What makes them worth it?

jaybs02

jaybs02

New member
I have read about Paul Dalton introducing his new wax and it's cost is £10,000 which is about $20,000 US :jawdrop:
and there are others like the Zymol vintage glaze, and the high end Swissvax.
My question is what makes these waxes soooo expensive :hmmm:
Don't get me wrong I'm not looking to bash, more like looking to understand.

Is the durability or appearance that superior or is it more of a status thing where someone would say that my wax costs more than your Hyundai :lol:

"J"
 
Oh and just to be clear I am not even talking about the waxes in the $100-$200 range even that I might understand.
I talking about the ones that go into the thousands
 
I call it marketing Jay


Its the same difference with a woman that carries a Prada or Gucci purse costing upwards of 1000 bucks and the other woman carrying one from Wal Mart or Macys that costs a faction of that...they do the same thing...Quality of the materials can be better but 10 to 20 X?

These high priced waxes are nothing more than the " I have to have" crowd.

I can bet that the wax is pure this and that, the container is made from crystal whatever, you get refills for life, etc.....again marketing is all that is.

Lastly there are some that really think the more something costs the better it has to be..WRONG!


I for one would love to see a side by side of these high end waxes up against Nattys, P21S and waxes to the likes of those...The average person could not tell the difference.

Steps off soap box:D:D:D:D
 
jaybs02 said:
Is the durability or appearance that superior or is it more of a status thing where someone would say that my wax costs more than your Hyundai :lol:

"J"
Click to expand...
Personal opinion.
To answer your questions in the order asked.
No.
Yes.

I have a friend that can't understand why I don't want a new car. (I've probably had 20) His comment, "Doesn't the prestige of having a new car appeal to you?" Rather than have a discussion about it, I just answer "no".
Hey, anyone can have a nice new car. All you have to do is be able to sign the contract.
Having a nice old car takes some work. :)
 
It seems like a popular trend for some people on detailing boards is just status. The more products and equipment they buy, the 'better' they are, or atleast that's what it seems to me. These expensive waxes and products are not worth it, to me atleast. If the MFG showed what the wax costs and it is reasonably close to the retail price then maybe I'd change my opinion. Until then I believe it is still a status and marketing thing and the MFGs are recieving a very large profit. But hey, if they can persuade people to buy them, I guess they deserve the profits. I know if I bought a $2500 wax I'd have to encourage myself to find anything that makes it better than other waxes just so I would feel like I didn't waste my money.

It would be really interesting to send someone blind samples of waxes, have them apply and remove and get their opinions every few days and rate them in order. If they can distinguish the differences (the ones that don't seem to show up on camera) then maybe these waxes are better quality, but still not worth it IMO. Maybe I just don't like buying expensive things when inexpensive things work just fine for me...
 
I wouldn't mind hearing from those that have used the higher dollar ($100-$400) Swissvax and Zymol to get their impressions of them and why they chose to try them.
 
Funny how this topic came up now.
Just the other day I stopped at a local body shop to visit with a good friend that works their.
This guy is a awesome painter :bigups

WE was talking about some of the new products and he told me about this guy who has to have the best of everything
He brought his car in too get a panel painted and he was telling him that he wanted it painted so it looked as good as it did and that he had a $1200.00 wax on it.

Chuck got a clean MF towel and put a dab of polish on the panel that was to be repaired and rubbed it some them buffed it off and he said you could see a round spot where he had put the polish on.

It was noticeably glossier and the owner exclaimed what the hell is that stuff.
Chuck said NXT you can buy it at Wal-Mart for less than 15 Bucks :rofl
 
let me weigh in on this one. i've said it before and it's probably been said by others, there's not a whole lot of difference in al of these products, lookswise. i see some of the outstanding work done on cars by the pro's here and they all look amazing, and they all use different products. i think, as has already been said ' that the mfg's of these products have to make a living so yes it's all in the marketing, all in getting you to beleive it's better than xyz, well then they do deserve the mega profits. this thing we do , detailing is without a doubt, an addiction, not a bad one mind you, i can think of others that are much worse and can ruin your life and the people around you, if you have the money and feel the urge to spend it on a car wax that probably does'nt cost an inth of what they're taking from you then by all means indulge yourself. sorry if i may have gotten off track, i to will step off the soapbox.
 
A lot of it is what you want to spend your money on.
I have a friend that wears a Rolex, another that wears a Seiko. I wear a $30 Timex.
As far as timekeeping, none of the three have to be reset for anything other than standard/daylight savings time changes or battery replacements.
They feel comfortable with what they spent, I feel comfortable with what I spent.
End result, we are all happy. :)
If you can afford it and it makes you happy, then do it. :bigups
 
CharlesW said:
A lot of it is what you want to spend your money on.
I have a friend that wears a Rolex, another that wears a Seiko. I wear a $30 Timex.
As far as timekeeping, none of the three have to be reset for anything other than standard/daylight savings time changes or battery replacements.
They feel comfortable with what they spent, I feel comfortable with what I spent.
End result, we are all happy. :)
If you can afford it and it makes you happy, then do it. :bigups
Click to expand...

