What should a kid charge to clean trash bins?

Bin cleaning is unpleasant, which is exactly why it pays.

What they are really buying

Not a clean bin. They are buying not opening the lid in July and being hit by the smell, and not finding what is living at the bottom of it.

This is a job almost nobody will do themselves, not because it is hard but because it is genuinely revolting. Willingness to do the thing other people will not is a real business advantage, and it is worth pricing like one.

What adults pay proves it

Companies do exist that clean residential bins, usually with truck mounted high pressure systems that arrive on trash day. They price per bin per visit with discounts on recurring plans, but coverage is patchy and many areas have nobody at all.

Where no bin cleaner operates, the closest benchmark is outdoor cleaning generally. Pressure washing runs $60 to $125 an hour, and almost every company sets a minimum around $100 to $150 for coming out.

Where to start, and why

Somewhere between $10 and $20 per bin for a proper scrub and rinse, with a second bin at the same house costing less because you are already there.

The gap is for being unproven, and it is narrow. There is not much craft to demonstrate here. The bin is either clean and no longer smells or it is not, and the customer can tell within about two seconds.

The discount should not last

One bin done properly is the entire proof. After that you are the person who solved a problem they were not going to solve themselves, and quarterly repeat work follows almost automatically.

Where you should not discount at all

Nobody is sending a truck to clean two bins. Where a bin cleaning company does not operate, you are not the budget option, you are the whole market.

Summer is the other one. Bins in July are a completely different problem from bins in February, and demand is seasonal in a way worth using. Push hardest when the problem is worst and price accordingly.

Do it on trash day

Clean the bin the day it is emptied, when it is at the curb and empty. Any other day you are dealing with a full bin and a customer who has to be home.

Trash day also tells you exactly which houses have bins out, which is the easiest customer list anyone ever assembled.

Where the water goes

Whatever comes out of that bin should not run down the street into a storm drain. Rinse onto grass or gravel where it soaks in, and check whether your town has rules about it.

Mentioning that to a customer unprompted is the sort of thing that makes an adult decide you are serious.