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What do they expect!?

Dave why are you doing any job for 3pound 50??

Not worth the effort of turning up

 
well Im not amused she can coco writing about my window cleaning service like that...
I was going to do the frames and put it up to £2.80 but shes annoyed me now..:rolleyes:

before you say it...its not cheapncheerful...

my cheapest is £3.50....thats virtually front only two climbs...

although there is one downstairs at the back..

its actually worth £30 if he catches me...

yeh hes a great guy but boy he can chat for england.../emoticons/biggrin.png
Cmon mate, you need to have a minimum charge.

 
I won't do any job for less than a tenner except the odd one like the house i did today 1 window top and bottom front and same at the back with 1 pane in the door

Still charged 8 quid for 10 minutes work

 
Cmon mate, you need to have a minimum charge.
in theory I do...its a tenner but thats a really old job...all in that area are...but...I can park up and walk and pick and choose when I do them so there not too bad but as a guide...

it may have only been cleaned once before in this year...:whistle:

well i should be back in september after the kids have all buggered off back but will I make it...hmmm

well as long as Im busy cant moan..

I did lose this time as they were all like first cleans but on the other hand...at least they have noticed I have been and I feel like Ive done a good job..

but I dont know where my work keeps coming from but it does somehow...

cheapie wants a week at home to do his own windows and fascia and stuff...but...

four days gone already next week...:rolleyes:

and another job I got the other day to squeeze in....to be sorted yet..so...no rest for poor cheapie../emoticons/biggrin.png

and cheapie was at work til nearly six tonight...wow nearly a full day almost...

 
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It amazes me how firstly any window would charge this but those that charge this I don't think are really business men or window cleaners. The customers are kidding themselves if they think they are going to get a decent window clean. Those people just think oh its just a window cleaner yet don't actually think about the work being done and other expenses to a business. Drives me made. These cowboys don't help the industry one bit!

 
A couple of guys like that can ruin the business for any other local windies in the area

 
thats how cheapie keeps his work though...

ya cant undercut him...ya may as well stay at home on the sofa...

but...if interest rates do rise....so will cheapies prices...I doubt they will for a bit as the economy is still fragile...

and new work is a different thing...

got one at £15 plus a tenner first clean charge to do..the one cheapie did a runner from and just pushed the price through the letter box..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 
yes especially if they dump the prices and collect in the moonshine if you get me. no way us real windies can compete wtih that.

 
It amazes me how firstly any window would charge this but those that charge this I don't think are really business men or window cleaners. The customers are kidding themselves if they think they are going to get a decent window clean. Those people just think oh its just a window cleaner yet don't actually think about the work being done and other expenses to a business. Drives me made. These cowboys don't help the industry one bit!
I think the problem has come because traditionally in the past many a windy was a skinny old scruffy alcoholic looking bloke smoking rollies picking up his few quid beer money for the weekend. All cash in hand,no van/expenses. Now people are career window cleaners building up legitimate businesses the tide has changed.

 
Seems there is a market for seriously cheap cleans...I'm going to start offering a £2.60 service...for that I will fill my boys Supersoaker with pure and squirt the windows from the drivers seat of the van...bargain.

 
wow £7.50/£10 minimum wish I could charge this but honestly I would be out of business in a week up here,my customers would leave me and I would not get any new work pricing that high.customers just so used to paying very little money for their windows cleaned and so many window cleaners prepared to do the work for the prices.I have even been told many times "eee no that's too expensive" and that's £5 for 3 bed semi.One of the wfp cleaning company's here does 3 bed semi for £5.50 so even these lads can not charge a decent price.so its either time(only been going a short time)to pack it in and do something else or move south and nick some of your decent priced work.

 
Could you side step into something, gutters, lawns, decorating, upsell and out sell? 'exterior maintenance solution'. In your case I'd prob try and go more pro looking with printed shirt and smart welcome pack, target the wealthy areas, emphasise your insurance, references, push the prices high as they'll go and get a name for quality

 
Dang ALL window cleaners need to have a minimum or the whole profession is going to suffer, if people are charging such silly amounts, then customers will expect it to always be peanuts from us all, then they all go online such as this and then all the rest think they are 'overpaying'. There needs to be a minimum, if they say its expensive do it less often but take a bit longer. My minimum charge is £15, any less I may aswell be in another job without all the hassle and hidden costs that comes with running a new business! At £2.60 - You'd have to do ten jobs just to pay for the brush - let alone all the other gear! I don't know how much pure works out to be, but with the cost of pure and petrol alone there can't be much left over, then theres your other equipment, taxes, marketing, how can there be anything left to eat and put a roof over your head, let alone grow the business. I know its a luxury to have your windows cleaned and some people can't afford it, but at £2.60 for anyones time I'm in shock!

 
well jimroot I get what your saying but I already go to work in a uniform,all black looks good,and I am very professional in my approach to customers and even keep my car spotless as looks better when turning up at customers houses,explain every thing that you get for certain price,basic clean glass washed,frames and sills wiped over and detail glass,next clean same but frames and sills washed but not deep cleaned then next price price full upvc restoration.I already offer other services but just today with new customer,only one on today,he mentions full upvc clean so quote him £40,cheapest around here,answer was "Christ that's expensive they can stay the way they are".Unfortunately people will only pay what they think the jobs worth so in their mind its the smallest amount possible and there's always somebody that will do it for next to nothing anyway and that's any job not just window cleaning.and mrbump agree with you would be great to get minimum but as above there will always somebody that will do the job for less money,and at the end of the day we are all self employed so its a free market to charge what you like and the customers choice to choose and you know 99.9% look for the cheapest price.BANG BANG BANG,yes that's my head hitting the wall

 
In that case Paul, I'd probably be considering a new job, one that's not affected by geography. Minimum wage is going up. To earn it window cleaning with all the associated costs sounds impossible for you in that area.

 
If you think about it, the time it takes to do everything, canvas, marketing, research, tool maintenance including van/car, quote, travel time, and the costs, tools, fuel, consumables like resin and water bill, pension, insurances....

To earn £25 an hour on windows is more like £10 in a job with pension, sick leave, holiday leave job security included.

 
You have to think that in different parts of the country prices to buy other things are really different as well. In Gateshead you could buy a 3 bed house for about £70K but down south where I live you'd be lucky to buy a garden shed for that (no offence intended).

Even so the country has a minimum wage and at £3 per house by the time you pay insurance etc you'd be doing well to end up with minimum wage. My min charge is £10 per house and I'd defend that as a fair price to anyone who asked.

 
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