I had a great little vindication the other day. One of my friends/clients was under the impression I was charging too much, and had actually gone to another cleaner to get his windows done. To be honest, I sometimes wonder if I’m charging too much, and then I compare my prices to other companies I’ve worked with, and mine are always lower, sometimes much. Well, this time I asked him how much this other company had charged. Were they cheaper? I always encourage people to shop around if they want to. He said yeah, they charged him $2100.
Now, I don’t know if he had forgotten how much I charged or what. He was just a little concerned that I had charged him $900 for 12 hours worth of work. The thing is, I don’t charge by the hour, I charge by the job, and I’m very quick- I’ve always been the fastest cleaner when I’ve worked for other companies. When other guys have worked for me, their hourly wage was considerably less.
Anyhow, the thing is, I clean his entire place in 12 hours… that is, I charge him $900 for the whole job. Thinking he was getting gouged he went and hired someone else -who gouged him big time- to the tune of $2100. They did clean 3 chandeliers also, but I guarantee you there weren’t $1200 worth of chandeliers in that place. Maybe 5-600.
I was glad to find out that I am still charging less than most other folks out there (that is, most folks who aren’t just walking around with a bucket and a gas station squeegee, are not insured, licensed, etc.), but still making a living wage. And that I’m also still doing better work (he also said the guy left streaks, water drops, and didn’t clean the sills).
