How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

[N52]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

we started out doing everything that came in the door. now going on seven years later we do not do dealer work ,we do one car a day and as much as possible ,every car tht leaves would do respectable in a show! price wise we charge for the day and do what it takes. no extra charges. this may not be a smart bussiness move but it works

If i was the customer that would sound really good.Its nice to know that you will pay a certain amount regardless if your car is filthy and might need say 2-3 hours more than usual for the detailer

Also i think that Mike makes many good points.

I am not professional and not even a ''bussines guy'' but my advise would be do your best work from the very first time and love what you will do because that is the only way to success.

[JRauCDM]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

we started out doing everything that came in the door. now going on seven years later we do not do dealer work ,we do one car a day and as much as possible ,every car tht leaves would do respectable in a show! price wise we charge for the day and do what it takes. no extra charges. this may not be a smart bussiness move but it works

That's interesting, cause that's about my speed. By myself, I might be able to crank out 1 1/2 cars a day. Do you work 7 days a week? What are your charges for a detailing as I've described in my earlier posts here?

I SO want to do this, as it's something I've wanted to do most of my adult life, I've just been concerned that I wouldn't be able to sustain it over the winter, etc.

Do people (non-car buffs) mind paying that kind of money for a detailing? I am squeamish asking for $125. I know I am worth it, but I want the money and don't want to be turned down. My thought is that they can do some "word of mouth" advertising on my behalf, which will draw in customers.

Also, do you small timers have insurance, and all that as part of your business. Right now, I don't--again, I'm just doin' this on the side, and starting this up again after a few years out of the loop with detailing. I keep my 3 cars clean and detailed. I spend the most time with my '91 Cadillac Brougham, so it is very pampered and clean.

Really appreciate all of your thoughts on this.

JRau in central Iowa

[94BMW325CIS]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

A full time detailer lives down the street from me and has 2 vipers, an new 2007 F-150 and a BMW M5. The house is worth 1.3 million dollars, so i think he's doing fine.

[Lucky161]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

I have been giving thoughts to the same idea, but on an even smaller scale. Some of my thoughts on this are as follows. Please make any comments, positive, negative or neutral as you see fit. I am a grown man and can take critics.

I only want to do this part time as I am on a disability and just want to earn a few bucks. I also want to do this to stay active. Sort of a senior version of "wax on, wax off."
I want to do exterior and wheels only. I may in time work up to doing interiors and engines, but I don't want to be hauling a vac around in the trunk of my car and I have fears of using the customer's vac only to find out it only works if you stand on your head and whistle dixie etc. Someone has already mentioned the need for insurance if doing engines and I was already thinking that could be a serious problem with cars these days.
I want to charge by the job, so that I can spend as much time doing it right and the customer not have to worry about the meter running.
I plan on starting out doing some freebies on family, friends and neighbors cars to get a feel for what types of problems I might run into and what to do about them.
I was thinking of charging around $50-75 for exterior only, but that sounds cheap compared to what has been said here. Would it be better to state a higher price and give a discount on first job. Or would it be better to charge the higher price and give a discount for follow ups and referrals? I am in Texas so prices are not as high here for most things as on the coasts.

[SiriusRIMZ]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

I detail only be refferal now, I talk almost no new buisness. I usually will do one car, or sometimes two each weekend. I'm not a large-scale detailer by any means, but I will do a good job if someone gets reffered to me.

I'll usually do $200+ jobs on cars. I normally will see a customer hooked, and re-cleaned once a month, or every so often. During my spring break, I had 5 cars, Three SUV's, One 4-Door Sedan, and a Sports Car (X5, Expedition, Denali, BMW 530, Z4). I charged $290 for the Expediton and Denail, which both were very dirty, full job, wash, clay, polish, wax, dress. The X5 I did more extensive work, I charged $300. I also detailed the engine on this, as I am pretty familiar with the engine bays of BMW's, but I dont do the engine bays of any other cars. the 530 Was $200, as the work was less extensive, no clar bar needed, and the Z4 I did for $160, because I got to drive it beforehand

[Mary S]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Hi, I happened to run across this thread and thought it would be worthwhile to bump, because there is a lot of good advice here from the pros to people who are thinking about going into the business full or part time. Three years later, there are a lot of other newcomers who also see the detailing business as a possibility. If any others have any advice to offer, it would be appreciated, for myself and I am sure others. I may add specific questions of my own later one.

[Mary S]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

You can start out mobile detailing, but if you're in this for the long run it's nice to have a shop where you can keep all your equipment and stuff and have your customers come to you. This way you avoid all the time driving to and from jobs and over time this is going to add up and it's all non-production time. If you're in a heavy traffic area you can end up spending a lot of time in traffic driving to jobs, Joe aka Superior Shine was telling me about his experience with this factor in the SoCal area.

Those of you who have a brick and mortar shop where the customer comes to you, do you offer a service to take the customer home? Do you depend on them to have someone else drive them? Just curious, because I know the dealers do have a service to drive people to home or work within a certain mileage radius when they are having shop work done.