Can A Store Bought Wax Compete With A Boutique Sealant?

wfedwar said:
I never understood why OTCs couldn't be better. In many cases, the cost difference is minor. On a similar note, I can't figure out why more stores don't carry the good OTCs, like Duragloss, Collinite, and 303.
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Well, there is a lot more to it than just the cost of raw ingredients. For example, lets say there is a polymer component from a chemical supplier than can be mixed into your existing car wax which adds $0.50 per bottle. Most people would think, "for 50 cents, pour it in there, I want it". But when your company produces 50,000 bottles of car wax per month, that is $25,000 in expense, or $300,000 per year in additional materials cost. From a business perspective, can you sell more product, or make more profit, if you include that ingredient? Instead of spending $300,000 on a fancy ingredient, what else can you do with that money? National advertising? TV commercials? Marketing programs for your largest customers? 50 cents a bottle ain't gonna buy you premium shelf space at Walmart, but 300 grand might.

As for why certain products aren't available at mass retail, like the example above, there is a lot of deciding on a product mix than just the perception of selling a quality product. Even if Collinite was the best product on the shelves, would it sell in sufficient numbers to be worth buying? What's the point of offering 303 if your typical retail customer won't buy it because it's more expensive than competing products?
 
Great idea for a thread Bret and thanks for taking the time to share it here. You've put forth some interesting observations that I tend to agree with. From my "consumer" mind I have always equated OTC with "lack of durability". I'll be curious to see your longer term results with these 2 LSP's. The only OTC product I've used is NXT 2.0 and was somewhat impressed with it's durability but that's an example of a company (Meg's) who caters to the full spectrum of consumers - professional as well as weekend retail ("lemme pick up some wax while I'm getting a new steering wheel cover"). Meguiar's sells to WalMart and the pro body shop.

Brings back memories of the Guru Reports! Keep us posted and thanks again.
 
Luster said:
The main problem I've found with the OTC waxes and sealants, is longevity. Nothing that I've found (OTC) even comes close to BFWD or Zaino in terms of longevity.
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Washed my car today with ONR (test run for the winter - it was 64 in Toronto today - very abnormal for November) and I was amazed at how the water was sheeting off the car from the multiple coats of Z2Pro. So far so good.
 
Best OTC product for me was J-Wax in my very younger days. My dads Olds 98 was as long as a battleship. That stuff was a charm to use on it and save my life, and that was in 64!
 
No mater if it's store bought or online LSP. It's all in the prep work. You can use a $2,500 wax and won't look as good as Turtle Wax that was applied to a surface that was prepped right. The one thing that the online retailers have over the OTC stuff is prep products. I'm talking polishes like Menzs, sealants like BFWD and Zaino not to say that Dura Gloss doesn't make some great sealants. I don't know if Meg's 105/205 is sold otc, but even if it was, the average guy would not know how to use it properly. Again 90% prep 10% lsp.
 
A lot of auto paint stores sell Megs products, i think even CarQuest will get the Mirror Glaze products if you ask.
 
BretFraz said:
My goal for posting this was not to start a big controversy, but to stimulate some conversation. The car care products industry has evolved quite a bit in the past 10 years. What was a product leader in, say, 2001 may not competitive today. I like to keep on top of new product developments and am always willing to try something new.

When it comes to LSP's, the fact is most people do not or will not buy car care products from the web. They'd much rather go to their local store and buy a bottle of whatever, as long as its not too expensive and works OK. I've heard over and over from industry people that once you hit $10-12 at retail, sales drop dramatically. That number may have changed a bit, but there is a price threshold for every retail product including car wax.

Because most consumers are price sensitive, the priorities of a retail product are different than those of a boutique-style product. It's like that in most products; what a Rolex buyer wants in a watch is different than a Timex customer shopping at WalMart. Consumer's wants and needs change as the prices change.

