Cleaning rates...what are yours?

[Guest]

Okay....I Looked through some of the threads and haven't been able to find anything as of yet based on the current going rates for carpet cleaning based on your method. I know most wont care to post this but its a legitimate question and I think we all get curious and also learn from it. Sooo, what do you charge? what do you do for it? tell me a little about you please.

About me....
Ive been in the business for 22 years and three years ago was in a bad car accident and I had to get out...Ive been recovering over the past 3 years and now need to work again...I have enough metal in my body to build a nice Truck Mount unit. I'm getting back in, but things have changed a lot in three years...well actually 4 years. So anyone brave enough? maybe you are, I just cant find the thread that tells me anything as far as current rates and prior conversations. When I was doing this 4 years ago with HWE we charged between .18 to .28 sq ft now a new guy moved in and cleaned some carpet for my buddy and charged .35 sq ft. and charges .15 for Scotchguard. Is this the going rate?


You guys have been very welcoming so far.....and thanks for that! Now, who is cool and who are the knuckleheads?

 

[Dolly Llama]

welcome Darren


truth is, there is no "going rate".
It's no different than 5 years ago.
You have outfits cleaning for 6 cents a ft to 60" cents a ft

I wouldn't base my rates on "what everyone else" charges .
Their expenses might be higher or lower than yours


..L.T.A.

 

[Guest]

I have rates Im planning on charging...trust me and "Thank you" but I know for sure not to base it off of everyone else....I just want to re-assure myself in my plan against the new guy here. He is really odd but has wore out equipment and trying for that pristine look.(not working)

 

[Marc Imbesi]

dont worry about what others charge...even in your area...what you need to know is what everything will cost you, I mean everything, then weigh that with how many jobs you want to do per day and how many sqft you can clean an hour. I met Jim Martin last year and he knew exactly how much it cost his company per day he worked or didnt work...there are 2 different numbers b/c no working days you dont have gas or labor expenses. These numbers are key to being successful.

 

[davegillfishing]

.45 for carpet all included except sg
add sg for .25

steps 3.00 each

t&g cleaning .65

to seal and clean 1.00

 

[sam miller]

Not enough!

 

[SMRBAP]

Hi Darren,


If I were able to start all over again, I'd have not based my pricing on what those around me were doing.

Best advice I can give anyone starting out - figure YOUR cost of doing business, base your price on that and that alone. Forget what your competitors are doing price wise - find a way to separate yourself from the pack, market to that tune - and then you are not selling the same thing they are - in turn don't need to sell your services based on price first.

Good Luck !

 

[Hoody]

Would you knuckle heads answer his question, he KNOWS not to base it on those around him. I think he is honestly curious how it varies from region to region.

Darrin I don't have a business but if I did I would charge three separate ways. Apartment/Quick turnover, Maintenance, and Restorative cleaning. For apartment cleaning, I would pre-spot, pre-spray, and rinse, and charge by the room(because its easier and easier to understand for prop managers) 20-30 a room depending on volume. For Maintenance cleaning they would get a pre-vac, pre-spot, pre-spray, pre-scrub, rinse/extract, move furniture, groom for .39. Restorative cleaning would include everything maintenance does, but would include protectant for .55. $125 minimum which would include two rooms of cleaning.

 

[Guest]

Thanks you guys....I do have a number calculated to charge already...its more than what I did years ago....but I was really surprised when a guy came to town with a beat up rig and a scary looking crew...(I'm not bashing him, too bad) but his rates seem pretty high for what he has to offer ...so it kind of made me worry that I did something wrong in my calculations. Our rates will be about the same but I don't care to price in the same area as him with me having all new equipment and 22 yrs exp and Certs. Ive always liked to be the high price leader but with him so high in this area I don't know that I could charge more very easily.

Knowing the regional prices wouldn't hurt a thing either. Basing prices off of other companies is "need to know info" when your selling...you need to know why and be able to explain the cost difference. If your quote is $425 and the quote that is sitting on the table is $285 you will not get the job without some reason as to why you are worth the difference....so knowing some costs of others is a need to know figure.

Say 3 guys in my area charge .30 ft and I'm .45....I'm in for a tough day without a good story. We have the most of it figured like We do payroll taxes and insurance etc....some others don't do this here :shock:

Darren

 

[idreadnought]

Not only is there different pricing for different markets but different pricing for the cleaning process you use. Do you Pre-vacuum? Do you Pre-scrub? Deodorizer included? Move furniture? In my area I charge .35 per ft for cleaning. I include everything including a couple of red spots. For commercial carpets and rentals I drop my price but charge extra for red spots and of course don't have to move furniture. Honestly my prices reflect what I have to charge to make $600 per van per day.

Another thing to consider. I do free in home estimates. I do charge on the upper end of what people in this area are charging but I have the luxury of being able to sell the job face to face. If I only did phone estimates I would charge less.

Lately I have been considering raising my prices. Then it would give me the flexibility to discount more often without cutting into my bottom line. People want good service but they also like bargains. Look at JcPennys they sell quality items but they always have a sale of some sort.

