[EasyClean]

I live in the Westcountry which is one of the poorest paid regions in the UK and have viewed the website prices being charged by other window cleaners. I am envious of some and at times feel like packing up in my area and moving somewhere more profitable. I know the grass is always greener on the other side, but why is it? I earn a good living from window cleaning but at times realise I could earn £200 a day more simply because of where I live!

[gaza]

easy : more important how many eers an hr do you earn £2.10p were I live Nottm
London price ? cost of living is different south of Watford so lets work it out in pints
per hr . when I was BRUSSEL picking you heard of good earnings being made but thhhey only told you about the best days wage not the days they earned half the ammount.My house cost £20,500 20years ago couldnt buy a parking spot in London
for that even then.

gaza [horses 4 coarses] if your not earning more than national min per hr its time to serious chage your job

[Pat Purcell]

I read somwhere that a self-employed w/c should be trying to earn per hour what the local garage charges fo labour.Dont know how true that is but its a theory

[Majestic]

I beleve there is a devide between what you can charge down south and what you can charge up north .
I have read posts about what people charge and  when pricing new work have tried to charge the same . But it does not allways work out that way.
Some say charge more and work less , but if you are happy with what you are quoting and are getting work from it why change it . But if you know what you want to earn per hour and get that you have it made

[EasyClean]

Let's talk in house prices. My house price since I bought it (12 years ago) has gone up three times its value owing to Londoners moving down here to retire. My council tax has gone up 300% and my water bill has gone up 250% but my window cleaning prices have gone up about 200%. Sorry, but it's Sunday and I'm just having a moan now that 'Squeeky' is converting over to WFP!

[rp cleaning services]

my sister in law lives in mill hill london and her window cleaner charges her £25 to clean her windows,she asked me what price i would charge if the same house was in lincolnshire were i live,the price would be £10 and you would still get some people moan at that price

[EasyClean]

When I quote a new customer who has moved from South East to here in the South West they remark how much more expensive it was in the home counties. Unfortunately I can't charge my old, local customers South East prices, I'd be laughing all the way to the bank if I could.

[Tosh]

About a year ago I put a 6.50 account up to 7.50.  The lady said she moved here (South East Wales) from Surrey and that I was charging 'London Prices'; honest!

I lost her and her parents house.

Tightwads!

[Russell Macdonald]

About a year ago I put a 6.50 account up to 7.50.  The lady said she moved here (South East Wales) from Surrey and that I was charging 'London Prices'; honest!

I lost her and her parents house.

Tightwads!

Shes lying, my Outlaw that flys on her broomstick lives in Surrey, she has a standard 3 bed semi. Cheapest she has been quoted £13 for the house, £20 with the con.

So now & again when we go up i have to take the van & do them, 60mile round trip  :

[zeusjazmin]

standard house up here is £3,before you all lecture me about being too cheap i would love to watch as you told people here you would charge £5
you would be chased away.
as for the reference to the £5 brigade,you make it sound as if the £5 brigade are inferior.
do people think that up here we should be charging a lot more but cut the price way down through choice?
i live in a good part of town where a 3 bed semi with large gardens front and rear average about£60.000,these are ex local authority but neverless good houses,so yes there is a big divide   

[Dean Aspects]

i agree with you zeusjazmin some of the wild prices people are quoting you just would get laughed at around here

the £5brigade as you all them can make a good living  still earning £30hr so its not that bad
an honest days pay for an honest days work

[Paul Coleman]

A house like you describe would be in the £10 - £15 area for me.  I live near Gatwick.  I do intend to expand into wealthier areas soon and such a house could well start falling into the £15+ bracket when I do.

[Simply Clean Windows]

I live in surrey near hampton court and the average price for a three bed semi is between £12 and £15,most of the work i get now is from £20 upwards to £150 for a couple of accounts.
Malcolm

[stephen d]

a few years ago when i went vat registered i put all my prices up to accomodate this (as well as my yearly increase-so roughly 20%)and lost only about 5 customers out of approx 400 at the time.my point is that if you do a good job ,are regular and reliable your regulars will not desert you because they can get it done for 50p or a £ 1.00 cheaper.Also you must put up your prices on a yearly basis or if you dont your income will become worse and worse each year.everything else goes up fuel,rates,insurance etc etc so to maintain a profitable business you have to do the same.while i agree you can generally get better prices in the south(but then we generally have bigger mortgages) there are rich and poor people in all parts of the country and it costs the same price for a new van or a new r&w pole or a new ladder which ever part of the country you work in.if you do a good professional  job as in any walk of life people will be prepared to pay for it.

