amazon local

[owendavidj]

Just wanted to share for those still growing, or that have room to grow.

Forget Living Social or Groupon. Amazon Local is awesome, or at least for me. Coming out of the cold season i decided to try them out for a little promotion. They wanted me to commit to 50 full details and 25 wash &vacs. I thought it wad a bit high, but agreed.

I sold out in a week.

$1000 was direct deposited into my account. And the calls started pouring in. Granted i only got $1000 for $4000 worth of service, BUT, so far (and I've only completed 18 services of the 75 sold) I've landed 3 large recurring accounts (that will generate approximately $600 per month), and about another $400 in referrals for 1 time customers.(some may use service again, but you can kinda tell the difference in customers who only wash their car 3 times a year).

So i still have some odd 58 freebies to complete and excited to see what happens.

I still have plenty of time to do me regular customers, as i purposely only book 1 freebie per day. This stretches it out for a while and doesn't tie me up to bad.

[owendavidj]

Re: amazon local

Also thought this might be a good idea for someone who still doesn't have all the equipment/supplies they really want yet, as the deposit comes within a week and a half or do of the deal running. Basically fronting you your cost for the services you plan on providing. Nice east to buy some new toys if needed.

[Tex Star Detail]

Re: amazon local

So wait a minute.... That sounds like a horrible deal.. Now don't kill me, but I've been doing the math in my head.
You said it's only paying $1000 for $4000 worth of work?
If I take $4000 and divide that by 50 details, that comes up to you charging $80 per "FULL DETAIL". Now, I'm not even factoring in the wash and vacs, which would bring down the bottom dollar a LOT more.

I charge a minimum of $50 for a wash and vac. 25x$50 is $1250. That's my low amount. That means doing all the details for free....
Don't sell yourself short or give your services away for free....

[Tex Star Detail]

Re: amazon local

If you take all of them, 75 (50 details/25 washes) at getting paid $1000 and divide that by the 75. You're getting paid $13.3333 per car.
Now factor in Travel, Supplies, Time, Insurance, Taxes.....you're most likely losing money to detail cars.....

[GuessWho530]

Re: amazon local

I personally don't like working with Amazon Local/ Groupon kind of deal. Although it is a great way to get yourself out there and noticed, it really does't help you other than just getting your brand out there. One thing you have to do is become a slave to either companies and make less than enough money to keep your business alive AND them being happy. What you're really doing is making it better for the customers to have a deal and the companies eating your hard earning paycheck before they actually pay you. I've been mentioned to those companies in previous business that I helped ran, it was one of my parent's business and boy I was like NO NO NO when the customer suggested we try groupon. Now my aunt is the one who actually uses it and she's practically making zilch since her price is so low and them taking so much as a "TRANSACTION FEE" with them.

[jarred767]

These promotions are a tough sell. Almost all of them have it set up something similar to the following:

You offer your detail (or whatever service) at 50% off and then split the revenues 50/50 with the company (Groupon, AmazonLocal....). So you usually come out getting about 25% of your regular fee had the customer found you organically.

There are a few ways that can potentially help tilt it back in your favor - to a degree. The fact that rarely do all people who purchase them actually redeem them, you get the money up front, it helps get your name out there, and hopefully draws repeat customers or larger contracts (like the OP mentioned). If you need all those things then it can be beneficial, but if you're already pretty set, then it can very easily overload you with more work than you can handle and can actually potentially cause negative PR for you.

Something for a detailer to look into, but definitely do a lot of research to make sure it makes sense for you and your business before signing any contracts.

[CCC4me]

Re: amazon local

OP: let us know how those recurring accounts turn out for you. I too believe a loss leader deal can be the best thing for a business.