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blazingpw

New member
i have been doing cars for part time work for the past couple of months. i work three days a week so i thought it would be a good way to pick up some cash and also i love detailing. I've come to find out that i can do two full details a day. THat includes washing, dressing, waxing, buffing, vaccuming. I charge $40 for all that. It takes me about 3 hrs on each car. I hear everyone talk about theres kinda good money in detailing but i haven't found it yet. I'm from wilson, nc and from my research i've found that my prices are reasonable. My question is how do you make alot of money in it? i make about $50 a day after i pay for gas, and products for a 7 hour day
 
You aren't charging nearly enough. Sheesh, $40 bucks won't even get me to wash your car and dress your tires. You need to be charging more and working more efficiently. Try reading through this and see if you get any good ideas. You seriously need to reevaluate what you are charging and what the market can bear. Look to what other detail shops are charging and set your prices accordingly. You are only screwing yourself when you are working for free.
 
Not really knowing your area and what the prices are like....I say that your to cheap....I would go look at some of the local detail shops in your area and see what they are charging and what service they are providing.....this can give you a better idea as to what you need to be charging....your mobilie sounds like that can / should be a but more for convience.
 
$40 bucks? when can you do mine ! hey Dude you should be getting a buck and a half for that. You better up your prices and get with the program! good luck to ya !
 
Why dont you give us a step by step of what yoru doing / using.

$40 is way way to cheap no matter were you live. My area doesnt allow me to charge what I beleive my details are worth. I price as $35 for the first hour and $15 for each additional hour after that. YOu should try to get at least 15 an hour for you work and that is even cheap. I will move to a high end city next year and will be able to charge 30 an hour.

Greg
 
blazingpw said:
i have been doing cars for part time work for the past couple of months. i work three days a week so i thought it would be a good way to pick up some cash and also i love detailing. I've come to find out that i can do two full details a day. THat includes washing, dressing, waxing, buffing, vaccuming. I charge $40 for all that. It takes me about 3 hrs on each car. I hear everyone talk about theres kinda good money in detailing but i haven't found it yet. I'm from wilson, nc and from my research i've found that my prices are reasonable. My question is how do you make alot of money in it? i make about $50 a day after i pay for gas, and products for a 7 hour day
Click to expand...

I'd charge $100-$150 for that (clean car to dirty SUV). And I'm in a really economically depressed area. It takes me a little longer, about 4 hours, partly because of PEI red clay (stains white paint and carpets), and ridiculous amounts of road tar and paint. I can do 2/day, so if I made $200/day, I'd make $100 in wages after shop costs.
Right now, I don't have that many customers, so I'm only getting 1-1.5/day. This month we had a fabulous month--I made $1/hr!!!
 
What you need to do is find a decent detail shop and find out what they charge. If you can, double that for your quality and for the convenience of you coming to them.
 
When i do a car:
- hand wash entire car, including bug and tar removal
- clean tires, rims, wheel wells
- dry entire car
- vacuum interior
- clean vinyl, leather, plastic, etc.
- dress all interior
- clean interior windows
- dress tires and wheel wells
- dress exterior trim
- apply wax by hand
- buff paint
*********** All that for $40**********
Even with my location what should i charge? I mostly break down my processes like this
-exterior wash and vacuuming, dressing interior and exterior $30
-same as above plus waxing $40

Whats your ideas? Thanks guys!
 
Only you can tell us about your area, but if you are only making minimum wage, go to Burger King where it doesn't put miles on your shoulders, gear, and car. And, at BK, screwing up means leaving lettuce out of a burger. Detailing, it could mean repainting a panel.
If you are thinking long term, okay, charge less. But double what you are asking is still really cheap.
 
blazingpw said:
When i do a car:
- hand wash entire car, including bug and tar removal
- clean tires, rims, wheel wells
- dry entire car
- vacuum interior
- clean vinyl, leather, plastic, etc.
- dress all interior
- clean interior windows
- dress tires and wheel wells
- dress exterior trim
- apply wax by hand
- buff paint
*********** All that for $40**********
Even with my location what should i charge? I mostly break down my processes like this
-exterior wash and vacuuming, dressing interior and exterior $30
-same as above plus waxing $40

Whats your ideas? Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

what do you mean by buff paint? Is that a 2 step paint polishing?

