Pricing past and present

[Martyn]

Question for the old hands around here, has pricing moved on in the last ten years?

If the you of ten years ago priced a house and the you of today priced that same house would the price be the same? Or would todays price be higher? (Or lower)

Here we used to price on the basis of £2 for an upstairs window and £1 for a downstairs window but I find that we have actually dropped back from that, probably due to increased competition. Doesn't really affect me much because we are so well established but it is noticable.

Example;

The other day an old school friend asked me to price his house, I figured the job was worth £50 but quoted him £45, turnes out somebody has already quoted him £40.

 

[Suhrly]

I'm in a pit village in the North East. Prices have hardly changed in the last 20 years never mind 10 ? 

I had a walk-up the other day asking if could start her cos her last window cleaner 'stopped coming'. How much was he charging you? '£3!' (2 bed semi) Three....effing....quid!! I told her they were 1980's prices.

She took me on at £8 a month surprisingly. Its highly frustrating as you feel you have to justify your prices.

 

[spruce]

We have found that pricing hasn't changed much for 10 years ago in the North East where we work.

There are better areas where you can get a little more but customer's perception of what a window clean is worth generally hasn't changed. We do the flat of an older lady and it has been £6 since 2005. I moved it up to £7 a couple of months ago and I thought she was going to have a heart attack. She tried to negotiate the price; "lets split the difference and make it £6.50?" "I'm not dealing with 50 pences, sorry." " I'm a loyal person and will stick with you but I'm not happy about this."

There are a couple of tradders around who will do her flat for a fiver. So yes we have competition but I'm also to blame as I haven't forced price increases like Virgin and the Utilities companies do.

Ask @Part Timer. There are still windies doing a 3 bed semi in his area for £5. We have the same issue here, a large company cleans fronts WFP for £2.50 and backs for another £2.50. If the back gate is locked then they will climb over, without a ladder or steps. But customer's usually only see the price, not the damage done.

"Look, they have broken my fence and don't care, so I sacked them. I like the way you put steps over the gate so as not to damage the neighbour's property you clean. Please can you do ours, but I'm using £5 as a guide price."

These are the guys that will be on benefits so they do a bit, get a couple of bucks in and the Govt tops up their money to a living wage.

Its another form of Government subsidies. This time the Govt is subsidising clean windows the same as they do for the farmers, the car manufacturers and the steel industry etc to make exports more competitively priced.

 

[Suhrly]

As a fellow north easter I totally agree @spruce in my area £5 is the going rate for a fortnightly clean (sometimes less) for a 3 bed semi or £6 for a monthly clean. I started window cleaning 6 years ago now and prices haven't changed. I was actually charging those prices till I started to bump them up. I lost a fair few when I did. So much so it's honestly put me off raising them anymore. I'm happy where I'm priced now however.

There's been many talks on here about bumping your prices up 50p a year etc. I feel I simply can't do that or I'll price myself completely out of business as people round here simply will not pay those prices if they get too high. Sad but true.

 

[Potta81]

I did 4 years with a friend & I’ve been working for myself 15 years. I still have houses that are priced badly as I’ve been doing them since the start & hardly increased my prices until the last few years as it seemed like I was a busy idiot. 15 years ago the going rate where I work for a 3 bed semi with upstairs & downstairs bay on the front was £8.50-£10. Mine are all at least £10 now & any new calls I get now like these I charge £15-£18 first clean & £12-£15 maintenance cleans, depending on how difficult it is really or if they’re leaded windows. I’m in a position where I let a few days work go in an area a couple of years ago that was way to underpriced & putting them up a £1 wouldn’t have been enough to make it worth while. I now ask for what I want & if they don’t want to pay it it’s fine, I move on. I’m also making a point of now charging a bit more as I’m moving over to wfp next year, so when I’ve eventually mastered the art of wfp I’ll be earning more but the upkeep of everything will cost more. I put a lot of mine up last March for the following month, start of the new tax year & the ones that are still underpriced I’ll be banging another £1 on in April next year again. Most are fine with it, some even say I’m surprised u don’t charge more etc. But the odd one, elderly & Asians usually react like they’ve been told the house is on fire. I just say everything goes up which includes my prices!

 

[Potta81]

As a fellow north easter I totally agree @spruce in my area £5 is the going rate for a fortnightly clean (sometimes less) for a 3 bed semi or £6 for a monthly clean. I started window cleaning 6 years ago now and prices haven't changed. I was actually charging those prices till I started to bump them up. I lost a fair few when I did. So much so it's honestly put me off raising them anymore. I'm happy where I'm priced now however.

There's been many talks on here about bumping your prices up 50p a year etc. I feel I simply can't do that or I'll price myself completely out of business as people round here simply will not pay those prices if they get too high. Sad but true.

I might be quite lucky in the area I work as I only see 1 or 2 tradders & hardly see any wfp’s tbh either. Years ago there were a lot more around here than what there is now. Every area of the country will be different regarding prices, your prices sound very low to me but if customers won’t pay more your hands are tied a bit. Down London I bet they’d charge double or even more what I charge.

 

[laddergarder]

I think pricing has changed a bit yeah, but not as much as the living costs. 

For a house with 8 windows I might have been about £7-8. Were as now I would be about £12.

I took a few on last year, last guy stopped coming he was charge £6. They had 10 windows. I charged £13, which they paid. But then old windy came back and said he would do them fot £8. I just let them go, its not worth it for that anymore. 

I am in the west of Scotland. 

 

[Suhrly]

your prices sound very low to me but if customers won’t pay more your hands are tied down a bit.

See this is the problem...I think they actually would pay more, but when you have other windies in your area charging £3 what can you do? If we ALL raised our prices to charge roughly the same...different story. 

 

[Dave B]

I used to think like that but now price what I want for the job.

You won't get all quotes but the ones you get will be good customers who want a good service.

Make your own prices and stick to them.

I'm not cheap in my area when I'm quoting 12 for a.job that was previously done at 7 by an old windie and 18 for an ex 10 quid job etc but always get told "Didn't do my frames, dont know where he went" etc.

Have to stick to your guns.

If you only got 50% of your quotes but at your prices you're on a winner.

Less work and more money.

See this is the problem...I think they actually would pay more, but when you have other windies in your area charging £3 what can you do? If we ALL raised our prices to charge roughly the same...different story. 

 

[dazmond]

I think pricing has changed a bit yeah, but not as much as the living costs. 

For a house with 8 windows I might have been about £7-8. Were as now I would be about £12.

I took a few on last year, last guy stopped coming he was charge £6. They had 10 windows. I charged £13, which they paid. But then old windy came back and said he would do them fot £8. I just let them go, its not worth it for that anymore. 

I am in the west of Scotland. 

i dont get it.....i have some blocks of compact estate work thats priced at £8(lowest price)for a small 3 bed semi and i can bang out 5-6 an hour(£40-£48 an hour)front onlys at £4-£5..im still making a good hourly rate....obviously this isnt all my work (i have lots of well priced bigger jobs too)

also i have 341 jobs and you have 600 and you earn £5k more than me a year AND YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYEE!something doesnt seem to add up somewhere.......

10 years ago i was turning over around £18,000 a year trad only..i was ready to jack it all in!i was fed up with climbing ladders after 17 years!.....fast forward 10 years and i turnover around £45,000 now(WFP)......I have picked up lots of good work though and raised some prices a few times on existing work...i also work LESS hours than i used to on the ladders!work that one out!

 

[laddergarder]

i dont get it.....i have some blocks of compact estate work thats priced at £8(lowest price)for a small 3 bed semi and i can bang out 5-6 an hour(£40-£48 an hour)front onlys at £4-£5..im still making a good hourly rate....obviously this isnt all my work (i have lots of well priced bigger jobs too)

also i have 341 jobs and you have 600 and you earn £5k more than me a year AND YOU HAVE AN EMPLOYEE!something doesnt seem to add up somewhere.......

10 years ago i was turning over around £18,000 a year trad only..i was ready to jack it all in!i was fed up with climbing ladders after 17 years!.....fast forward 10 years and i turnover around £45,000 now(WFP)......I have picked up lots of good work though and raised some prices a few times on existing work...i also work LESS hours than i used to on the ladders!work that one out!

