How would you price this?

[imported_JoshVette]

yea Josh... Rydawg... you guys have things extreamly skewed I think. You guys have the reputation and the ability to talk the way you guys do because you've worked years putting in hard hours building up that clientel and rep. What works for you two I can honestly say won't work for the mass majority on this board. It's his operation let him run it as it works out for him. Telling people they charge to little is stupid. You have no idea what his actual quality is like You have no idea what his area is like. Maybe he's alreay 20% or more higher than any local compitetion. That would change the light on almost everything you guys are saying. I personally think paying upwards of $130+ for simple hand washes and a one step polish is insane. But that's because in my area no one even the uber rich would ever think about paying that. If he can get it awesome. But to say that's cheap is just plain stupid... And insulting to the buying public of america. We wash cars guys.... In most cases it's looked upon by the general public as one step above washing dishes... Certian people have the ability to niche a service and get paid top dollar while the majority do DD' and volume work. Most people on this board are weekend warriors. Not pro's.



Let me toss this out though. Just Q/A a bit



Why is a MF mit better?



Why is a 2 bucket sytem better?



I don;t usually discount either but I do upgrade to a better wax or something.

Jake, I respect your opinion and ideas and the business you have sucessfully set up but to be honest, you speek only for yourself and no one else. You can not speak for the majority on Autopia or pro detailers.... matter of fact you may be in the extreme minority the way you say it is for you...



No we don't know the OP's quality, but he did talk about his processes and they sounded good, much more then most typical "washers" do so I say he should stick with his prices as is and not discount.



We are not telling him how to run his business, but remember he did come on and ask questions about it so we, like you, are giving our input.



Jake, you may be in some cheap, poor town or whatever you claim, but I'd be willing to bet there's some people who love there cars in your town, but you refuse to think outside the box, you are stuck in your own thoughts of "no one will ever pay that much money for such and such"..... so guess what, no one ever will for you, but they will for me and rydawg and others who understand what it means to take care of someone's car not just wash it.



BTW, I've always detailed my cars, but as far as professionally detailing for others cars' I've only been doing this for a short time. I just choose not to limit my thinking and abilities and possible market like you have.:grinno:



Josh

 

[Scottwax]

I agree with the others, partly because I found out the hard way. Very early on (mid 90s), I had a guy ask if I could wash three cars at his office every Monday morning for $50. I was still trying to build my client base and he would be my first weekly customer. At first, everything was fine, all three cars were there and usually in pretty good shape, I was in and out in around 2.5 hours and $20 an hour was decent money at the time. After a while, they started taking the cars out to their job sites (construction firm) and they'd be covered in mud and grime. Then there wasn't always three cars, and at time, only one and you guessed it, he only wanted to pay $16.67 each car if there was less than 3. I finally told him either all three cars have to be there and due to how dirty they were, the price was going to $65. The price would still be $65 even if there was only 1 car because I just couldn't justify the travel time (4 miles each way, really not that bad) and set up for just one car and only get $20 and change. He refused so I told him to find someone else.



I no longer do deals, mutliple vehicle discounts, etc. The price is the price. If you give people an inch, they will take a mile if you let them. For regular customers, I just do a little extra for them, like QD their car every other week, maybe dress the dash and console. 5 minute extras that cost me next to nothing but make the customer happy.

 

[bwalker25]

I agree with the others, partly because I found out the hard way. Very early on (mid 90s), I had a guy ask if I could wash three cars at his office every Monday morning for $50. I was still trying to build my client base and he would be my first weekly customer. At first, everything was fine, all three cars were there and usually in pretty good shape, I was in and out in around 2.5 hours and $20 an hour was decent money at the time. After a while, they started taking the cars out to their job sites (construction firm) and they'd be covered in mud and grime. Then there wasn't always three cars, and at time, only one and you guessed it, he only wanted to pay $16.67 each car if there was less than 3. I finally told him either all three cars have to be there and due to how dirty they were, the price was going to $65. The price would still be $65 even if there was only 1 car because I just couldn't justify the travel time (4 miles each way, really not that bad) and set up for just one car and only get $20 and change. He refused so I told him to find someone else.



