Way to cheap IMO, step up your $$$$
I know this is an old post Jaran. Are you still only getting $5 a window? St George has some money, Iām surprised itās so cheap. I get $9 a window here in Boise area. Just wondering. Who says you can only get $5? Early in the post you said you canāt get more than $600 a day if working by yourself. Why? Who says that? Taxes or license requirements?
I used to say āpeople around here would never pay $x.ā Then I raised my rates and proved myself wrong. Iāve still got room to go, but Iām getting there.
If she is as good of a customer as you say then SUCK UP YOUR mistake.
While it may not be shady, the CUSTOMER may see it as a bait and switch tactic.
No matter what you may read on forums, itās NOT about how good you clean or market.
ITS ALLWAYS about the client.
Yeah you may have underbid ( maybe in others areas but not yours?)
Take it as a learning moment and concentrate on the client.
Adjust your pricing next time you do the house or any work for her.
If she questions the new pricing on different job tell her the standard answers like the price of gas, insurance, ect. Has increased.
But she probly wonāt question your pricing
GOOD LUCK!!!
pax
People just donāt pay around here like they do in other places I promise. St. George does have money but they are also living on borrowed funds and retirement funds. The market is flooded with window cleaners that would rather work for free than not work at all and grandpas that would rather clean their own windows with a garden hose then pay more then $10/hr to boyscouts. Iām doing pretty good. Made 3,000 last week.
I suggest that you redirect your efforts to the million-dollar homes and above just my suggestion, they will pay what you ask.
If your comfortable with the price, itās profitable, and your customer is satisfied, then you priced it perfectly.
your costs determine the price, not where you live. Your gas is pretty much the same, equipment like ladders are the same, squeegees, cloths, business cards, phones, internet service, health insurance etc.
The only thing more then +/- 6 % or so might be houses. I know southern utah is not the hamptons, or beverly hills or malibu. I think you south utah boys might be giving it away, its not like everything is sooooo cheap there.
You can look these things up also look up purchasing power parity. Purchasing power parity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
thats more for international but it mentions the big mac index which my dad has referred to on his own most of my life. He mentions what he made at 16 working in a stock room, 18 at us post office, then in the navy, then as engineer for 30 something years, and comparing gas, gold, big macs etc as to whether his wages kept up with the price of some commodities.
I do not think most of the stuff you buy is THAT cheap in utah. You can find allot of the data with the government Consumer Price Indexes, Cost of Living Index - The 2012 Statistical Abstract - U.S. Census Bureau
Take a step back and see if things are REALLY as cheap there as you think they are.
Thats not bad if you can keep that pace up. I suggest you try to creep up on prices and every now and then see what you can get. If you are new its hard to really know the market, people always refer to the lowest prices, but they do not mention other guys charging twice what you ask. They are out there.
Its not just guys dying to wash that big house, two grown men willing to do it for $200, which you canāt fathom. They do get estimates for 1000-1200, they just do not tell you about it.
Almost no one tells me the high prices, i find estimates taped to windows, i see them at the home on the kitchen counter in plain sight, i see them on the computer desk after i get the job, again in plain sight. Not snooping.
No one ever says, your price is too good, i like you. I think you are the best, i got an estimate for twice what you asked, here ā¦ take this amount, its twice what you asked.
The only times anyone says my prices are great is when i am working with very wealthy business owners, and they know the cost of labor, real cost. They know you cant find good people for 10 bucks per hour, they know all the costs involved. They say they are impressed with what my employees and i can do for price X.
I guarantee you there are literally thousands of union employees that do labor that are paid 80-90k per year, some with bennies and more paid in excess of 150k per year near you.
Surely you are worth the same as someone with three days training in many cases, right ?
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I wish I lived in a Union state
Finally, now for a current purchasing power parity calculator so that one can see why the Canadians are charging $400 for wc on a simple condo and an Australian EMT makes $80 an hour (but nike basic tennis shoes are over $100)
another one is movie tickets, 1985 they were $5
everyone gripes about paying $11
run it in the CPI index and see what you get . . .
in the late 80ās people were charging a buck a pane for a storefront window
yet people still charge a buck a pane for storefront
der . . . mcfly . . . hello . . .
I just did a 42 window house no screens and charged $358.68 and that was discounted.
JLOC COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL SERVICES
sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app
Thanks for the estimate
Heās right. Iām charging around $7/pane(including screens, frames and channels). So thats around $14/window.
Is $9 dollars including track cleaning? I charge $9 for a single hung with screen and tracks. Wondering if Iām charging a little low? I figure we are both in Boise so your advise is beneficial if you donāt mind sharing.
He has not been around in a while, great guy!
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Yeah I see heās posted on the site for a while. I look forward to getting to know as many local guys as I can. Itās helps us all get a good pricing standard.
More friends the better! 
Thatās the way I think about it to. I always go talk to the local cleaners if I have time. Healthy competition is good. Iād rather feel like Iām competing against a friend at least than like āthe enemyā. Five of the other companies in town are actually my close friends and we all pass work around and help each other. We even team up on big jobs and split it. Its a huge help sometimes.
Ya see this is how I look @ pricing. I know I donāt want to be hypercritical , because there are times when Iām like how much for this ?
So you can use $9 to come up with your total for everything you said there ā¦ But you need to figure out what you can get done in in an hour .wothiut killing yourself or working like a madmanā¦
Use the amount of Windows as a total them look at the job am say this is smooth an easy that price sounds good ,is the amount hat I come up with near my hourly needs , or do I see things that could hold me up. If so then put some more $$$ in there
Sometimes being new yiu just have to go with that pricing structure an figure what is entailed with what we do In daily basis. This takes time , an you will screw up , but all the while ya learning
When your not the low baller in town there is always someone that is going to say the last guy dos it forā¦ Your crazyā¦ Those prices are to high . Bla bla bla.
you canāt let these people dictate to you what you should or need to charge other people . Let them go with the cheap guy they will be calling down the road.
