What is a good price??

dabone

dabone

New member
Ok I detailed a 2002 black Escalade, I washed then polished (Poorboys Pw/c) then used ex and topped that off with s100. I cleaned the carpet vacumed the carpet wiped down the inside with a microfiber towel then used poorboys natural look on the vinyl(sp) and leather . He had spots on his leather seats took care of those spots, cleaned wood trim I polished the chrome door handles on the inside .I then washed the floor mats, polished his 20 inch spinners rims used high endurance gloss on tires and outside trim. I worked on this vehicle from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. I charged $75.00 was that a good price he says that's WAY too much. Now he doesn't want to pay he knew up front what the price would be. Some people say I don't charge enough any opinons. This isn't a full time job it's more of a hobby just to make a few extra $$$. Thanks in advance.
 
i would have charged more than that . I usually charge 90$ to do a wash /interior vac, windows wipe dash and orbital wax.
 
For what you did I would have been higher in the 100 range. That's only one part, if you quoted this guy and he agreed and now does not want, that bites. Its about business ethics and nothing more even if this is only a part time gig.

I go back to him and say we agreed on a price and know you feel likes its to much. Ask him why he feels that way when he knew up front! Then ask him to pay what ever he think its worth and then say NEVER again will I work on any of your cars.

In the lat 30 plus years that I have been doing this as a part time/full time gig. I have had only opne guy refuse to pay what I said above is what I did

Cheap SOB
 
Seems really low. You should've charged $100 for exterior only. Sounds like he doesn't appreciate your hard work.
 
Thanks for the replys it really helped. I showed him this post and replys he paid me the $75.00 even though he still complained. I guess that's one less customer :( . Thanks again fella's for the quick reply's.
 
dude 75 bucks? I would pay that weekly for the amount of work you do - we have guys come to our work and do 75% less than you do for 125 bucks for cars more for suv's - 20" spinners? cleaning those alone is worth 75.00. Glad he paid you - leave him be - I am willing to bet he will never find anyone that does as good a job as you or the amount of work for 75bucks..and he will be back, only if he calls back tell him the price went up to 125! ;)..I mean jeeze try and find just manual labor for 18 bucks an hour (about what you made)...
 
groebuck said:
only if he calls back tell him the price went up to 125!
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I'm not a pro detailer, but if he wanted me to do a job again, id rase the price as well, but most importantly, I would require that I get paid IN ADVANCE.
 
Wow ..that guy is cheap...he buys a 50k SUV and then complains to pay $75 to make it look new again:nono ....

like groebuck said, i would have charged $75 just for the spinners...about $250 would have been what I would have charged without the spinners.:eek

It doesn't matter if you are a pro or not as long as the work is good:bigups ..let him take it to another detailer and then he'll be back :D
 
dabone said:
I worked on this vehicle from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. I charged $75.00
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It sounds like it's time for you to figure out how much money you need or want to make per hour. For example, since you worked four hours on that vehicle, you were working at an hourly rate of $18.75 per hour.

Even though it 'isn't a full time job', it is still good to know what your costs of doing business are. After all, you've got to supply the detailing products and pay for other associated business expenses. When you add up those costs, you really end up making less than the $18.75 per hour.

Then again, since you really don't have too many business expenses, why not go for it and try setting your prices more in line with the price of your competition. If you do similar work, you may find that you could actually make $25 or $35 per hour instead.

Just my thoughts...
 
I know you guys are right about the price. I will raise the prices more especially on larger vehicles. Most of the vehicles (80%) usually want a full detail. I even won a car (93 mazda 626) using Poorboy's products by hand, I also have a tu-tone harley truck and have done numerous other types of cars, suv's and trucks. For some reason this escalade looked better than any vehicle I have ever done. I posted (poorboys forum) last week about a silver honda civic I had detailed, this detail (black escalade) even topped the honda civic. So would $150 and up on larger vehicles such as full size trucks, suv's and larger cars be a good starting price for a full detail. Thanks for all the advice.
 