Not sure I follow. 

You earn 5k less than me, but you make 45k sales?

 

[chopsie]

I started in 2009/10 with a minimum price of £8 (Derbyshire). I still really have that same minimum price, but unlike then, I only use it on really tiny houses, normally new build 2 bed terraces/semi's with three windows on the front and 2 windows and a patio door on the back. I'd say much of my work is very similar priced to back then, many of the original stuff has barely had a price rise. I can't see people paying it, for example, the 2 bedders I mentioned above, £8 in 2009, even if I put them up 50p a year, they'd be £13 now, few....if any would pay that. 

 

[dazmond]

Not sure I follow. 

You earn 5k less than me, but you make 45k sales?

what i mean is you must have loads of cheap jobs(much cheaper than £12)to only earn £5k more a year than me  if you have 600 jobs on your books and have an employee......

 

[laddergarder]

what i mean is you must have loads of cheap jobs(much cheaper than £12)to only earn £5k more a year than me  if you have 600 jobs on your books and have an employee......

My average price just under £10. 

I have never cleaned 6 houses an hour in 12 years as a window cleaner. I am trad, and clean around 20 windows an hour. 3 minutes a window including moving between jobs, knocking doors etc. 

I will generally earn around £20 per hour. 

 

[dazmond]

I started in 2009/10 with a minimum price of £8 (Derbyshire). I still really have that same minimum price, but unlike then, I only use it on really tiny houses, normally new build 2 bed terraces/semi's with three windows on the front and 2 windows and a patio door on the back. I'd say much of my work is very similar priced to back then, many of the original stuff has barely had a price rise. I can't see people paying it, for example, the 2 bedders I mentioned above, £8 in 2009, even if I put them up 50p a year, they'd be £13 now, few....if any would pay that. 

how you doing mate?...i remember when you were starting out,time flies!.....even though id been going 17 years when i joined CIU in 2009 i didnt really start making a half decent living until i went WFP,and even then it took a few years!glad ive stuck at it all these years though!?

 

[chopsie]

how you doing mate?...i remember when you were starting out,time flies!.....even though id been going 17 years when i joined CIU in 2009 i didnt really start making a half decent living until i went WFP,and even then it took a few years!glad ive stuck at it all these years though!?

Hi Daz, yes I remember you on there when you was still trad', fighting going wfp as you wouldn't be any faster, then fighting getting a system and getting a trolley instead lol. People should take more note of you as you've learnt the hard way and now are reaping the rewards. Hope your backs ok/on the mend. 

I've tried logging on to cleanitup today and they've banned me!

 

[dazmond]

cheers chopsie........i dont know why they ve banned you over on the "other" forum?....strange.....

yes ive got my round sorted now and a decent van,hot water system,etc.....i knew id get there in the end...it just took time and a few wrong choices of equipment!?

IMO this jobs easy now!

NO LADDERS!

NO COLLECTING!

the 2 worst things about this job have been virtually eliminated!?

 

[spruce]

As a fellow north easter I totally agree @spruce in my area £5 is the going rate for a fortnightly clean (sometimes less) for a 3 bed semi or £6 for a monthly clean. I started window cleaning 6 years ago now and prices haven't changed. I was actually charging those prices till I started to bump them up. I lost a fair few when I did. So much so it's honestly put me off raising them anymore. I'm happy where I'm priced now however.

There's been many talks on here about bumping your prices up 50p a year etc. I feel I simply can't do that or I'll price myself completely out of business as people round here simply will not pay those prices if they get too high. Sad but true.

We have tried to settle on £10 for a 3 bed semi. £10 seems to be too highly priced for some potential customers. We might clean them for a bit and then they cancel. We seem to have a better 'hold on' rate at £9.

There was a windie who canvassed a new build area and tried for £18. These are 3 bed 'street houses' with the main bedroom in the loft space. He got 2 but has none now. We used to have 5, 3 altogether for £8 each and 2 for £9. No bites at £10. Now we have just 1 of the 3 left. These houses mean that we clean the front and then have to go around the back and do the backs. Its a van move.

Someone else has got quite a number but charges less than we do.