One big trend I have noticed is the performance improvements made to retail products. 7-8 years ago there was a big difference between "store bought" waxes and the boutique stuff available via mail order. Today, that difference is much smaller. The car care products industry has grown significantly since 2000. Companies like Meguiars, Mothers, 3M, Eagle One, Ecolab (Black Magic, Blue Coral, etc) have expanded their product lines and introduced many new products. This forces the high end mfrs to continue to innovate new technologies and products. The industry grows, more companies come in with new products, and competition improves the breed. In the end, we all benefit.
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*sigh* Gotta love Capitalism! I have a couple of questions. First, would you say that one product went further than the other? Second, and I hope I didn't overlook anything that would have answered this but did you enjoy working with one product more than the other?

I have a thought about boutique vs. OTC - Many times the average consumer shops based on little other than price and rarely considers value. For example, if it takes more of the OTC to achieve the same result (either in looks or durability) of the boutique product, are we getting our money's worth? Admittedly I cannot say how often this might happen with LSPs or polishes, but I can say I have experienced it often enough in other areas.
 
As for boutique vs OTC, I do not think many know much about various products (harder to find OTC and boutique) because no one advertises so how can you want something you do not know exists. This is why so many non-mainstream brands have a market because the connect with the seller and make the sale.

But, as the leaves start to fall, many (but not me) seem to get out the Collinite with same ritualistic way as getting out the Christmas tree. This tells you something.

But in the grand scheme of detailing, LSP's are not very expensive on a cost per application even for more premium priced products. I see soaps, instant detailers, etc. to be the high per use items.
 
Very cool thread Bret.

I think that there is a lot of cross over between OTC products and professional products anyways. It only makes sense to amortize the cost of developing a product with both professional and consumer sales, Meguiar's M135/Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Detailer being a very obvious example. Despite a scent change these products perform the same.

As far as boutique products that do not have a consumer line, the cost is significantly higher to make the products. Because the products are sold at a much smaller volume they are not as susceptible to tight margins as the focus has to be on performance or marketing (both seem to work).

As you mentioned adding an ingredient may ad $.05 to a product which doesn't like much. If you sell 100,000 products that cost is $5000.00. Where as if you only sell 10,000 products the cost is a more reasonable $500.00. As because that $500.00 increases the performance you would probably loose money in sales with out it.

Blackfire has been updated twice since its introduction as new chemicals become available (at a higher initial cost). Like anything the price of these new chemicals drops as time goes by (on a much larger scale look at a Plasma TV 4 years ago vs. now) so at some point these chemicals become cost effective for OTC manufacturers to add and new (and better) lines are born.

Beading vs. sheeting is also an interesting debate. I subscribe to Sal Zaino's theory that it really isn't the initial characteristic but rather a change in that characteristic that signals a loss in performance as the product is undergoing some chemical loss.
 
WonderTwin said:
*sigh* Gotta love Capitalism! I have a couple of questions. First, would you say that one product went further than the other? Second, and I hope I didn't overlook anything that would have answered this but did you enjoy working with one product more than the other?

I have a thought about boutique vs. OTC - Many times the average consumer shops based on little other than price and rarely considers value. For example, if it takes more of the OTC to achieve the same result (either in looks or durability) of the boutique product, are we getting our money's worth? Admittedly I cannot say how often this might happen with LSPs or polishes, but I can say I have experienced it often enough in other areas.
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When you say, "went further than the other", I assume you are referring to the amount of product used to cover an area? I'd say the Blackfire is a little better in this respect, but both products spread nicely. The Mothers Synwax feels a little "heavier" but coverage is good over an area. The pic of the truck bed shows this (not very well, but you get the idea).

I liked working with both products. The Blackfire is a liquid so I have to pour out a few drops regularly, while the Mothers Synwax is a pre-softened paste so I could hold the container in one hand and dip the app into it quickly with the other hand.

As to your other point, I agree with you about consumer's decision making process. They do it that way because that is all they know. If consumers do not understand the value of products, they will always shop on price. Happens with every mass marketed product. When you go to Best Buy and look at all the TV's, how does someone know which one to buy if they're not knowledgeable about them? They shop on price, that's it. It's like using mileage as the prime determining factor when buying a used car; if a buyer doesn't know anything about cars, the odometer is one easy way to judge one from another.
 
You assume correctly. Yes, we hear it all the time, "a tv is just a tv", "a _____ is just a _____ (insert consumer product of choice).
 
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