[landy2]

e bay is full of them
here is full of them
the roads are full of them


why dont they all go and do something else its just being flooded with wana be cleaners who will low the prices and when there proper jobs get going again will all go back and leave this industry in a mess

[paul rulton]

it happeneds loads round here, time after time. then the custys say.....
my last window cleaner only charged.....  p's me rite off

[geefree]

i agree with the "lower the prices".... its already started... lady said leaflet through door half my price.

Listen all you newbies on here...... go out and get your work, but do your research and keep your prices up..... not only will you be a busy fool with a crap round,

You will destroy the industry and we will all be on £3 per house.... JUST LIKE YOU !!

[landy2]

i know pepole will say theres plenty to go around yes there is but not for the amount of new starters i have been doing this job for 17 years and still learning but when you talk to these new ones they want to run before they can walk

[gerard mcmanus]

when customers say that to me, I say thats why there not here now because they have not priced it properly and have chuck it, or went out of business.

[daz1977]

newbies with there £3 houses are all busy, but aint earning any thing,  then they all seem to think that there is big money in commercial as well, because after about 3 months they all seem to want to do commercial only, is this becasue they are working all week for £200

[landy2]

yes but the damage is done and they think you are ripping them of

[geefree]

yep... a guy once bought a van off me.... he said oh you are a window cleaner too....

he said well im just starting up and plan to do commercial only,,, make big money he said....

i laughed and wished him luck.....

he jacked it in after 3 months.!

[cleewindows]

i presume someone has taken all your cusys away then?

yes but the damage is done and they think you are ripping them of

[daz1977]

yep... a guy once bought a van off me.... he said oh you are a window cleaner too....

he said well im just starting up and plan to do commercial only,,, make big money he said....

i laughed and wished him luck.....

he jacked it in after 3 months.!

thats because all they think they have to do is knock a few doors and tell the custy that they need the windows done every week, so only need 80 custys

[cockney rebel]

when customers say that to me, I say thats why there not here now because they have not priced it properly and have chuck it, or went out of business.

Thats wot i say. Quoted a big house with conservatory other day. £20. "The other cleaner only charged £10 but he hasn't been back". I wonder why. : Also i clean a bungalow,£6. Leaflet popped through door saying £4 fixed to 2012. WHATEVER NEXT  

[landy2]

no nobody took any of mine but if you open your eyes and read my post i said you have to look on e bay  on the streets nothing but pepole looking to clean windows

[gerard mcmanus]

One honest piece of advice I would give to all newbies reading this  is if you are happy with what you earn and your customers are happy to pay that price, then its a fair price regardless of anyone else.

However building rounds up take allot of time and effort and good marketing skills, and by time I mean years, not weeks, so if you want to jack everything in and go down that road, prepare for a long hall. But its a long hall that many have done before and got far enough down the road to say they have done ok, but many do give up as well.

So don't go into it thinking anything is easy because that can be the furthest from the truth, but again very much worth any hardship if you put the effort in.

 

[geefree]

i presume someone has taken all your cusys away then?

yes but the damage is done and they think you are ripping them of

[/q]uote

He means generally speaking [/q]uote

[gerard mcmanus]

If you want to change the fact that newbies lowballing bring down the accepted price of the market then give then advice and make yourself approachable, rather than complaining about it. Its a fact of life that you are going to have competitors, not matter what there experience is.

[geefree]

Thata what this topic is about..... so the newbies read it i presume.

Otherwise failing that, it would be a mammoth task hunting them down on the streets. :

[cleewindows]

Thata what this topic is about..... so the newbies read it i presume.

Otherwise failing that, it would be a mammoth task hunting them down on the streets. :

it seems that way or hes worried hes gonna lose all his customers!

[cockney rebel]

e bay is full of them

Whats the starting price or do they have a buy it now price.

[geefree]

had a look on ebay for window cleaning rounds.... nothing really....apart from

wanted window cleaning round....quite a lot of that...

so i do get his point

[Ian Mason]

e bay is full of them
here is full of them
the roads are full of them


why dont they all go and do something else its just being flooded with wana be cleaners who will low the prices and when there proper jobs get going again will all go back and leave this industry in a mess

So what other line of work do you suggest they/we flock to?

I am about to start up myself. I am not looking at it being an easy ride, & realise it is likely to take sometime to get established, & I have no intention of under cutting to get customers.

The job front is in trouble at the moment, & I guess many look at it as an easy business to start up, & then there is going to be others that see how much you charge for time takenm, & it looks like an attractive proposition.