local economies are less inflated in the North due to lower housing costs etc.  Secondly, due to the traditionally higher unemployment in the North, W/Cing has more often been done by people who are signing on and can afford to work cheaper.
Don't jump down my throat and accuse me of stereotyping northern window cleaners of all being dole cheats.  That's not what I've just said.

[windolene]

Hi,

Rosskesava,

In your posting you said.........

I spoke to him about his prices and I think that he is scared to ask for more and I also think that because of his posture, he probably would loose jobs if he put his prices up.

I take it that you refer to his general appearance, track suit bottom's, string t-shirt & the like.

Be smart for smart prices say I who is just off to work in my pressed blue shirt.

Kevin WINDOLENE

[Paul Coleman]

Hi,

Rosskesava,

In your posting you said.........

I spoke to him about his prices and I think that he is scared to ask for more and I also think that because of his posture, he probably would loose jobs if he put his prices up.

I take it that you refer to his general appearance, track suit bottom's, string t-shirt & the like.

Be smart for smart prices say I who is just off to work in my pressed blue shirt.

Kevin WINDOLENE

You make a good point about posture.  Making decent eye contact and sounding confident can get you a job at a certain price sometimes (though not others).  I used to stare down at my shoes almost with a begging tone while pricing a job.  No wonder I ended up with lots of lowish paid work and had customers taking liberties with me.  When I realised where I was going wrong, I had to put on a confident act for quite a while.  These days, it's not usually an act (except on an occasional bad day).  I reckon I used to go around with a sign on my head that read "Please abuse me".

[Trevor Knight]

Just want to say that I am also only referring to my local area where our average job price is around £10 + for a 3 bed semi.

Apologies to anyone if offended.

Trev

[gaza]

around here in NNottm you pay£5/6 to have your car cleaned to ride down the road annd 10mins its filthy,and it only takes a few minutes to clean,and most return before a month is out,so Ive decided to put ny prices up cus my windows last a month or more

 gaza