TrashCanBossPro Blog — Recurring Plans

Pricing Trash Can Cleaning Plans by the Number of Cans

Pricing is where a lot of new bin cleaning owners get stuck. Charge too little and you are washing cans for gas money. Charge too much and the neighborhood never signs up. There is no magic number, but there is a structure that most operators land on sooner or later: price by the number of cans, then adjust for frequency.

Start With What You Sell

Before setting prices, decide what you are selling. One-Time Deep Cleans vs Subscription Plans for Trash Can Cleaning covers the two main products. This article is about the recurring side: how to price a plan so it is easy to explain and still pays for the trailer.

A word of caution first. You will see industry “averages” quoted online. Ignore them. Your prices should come from three things you can actually measure: your cost per stop, what customers in your area are willing to pay, and what local competitors charge. Every example price in this article is just that, an example.

Why Price by Can Count

Pricing by the number of cans works because it tracks the work. Two cans take longer than one. Three take longer than two. Customers understand it right away, and it scales from a single-can retiree to a family with trash, recycling and yard waste bins.

A common structure looks like this:

• A base price that covers the first can and the cost of pulling up to the house
• A smaller add-on price for each extra can
• The same price whether the extra can is trash, recycling or yard waste, or a slightly lower one for recycling, which tends to be cleaner

For example, a company might charge $25 a month for the first can and $10 for each additional can. A household with two trash cans and one recycling can would pay $45 a month on that structure. The point is not the numbers. The point is that anyone can do the math on the phone.

Keep the Can Count on the Address

A price built on cans only works if you know how many cans are at each house. TrashCanBossPro stores trash, recycling and yard waste counts on every address. They show on the office lists and on the tech's phone as “2 trash · 1 recycling · Trash day Tue,” so the tech knows what to clean and the invoice matches what was cleaned.

When a customer adds a can, update the count and the service line on the plan. When the tech finds an extra can at the curb that is not on the plan, a note back to the office makes it an easy conversation: “We noticed a second recycling can. Want us to add it for $10 a month?” More on that in Adding Recycling and Yard Waste Cans to a Bin Cleaning Plan.

Adjust for Frequency

Frequency changes the work per visit. Cans cleaned weekly have almost no buildup. Cans cleaned monthly have four weeks of it. Most operators set the price per cleaning a little lower as frequency goes up, while the monthly total still goes up.

One simple approach is to set your monthly plan price first, then build the others from it. Every-other-week might be somewhat less than double the monthly price. Weekly might be a flat per-visit price lower than either. Write the three plans side by side and check that each one is a step up in total and a step down per visit.

Deep Cleans, Add-Ons and Commercial

Three more pieces round out a price list:

• First clean or startup fee. The first cleaning on a neglected can takes much more effort. Price it separately or as a one-time fee on a new plan.
• Add-ons. Pad cleaning and deodorizing are priced per visit as their own line items.
• Commercial and dumpster pads. These are often quoted per site or per pad rather than per can, using an estimate the customer approves online.

Build every one of these into your service list in TrashCanBossPro. That way they go on estimates and invoices as clear line items, with sales tax applied where it is required.

Test, Then Adjust

Your first price list will not be your last. Track how many quotes turn into plans and how long each stop really takes. If almost everyone says yes, you may be priced too low. If routes are full but profit is thin, raise the per-can price for new customers first. Raising prices on existing subscribers is possible, but give plenty of notice and explain why.

Keep your sign-up form and estimates in step with the price list, so new customers always see current pricing.

Simple Beats Clever

The best price list is one a customer understands in one sentence and a tech can confirm by counting cans at the curb. Price by cans, adjust for frequency, charge more for the first clean and keep add-ons separate. For more on running recurring plans, visit the trash can cleaning subscription software page.