New to the industry. My location is south Alabama very rural. Can someone give me a range of pricing for residential houses.
By the pane or by the man hour.
Check out peoples websites in your area and see what they are charging. My prices are on mine, but I am in Maryland.
What WC’ing experience do you possess?
Have you cleaned any homes to date?
Welcome! As for pricing try to figure out what you want to make per hour then figure how many windows you can do in an hour. If you haven’t done many windows practice a few times on your own till you can come up w/ an idea.
But you may wanna remember that if you price windows according to your speed now, your hourly will eventually be forced down by the fact that your speed will increase (unless you raise your prices as you go). After a month or 2 you should be well along. $50 and higher ($70, $80, the sky.) is common for window cleaning owners. If you are making less than that, something is probably wrong.
It may be best, like it has already been said, to use other company prices until you know how fast you will be. Experimentation is almost necessary.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]If you’re new to the industry you are probably a slow window cleaner, we all are when we first start out. For this reason alone I would recommend by the window pricing. Take a look at YouTube and you’ll get an idea where you stand. Alex and Chris are on the net and they are efficient professionals, lets not forget the one and only our Mr. Sanchez. When you can clean like them you should be able to generate about $60 an hour charging I don’t know lets say $3.50 a pane inside and out. Storm doors would be about $4.00. Picture windows double that. A French pane might go for around .60 -.75 each.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Some guys charge more some charge less. I live near Boston in a very affluent community so my prices would be higher. Most of the guys pay their help about 30% of the gross. How much would a laborer expect to earn in Alabama? Your pricing has to generate triple his or her hourly wage. Does that help? [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I am assuming you don’t know where to begin. John Baxter’s book on Window Cleaning Bidding would be a great place to start. It’s sold in most window cleaning supply houses. The forums, this one and others are great place to learn as well. [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]LET’S NOT FORGET YOU WILL BE SLOOOOW AT FIRST. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]$35 an hour would probably be good rate with these prices in the beginning. [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Is this on target guys?[/FONT][/COLOR]
My suggestion is for beginners. As he gains some experience and confidence he will adjust his prices. As for using other companies prices that would stick him into only making what everyone else is. That will work for a while but would also limit his earning potential as he could be surrounded by lowballers.
No, the opposite is true
if you charge $10/window and you clean 20 windows that is $200, say it takes 4 hours that equals $50/hour.
a few months down the road, you gain speed, and can do 20 windows in 3 hours (still at the same $10/window price) you would now be making $66/hour)
or are you talking about charging HOURLY instead of per window?
Being you are “Rural” you are going to have to travel to work. By that I mean far. Far for me is past 30 minutes. I charge $1 per mile (round trip) over 30 miles. Don’t get much work, but don’t want the work that much either. There are plenty of homes where I live. Plenty of everything if I wanted to go that route. Anyway, you might want to focus on a high end customer. Just pound them with advertising. Don’t charge what everyone else is charging. Charge what you want. A large 5000 sqft home here, I charge over $2000. The homeowner expects nothing short of perfection. They get it. I work the job like a military operation. I don’t have a ton of those jobs, but enough of them for now. Anyway, if you can land 100 customers like that, you work for 1 day each home and pull in 200 grand. For 100 days worth of work. Maybe 150 with rescheduleing. You can hire a helper or window cleaner alone. Let them do the work and you manage it. You know what a clean window looks like? Right? That is doable, but you have to have strong sales skills and an ok bank for advertising ($3000,00) to start if your lucky. I have been shifting my business to a higher client for the past 3 months. I made more money in the last 3 months then I have working since 04/08 to 08/08. These customers like ad ons if you let them know you offer the service.
Was I drunk when I wrote that?.. I must have been thinking of something totally different. I’m trying to wrap my head around why I thought that made any sense. Thanks for catching it.
That’s why I mentioned “the sky”. The sky is the limit.
Other window cleaning companies pricing should be examined as something to not go below. Some new owners will may not have any idea what to price and end up making 20 an hour. Most newbies may accidently low ball everything if they have nothing to go off of.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]If you charge about $3.50 a pane you’ll make money, if it’s not around $60 per hour it’s because you’re a slow window washer or just to picky. If you get every bid you put out there the price is to low. Raise your prices until you are not comfortable with the amount of rejection. Just my humble opinion. 
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Absolutely – as long as one is certain that the rejection is basis price only.
Thanks for all the response and help. I have read all responses and it was very helpful. I have wash my own house windows and watched all videos possible. Pricing would be per window with a minimum estimate known upfront. As I gain experience, It will increase with confidence and good advertising. Thanks Window Cleaners.
Thanks to ALL window cleaners that replied to my pricing question. I did receive some help from the replies. There are no window cleaners in my small town of 20,000 people or in the surrounding communities. I have read all responses. Thanks God bless ya’ll and have a good day.
$8.50 standard double hung no storms or panes. Add $1.00 for grids.
$14.50 double hung with panes 6/6 or 6/1
$22.00-$30.00 per storm set of windows.
These prices will generate good profits.
Tony,
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]It was great to meet you at the convention in RI. I heard you mention your prices at lunch and I’ve been thinking, if Tony’s worth those prices so am I. Thanks for raising the bar. I’ll be raising my prices in the spring. [/FONT][/COLOR]
You are every bit worth it. Thanks man.
Hey~
Didn’t I talk to you guys about what price you’re worth?!
Sorry to leave you out. I had lunch with Tony and we were talking. Your seminar was awesome. Wish you could have spoken all afternoon. I know, I know, I should buy your book. 
