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What would you charge?

Clarkus84

Active member
Messages
238
Location
Ballynahinch county down
Went to quote windows for this house earlier. Just wondering what you lads would charge? I reckon £40 4 weekly without the velux windows, £50 with. 

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Clarkus84 said:
Went to quote windows for this house earlier. Just wondering what you lads would charge? I reckon £40 4 weekly without the velux windows, £50 with. 

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IMG_20190622_153249.jpg

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I've another couple of pics but it won't let me put em up 

 
If your happy with £40, looks straight forward, after first clean give your self 30mins todo maintenance cleans, also velux windows I make sure they know it’s my best attempt at cleaning them , 

 
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A price is only what that particular customer sees as good value and is happy to pay for it.

We often see window cleaners who have been cleaning windows for years who still haven't a full cleaning schedule. The way I see it is that they are either over priced or offer an inferior service or a mixture of the two.

I can assure you that in the North East we aren't likely to get the job for £50 including velux windows, but I'm sure that you would in the South East. If I quoted £50 I might get the clean depending on its urgency. I might clean it a second or third time but I have to expect to be let go at some point when a cheaper price comes in.

We don't know how prices go in your area; you will have a better idea than most.

So as you have been to quote it, what price did you ask and were you successful in getting the clean?

.

 
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I see at least 7 velux windows, one is on a particularly awkward angle. 

An additional £10 for all the velux windows isnt really asking much, they're not all next to each other either. Access around the building in general looks easy

The way i would price it would be - i picture myself on a gloomy grey monday morning, only that job booked in for the day as all existing rounds are full and i cant fit it on any of them, What price will motivate me to get up, drive all the way there through the traffic and do it.

convenience and travel time count for a lot see. If you have a round in the area that isnt full by all means go in with gut instinct and see if you can fill your day up but if you know youre going to have to gear up to make a specific journey then you’d naturally go in higher i guess.

 
A price is only what that particular customer sees as good value and is happy to pay for it.

We often see window cleaners who have been cleaning windows for years who still haven't a full cleaning schedule. The way I see it is that they are either over priced or offer an inferior service or a mixture of the two.

I can assure you that in the North East we aren't likely to get the job for £50 including velux windows, but I'm sure that you would in the South East. If I quoted £50 I might get the clean depending on its urgency. I might clean it a second or third time but I have to expect to be let go at some point when a cheaper price comes in.

We don't know how prices go in your area; you will have a better idea than most.

So as you have been to quote it, what price did you ask and were you successful in getting the clean?

.
I quoted 40 4 weekly 60 8 weekly. She got back to me saying they don't use the upstairs so just quote for the bottom floor so I went in at 30 4 weekly or 50 8 weekly. She said she'll ring me on Monday but we'll just have to wait and see. I don't think it's a bad price at that really 

I'm trying to be a bit more strict with my pricing. Been far too easy on it and underpriced so far 

 
£30 is a cheap  price they should be happy with that ,once you have done the job and got it up to speed it won’t take more than 15 to 20 muinits Max 

 
£35 would be a good price were we are for a monthly cleaning services.

Glad you can get more were you are ?. 
It's not that I can get more. I actually think pricing is low here but it's the big panes that really push the price up for me. I don't have a clue what you lads would charge for each but I'd say 2 quid each big pane. I might be wrong but still trying to get a happy medium with my pricing 

 
I quoted 40 4 weekly 60 8 weekly. She got back to me saying they don't use the upstairs so just quote for the bottom floor so I went in at 30 4 weekly or 50 8 weekly. She said she'll ring me on Monday but we'll just have to wait and see. I don't think it's a bad price at that really 

I'm trying to be a bit more strict with my pricing. Been far too easy on it and underpriced so far 
Personally, my view on this is is a waste of time. Once someone asks ground floor only they don't want a window cleaner, they want someone to quote a stupid low price so they don't have to do them. Hope I'm wrong.  

 
Personally, my view on this is is a waste of time. Once someone asks ground floor only they don't want a window cleaner, they want someone to quote a stupid low price so they don't have to do them. Hope I'm wrong.  
So do I. Would be a nice wee earner as I've a house at 20 two minutes up the road. 

