How much do you charge?

[Detailing by M]

Re: How much do you charge?

^^^
yes it is! You'll be out of business soon!
I don't touch a car for less then $55.

Go see James at Command Detail ASAP!

[gclark26]

Yeah i watch the hand wash place here. In and out. No attention to detail. No drying every nook and crany. No extra like trim treatment or interior cleaning.
We are the true professionals

[gclark26]

Re: How much do you charge?

I've come up with some pricing I think is more realistic. The goal is to get them in the door and gradually increase the prices. I am new, so I am a pig-in-a-poke until customers give me a try.

All times are estimates
Exterior Service	Time / Min	Price			Interior Service	Time / Min	Price
Hand Wash / Dry	50	$37.50			Vac Interior	15	$11.25
Clean Door Jams		X			Clean Floor Mats	15	$11.25
Clean Trunk / Hood Seals		X			Carpet Shampoo	45	$33.75
Condition Rubber Trim		X			Clean Upholstery	45	$33.75
Clean Windows / Mirrors		X			Clean / Condition Leather	30	$22.50
Clean sidewalls		X			Clean Dash / Console / Vents	20	$15.00
Remove brake dust		X			Clean Windows	15	$11.25
Clean Rims		X			Deodorize	10	$7.50
Clean Wheel well		X			Apply Vinyl / Plastic Protection	20	$15.00
Blow Dry		X			Apply Carpet Protection	20	$15.00
Apply Tire Dressing	10	$7.50			Apply Upholstery Protection	20	$15.00
Chrome Polish	20	$15.00			Vac Trunk	15	$11.25
Bug / Tar remover	10	$7.50
Additional Services					* Extra for Large Vehicles
Spay Wax	30	$22.50
Clean Paint (clay Bar)	30	$22.50
Compounding (est)	120	$90.00
Polish (est)	90	$67.50
Wax (liquid) (est)	30	$22.50
Engine Cleaning (est)	90	$67.50

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: How much do you charge?

That's because you ...k

r-o-c-k?

[Chicago Tommy]

Re: How much do you charge?

Exterior Detailing Package :Starting at $30
-Pressure wash finish, rims, tires, and wheel well areas.
-Foam cannon wash with microfiber wash mitt
-Air blow and hand dry vehicle to remove water from surfaces and crevices.
-Quik Wax applied to enhance existent wax protection.
-Clean all windows inside and out.
-Wipe down all interior surfaces
-Vacuum Car interior including, carpets, floor mats, crevices, under seats and trunk areas.
-Clean door pockets and dash area including gauges.
-Apply a UV protect interior dress coating to all the vinyl, and dash leaving a beautiful mild shine look protecting from the sun rays from damaging or fading over time.
-Shine tire with dressing.
-We apply a protectant to your vehicle’s trim surface which helps restore them back to the original finish, and it also has a UV protect to help maintain the trim surfaces from being damaged from the sun.

*4x4 trucks and SUVs contact for special pricing. If interior condition requires stain removal, you will be upgraded to Interior Detailing Package as well.

Interior Detailing Package : starting at $20
-Shampooing all of your vehicle’s carpets and upholstery with high grade upholstery soap, which foams the dirt to the surfaces, which then we extract the soil and grime leaving your carpets and mats perfectly clean depending on the condition of the mats.
-All leather surfaces are scrubbed clean to remove the dirt and the grime from in between the grain of the leather. After which we apply a UV based leather conditioner to restore your upholstery to keep it soft and supple.
-Trunks are vacuumed and detailed

Panel Correction $10/panel
-Headlight restoration (1 headlight is a panel)
-Swirl and scratch removal
-Protectant/Sealant applied. Pure synthetic paint protectant will do more to increase optical clarity, shine and gloss, while providing a high level of protection against environmental attack. This provides protection against oxidation, corrosion, UV rays and surface degradation.

*If panel correction is not possible, service will not be charged

Clay, Polish & Wax +$30 with Exterior Detailing Package
-Apply a polishing oil adds depth of color, especially on dark-colored cars, & leaves the paint finish incredibly clear & glossy with mirror-like reflections
-Apply synthetic wax for your paints finish which will protect your paint against the harsh heat, and environment deposits which tend to ruin, or eat into your clear coat.

Cars are recommended to be dropped off for detailing service. Transportation is available upon request.

Seriously. Cheap. I'd love to see your work. I still have friends out in Vegas.

[goldenlight]

I like the estimate idea. Its best to charge by the job not the hour.

[jankerson]

Re: How much do you charge?

More than some, less than others....

If I can't make a min of $50 an hour on a job then it's not worth it to me to do it with the effort that I put in.

[Firehouse Mike]

Re: How much do you charge?

I do a hybrid of what I'm seeing here. I have set prices, but also a $40 per hour overage if a car is really nasty. Most customers will know when their car needs extra work and accept this very easily. Never had anyone complain, and this is discussed during the pre-inspection.

Good luck

[KidDetailer]

Re: How much do you charge?

