How do you price your laundry services?

With the exception of the big Laundry Franchises, most laundry shops’ Wash-Dry-Fold services are offered at P25/kg. But how do you price your standard laundry service? Is this already the right price for your laundry service considering your location and target market?

The question for starting laundry business owners is that “How do I price my laundry services?”, “Am I pricing it too high or too low?”. Let us take a look at the things you need to consider for your pricing strategies.

First of all, make sure that your service price should always have a considerable margin from your cost. Go check your competitors for their pricing. Take a look on how the market is responding on their price. Is the price acceptable to the market?

When you already have your competitor checked, it doesn’t mean that you always have to price your services the same as they do. The decision will still be yours. Your price will depend on what impression you want to send out to your prospective customers. Do you want to be “the cheapest” laundry in town? Or maybe you want to position yourself as one of the “elite” by playing at a higher price?

One advice that I can give to you regarding pricing your services is NEVER GO INTO A PRICE WAR.

Always remember that QUALITY ALWAYS COMES FIRST OVER PRICE.

Why price a standard Wash-Dry-Fold service at P20/kg when the market is accepting the P23/kg or even the P25/kg price? A mere P3 to P5 difference per kilogram multiplied by about 15kg per customer is only P45 to P75 difference. That is not that big of a difference if I can have my clothes cleaner and more fragrant than a having it done cheap. Who wants to wear dirty clothes by the way?

Another thing why not go into a price war is that our inflation rate today keeps rising up and prices of commodities as well as your laundry chemicals and detergents are likely to go up. You might have a hard time rising up prices if your clients get accustomed to your low price. Consider also that your competitor may not be paying for rent since his laundry shop is located in their house. They are saving rental cost so they can afford to lower their price. If you are renting, you cannot afford to do that.

Keep in mind that not all services in a laundry shop are priced at the standard Wash-Dry-Fold rate. You will lose money if you offer everything flat rate. Special items like jeans, comforter, blankets, curtains, etc., that eat up space and weight (in kilograms) should be priced higher than the standard rate.

Wash-Dry-Press services, for instance, is offered at a higher price since Pressing is a labor intensive activity. If you will be the one to provide the hangers for their pressed clothes, then an additional of about P10/kg is added to the regular Wash-Dry-Press price to cover up the expenses for the hangers.

Dry Cleaning items also have a different pricing scheme as each item has its special procedures and will require a separate activity, which is usually done after business hours.