Guides · Pricing
How much to charge for bin cleaning
Price too low and you can't afford the van. Price too high and the round never gets dense enough to be worth driving. Here's how to think about it properly, rather than copying the cheapest person in your town.
The typical UK range
Most UK bin cleaners charge somewhere around £5–£8 per bin per clean on a four-weekly cycle. One-off deep cleans usually go for roughly double that, because the bin is filthier and you get none of the recurring value. Where you sit in that range depends on your area, your competition and — mostly — how confident you are about turning up on the right day, every time.
Price per stop, not per bin
The number that decides whether you make money isn't the price per bin — it's revenue per stop. Driving to a house, parking, and getting the kit out is nearly all of your cost. Once you're there, the second bin takes seconds. So a customer paying £6 for one bin and a customer paying £10 for two bins are wildly different businesses, even though the second one got a discount.
This is why almost every successful operator discounts additional bins: it pushes customers to add bins, which raises revenue per stop without adding a single minute of driving.
Work out your break-even honestly
Before you commit to a price, run the numbers on a realistic day:
- • How many stops can you genuinely do in an hour on a dense street? (Not your best-case, your average.)
- • What's your revenue per stop at your proposed price?
- • Subtract fuel, water, waste-water disposal, insurance, equipment maintenance — and your own wage.
- • How many customers do you need before that day pays for a van?
If the plan only works at an unrealistic bins-per-hour, the price is wrong, not the plan.
Don't win on price
Undercutting the local competition by a pound wins you customers who will leave for the next person who undercuts you by a pound, and it strips out the margin you need to run reliably. Bin cleaning customers churn for one reason far more than price: the cleaner didn't show up when the bin was empty. Reliability is the product. Charge for it.
Common questions
How much do bin cleaners charge in the UK?+
Most operators charge roughly £5–£8 per bin per clean on a four-weekly subscription, with additional bins at the same address discounted. One-off deep cleans are usually priced at around double a subscription clean. Prices vary by region and by how dense your round is.
Should I charge per clean or monthly?+
Charge a recurring subscription. It gives you predictable income, removes the admin of chasing individual payments, and dramatically increases customer lifetime value. Bill automatically by card so a clean never happens before payment does.
Should I discount extra bins?+
Yes. The second and third bin at an address cost you almost nothing extra — you're already parked, the equipment is already running. Discounting extra bins raises your revenue per stop, which is the number that actually drives profit.
Set your prices, take the payments, done
GrowthBase handles per-bin pricing, multi-bin discounts and recurring card payments — and only puts paying customers on your worksheet.
See plans & pricingPrices quoted are general market observations, not a guarantee. Research your own area and costs before setting rates.