New Zealand Prices

[rich hand]

Hey, I lived in NZ for a couple of years but back in the UK temporary 3 years now cleaning the whole time. Can someone enlighten me into the cheap carpet and upholstery cleaning prices in NZ. It's a serious consideration for when I move back there.

Carpet and upholstery cleaning prices in the UK seem to be comparible with the US adjusting for lower cost of living in the US. I am only considering quality firms here and not the splash and dash who advertise prices all over the place. In NZ the carpet and upholstery cleaning prices adjusted seem to be a fair way less than the UK or US no matter what source they come from. This isn't the same for the building trades.

Over here the average suite (sofa & 2 chairs) is £140 +, average carpet £4/m.

 

[Heathrow]

Hi Richard, I think the longer you've been in business the more high end customers you have, and yes the prices do seem to be very low here for someone competing on price. My area is inundated with very high profile businesses cleaning whole houses for $99 and that sort of pricing point creates a price expectation in the publics mind. Having said that most people seem to instinctively understand that prices like that will not result in a good clean, so middle of the road pricing ($140 - $170 per 3 bed house) seems to be where most "respectable" operators sit in my area. There are large franchise type companies who charge more than that and still do a shocking job, so I guess that once you're big enough you can afford to cut corners and lose a few custys here and there :roll:
If you have good gear and a good system you can still hit $80 - $100 an hour easily without compromising job quality. Uph seems to be averagely priced at $30 or so per seating.
If you want a good encap chem here you'll pay through the nose unless you go bulk from the States or Aussie. As far as I'm aware the only TM equipment that is supported here by a distributor/supplier is Prochem and Hydramaster, but lots of portable equipment around from Aussie and US.

To compare living costs, you will need $300 - $600k to buy a very modest family home depending on where you are. A reasonable wage here I would guess would be $45k plus for a tech, or maybe $60k plus in the bigger cities??

 

[rich hand]

Hi Heathrow

one thing struck me that over here people leave carpets and upholstery for years before cleaning which obviously takes longer, draft marks in old houses also take time to remove. In NZ are carpets and upholstery cleaned regularly so it becomes a quicker job?

I would clean a furnished 3 bed house over here in 3 hours for £220-£240 which is near $600.

Btw our average house price is $500k + and I reckon cost of living is about 2/3 in NZ to what it is here. Just trying to put things into perspective to plan financially,

cheers

 

[Heathrow]

Mate $600 for three hours work would be the holy grail for most operators that I know of, and at that price I'm not surprised they only get it cleaned when they can't bear it anymore LOL. I do believe that that's not an unusual return for some guys in the States though (Mikey springs to mind )

Ahh well, back to the trenches...

BTW where are you looking at settling when you get back??

 

[roro]

BTW where are you looking at settling when you get back??

I would suggest BOP for the climate or Manawatu for the money.
Wellington only if you like using portables and want plenty of exercise. :wink:

roro

 

[rich hand]

Spent a year in Wellington last time, wouldn't mind the Auckland climate but am fond of BOP too.

 

[Heathrow]

I'd suggest going for the money option (sorry JOHN )

 

[roro]

Definitely - I went up there yesterday and did a couple of straight cc jobs. Well worthwhile although I don't know how anyone could actually live there.
The only two I know are quasi-Ozzies JPII (until he left rather quickly) and Lock-it-Johnny

 

[rich hand]

What makes Manawatu so profitable? Lack of cc's and travelling long distances to jobs?

 

[Jack May]

Damn!!! How did I get dragged into this?

Stay out of manawatu The weather is shocking most of the time, although I don't know how a Pom will interpret that :? The southern neighbours are just as bad to deal with...

Money, where?

John

 

[Jack May]

Also, a couple of years ago, per capita, we were the TM capital of the world.

Smallish region, maybe 125-150k max yet prob 40-50 companies vying for the market... seems overcrowded some time.

Plenty of room for quality operators as a lot of them are price biased.

Palmerston North is often referred to as the 10 minute city. you can be to 90% of the city within 10 minutes from wherever you are.

John

 

[rich hand]

Since houses are different over there maybe this isn't in perspective. How long would it take a quality cleaner to clean a 3 bed house? Most of ours have stairs and landings and many have draft marks.

 

[roro]

2-3 hours depending on the amount of furniture.
John's comment about the weather is why it is such a good town to work in, provided you are prepared to do flood and fire restoration. As it is flat country and with virtually no high-rises the times you need to use a portable are very few and far between.

If you are coming suggest you look to bring your own gear as equipment and chemicals here is approx twice the price of USA. As the rates are generally less than half what you enjoy until such time as you become well established it can be quite hard to make a buck.

Also suggest you think long and hard before making any commitment. The Australian economy is surging ahead of ours and we are predicted to have a very slow recovery. Our dollar is artificially high and when it inevitably tumbles there could be a lot of pain.

roro

 

[Jack May]

Rich, where I live, probably 80-90% of homs are single storey so few stairs to clean.

Average 3 bedroom with lounge and dining rooms and a hallway would run $195 inc tax furnished and take apprx 2 hours.

Empty would be $165ish inc tax and take approx 1.5 hours.

Times are from drive up to drive away and includes vaccing, spotting and cleaning. We prespray and run an acid rinse. Scrubbing is usually as needed.

John

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Interesting thread for a Kentucky boy to be reading....

 

[Heathrow]

Yeah, you guys have it GOOD over there dontcha!

 

[rich hand]

2-3 hours depending on the amount of furniture.
John's comment about the weather is why it is such a good town to work in, provided you are prepared to do flood and fire restoration. As it is flat country and with virtually no high-rises the times you need to use a portable are very few and far between.

If you are coming suggest you look to bring your own gear as equipment and chemicals here is approx twice the price of USA. As the rates are generally less than half what you enjoy until such time as you become well established it can be quite hard to make a buck.

Also suggest you think long and hard before making any commitment. The Australian economy is surging ahead of ours and we are predicted to have a very slow recovery. Our dollar is artificially high and when it inevitably tumbles there could be a lot of pain.

roro

It's difficult over here too (UK). I have always had to drop leaflets each week, at one point I was having 10,000/wk put out to get enough work. I presume leafleting is necessary in NZ too. Nowadays the website isn't bad but still not up to leafleting.

 

[rich hand]

Rich, where I live, probably 80-90% of homs are single storey so few stairs to clean.

Average 3 bedroom with lounge and dining rooms and a hallway would run $195 inc tax furnished and take apprx 2 hours.

Empty would be $165ish inc tax and take approx 1.5 hours.

Times are from drive up to drive away and includes vaccing, spotting and cleaning. We prespray and run an acid rinse. Scrubbing is usually as needed.

John

That sounds about right John, I had thought that an average full day would bring about $500 before tax. Keeping this consistent is the key thing though.