Put it this way though, I checked online and the house is being let for 1k a month. You don't get many round my way at that. If you can pay that a month surely you can pay the window cleaning bill. I'm not even quoting a first clean price on that as its the biggest one I've quoted and would like the business,maybe stupid but still learning 

 
If I quoted £50 I might get the clean depending on its urgency. I might clean it a second or third time but I have to expect to be let go at some point when a cheaper price comes in.


This is everything Spruce. The amount of times I've heard 'advice' on here saying 'you're prices are too low etc etc'...ok mate I'll put my prices up and charge X amount. Thanks, now I can't sleep at night for the fear I know I went too high and now that customer will be looking for someone else and will drop me the first chance they get. I know cos it's happened to me. You have to be very careful. That's why I would only take advice from the cleaners in your area. What's the point of us up here in the North East asking for pricing advice and the London guys to say £35 for what we would or more specifically, COULD charge £10...?? Yes you COULD charge them £35, but don't expect to have their custom for very long. This game is a marathon not a sprint.

 
It's not that I can get more. I actually think pricing is low here but it's the big panes that really push the price up for me. I don't have a clue what you lads would charge for each but I'd say 2 quid each big pane. I might be wrong but still trying to get a happy medium with my pricing 
If you work out what your real running cost are you then know what you need to charge per hour depending on what your happy to earn.  Work out travel times between job, then its being honest with how long a jobs going to take to do. 

Everybody's has under priced jobs. You learn from it.   Its always a little stressful at the begging ?

 
Personally, my view on this is is a waste of time. Once someone asks ground floor only they don't want a window cleaner, they want someone to quote a stupid low price so they don't have to do them. Hope I'm wrong.  


I agree. Its an interesting one that . The ones who are trying to save money are the ones who ask for tops only and they will do the bottoms as they can reach them themselves.

 
If you work out what your real running cost are you then know what you need to charge per hour depending on what your happy to earn.  Work out travel times between job, then its being honest with how long a jobs going to take to do. 

Everybody's has under priced jobs. You learn from it.   Its always a little stressful at the begging ?


This is a good post.

Most cleaners will know what their total running costs were for the year as that amount is tax deductable. But how many of us have taken it further. I don't know how you would relate your running costs to an hourly basis as I have no idea how many hours I actually work over a given period.

But I do know how many cleans I did in a given tax year and how much my total turnover (sales) was for that same period. From those 2 facts I can work out what percentage of each clean my running costs are. (These figures would exclude any earnings.) So if my running costs are 45% of my total sales then my running costs to clean a £10 house are £4.50. If I have a compact round and could knock out 3 houses an hour minimum this would give me a reasonable wage in the North East. If I had to travel for 10 minutes to clean that property and then travel back, the job isn't worth doing. I know that from the figures.

Its not perfect but it gives a pointer as some years can have higher running costs than other years.

 
Some good points have been made here. The windows look in really good condition. The skylights aren't dirty, the frames look pretty white. Either they already have a windy and are looking for a lower price or they have just been installed. Some people just call windys out as and when they feel like it now, and aren't really bothered about using the same company, they’re more concerned about availability (not wanting to wait etc)

i respect the “marathon, not a race” outlook, thinking long term is good and wise.

however din’t fall for the “we’re looking for a regular service” line. Treat it for what it is now. i’m encountering more types who just want windows done on the one off, and regardless what you price someone is always going to go cheaper so chances are you’ll lose them somewhere along the line if they aren't bothered about loyalty. 

If you do a good job, for a good price today, and you come away with a feeling of success, thats great. You shouldn't have to feel the need to go in low to secure future work. Live for the day as they say. You may not be window cleaning next month, next year, or in ten years. You could be coming up to retirement age, you may go bust, you may have an injury or an illness, you may change career, hell you may even hit the lottery. circumstances do change over time and i wouldn't assume anything.

after nearly going bust in the early days it really changed my outlook on things and put the fear of god in to me. I now look to make a healthy profit whatever the job is.

I think your price is realistic for the lower windows £40 if they’re not happy to pay that on a regular or one off then why should you make the effort ?‍♂️ You're confident from the start which is a good thing.

I do have underpriced work that i took on when we first started but as neil said its all about learning from your past mistakes ? 

Have a bit of the “Alan sugar” and “go out and get” as they say. Reality is if people dont earn what they need to they only end up claiming tax credits or other benefits to make ends meet, costing the tax payer anyway so you may as well look to succeed big ?