It doesn't really matter if you are well established and your round is full. You can afford to remain at the higher price. The catch 22 is if you are building a round. You need every customer you can get but you also need the best price. Usually those 2 variants work against each other.

Long gone are the days when you could generate a compact round. Most of our round is bitty. So you can't bang out the cleans because you have to account for travelling time in between.

I have often mentioned a little village outside Guisborough called Charltons @dazmond. At one time it consisted of 4 roads of street houses. Its now down to 2 as the others got swallowed up with an undergound tunnel collapse in the iorn ore mining era. The window cleaner who did those street only did the fronts which consisted of a single upstairs window, a single down stairs window and a door. According to one of the residents he had around 80 customers. He cleans them wfp and charges £2 a house. He rushes through them like a dose of salts in a couple of hours and off he goes. He does a substandard job but he says for £2 what do they expect? At £2 no one is going to compete so he has a monopoly.

I still haven't decided if this is a good earner or not.

 

[Potta81]

We have tried to settle on £10 for a 3 bed semi. £10 seems to be too highly priced for some potential customers. We might clean them for a bit and then they cancel. We seem to have a better 'hold on' rate at £9.

There was a windie who canvassed a new build area and tried for £18. These are 3 bed 'street houses' with the main bedroom in the loft space. He got 2 but has none now. We used to have 5, 3 altogether for £8 each and 2 for £9. No bites at £10. Now we have just 1 of the 3 left. These houses mean that we clean the front and then have to go around the back and do the backs. Its a van move.

Someone else has got quite a number but charges less than we do.

It doesn't really matter if you are well established and your round is full. You can afford to remain at the higher price. The catch 22 is if you are building a round. You need every customer you can get but you also need the best price. Usually those 2 variants work against each other.

Long gone are the days when you could generate a compact round. Most of our round is bitty. So you can't bang out the cleans because you have to account for travelling time in between.

I have often mentioned a little village outside Guisborough called Charltons @dazmond. At one time it consisted of 4 roads of street houses. Its now down to 2 as the others got swallowed up with an undergound tunnel collapse in the iorn ore mining era. The window cleaner who did those street only did the fronts which consisted of a single upstairs window, a single down stairs window and a door. According to one of the residents he had around 80 customers. He cleans them wfp and charges £2 a house. He rushes through them like a dose of salts in a couple of hours and off he goes. He does a substandard job but he says for £2 what do they expect? At £2 no one is going to compete so he has a monopoly.

I still haven't decided if this is a good earner or not.

Might seem a bit weird but I’ve never asked another window cleaner when I’ve spoke to him what he charges. Seemed like an unwritten rule. I have reactions of shock that I charge too much & a that’s quite cheap!! I think it boils down to what the customer is willing to pay/what they think it’s worth. But like I said in an earlier comment I don’t see many windies where I work so I presume competition is minimal. My old gaffer works in & around the area I work & I remember him saying he’s happy to earn £80-£100 a day but not a clue how many houses he does to do it. When I worked for him over 15 years ago his prices weren’t great, I presume they’ve gone up over time tho.

 

[THL4KEL]

The way I look it, in any region of the UK the majority of customers are not getting multiple quotes most are working people and they just dont have time, checking what their neighbours are paying for their window cleaning. The majority just want a reliable professional service from a person they don't have to worry is going to break in or get his mates to break in. 

Another thing I have is customers who want to pay more than what their neighbour is... There house is bigger and they expect to pay more. Maybe it's a status symbol kind of thing...

Quoting is a bit like a job interview, if the client likes what they see, even though it costs a pint of larger more than what they may have expected to pay a lot will pay it.

 

[dazmond]

i would say most of my very compact estate work(8 days work)is quite cheap but like spruce says i have the monopoly..... my prices range from £8-£15...front onlys can be as little as £4!the thing is the minimum i make per hour on this work is £40 an hour....most  jobs are 4 weekly and i use the best,lightest equipment on the market and an electric reel and hot water.....this is my worst paying work these days but ive been doing them for many years,some have been with me from day one(1993!),im slowly bumping them up,ill be adding another quid to most of them next year........the thing is there is 4 other window cleaners on there all cleaning a couple of houses each and thats how its always been since i got established on these estates 20+years ago!