Your Thoughts on My Detailing Menu & Prices

[mshu7]

I should have made it more clear that I am not going to be charging people by the hour. I was just using the $30/hr. rate in my head to come up with pricing. When I see the vehicle I'm going to detail, I'll do the math in my head ($30/hr. x estimated time to complete) to give them a price for the job.

When I first came up with this menu, I had prices for 4 different groups. Each group was a different size of vehicle. For example, Group I was small cars & compact pick-ups. When I posted my menu with 4 different groups for each package, people from another message board said it was too confusing. I thought it was pretty easy to understand. But multiple people said it was too complex so I did away with it. That's why I now just have one "Starting at $xx" price. Because vehicles come in so many different sizes, I wasn't really sure how to show all the prices. If I put a price for an SUV, somebody with a Suburban might think they can get a full detail for the same price as a Ford Escape. This was one of my hardest areas. If you have anymore suggestions for this area, I'm all ears.

I like the idea of the choice of carnauba or sealant (or both) and the idea of a one-step detail.

I have to be honest. At first I was just going to use a different assorment of products but a guy that posts on AutoGeek.net & Autopia.org got me onto the Megs products. I never new that Megs had such a LARGE product selection. Needless to say, I don't see any reason to go with anything other than Megs.

[Murr1525]

I have heard some people mention, and hopefuly they will chime in, that it is better to just charge a flat rate. Charging by the hour, people can accuse you of going slow, etc.

Better just to get their expectations, and judge how long it will take to meet them, do the math in your head, then quote a price.

For an advertisement, you could give a price for cars, and a price for SUV's.

For other ideas, you could give a choice of carnuba or synthetic sealant, and even a one-step cleaner/wax detail.

Does the headliner really need cleaned every week?

And dont forget to mention you are using High Quality Meguiars Products

[mshu7]

Hmm...OK. Thanks!

[dfrady]

For what you are calling your Ultimate restore & protect, most detailers charge $35.00 - $50.00 an hour, So yes you really need to raise your prices.

[mshu7]

Wow, I didn't expect that. I mean, I personally thought they should be a little higher, but I guess I thought I would be getting too expensive if I went higher.

[SL1CK]

You need higher prices

[mshu7]

Hey everybody, new to the forum! So far just browsing through a couple areas, there is a TON of great information. I am looking forward to spending many hours on the board.

Ok, on to what I want to talk about. Over the past year I have become more and more interested in detailing. I'm now at the point where I'd like to start doing it on the side while I still work my full-time job. Although, if I can get something going with this, I'd like to eventually do it full-time and have my own small facility.

Currently, I detail my cars and a couple family cars in my garage (attached to my house) or in the driveway. I have compiled a decent selection of products (washes, polishes, waxes, etc.). I also have a PC7424 (I think it's the same thing as a G-100?). I've used it enough times now to be very comfortable using it. I feel that I have the products & skills to now move forward with trying to create a small detailing business on the side.

Right now I'm just trying to come up with a menu of packages and prices. The menu below is the latest that I have come up with. The starting prices that I show would be for your typical small to mid-size sedan. For bigger vehicles, my prices would obviously increase. I have used a $30/hr. rate for coming up with the starting prices. One of my problems right now though is that I haven't detailed enough vehicles to know how long each size of vehicle takes to detail. Since both my cars are small to mid-size cars ('05 Mazda3 5-door & '00 Grand Am GT sedan), I have just used the labor rate times how long it usually takes me to detail those cars.

One thing I don't have on my menu right now are individual services like engine detailing and other stuff like that. I'll add that later. Right now I just wanted to get 3 good general packages.

OK, enough talky talky from me. Please give me any and all suggestions or recommendations you have. I greatly aprpeciate any help!!!

Weekly Wash *Starting at $30
-Hand-wash w/soft water & pH-balanced shampoo
-All bugs & road tar removed
-Forced-air & hand dry
-Tires & wheel wells cleaned & dressed
-Wheels cleaned
-All exterior trim dressed & UV protected
-All exterior & interior glass cleaned
-All interior plastics wiped down
-All interior carpets, floor mats, upholstery vacuumed
-All leather or vinyl wiped down
-All exterior body panels, including glass, wiped down w/gloss enhancing, protective quick detail spray

Wash, Wax, & Vac *Starting at $80
-Weekly Wash plus:
-2-Step paint care & protection
1.Machine-applied paint cleaner
2.Machine-applied Carnauba wax
-Carnauba wax applied to all wheels by hand
-Door jambs cleaned
-Interior plastics cleaned to a matte finish
-Interior headliner wiped down w/light cleaning solution
-All leather or vinyl cleaned & conditioned

Ultimate Restore & Protect *Starting at $150
-Wash, Wax, & Vac plus:
-5-step paint care to restore & protect
1.Clay Bar – Removes airborne contaminants that have settled onto paint
2.Paint Cleaner - Removes very light or fine defects while restoring a crystal clear, smooth high gloss surface
3.Polish – Removes oxidized paint along with light swirls and scratches
4.Sealant – Provides superior long lasting protection to paint
5.Carnauba Wax – Provides another layer of protection and also adds a very warm, deep, wet look to paint
-All wheels sealed
-All exterior light lenses protected
-UV protection applied to interior dash
-All carpets & upholstery cleaned & protected