 

[Guest]

Honestly....we will charge a basic rate but it is adjustable based on situations. Like idreadnought says. Good info .

Thanks
Darren

 

[Brian R]

Every job was and is based on time and materials to complete it.

I do have a good idea of how long any job will take ...best case and worst case.

So when asked over the phone I usually ask a few questions to get the idea.

Once at the home I give a fair and honest price and then offer everything else in the world to them. !gotcha!

With all that's said. My cleaning prices are generally about $30 to $40 per room...which is around 36 cents if I actually use a calculator.

I don't charge more for more but I do discount for doing less.

If the carpet is dirty then I stick to my prices...if I can be in and out fairly quickly, I will discount some depending.

Always price for the worst case scenario first and then you have room to give if needed.

 

[Jim Martin]

if you are just basing your jobs on time and material.......you are going to die a slow painful death.......you better know what your over head is and what it cost you to run your company.........

If I broke EVERYTHING down.......my company cost me $80 dollars a day just to sit in my drive way and not be out on the asphalt making money.....

Once it hits the road....my first job better break that......

 

[Brian R]

I'm talking about the actual job. The amount of money I need for my time is what decides the price. That price is directly influenced by how much money I need to make to get rich.

 

[Jim Martin]

there are a ton a factors in there.....

gas
chemicals
insurance's
the economy in your area
your equipment payment

the list could go on...no one can tell you anything about what your rate should be....you have to know every factor out there that you are paying.....what YOUR market will handle.....with out that knowledge.....most the time you are going to work just to here your equipment run....with in a year.....you will be selling it on craigslist...........

 

[Brian R]

there are a ton a factors in there.....

gas
chemicals
insurance's
the economy in your area
your equipment payment

the list could go on...no one can tell you anything about what your rate should be....you have to know every factor out there that you are paying.....what YOUR market will handle.....with out that knowledge.....most the time you are going to work just to here your equipment run....with in a year.....you will be selling it on craigslist...........

I concur.

 

[davegillfishing]

Not enough!

for what?

 

[Loren Egland]

I use HWE with a Powermatic truck mount.

Basic clean including prespray TLC and spotting and sometimes airpath dryer: .45 psf
Add for pre-vacuuming: .10 psf
Add for Teflon: .20 psf & $1.00 per step
Clean steps: $4.00 per stair

Have not raised price in 6 years.

 

[Ron Werner]

prevac, precondition, prescrub, rinse 55cents/sf
1/2 cleaning price for protectant

$20-25/lin ft for furn

CDN $'s

 

[Jamesh921]

My cleaning prices are generally about $30 to $40 per room...which is around 36 cents if I actually use a calculator.

Not ragging on you, Brian - at all. But, you need to check your calculator.

I did 5 rooms and a hall today (5.5 rooms we'll call it) and the invoice was $185.00.

It was 870 sf and I charged 33.00 per room and 20.00 for the hall OR .21¢ per sf.

If I use YOUR math and charge .36¢ per sf, that same 870 sf would have cost the custy $313.20.

If you divide $313.20 by 5.5 rooms, you would be charging $56.95 per room.

Am I right? Or do I need to adjust MY calculator? :shock:

 

[Ron Werner]

I like 55 cents, that same 5rooms/hall/ stairs that I cleaned today came to $450 !gotcha!
He was most PO'd about paying $55 in tax!

 

[Brian R]

My cleaning prices are generally about $30 to $40 per room...which is around 36 cents if I actually use a calculator.

Not ragging on you, Brian - at all. But, you need to check your calculator.

I did 5 rooms and a hall today (5.5 rooms we'll call it) and the invoice was $185.00.

It was 870 sf and I charged 33.00 per room and 20.00 for the hall OR .21¢ per sf.

If I use YOUR math and charge .36¢ per sf, that same 870 sf would have cost the custy $313.20.

If you divide $313.20 by 5.5 rooms, you would be charging $56.95 per room.

Am I right? Or do I need to adjust MY calculator? :shock:

I was basing it on a 100 sqft room ($36.00)...which is a little low for sqft but with furniture in an average bd it's about right.
Honestly it's a little closer to $30.00 per room for us in those situations.

 

[ascrubabove]

I quote over the phone, 40 bucks a room (up to 150 sqft), if the dining room is only 90 sqft it is still a room, great rooms count as 2, stairs are 25 for just the steps or 45 for the whole thing, halls are 15 and up

 

[Guest]

What do you charge to pull out the RX-20 or whatever model you run? or maybe you have it installed in the price to use at every job? We plan to use it as needed for heavy soil etc. not every job.


Darren

 

[sam miller]

Not enough!

for what?

carpet cleaning around 25 a room 2 room min. hall 10 steps 2 ea. bath 10 walkin closets 10 you get the idea. Intresting thing though

Last year when I joined I was at $20.00 per room bumped it up and averaged another 2 grand a month didnt lose any customer either!

Gonna bump it another $5.00 per room also doing more taking more time per job!