Ok, I'm aware that this topic has been brought up several times, but I'm gonna try to take it at a different angle. I've been detailing for about 2 years now and I'm just fine tuning the pricing. I'm about to graduate with an associates degree then I would like to eventually open a shop tailored just for detailing. How do you charge people for the amount of product used? Do you give it a rough estimate? Or are you anal enough to take the current selling price of a certain product and weight the bottle before and after and go based off of that? (ie. A 10oz. bottle of wash soap that costs $10,,, you used 1oz., so you charge them $1 for that.) I'm just speaking specifically about product prices, not service. When giving them an estimate, do you just know about how much of each product will be used from experience. If you detail at home, and offer to come to their place to give an estimate or pick the vehicle up, how do you charge for that? Given that my Subaru wrx requires 93 octane and it's around $4/gal. Do you drive there for free up to a certain mileage then charge per mile after that? If so, what is appropriate? Do you time yourself to know how long it takes to wash, clay, wax, etc.? It's a lot of questions, and I sorta have my own methods of pricing. Just seeing how others do it. Thanks, Seth
even though I dont personally have any charging going on but I think from reading/building detailer's websites I can give the following product costs are embedded into the hourly/service cost as it is really hard to measure how much product you need, some more dirty car may need more product on it and at the same time it will probably require more time on it thus it works out fine. Estimates are based on size and condition then we can work out by experience how many hours it may take. mobile detailing, bill per mile is probably wise to do, or atleast have a record of it even if you're not gonna charge your client for it (tax purpose). You probably should consider getting a more roomier + fuel efficient vehicle for mobile detailing as really, I highly doubt the client would see justification of the mileage bill if you're in a WRX as they know it will consume more gas than normal. Imagine showing up for mobile detailing in a X5M.
I see where your coming from. The thing is though, I don't do mobile detailing (yet?). I'm just a weekend detailer, but I have had several requests for me to come out to their house JUST to look at the vehicle for a quote and/ or pick it up and bring it back. When people ask me to come over and detail it, I don't have a problem with it, as long as they have a source of water/electricity and shade. Like I said, I'm not a mobile detailer, I don't have a 55 gal water tank with a pressure washer (though, I'd love to). I do realize that my car isn't very big and I get (let's be honest) terrible gas mileage, but I had no idea that I would be doing this when I bought it, and honestly, owning my car prompted me to start detailing. I never cared about my previous vehicles (they were crap), but when I bought this, I wanted it to keep looking great.
hehe indeed your own car is what sparks off detailing on most cases. but yeah mobile detailing gonna get harsher n harsher with rising gas prices
I have this question bouncing around my head all the time. My case, like many others I know do this as a "side" deal. What I really love about detailing is the same reason I became a nurse. I LOVE TO HELP PEOPLE. On the days that I'm not bustin a 12+ hr shift, I find a calm working on customers car, giving it the TLC that it needs and creating pretty much a masterpiece. