Detailing Biz

[Megafast13]

Hey, I'm only 16 years old but have been washing cars for years.

I don't want to have a "real" business but I do my Parent's friends cars all the time. I would like to do a little in my neighborhood to, but don't know what to charge. I use all the top of the line products by meguiar's.

Do you guys recommend having packages like:

- Regular Exterior Wash
- Regular Exterior/Interior Wash (Vaccum)
- Exterior Wash & Detail
- Exterior/Interior Wash & Detail (Armor All, Wax, etc)
- Complete Detailing

Now what prices do you think I can charge. Remember this is Upper Middle Class area in the greater Cincinnati, OH area, not Ferrari's in LA. lol


Thanks

[Funkster]

Re: Detailing Biz

I am starting to do the same thing. I was thinking hourly but a detailer I talked to said that wasn't the best idea. My initial thought was $15 an hour for wash/dry. $25 an hour for paint correction. Just my thought, I am sure others will pop in.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: Detailing Biz

You'll make out better with a guaranteed hourly wage. The flip side is, most people will want to know up front how much the job will cost.

[Funkster]

Re: Detailing Biz

You'll make out better with a guaranteed hourly wage. The flip side is, most people will want to know up front how much the job will cost.

Ya, I figured I would give an estimate and if I go over I guess I will eat the labor.

[mnaines]

Re: Detailing Biz

Funkster, I was thinking of starting my own detailing business, and just for kicks, I did some math. If you have only three employees working, and all three of them can do 2 cars a day, then here's some numbers that may help: The prices are as follows: Charge each customer for a full bottle of each product even though you don't need a full bottle - this is where your profits will come from. Then charge about $55 to $60/hour for labor and assume it will take all three of your employees about 6 to 8 hours per car to do a complete makeover (one working on the engine bay, one on the interior, and one on the exterior). The labor charges alone would net each of the three employees about $4200/month or more in paychecks. Next up would be a shop fee, which would include the cost for towels, chemical disposal, and other miscellaneous expenses (and add in about $35 to $50 per day for insurance, utilities, and such), and altogether, it will come out to around $650 to $800 per customer for a full makeover. Here's a general rule of thumb: It will run you about $17.5/hour in labor just to be able to pay a single employee, so don't get too cocky on the hiring runs. Here's why I did it that way: The $17.5/hour labor is per employee, and that is what I would consider their hourly wage, so that's why you don't want to have too many people working for you too early in the game, because you will not get very much business if you get above the $1,000/estimate mark. Most professional detailing places charge $1,000 or much higher, so the lower you can get your prices, the more customers you will get.

My best advice is to first time how long it will take three people to completely make over one car if one takes the engine bay, one takes the interior, and one takes the exterior, then use that time to factor in labor costs. I assume 6 to 8 hours for that because if it takes one person about 16 to 18 hours to do their car, it should take 3 people about 6 to 8 hours to do the same car.

But, to answer your question, you generally need to factor in the cost of the products when determining how much to charge, and a good hourly charge for labor is around $10 or so.

[Blackford]

Re: Detailing Biz

"Most professional detailing places charge $1,000 or much higher, so the lower you can get your prices, the more customers you will get."


Seriously?

Where the heck do you go that they charge $1000 to detail car?

I haven't heard of people paying more than $350 for a car detailing in my area and that would be an extreme make over.

[HemiMopar]

Re: Detailing Biz

I have heard them all over the board. I have a buddy who does a simple wash, clean, wax, and interior - no corrections or makeovers and he goes from 100 for a small car to 400 for big suvs. He has some deal worked out with one of those small used car lots. They get them in and he cleans them to sell at a discounted rate. You may try that to start.

[redhotchevy2000]

Re: Detailing Biz

i charged differently, not an hourly rate

small vehicles wash, dry, tire shine, 20 bucks.
"" wash, dry, vacuum, wipe down dash, tire shine, 30 bucks
"" wash, dry, vac, wipe down interior, dress leather, tire shine, trim shine, 40 bucks
"" wash, wax, interior Shampoo carpets also, tire shine, trim shine, 50 bucks
"" wash, paint correction, interior, tires, trim, 60-100 dollars

then i increase the price according to size by this
medium cars, small SUVS(rav 4, crv...) +10 dollars
large cars, medium SUVS(hyundai santa-fe...) +20 dollars
Minivans +20 dollars
Large SUVS and "Other" + 30 dollars (if its in decent condition). more if its rough.

paint correction at discresion(sp?)

[DJJeffMills]

Re: Detailing Biz

A friend and myself have had our mobile detailing business since May 2007 and charge:

Interior: $70-100 or by estimate (vac, spot treat & steam clean carpets & seats, shampoo floor mats, clean interior glass, and clean & treat dash/doors/consoles/any other plastics)
Exterior: $55-80 or by estimate (wash and dry tires, wheels, wheel wells, wash & dry car, wax)
Engine: $30-50 or by estimate

*prices depend on size (i.e. smaller car vs van/suv) & condition of vehicle

We can usually do a car in 3-5 hours start to finish

Methinks we should increase the prices more for next yr.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Detailing Biz

I would call around to different detailers in your area and get a price range. This should give you a good starting point and you can adjust your rates depending on your skill level.

Good luck to you.

[DrdetailNashville]

Re: Detailing Biz

I struggled with this a lot when I was starting my mobile detailing business about 2 years ago. The best advice I heard was this:

Figure out how long each service takes and how much product you are going to need to do each service and put dollar values to that. For example: I can do my interior detail package in about 2 hours on a normal sedan sized car with what I call average staining and use maybe $5-10 worth of product/materials.

Then you ask yourself how much money you want to make per hour. I finally settled on a $35/hour figure so I charge $75 for an interior detail. Always try to leave yourself some wiggle room too, everyone always wants a price over the phone. Try to see the vehicle if you can before you state a final price because I have gotten in trouble quoting someone a price and then looking at their car and it was trashed, took me at least twice as long as normally.

I always put somewhere in any flyers/brochures I give out this little statement.

Prices listed are typical for vehicles with normal wear and deterioration additional charges will apply for severe staining, oxidation, scratching etc.

Hope this helps, good luck

[waterlessdetail]

Re: Detailing Biz

you guys are getting me hyped up with all the info I get from these forums...Ive been doing jobs by appointments until I get my building completely done....but once its done... I just know its gonna take off thanks to all of the input I get from you guys...Thanks

I would call around to different detailers in your area and get a price range. This should give you a good starting point and you can adjust your rates depending on your skill level.

Good luck to you.