 
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This is a good post.

Most cleaners will know what their total running costs were for the year as that amount is tax deductable. But how many of us have taken it further. I don't know how you would relate your running costs to an hourly basis as I have no idea how many hours I actually work over a given period.

But I do know how many cleans I did in a given tax year and how much my total turnover (sales) was for that same period. From those 2 facts I can work out what percentage of each clean my running costs are. (These figures would exclude any earnings.) So if my running costs are 45% of my total sales then my running costs to clean a £10 house are £4.50. If I have a compact round and could knock out 3 houses an hour minimum this would give me a reasonable wage in the North East. If I had to travel for 10 minutes to clean that property and then travel back, the job isn't worth doing. I know that from the figures.

Its not perfect but it gives a pointer as some years can have higher running costs than other years.
When you start off on your own there is a lot to think about and get done so you don't always crunch the number early on. You should do but with fitting out your van out getting new customer and so on you may not do it. when you employ staff you really need to know your hourly running cost. 

 
Some good points have been made here. The windows look in really good condition. The skylights aren't dirty, the frames look pretty white. Either they already have a windy and are looking for a lower price or they have just been installed. Some people just call windys out as and when they feel like it now, and aren't really bothered about using the same company, they’re more concerned about availability (not wanting to wait etc)

i respect the “marathon, not a race” outlook, thinking long term is good and wise.

however din’t fall for the “we’re looking for a regular service” line. Treat it for what it is now. i’m encountering more types who just want windows done on the one off, and regardless what you price someone is always going to go cheaper so chances are you’ll lose them somewhere along the line if they aren't bothered about loyalty. 

If you do a good job, for a good price today, and you come away with a feeling of success, thats great. You shouldn't have to feel the need to go in low to secure future work. Live for the day as they say. You may not be window cleaning next month, next year, or in ten years. You could be coming up to retirement age, you may go bust, you may have an injury or an illness, you may change career, hell you may even hit the lottery. circumstances do change over time and i wouldn't assume anything.

after nearly going bust in the early days it really changed my outlook on things and put the fear of god in to me. I now look to make a healthy profit whatever the job is.

I think your price is realistic for the lower windows £40 if they’re not happy to pay that on a regular or one off then why should you make the effort ?‍♂️ You're confident from the start which is a good thing.

I do have underpriced work that i took on when we first started but as neil said its all about learning from your past mistakes ? 

Have a bit of the “Alan sugar” and “go out and get” as they say. Reality is if people dont earn what they need to they only end up claiming tax credits or other benefits to make ends meet, costing the tax payer anyway so you may as well look to succeed big ?


Unfortunately the job centers are the worst advisors for this as they will say anything to inspire a job seeker into self employment and get them off their books.

They advised: Become a window cleaner. Look for all the bungalows where you can reach lower windows without using ladders. Find out what they are paying and undercut to get the work. Window cleaners can afford to loose some of their work. All you need is to spend X number of hours a day cleaning windows to make up to 16 or is it 24 hours a week. It doesn't matter if one bungalow takes you an hour and you charge £5. You can claim tax credits in all their forms to top up your wages.

All you need to achieve your minimum working hours are 2 weekly cleans and 48 customers.

Then this new cleaner finds out that he can zip through his weekly round in less than half the time and still claim to work his miniumum hours a week. For him its a win win situation. He works 8 to 10 hours a week and is far better off than most of us working full time as he has no mortgage or council taxes to pay.

 
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Yeah i hear you spruce. Its a weird world isnt it. I consider myself quite lucky in that in all my working years ive only had a week and a half on the dole. My grandfather and father have all been workers so it was drummed in to me from a young age.

a lot of up & coming windies may start to feel guilty about what they have to charge but looking past it is important because its all for the greater good, to pay our bills or provide for loved ones or put in to a pension pot or towards kids university fees. The cost of living is so high now that the reality is no-one ever seems to have enough of it. People can choke at prices but all we are doing is trying our best to earn a living in a society thats got well out of control in terms of living costs. I read in the bbc a year or so back that you're no longer considered “well off” or “middle class” until you're earning 83k +. And when you think about it its true. Whether people are earning 20k,40k,60k. It soon seems to magically dissapear ?

 
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