We are worth every penny

[gto_don]

Re: We are worth every penny

I agree akimel. My feelings of guilt are quickly fading. I will get past it and move forward with my prices that are equal to the task. Regardless of those feelings, I am, and will, stick to my prices and deliver more than expected to the customer each and every time.

[CieraSL]

Re: We are worth every penny

[Tuck91]

Re: We are worth every penny

Worry about doing a good job before you worry about getting every penny you think you are worth.

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: We are worth every penny

Great points. It's tough haggling sometimes, as your dealing with family or close friends or neighbors. I have a detail coming up and basically its the client's wife's care and he wants so basic of a detail, thats fine but makes me feel like he is not getting what the car deserves.

Like one other said I in my head est 30-45$ per hour and this job was expected to be 5 hours (sight un seen car), He was shocked at the first #, I mentioned that I base my guess on expecting to be cleaning, extracting or doing some stain removal on the interior, engine bay, wheels, on top of the others and he just was like she could be eating a meal in the car 20 mins after im done.

Well long story short I dropped it down to average 30$ per hour, my bottom, and he accepted. I was very clear though a larger vehicle like his 2500 HD GMC Sierra was going to be more and he understood.

Just aggrivating sometimes.

[Tuck91]

Re: We are worth every penny

Great points. It's tough haggling sometimes, as your dealing with family or close friends or neighbors. I have a detail coming up and basically its the client's wife's care and he wants so basic of a detail, thats fine but makes me feel like he is not getting what the car deserves.

Like one other said I in my head est 30-45$ per hour and this job was expected to be 5 hours (sight un seen car), He was shocked at the first #, I mentioned that I base my guess on expecting to be cleaning, extracting or doing some stain removal on the interior, engine bay, wheels, on top of the others and he just was like she could be eating a meal in the car 20 mins after im done.

Well long story short I dropped it down to average 30$ per hour, my bottom, and he accepted. I was very clear though a larger vehicle like his 2500 HD GMC Sierra was going to be more and he understood.

Just aggrivating sometimes.

Then maybe just start charging a set price.

Its not really about what the car deserves but what the client wants done and what they are willing to pay to have it done.

Even for a basic detail, five hours is not enough time to do a quality job on a GMC Sierra 2500.

It would take me a good 3 to 4 hours to do a thorough wash and decon depending on how dirty and contaminated it is.

[Bill Davidson]

Re: We are worth every penny

Even for a basic detail, five hours is not enough time to do a quality job on a GMC Sierra 2500.

It would take me a good 3 to 4 hours to do a thorough wash and decon depending on how dirty and contaminated it is.

I agree, I don't know how some people come up with these incredible times to do a full detail by themselves, especially with a DA polisher. Either they use techniques that I am overlooking, or they don't do as good of a job. I find myself spending a good 3-4 hours on a thorough wash/decontamination as well. Just wheels/ disc brakes and wheel wells alone can eat up a couple hours. It's the stuff I do before the actually washing the paint that takes up most of the time. I can wash any vehicle in 20 minutes.

I try to hustle when I'm working, but I still take the time to do this properly, to me this is what detailing is about.

[Tuck91]

Re: We are worth every penny

I agree, I don't know how some people come up with these incredible times to do a full detail by themselves, especially with a DA polisher. Either they use techniques that I am overlooking, or they don't do as good of a job. I find myself spending a good 3-4 hours on a thorough wash/decontamination as well. Just wheels/ disc brakes and wheel wells alone can eat up a couple hours. It's the stuff I do before the actually washing the paint that takes up most of the time. I can wash any vehicle in 20 minutes.

I try to hustle when I'm working, but I still take the time to do this properly, to me this is what detailing is about.

I have spent two hours on some wheels, tires and wells.

Its the wheels that can slow you down if there are covered in a lot of brake dust on the inside.

It usually take me around twenty to thirty minutes to wash the paint.

I like the car as clean as possible before any claying, polishing or sealing takes place.

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: We are worth every penny

Then maybe just start charging a set price.

Its not really about what the car deserves but what the client wants done and what they are willing to pay to have it done.

Even for a basic detail, five hours is not enough time to do a quality job on a GMC Sierra 2500.

It would take me a good 3 to 4 hours to do a thorough wash and decon depending on how dirty and contaminated it is.

The 5 hours was for the first car, a Subaru Outback. I definitly expect more time on the truck, it certainly needs more work. The one thing about quoting, whether your in the auto repair biz, or detailing is once you give a price, your stuck with it. No matter how bad the job is, only if there was a gigantic misrepresentation or understanding, your stuck on that amount.

Sometimes the client does not know what they want so you try to educate but in the end its what they want, I certainly agree.

Thats why its called the "Art of Selling"

[rapport25]

Re: We are worth every penny

I have spent two hours on some wheels, tires and wells.

Its the wheels that can slow you down if there are covered in a lot of brake dust on the inside.

It usually take me around twenty to thirty minutes to wash the paint.

I like the car as clean as possible before any claying, polishing or sealing takes place.

Same here Tuck

I can spend 4-5 hrs and thats just washing the exterior. If the wheels are really bad you could add another 2-4hrs to that.

I beleive in quality work as thats what my customers are paying for.

A Ford Fiesta had taken me 18 hrs I estimated 2- 3 days. My Vw Passat 37 hrs I estimated 4-5 days. Range Rover 56 hrs I estimated 6-8 days.