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I'm South Essex and I've decided recently that I should put my prices up, not got round to it just yet maybe next month, but new customers I'm charging at least 50% more when they ask, say £10 for a leaded bungalow instead of £6 and nobody even batters an eyelid.  Why didn't I try that years ago.
I find you can even get a variation in the local are, I do what I consider to be a wealthier town, few council houses ect and charge say £6.50 for a semi, friends in the next town, council terrace heaven are charging £8.50 for a 2 up 2 down.  Much much smaller places but 2 quid extra.

[Tosh]

standard house up here is £3,before you all lecture me about being too cheap i would love to watch as you told people here you would charge £5
you would be chased away.
as for the reference to the £5 brigade,you make it sound as if the £5 brigade are inferior.
do people think that up here we should be charging a lot more but cut the price way down through choice?
i live in a good part of town where a 3 bed semi with large gardens front and rear average about£60.000,these are ex local authority but neverless good houses,so yes there is a big divide   

Zeus,

For a similar type of house in Chepstow, you're looking at 160K to 170K to purchase.  You can't buy anying in Chepstow; not even a small flat for 60K, so I can see why 3 quid is a decent price for a 3-bed-semi, where you live; maybe.

I charge about 8.50 for a similar sized property and find little resistance to my pricing and although I maybe cheaper than other window cleaners (Ian_Giles for example), we are capable of turning over a good hourly rate on these. 

But then again, food, newspapers, petrol, beer 'n' f*gs are priced similarly throughout the UK; so being a Scottish window cleaner puts you at a clear disadvantage.

[Trevor Knight]

without a doubt location has a massive influence on prices.

[simon knight]

without a doubt location has a massive influence on prices.

I agree but I don't think the difference should be so massive because a gallon of petrol costs pretty much the same in the sticks as it does in London...in some cases more due to lack of competition. I've got friends who live just outside of Bodmin who I visit 2-3 times a year and I gotta say that apart from beer being a few coppers cheaper in the pubs in general shop prices are much the same as London. So ok house prices down there are substantially lower (unless you want to buy in Rock, Padstow etc but the council tax is if anything on par with London.

All in all I can't see why a 3 bed semi should be £3.50 against £15 in London.
 

[AuRavelling79]

It's down to several factors really:-

Customer's earnings, disposable income, background and also the value the w/c places on him/herself.

I put £10/£15 on the house described - without bays and in a group I might go £8.50 - with bays and on it's own (in my round) then £13.50.

There are w/c's around me who will charge £7-£10 and others who would charge £10 - £15 for the same property.

I clean in the NW corner of NW Bristol + SW corner of Sth Glos. (if that makes sense?)

[zeusjazmin]

the area where i live used to be a thriving mining area,very little unemployment but thatcher changed all that,now there is high unemployment,if i am totally honest i would say there are some customers who cannot afford a window cleaner but i suspect they keep me on due to loyalty.
i would love to charge more but experience tells me it would be a disaster to make a significant increase at this time,when i increased my price from £2.50 to £3.00 there were a lot of grumbles.
we all need milk ,bread cigs and beer but we dont need our windows cleaned,to the not so rich it is a luxury,beleive it or not there are more than a few who cannot fing the £3.00 to pay me at times.
before you form a que to say you would not bother with the hastle of these small accounts there are bigger fish than you who would not have the hassle of your £10 accounts
another way of looking at it is maybe you trade in your x reg mondeo and buy a 55 plate one,there is always someone else who when they buy your old x reg they are just as pleased with it than you are with your 55 plate,but down the street there is the guy with the brand new mercedes etc etc.
having just read my post it dont make much sense to me i know what i am trying to say but cant find the right words
a little afrerthought though i seem to manage to live life ok nice car etc much wish that i was earning more i bet you there are people less fortunate than me who see me working and wish it was them!