job offer

[juldea]

There was a message on the answering machine from a lady in the apartment complex who wanted to hire me to clean her apartment. She didn't say any more than that. I need to call her back and talk to her about it, and get an idea of how much cleaning is needed of the place, but I'm a bit hesitant on how to start asking for a price. Should I try to estimate by hours worked? Or just a flat rate? Hmm.

Of course, it could be possible that she has an idea already picked out for how much she'll pay me. I guess I just have to call to find out.

Comments

[goldbug.livejournal.com]

i've actually read a discussion about this by a professional cleaner. don aslett, i believe it was. he suggests charging by the job, not the hour, because you can get more money. suppose you think you can clean the place in 3 hours. (now, this example really only works well if you can do a vaguely decent job of estimating how long it will take.) you can say: 1. "well, i charge $12 an hour, and i estimate it will take about 3 hours." your client won't like that idea. no one wants to pay anyone $12 an hour to clean her house. housecleaners make minimum wage, right? your client might not even earn that much herself. 2. you can say "i can clean your house for $35." well, that sounds completely reasonable. the client might even think that she's getting a bargain. you're still making the same wage, but phrasing the cost as a whole job thing rather than an hourly thing gets you better pay.

Re:

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Nod, that does sound like a good idea. I'll probably estimate the time it will take in my head, and offer somewhere above $10/hr for that. But not make it obvious that's what I'm offering, of course.