Wow, all that for $75. I think you really got ripped off and not to mention the crap you had to go through. I started at $50 for cars and $75 for trucks/suvs when I was in high school. Offered a wash, vacuum, armor all on tires and dash, clean windows with windex, and turtle wax. Used a bath towel to dry the car and old t-shirts to wax. Had plenty of customers back then and none of them complained at that price. Knowing what I know now, I realize I probably did more damage then good those days.
Even the local so-called detail shops charge $150 and up and use cheap products and damage the paint. I just hope that you never have to deal with that person again or anyone else that is so cheap.

Note: Spinners have to be the worst invention ever for detailers. I think the old 7-series BMW wheels are much easier to clean than the spinners and even those are a real PITA.
 
dabone said:
I charged $75.00 was that a good price he says that's WAY too much. Now he doesn't want to pay he knew up front what the price would be.
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To me, this is the key point.:yeah

You quoted the job.
He agreed to the price.
You did the job satisfactorily.
He pays the agreed upon price.
Service performed, agreed upon payment made in full is a business transaction.

Service performed, agreed upon payment not made in full is STEALING.

People who do not pay you what they owe you are not customers, they are thieves. A thief driving a Cadillac is still a thief.

Charles
 
Since I also am doing work for too little, I can say that $75 for that huge truck is WAY too little. If you feel that your work is worth that much, than keep charging low amounts. However, if you think your time is worth more than that, don't worry about the people who want a cheap Chevron wax job. There's bigger fish out there that respect quality work. I'd rather not do anything than work my a$$ off for low wages.
 
Hey dabone - you get paid to do detailing - that makes ya a Pro detailer ! ;) -

You won a car?? WOW ! and using PB products!! Steve!! way to go!

I take it he didn't tip ya - jerk ;( -
 
Dabone: Everyone here has given you sharp, effective and truthfull advice. In all honest, your work, effort, time and products that you use...when combined together are worth FAR more than $75.

To have a customer that you quoted this obscenely low price BEFORE you did the work, agree upon it, and then AFTER you finish for him/her to back out and say they wont pay you is a crime. I think you should make it clear and be very firm (but polite) from the begining (with all your clients) that you are offereing a ultra conveniant, highquality service (unparraleled by those generic detailers/crappy delaership detail shops), you charge more because you do a quality job.

Tell this schmuck about the Mcdonalds hamburger/Filet Mignon analogy....tell him that we must compare apples with apples interms of service pricing, $75 that you agreed was already FAR BELOW market value for the services he received.

It is absolutely pivotal to explain/briefly educate ignorant and arrogant customers like that PRIOR, and AFTER your work so that they can get a full scope of how thorough, unique and highcaliber you are...otherwise they may think your no different than the joe shmo who they used to pay $30 for a 'wash n wax.'

If ever after you spent your time with explanations, proved yourself in the quality of your work, and charged a ridiculously low price like you did ($75) the guy treated you like he did...i would politely yet FIRMLY drop him as a client, PERMANENTLY. Its not worth your frustration, time, effort and energy to work for an under appreciative cheap thief like the guy you mentioned.

Im sorry if this seems like venting, but i got pretty frustrated while reading your post that some people are that arrogant and rude.

Charge prices based on what you feel is fair compensation for your services (time, ebergy, products used...quality of work etc...) and be firm. Also, be sure to point out why you charge what you charge, and how you are different from the other generic low quality 'detailers.'

Goodluck and godspeed.


If i may ask too, how old are you? Perhaps he treated you like this because you are young/new to the business, and he thinks he can get away with stunts like he tried to pull?
 
BaDmOtheR,

Thanks for been honest. I'm 34 I've only been detailing since Oct 03. I started detailing because of my black/silver harley truck just trying to keep it looking good. From there people would stop by and tell me, how good my truck looked. Once people seen the before and after pics of a 1993 mazda 626 I won, I guess the word spread and bam everybody and there moma wanted me to do their vehicles. I live in a small city in Alabama so most people aren't used to paying a lot for detailing services, even though our city just won the largest tort lawsuit (700 million dollars for 20,000 people) in american history. I guess they are not ready for a talent like me LOL.
 
dabone said:
I live in a small city in Alabama so most people aren't used to paying a lot for detailing services,
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Hey, it wasn't a case of paying a lot, the jerk didn't want to pay you the agreed upon price that was quoted before you even started.
Like I said before, not paying for goods and services received is stealing.

Charles
 
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