Am I not charging enough for my work?

E

Evenflow

New member
In a few weeks I will be detailing a black 2002 Mustang GT. I saw the fellow outside washing his car with, and since I as well have the same Mustang I figured I would introduce myself and tell him what I do. After a once around on his car, I noticed it was swirled moderatly. He uses Dawn dish soap to wash it, and 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. However, the car is always parked outside right next to a pretty busy street.



I talked to him for a half hour, he took down my information. He only lives about five minutes away so it would be easy for me to be mobile with him.



I told him my process for the car would be..



- Wash with Meguiars GC

- CM Claybar

- Poorboys SSR 2.5

- ClearKote RMG

- PoorBoys EX

- ClearKote CMW



Also I would clean the wheels (E1 A2Z, and throw a coat of EX on them), and dress the tires/whells.



He asked for a price, I told him $110.



Just wondering if you all think thats to cheap for the detail? I think I might skip the EX, unless he asks for it.
 
How long will it take you to get it right? If its just 4 hours, then not bad. If its gonna take you up to 6 hours then $150+
 
It really shouldnt take me any longer than 4 1/2 hours. Washing wont take to long since he keeps the paint rather clean, and I can claybar the entire vehicle in under a half hour probably. The only step I can see taking maybe more than an hour is the polishing.
 
Just exterior? I'd charge around $125 for a 4 step exterior only job (cars only, of course) provided I didn't have to do any heavy compounding to remove the swirls. Using Optimum No Rinse saves me a ton of wash time, so I could probably knock it out in 3.5 hours, add an hour for heavy compounding.
 
Yea im doing just exterior. I think I should of just went with $125, but I guess its to late to change the price on him now lol.



I think I might go this route instead.



-QEW

-Clay

-SSR2.5

-RMG

-CMW
 
evenflow said:
In a few weeks I will be detailing a black 2002 Mustang GT. I saw the fellow outside washing his car with, and since I as well have the same Mustang I figured I would introduce myself and tell him what I do. After a once around on his car, I noticed it was swirled moderatly. He uses Dawn dish soap to wash it, and 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. However, the car is always parked outside right next to a pretty busy street.



I talked to him for a half hour, he took down my information. He only lives about five minutes away so it would be easy for me to be mobile with him.



I told him my process for the car would be..



- Wash with Meguiars GC

- CM Claybar

- Poorboys SSR 2.5

- ClearKote RMG

- PoorBoys EX

- ClearKote CMW



Also I would clean the wheels (E1 A2Z, and throw a coat of EX on them), and dress the tires/whells.



He asked for a price, I told him $110.



Just wondering if you all think thats to cheap for the detail? I think I might skip the EX, unless he asks for it.
Click to expand...





The local guy that puts way too much (any) armorall on everything charges $140. If you do quality work and evidently use quality products, there's no reason you're not worth more. Try to find a balance of what people will pay and what you're worth.
 
victory said:
The local guy that puts way too much (any) armorall on everything charges $140. If you do quality work and evidently use quality products, there's no reason you're not worth more. Try to find a balance of what people will pay and what you're worth.
Click to expand...



:LOLOL I did an ML320 yesterday that had been 'detailed' the day before by a local car wash (her husband had neglected to tell her I was coming by to detail her ML the next day!). Tons of greasy protectant everywhere, the mats hadn't been cleaned at all, they waxed over bugs, tar and a color transfer, the door jams were filthy, etc. She paid $125, if I remember right.
 
Scottwax said:
:LOLOL I did an ML320 yesterday that had been 'detailed' the day before by a local car wash (her husband had neglected to tell her I was coming by to detail her ML the next day!). Tons of greasy protectant everywhere, the mats hadn't been cleaned at all, they waxed over bugs, tar and a color transfer, the door jams were filthy, etc. She paid $125, if I remember right.
Click to expand...



If you weren't in texas i'd guess it was the same guy. To save my families cars from this gomer i'm doing my dads car for the price of a PC 7424. :D
 
A little off topic - do you find you can effectively remove marring with SSR2.5 and finish down to an LSP ready surface (especially on black)? I'd think there would be another polishing step in there (SSR1 for example). Just wondering since it'd make for more time spent and thus more $.
 
Picus said:
A little off topic - do you find you can effectively remove marring with SSR2.5 and finish down to an LSP ready surface (especially on black)? I'd think there would be another polishing step in there (SSR1 for example). Just wondering since it'd make for more time spent and thus more $.
Click to expand...





SSR 2.5 will leave so marring on any dark color. Of course the severity all depends on what pad you used.



Now, back to the question at hand. There is no way in hell I could charge more then $100 per car. Hell in my area you have crackheads that do full details for $50. These people don't care about quality, they just want thier cars to look good.
 
I charge $100 for wash, polish and sealant for most cars.



I give every customer a disclaimer on the quote that it's subject to change upon inspection of the car at the time of the detail, it gives you a way to raise the price if need be.
 
My best exterior process runs $180. I got two lined up this weekend. For what you have listed I would charge close to Scottwax: $130.
 
evenflow said:
.



I told him my process for the car would be..



- Wash with Meguiars GC

- CM Claybar

- Poorboys SSR 2.5

- ClearKote RMG

- PoorBoys EX

- ClearKote CMW



Also I would clean the wheels (E1 A2Z, and throw a coat of EX on them), and dress the tires/whells.



He asked for a price, I told him $110.



Just wondering if you all think thats to cheap for the detail? I think I might skip the EX, unless he asks for it.
Click to expand...



From the other posts, it seems like you may have undercharged your work. However, if you told him that your work on his car for $110 included EX, why would you "skip the EX, unless he asks for it"? IMO, the upright thing would be to either include it and chalk it up to a lesson learned (and charge more for your next detail) or re-negotiate your process with him before you do the work. Anyway, that's my 2 cents ... for what it's worth.
 
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