Guys I'm very picky about my detailing

[rapport25]

Re: We are worth every penny

The 5 hours was for the first car, a Subaru Outback. I definitly expect more time on the truck, it certainly needs more work. The one thing about quoting, whether your in the auto repair biz, or detailing is once you give a price, your stuck with it. No matter how bad the job is, only if there was a gigantic misrepresentation or understanding, your stuck on that amount.

Sometimes the client does not know what they want so you try to educate but in the end its what they want, I certainly agree.

Thats why its called the "Art of Selling"

My own car is proof enough of my work. Most customers say wow I want my car to look as good as yours. I give them honest advise and explain the products to buy and washing process to maintain it after its been detailed.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: We are worth every penny

I agree, I don't know how some people come up with these incredible times to do a full detail by themselves, especially with a DA polisher. Either they use techniques that I am overlooking, or they don't do as good of a job. I find myself spending a good 3-4 hours on a thorough wash/decontamination as well. Just wheels/ disc brakes and wheel wells alone can eat up a couple hours. It's the stuff I do before the actually washing the paint that takes up most of the time. I can wash any vehicle in 20 minutes.

I try to hustle when I'm working, but I still take the time to do this properly, to me this is what detailing is about.

I do this as a hobby and part time to scare up a little extra money, and I focus on paint polishing as opposed to full detailing. If a client balks at my estimate, I try to give them ways to save money.

Since I charge by the hour (no packages) I advised one friend\client to wash his car the day before as a way to save the $40-$50 I would have charged. Since I was polishing the paint anyway, I told him he could take it to his local car wash if he wanted. That shaved about 2 hours off the total time that I charged for and the client appreciated the savings, and I appreciated being able to start claying and polishing the moment I arrived.

I have also thought of using the "Meineke" model by letting a client tell me what he or she wants to spend, and then I will tell them what I can do for them within their price range. I will set a minimum service fee, however.

[Driven Auto Detail]

Re: We are worth every penny

I do this as a hobby and part time to scare up a little extra money, and I focus on paint polishing as opposed to full detailing. If a client balks at my estimate, I try to give them ways to save money.

Since I charge by the hour (no packages) I advised one friend\client to wash his car the day before as a way to save the $40-$50 I would have charged. Since I was polishing the paint anyway, I told him he could take it to his local car wash if he wanted. That shaved about 2 hours off the total time that I charged for and the client appreciated the savings, and I appreciated being able to start claying and polishing the moment I arrived.

I have also thought of using the "Meineke" model by letting a client tell me what he or she wants to spend, and then I will tell them what I can do for them within their price range. I will set a minimum service fee, however.

That is great that you are able to do that for your customers. Very early on in my business I tried the same thing. Unfortunately, after the first couple times of that, I concluded that the customer's work isn't on par with my standards. I would just have to go back over their work and wasn't getting paid for it. I realized very quickly that it's not worth the hassle (IMO) to make that kind of compromise. If it works for you though, that's really great.

[Bill Davidson]

Re: We are worth every penny

Similar to ClearlyCoated, as a hobbyist detailer, my focus has been on paint correction as well. I charge $200 for 8-10 hours of work. I ask the customer to bring the vehicle to me as clean as possible, so that I can spend more time on the paint. However, I still plan on washing it myself.

You make a good point Driven. What some people consider clean you could do with a pressure washer in 5 minutes. No sense in giving a $50 discount for a $5 wash job and then having to clean it yourself for free.

Myself, I'm dealing with my friends, so I already have a relationship with my customers. We may have discussed the detail a couple months ahead of time. They understand the limitations of what they are able to do on their own and what I can offer them. They've seen my before and after photos of previous vehicles or they may have seen me doing the work.

What you guys may want to do is start a portfolio showing your work. Show them what you can do and how much it will cost. I think one of the biggest obstacles of getting the sale, is the customer doesn't fully understand what they are getting for their $. A good way to start a portfolio as by displaying your work on this forum. Then all you have to do is provide a few links to your potential clients.

[RWD_V8]

Re: We are worth every penny

In general terms, I rarely see a correlation between price and quality. There are many tradespeople who operate by quoting high prices, bidding lots of jobs, and expect a low percentage of customer wins. This is their business strategy, and it wastes everybody's time. They hang their hat on "I charge what I charge" as a principle, without consideration for all the time they spend writing go nowhere estimates.
A more sensible approach is to do quality work, charge a reasonable price, cultivate satisfied customers, and stay busy working.



[QUOTE=Chris Thompson;436240]
Remember this: You always, always, always get what you pay for.
QUOTE]

[aerogt01]

Re: We are worth every penny

Sensible? Yes
Practical? Depends

This depends on a large number of factors.
For example: much like another poster I quote cars so I am making around $20 and hour, not including expenses. However, that is fine for me as I am doing what I enjoy and after a couple of details I can afford M105/205 and save up for a Flex. I also am just starting to be able to correct paint with a DA, after making mistakes on my own I and forgiving in-laws' cars. Lastly, I am a student with a different, higher priority job.

If I had an experienced professional (read: not me) come out and do a full correction detail, as a professional who does this as a career I would expect to pay him/her $50-$60 per hour if I knew they did quality work. Why? I know that said person is capable and "worth every penny."

Could I charge $50 /hour? Not for a second. However, I am not nearly as good as somebody who I'm sure does. At least, that's the idea. If I could get that much per hour somewhere else I really need to move. . .