[Clive McDonald]

As one of the new wave of cleaners on  here a lot of my pricing is guess work. I've read other threads that mention where you are in the country as a factor.

I did a job for the second time that I had priced at £15 and it took me 50 minutes working flat out and I did some skimping.So I tried to work out why.

Firstly there were 25 windows many of them very large, also many were hard to reach even with a pole because of the layout. There was a balcony I had to access via a ladder with my ladder stay attached.

Secondly when pricing the customer said it was self cleaning glass and she was mostly interested in the frames and the sills being clean. Well, i found that while the glass didn't seem to have any general dust or dirt on it it did have a lot flies, insects,pollen etc stuck to it that even with much scrubbing didn't all come off.(If I wasn't so pushed for time i would have used my rough sided applicator).And then when you have to spend extra time on the upstairs sills because that is the reason you have been employed, and then go round all of the downstairs sills to wipe and ensure a good job the time soon adds up.

So i had a brainwave. In future I will price up using a one minute window and a two minute window system. By adding these up I will arrive at a total time, and give a price accordingly.

I think my £15 job should have £25, because the windows were not just unusually big, and hard to get to, but i was specificaly asked to give the frames the most attention. (8 weekly)

Apart from me being an idiot, any thoughts?

[Paul Coleman]

I just agree that you've underpriced it.  We've all done it.  I'm still capable of it after 16 years though it's less likely now.
You're not any more of an idiot than any other W/Cer as I'm sure that everyone has underpriced at least once.

[ronnie paton]

yep defo but i seem to overprice more

[supernova77]

I price my jobs up on how long I think it would take me to do. But I don't really have a system as such, I just take a look around and work it out.

Andy

[TVCS]

I under  priced one today.  But when the neighbour asked me to give them a quote I added abit on.  I know it isnt fair on the neighbour but when I put my prices up next year his will stay the same.
I normally work on a price per window so much for up and so much for down, but at times this works out way off the mark. 
Oh well I'll get it right one day.

[dave0123]

I just think how long the job would take! or add some many mins for each window counting up ie stardard pane say 2 - 3mins or so add it all up then ad abit more on see what it comes to.

It mite not work for u but after 3 years of doing it iv got it down 2 a fine art from standard houses to flats


Dave

[NWH]

If that job took you 50mins with the pole it was drastically under priced,in 50 mins with the pole you can clean loads of glass.It`s difficult to say without a picture.

[Clive McDonald]

And it was self cleaning glass
But the customer told me she wanted the emphasis on the frames and that was the reason for employing me. The bits of fly/pollen that was stuck to the glass didn't want to come off and it took me longer. I would have liked to have got away with a quick rinse.

There was a sort of lower canopy that I had to bridge with the pole making it similar to over cons windows, and you can imagine getting the ladders off and attaching the stand off, then when finished giving the sills a make sure polish.

I got caught out through inexperience. I think the customer wants something that is unattainable, an eight week clean at a modest price that concentrates on the frames because the glass doesn't need doing.( but they reserve the right to complain if there are any marks on the glass).

[JM123]

look at it this way - that one job where you feel you have underpriced will no doubt prevent you from making the same mistake too many times again, thus in the long run making you loads more money because you will naturally be pricing up higher than you have been!

see, there's always a shiny side on every coin

[groundhog]

I price per window, I get a piece of paper and divide it into colums, in the first colum I write prices from £1, £1.50, £2, £2.50, £3 ect higher if they have exceptionally large or awkward windows, I then walk around the property and count up the windows putting a mark in the next colum for each window depending on size. A small to medium window I price at £1, if its double that size I charge £2 ect, I then add up the prices from each colum to get a figure which I round up to the nearest £5. I hope that makes sense, as it works well for me.

[Pat Purcell]

.



 . Well, i found that while the glass didn't seem to have any general dust or dirt on it it did have a lot flies, insects,pollen etc stuck to it that even with much scrubbing didn't all come off.(If I wasn't so pushed for time i would have used my rough sided applicator).

Be careful what you use on self-cleaning glass, it can scratch real easy

[JohnL]

Rain Water Eco WFP Systems

so she wants the glass and the frames doing but with the emphasis on the frames?

so you are doing the whole window but emphasising the frames!  .  .  .  how do you do that?

she either wants them all doing or just the frames only - she cant have it both ways!

[Londoner]

When it comes down to it all pricing is guesswork. As you get more experinced you hopefully make better guesses,thats all.

With a WFP you are more inclined to look at a job on a time basis where as if you were trad the number of climbs etc is more important.

What I have started to do in the last couple of weeks is to time myself on each job. I do it to see if I can get a feel for where the time goes. I am getting some interesting results already. Some jobs take a lot longer than other jobs that I would have described as similar. Also I waste a lot of time faffing about and I am trying to cut that down. Doing the social bit, chatting etc with the customers burns a lot of time as well.

[macmac]

Yep, you've underpriced, we all do it sometimes, just try to make sure you learn from your mistakes.
Personally i dont use a "price per window" as i cant see how it can work consistantly as every window is different, acsess, top openers, frames etc.
I walk around the house & (with experience) estimate how long it will take, then take it from there with my hourly rate.
BUT, when i do this, i estimate how long the job will take at a steady rate, allowing for acsess problems, plant pots etc & NOT how long it would take at a fast, unsustainable rate of work. Also factored into this is set up & pack up times i.e. my price is based on the time i pull up to the time i drive off.
This is my basic pricing method as there are many factors to consider i.e. if i have to drive further to a job then that job will be charged an appropriate premium.
Just bear in mind that it's your business & rates do vary for different parts of the country, even regional, as too high prices can break you aswell as make you. Pay more attention to your own work/business/pricing etc than some of the prices bantered about on here. Not that they are wrong or lying, but for example- if your an established w/c who doesn't really need any more work, or is at least very comfortable, then he can afford to price high. If he doesn't get the job so what? & for the ones he does get it's a bonus. But when your needing work & trying to build a business it can be very different. By this i'm not sugesting you work for cheap, obviousley, but rather use your noggin & think only about your personal circumstances.
Hope this helps.

tony

[williamx]

Pricing a job has many factors (number of windows - access - how dirty - any stains needing removing - type of cleaning required) mostly with experence you can guess how long this will take and then price acordingly.

On a first clean I always charge a minimum of £25.00 (even if its just 1 window) or double the monthy charge which ever is the greater, on a 8 weekly cycle I would charge an extra 50%, anything cleaned after this time is classed as a 1st clean, and charged accordingly.

If a customer wants just to pay for her frames and not her glass cleaned, then I would explain that the water run offs from the frames will mark her windows and the only way you could hand clean these frames only, is if you used a Cherry Picker or Scaffolding Tower, which you can surply at a charge.

I would also explain that self cleaning glass does not keep the glass 100% clean, its coating which is applied to the glass act only as a repellent, but some dirt as well as flys, will stay on the glass.