Did she take the piss deliberately or am I being U?

[Oopsydaisyy]

Got my first customer to do ironing for as I'm venturing in an ironing business. I advertised per black bin bag for £15, 4/5th full, not to the brim just to undercut a few companies. She gave me a huge sack that wasn't even a black bin bag and it has 50 items in it, very creased tops and long thick dresses and shirts as it has all literally been twisted and bunged in. So I worked all day for 30pence per item! I am a bit miffed. Can anyone tell me what to do in future to make a profit at least? What are you willing to pay? If you iron or have an Iron Lady, how much do you charge/they charge? I feel so silly and have shot myself in the bloody foot

You need to at least specify the size of bag. The woman that does mine does per bag, but she has a size limit (can’t remember off the top of my head) and she brings the bag(s) with her when she collects. So if people have bigger bag she instantly can say it needs split into two

This is a fab idea.

You could go environmentally friendly/plastic free and use fabric laundry bags. Regular customers can hold onto them and new/ad hoc can simply decant at the door.

This sort of thing: www.ironingsupplies.com/Essentials/Laundry-Bags/Ironing-Supplies/Ironing-Bags-25-p263c66c89.html

Did you not say 'that's not a bin liner ' when she brought it over? You're running a business, don't rely on the customer to be fair.

She gave me a huge sack that wasn't even a black bin bag

That would have been a NO from me then. What did she put the laundry in?

Sag Obviously she didn't say that. Some people are shyer when starting out in business. First clients can be exciting AND overwhelming.

Is that not something you've ever considered?

I just looked on Tesco.Grocery, you can get Black Bags in these sizes,

48 Litre
50 Litre
60 Litre
100 Litre

Do not charge per bag!

Pack the laundry back into bags you expected to receive it in. So if it is 2 bags you send 2 bags back and charge accordingly. Or 1 full and 1 part That way it is more visual and self explanatory to your customer.
This is what out holiday washing service does for us.

Absolutely do not charge per bag. I pay £1 in West Yorkshire per shirt ironing and hung. I supply the hangers. Other items are cheaper but I do them myself.

Common items all have different prices. A bag is far too vague a measurement and £15 for a bin bag is slave labour.

She creased the items to get them in. Very disrespectful. You also need to specify folded items only.

Perhaps you should investigate what other services charge locally as you need to be competitive to your local market.

I think 50 pence per item and £1 for shirts. Definitely not by the bag.

I have a proper laundry bag and I pay £30 for the bag to be done. I never fill it to bursting and fold my items so they are not too creased. I think it probably takes about 2 to 3 hours to do and therefore think it is fair.

Used to use an ironing service some years ago. They supplied the bags and weighed them when collecting. It worked out at approximately £1 per item. 30p is far too little to charge.

Best of luck with your new venture.

Perhaps you need to supply the bags. Get some 30 litre builders rubble sacks(strong and reusable -also chargeable, like a bag for life), and stick your company logo on the side with instructions on how full they have to be.
Other companies supply baskets for customers to fill.

Horrible woman- yes she proper took the pi$$ OP.
Chalk it up and move on! And I wouldn’t do her ironing again even with a new price list!

I pay by the hour and just trust my lady to charge it right- she’s lovely and wouldn’t take the mick but I also feel I should pay appropriately as it’s a tough job and she does it well so I expect her to charge so she earns a proper wage.

Usually works out about £25-30 per load and she picks up and drops back

The problem with charging per item is that I think it encourages people to only send complex stuff and not put in kids clothes or easy stuff like a pair is shorts.
If you charge per bundle then you may find a good chunk of it is stuff you can whip through.

My old ironing lady used those zip up plastic handled bags and charged per bag. They are like the material of ikea bags but more square and with a zip top. She got them from Poundland I think.

Another vote for pay by the hour; I’d pay up to £15. That covers extreme creasing and any other loopholes people might try to exploit.

Show this customer a black bin bag next to her sack and tell her how many bin bags worth that job was. Charge accordingly.

That system does invite abuse - it's like an all you can eat buffet; all you can cram in! change to by item, weight or time.

Try to charge this customer more as others have suggested. It will be better for your business if you start off being fair to yourself.

Then definitely charge per hour. One advert I saw said a price per hour and then said that’s around a certain number of items. I can’t remember exactly but it was around 10 or 15 an hour and something like 15 pieces ironed.

Also the lady said she had been unwell due to fumes from the laundry she was taking in so she now asks that she only does ironing if laundry is done with eco friendly stuff and no powerful detergents.

Good luck with the business!

Our local lady charges by weight.

Don’t use bin bags as that’s probably why the items were so creased. Laundry baskets encourage items to be properly folded to fit more in.

Charge £20 per basket, £25 for large or overloaded basket.

I charge £1 a lb (local company charges £1.40) and 20p extra for long sleeve adult shirts.
I also do one customer that used to use another company and I charge her by the item as that's what she's used to...,
Top 50p
Trousers £1
Shirts £1
Duvet £1.25
Sheet £1.25
Pillowcases 50p
Hope that helps

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I weigh the bags and charge £1 a lb

The lady I use charges by weight, I think £1 per 1lb - although I've used her so long now it just tends to be £25 for a washing basket load! Sometimes it's really full and other times not so it works itself out.

Alright cross post - are you the lady I use??!

Sorry ahright!