Got a question for fellow pros

M

MCWD

New member
Today I bumped into a local competitor of mine in the mobile detailing industry. The two of us are on great terms. We have a mutual agreement to not step on each others toes and pick customers from each other. That is the good part! Well in talking to him today, he had expressed an interest in getting as many competitors from the area together and talk about setting a mutual base price for services and whatnot. Now he said he isnt interested in saying what we shouldn't charge, but more of getting us all together and say what we wont charge under. Part of me feels okay about this and the other makes me feel like my company is diff from most of theirs. Some are not a legit tax paying biz, some just do cash and claim nothing, and the others are a ?mark... I know I do it all by the books to not have the headaches of worrying what can go wrong with my biz. I know that I def have the highest overhead from anyone in the area because I do things right and I try my best to be the best. I don't want to agree to a base price that is not productive to my profits, but I am curious what all of you think about this thought from my fellow competitor...:getdown
 
I wouldn't do this. Having a base price with someone that might not be equal to you is not worth it. Charge what you want to charge and NEVER undersell yourself. If you do the best work of the bunch why would you want them making the same as you.



Yes, eventually your quality of work will be your selling point compared to those other people but then you will see that they will go back on their deal to have equal prices and lower theirs to get customers.



I also only detail part time and since I have A LOT of stuff going on that isn't detailing(My wifes having our baby on Monday) I have not pushed too hard for business. When the business becomes more of a priority I will not lower my price to get more business. I take pride in my work and if I believe I am worth $45+ an hour than that is what I will charge.
 
Bobarell said:
I wouldn't do this. Having a base price with someone that might not be equal to you is not worth it. Charge what you want to charge and NEVER undersell yourself. If you do the best work of the bunch why would you want them making the same as you.



Yes, eventually your quality of work will be your selling point compared to those other people but then you will see that they will go back on their deal to have equal prices and lower theirs to get customers.



I also only detail part time and since I have A LOT of stuff going on that isn't detailing(My wifes having our baby on Monday) I have not pushed too hard for business. When the business becomes more of a priority I will not lower my price to get more business. I take pride in my work and if I believe I am worth $45+ an hour than that is what I will charge.
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Thanks for the input... Its not that I am looking to undersell myslf, but sometimes people see prices all over the board from these other detailers. I don't know how they think they will pay the bills! I have personally seen 3 guys start and fail within a yr in this area.
 
I wouldn't waste my time with this. There are a lot of guys in my area that are a lot cheaper than me. I imagine there are also guys that charge a lot more. When people call me for a quote, and I can tell they are concerned about price, I explain the process to them in terms they can understand, and sometimes email them links from this site of some of my previous details (click and brags). A lot of the time, they will gain a better understanding of the work involved through these explanations, and will call me back and want me to do their car, and are then fine with the price. Other times, they call me back and tell me they aren't looking for anything as involved as what I do, and would be happy with a cheaper, 1 hour quickie service somewhere else - which is fine with me.



I think there is a place for all price ranges, and I tend to not worry about what everyone else is charging. I just know what my time and work is worth.
 
Be careful, collusion and price fixing in your industry isn't a big deal ( I wouldn't think ) but would probably frowned upon by your states AG.
 
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