I no longer do deals, mutliple vehicle discounts, etc. The price is the price. If you give people an inch, they will take a mile if you let them. For regular customers, I just do a little extra for them, like QD their car every other week, maybe dress the dash and console. 5 minute extras that cost me next to nothing but make the customer happy.

Scott - I completely understand, I dont wont to get taken advantage of. Your post was most useful to me Thank you



Josh - I see and understand as well...I am just starting so thinking outside the box is a little hard because I dont really know the area yet...time will come and I will know my area like the back of my hand...Thank you



This forum is full of different opinions and different people and thats what makes this place great :bigups

 

[imported_Ivan Rajic]

Jake, you may be in some cheap, poor town or whatever you claim, but I'd be willing to bet there's some people who love there cars in your town, but you refuse to think outside the box, you are stuck in your own thoughts of "no one will ever pay that much money for such and such"..... so guess what, no one ever will for you, but they will for me and rydawg and others who understand what it means to take care of someone's car not just wash it.

VERY true...



I can speak from personal experience... when I first started detailing at a level that is lower than what I'm doing now, but was 3+ years ago higher than 99% of places in my area, I had the mindset Josh mentioned "I have to reduce prices so people will come"... I did, and they did... but you know what else, they also left just as fast as they came... they left because the shop down the street charged $20 less for a wash&wax (I charged $40-50 the place did $20-30 let's say) and were done within 45 minutes, whereas I had to keep the car for at least 1 sometimes 2 hours... there was no discussion about their car, process, products, nothing of that sort...

why is this bad? because I had attracted the "wrong" client. I say "wrong" because for someone with a fixed location feeding their family from this income will and should take on any client who will pay for their services. Fixed locations that produce quality results however concentrate more on interiors and maintenance washes and wash & wax and not $300-800 complete details. This is the reason they will and should take on these clients.



Myself on the other hand, while I don't really NEED the money, I looked at it as if I did... I luckily learned in a short period of time (2 months) that you MUST go after certain clients and turn away others... in my case, it was both pleasing to me but also very pleasing to the client to talk about the car for a while, say what I'll do, how the car will look, etc. That's when I knew I found "the right" client... once you find a few of these clients, who equate the high price with high quality, they will very very rarely refer someone to you who is price shopping... yes this takes longer to get more clients, and as I said above, is not ideal, or even doable, for someone with a full time detailing shop, but for people who have a passion for it (again please don't mistake what I say here... those working full time with fixed locations still have a passion for this, just different circumstances) and don't NEED the money for food, clothes, etc. it's better to do a high paying job 2x a month than 10 low paying jobs. Now in my 3rd year doing this, I'm finally getting to the point where I wanted all along... 4-6 $300-500 details per month and more always calling. The most satisfying part is "converting" an average Joe with a 98 Honda Accord and showing him why he should pay me $400 to polish the honda to perfection pretty much, rather than spending less and less at these other shops. Even if I can't teach owners to do everything themselves (I do try, even telling them to buy PCs and do light maintenance polishes 2-3x yearly) I teach them enough that they can weed through those who we like to call "hacks" and go for quality, and pay for it.



Lastly, if it's not clear from above, it's not good to charge the lower prices because you'll become one of those "hack" shops and be compared to them, rather than being a guy who wants a lot of money but provides great quality. One of my clients actually put it in "car terms".. he said "If you didn't charge what you do, you'd get people like those who go around used car dealerships looking for a good running Honda, Toyota, Chevy, or whatever else at a good price, instead of dealing with people who only go to the Porsche dealership and can't decide whether to spend "only" $90k or $140k. You wanna be the Porsche man! And take all my money haha" Obviously there's nothing wrong with people who drive Hondas haha (I drive a 2000 Toyota Corolla as my daily driver) but you get the point.... crap this is a long post



Edit: I was typing while Scott was posting, so my my post kinda reflects his in a "few" more sentences haha