I have done some serious cleaning. Majority of my customers bring their car to me....when they need SERIOUS cleaning...more so than detailing. Only those with sports cars will bring it in for panel correction service and the Exterior Detailing package with Clay/polish and wax. Customers don't usually come to me for a "basic clean". They believe they can handle it themselves as do majority of people who "wash cars". Why bring it to the detailer when I can pay $5 to the gas station and clean my car there. Of course we Detailers know better as to why, but many people don't. They just see a clean car that shines. Most even don't know about the swirls until you point it out to them, at which point is when you can show them how educated you are in your process of how to fix these problems of the paint. Soon they realize they CAN'T do it themselves and they've convinced themselves that they want it to be fixed. https://www.facebook.com/racegloss.detailing

[PureArt]

I really liked Renny Doyle's book it was a good read.

[gclark26]

Re: How much do you charge?

PureArt - What is the title of the book?

[owendavidj]

Cars/oversized (SUV, trucks,minivans)
Express-wash, tire shine, windows
20/25
"Regular"- Express+vacuuming, plastic-vinyl-leather (dash, driver door, center consol only), odor neutralizer
25/30
"regular+" regular plus choice of steam cleaning or basic polish/wax
60/65
"basic full detail" Regular service + steam cleaning and basic polish/wax
90/95
Then I list the rest of my services available as a la carte services on top of any package at an estimated rate of $30 per hour.
I don't offer car dealers packages, but instead offer them estimates based on $20/hour.

[PureArt]

^ sorry for the late reply. I just saw this
GClark


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0762778768

[gclark26]

Re: How much do you charge?

Guys
I've finished reading Renny Doyle's book and have come up with this basic menu as described in the book. However I still struggle with the pricing. Am I showing to much or to little value at the price points.
I named my business EXTREME RADIANCE DETAILING and worked it into the package offerings. I would appreciate your feedback.

STANDARD DETAIL $45



This is a light basic detail to maintain the appearance and apply light protection for a well maintained vehicle.

• Foam gun shampoo exterior
• Bug and tar removal

• Clean wheel wells, tire sidewalls

• Clean corrosive brake dust from wheels
• Clean under carriage

• Exterior is blown dry + final spot dry using super soft microfiber towels
• Hand dry door jams, under trunk lid & hood
• Quality spray on wax - Spray wax is not a substitute for Carnauba or synthetic wax.
• Clean interior / exterior glass
• Tire dressing

• Thoroughly vacuum carpet, floor mats and seats
• Wipe clean the dash, door panels and console
• Apply non-greasy UV protection to non-fabric and leather surfaces

*Note: All prices are estimates and apply to cars. Additional fees will be charged for large vehicles. (Trucks, SUV

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: How much do you charge?

The goal is to get them in the door and gradually increase the prices. I am new, so I am a pig-in-a-poke until customers give me a try.

Bad business and thinking there gclark! Your customers is what's important to you and your business, and you need to treat them with respect and treat them right because they can make you or break you. Your good customer's or regular's will/might put up with you jumping the price on them a time or two but your just starting out and you need all the new customers you can get rather a full on detail or just a wash.

What I've learned and some has been the hard way, YOU HAVE TO DO THE RIGHT THING! and sometimes you might loose money but in the long run you actaully will come out ahead. Remember talk gets around and you need to treat each customer right, you may and will have to cross that bridge again. Think about this, you need to make a certain amount each day/week to reach your break even amount and really more because you'll have good days and bad days. I don't know the factor/price of living of your area but you need to bring that into play also. Now how long are you going to be able to stay in business just breakin even, there's alot more to it then that. Think about insurance,gas,products,special emergencies(your DA or rotary just went down-do you have extra cash put back for such things.

In short think hard about what everyone is telling you and like you know, factory in your area and get you a $ amount per hour for your services and keep them the same because I see detail/mobile come and go around here because as such things mentioned. Be Honest,fair and treat your customers like friends and sometimes go that extra mile to make a customer happy, because a happy customer puts money in your bank account.

Just trying to help because I was in business to a point for 3 years and learned alot dealing with about 50 to 75 customers a day and they taught me alot, just trying to give some of my learning's to you and hope you do very well for yourself!!

I think $30/hr is pretty low. Think about this, you spend 6 hours on a car and make $180. That doesn't sound too bad until you figure that you spent $20 on supplies. You have to take into account the wear and tear on your equipment. Did you travel to the customers location? That costs gas plus travel time. So say your total cost for detailing a car for 6 hours is $30, now you only made $150 which is only $25/hr. Then you have to re-invest part of that back into the business to buy new supplies or maybe upgrade/repair equipment etc. You might be able to stay afloat for awhile at that rate, but I don't think you'd be making very much money. Which I know we all love what we do, but at the end of the day I do this to make money.

Dead on Drdetail! I'm thinking you got to put about $50.00 in your pocket for all that hard work

More than some, less than others....

If I can't make a min of $50 an hour on a job then it's not worth it to me to do it with the effort that I put in.

Also just to put into other words your offering them your services, so there also paying you for what you know. Does the detail shop down the street know how to remove swirls and scratches insteed of just covering up? how about making your customers jaw drop when they come to pick up their old car that had swirls all over it that now is blinding in the sun from the depth,gloss,clarity and reflections from their old paint that you just brought back to life and saved them hundereds if not a thousand or more from having to be repainted. Some things to think about. DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!

Another thing to think about, being professional! some nice clean black shirts (if moble detailing or even in shop never let a customer see you in a dirty shirt) with a nice logo on front and back with your number and a web site(spend a little money and have a professional web page designed) and business cards. And never put flyers under peoples windshield wipers at parking lots.