I can understand the difference in the pricing is those items, things that will contain precious metals and stones is one thing, there is only so much in the world at that is it. I can even understand paying premium for the $100-$300 waxes, due to purity of ingredients and higher carnuaba content. I am just lost but the price tag in the thousands. Does that mean if steve put Natty's red in a Swarovski crystal box, he could command getting $800...(Don't get any ideas Steve) :lol2:

"J"
 
thats a though question, its a personal thing. It really is.. to me vintage was worth it becasye of the refills (which i take full advantage of as i paid for it). to some that may not be a dictating factor...

what else makes them that expensive? some will argue the look is better (now i dont want to get into a big argument, so if you have not tried it please do nto comment on this, i dont think its fair. I dont say collinte is crap becasuse its cheap, i have never treid it so ow do i know, also what looks better is a personal thing)

Also there is a prestige to them.. dont kid yourself we live in an image based society.. we buy big houses, fast cars, desginer lables, and now car wax... its like anything it has an image and presige to it... there are bragging rights

is it marketing? yeah ofcourse it is, but megs getting 20 for a wax is alos marketing, its just who and how they choose to market
it


megs markets to the avg consumer. the person who dosent want to spend tons of money on wax.. zymol markets to the wealthy... its just a diffrent marketing plan, to compare them would be like comparing apples and oranegs
 
jaybs02 said:
I can understand the difference in the pricing is those items, things that will contain precious metals and stones is one thing, there is only so much in the world at that is it. I can even understand paying premium for the $100-$300 waxes, due to purity of ingredients and higher carnuaba content. I am just lost but the price tag in the thousands. Does that mean if steve put Natty's red in a Swarovski crystal box, he could command getting $800...(Don't get any ideas Steve) :lol2:



"J"
Click to expand...

come on -- my kids need to go to college in 10 years:mad:
 
CalgaryDetail said:
thats a though question, its a personal thing. It really is.. to me vintage was worth it becasye of the refills (which i take full advantage of as i paid for it). to some that may not be a dictating factor...

what else makes them that expensive? some will argue the look is better (now i dont want to get into a big argument, so if you have not tried it please do nto comment on this, i dont think its fair. I dont say collinte is crap becasuse its cheap, i have never treid it so ow do i know, also what looks better is a personal thing)

Also there is a prestige to them.. dont kid yourself we live in an image based society.. we buy big houses, fast cars, desginer lables, and now car wax... its like anything it has an image and presige to it... there are bragging rights

is it marketing? yeah ofcourse it is, but megs getting 20 for a wax is alos marketing, its just who and how they choose to market
it


megs markets to the avg consumer. the person who dosent want to spend tons of money on wax.. zymol markets to the wealthy... its just a diffrent marketing plan, to compare them would be like comparing apples and oranegs
Click to expand...

Mike like I said I'm not looking to bash. I understand the extra cost even up to a few hundred. but the thousands are the ones that I really can't understand.
Even Paul's £10,000 wax is used on his "mini-detail" which he charges £150-£225, so even at 40 applications a jar (and I think that would be alot), in theory he is loosing money
 
jaybs02 said:
Mike like I said I'm not looking to bash. I understand the extra cost even up to a few hundred. but the thousands are the ones that I really can't understand.
Even Paul's £10,000 wax is used on his "mini-detail" which he charges £150-£225, so even at 40 applications a jar (and I think that would be alot), in theory he is loosing money
Click to expand...
I understand your not here to bash but unforuntly the rest of the world dosent feel that way :wall.... i will admit i get sick of people telling me im an idiot for buying vintage.... I don listen but it still gets old fast.....i can understand pauls wax if you have the money, a shop and the clientel that will pay for it... heck if you can convince somoen to pay a few extra bucks to get the wax on there car then its worth it :lmfao


plus paul himself has admited that he will prob never sell his 10k tub.. its more of a thing for him and his customers... but if you do want it it will be a formulation on divine.. so 2500
 
Don't get me wrong, one day I may look to pick up some swissvax or zymol (not the stuff for a few grand mind you) but just to see what all the fuss is about
 
Another thought on how it happens.
So you start out with your $6 wax and hear about this great product that is $9. What the heck, it's only another 3 bucks.
I'm sure you can see where this is going. In increments of $3 to $20, you just keep going.
First thing you know, you are telling your self the When Souveran is on sale for $49.99 is only another $25 or $30 more than what I'm now using. :notme:
Thank goodness that sale is over. :)
I won't even get into all the different polishes and cleaners we think we need.:surrender

Take an inventory of your products and equipment.
If anyone had told you that you would make that kind of investment when you started, you would have thought them to be crazy. It turns out that we were the ones that are/were crazy. :)
 
I have been the detailer that didn't believe in buying the expensive (and ridiculously expensive) polishes, waxes etc.. I have also come to be a detailer that believes there is a difference and finds value in buying some of the more expensive products out there.

I relate it to the personal beauty product industry. There are companies that use high quality ingredients that are arguably worth the money to rejuvenate skin or make hair healthy. Then you have the companies that try to capitalize on the market for high end skin or hair care products by using good marketing skills rather than a quality product to make their money.

It's the way of the world and it's up to you as the consumer to educate yourself and find the right people to listen to.
 
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