Greg
 
;) Dame im in Miami and i would charge 35-40 $ per hour on those high end areas of high class americans that want there Volvo's clean :yes: Or you can set a fixed price of 150$ for a Full detail. Im thinking about doing that myself. It really depends on the area and what Proffesional Shops are charging. :yes:
 
He isn't running a full time business. It's just a side job sort of hobby like most of the rest of us.

Try doubling your prices and see what happens. You simply aren't charging enough. The guys that have told you this is a lucrative business are the ones charging three times what you are. You are the boss. If you aren't making enough money then give yourself a raise. You have nobody to complain to if you aren't making enough money. You have three choices... a) increase your price b) detail more cars or c) become more efficient so your hourly rate is higher. Pick one of those options and do it. I would suggest you look around you and adjust your rates accordingly. Your prices are reasonable for an hour's worth of work, so either get faster or charge more. Don't work for free and then complain about it.
 
I agree with the Mullet, but 3 hours is pretty good for the treatment he's offering--faster than me.
 
Your screwing yourself big time! Even if you are only running part time.. you need to at the very least DOUBLE what you charge now! I wont do a car for under $120 and it goes up from there.. I dont do very many details.. I just do one here and there for some extra money.. Im in no way doing this to make a living at it.. I just do one or two here and there, if I need some extra cash.

I would assume that you are doing this part time to supplement your income from a regular job.. I would say its more of a part time job for you, more then a hobby.. Man... you definitely need to charge more!!

Either that, or buy some vaseline so your in a little less pain!


later

Sneak
 
Hey pete... why don't you take a time out while you learn to be a little more respectful and act less like a barn yard animal. That was rude and uncalled for.
 
The Fuzz said:
He isn't running a full time business. It's just a side job sort of hobby like most of the rest of us.

Try doubling your prices and see what happens. You simply aren't charging enough. The guys that have told you this is a lucrative business are the ones charging three times what you are. You are the boss. If you aren't making enough money then give yourself a raise. You have nobody to complain to if you aren't making enough money. You have three choices... a) increase your price b) detail more cars or c) become more efficient so your hourly rate is higher. Pick one of those options and do it. I would suggest you look around you and adjust your rates accordingly. Your prices are reasonable for an hour's worth of work, so either get faster or charge more. Don't work for free and then complain about it.
Click to expand...
Hi Fuzz/my little Buddy :wink:
very good advice and tastefully done i might add. now i see why your soo smooth with the ladies, it's all how its said/worded. :naughtyD
 
There are a few things that you can do to increase your hourly rate. One thing you can do is make cleaning and dressing the interior an extra charge. Even if you stay low and charge $5-10 it will help. If you are charging a flat rate on any vehicle, make a higher price for suv, trucks, mini vans and such. The other things you can do are things that save time. If you are hand applying wax and then buffing it off with an orbital then unplug the oribital and do it by hand. There are products out there that will let you put wax on and take it off super fast. I one step most cars and tend to apply with a PC and take off with hand. I could do it all faster by hand but the pc does a better job and without much effort from me. It sounds like what you are doing is a maintenence (express) type detailing. Trying to achieve full detailing results at express prices won't do much for your wallet. I think you could cut your time down to 60-90 minutes with some changes and lower over time. In low priced express work you have to force yourself to move. You can't get a car with 12 months of brake dust and spend an hour cleaning the wheels. Not saying you leave them looking like crap either lol. Certain cleaners will speed that up. SA Detailer above turned me on to a brush that has been incredibly useful. Break things down into areas and figure out how to speed things up or improve in some way. I estimate I've cleaned 25-45,000 car by myself. You can always improve :)
 
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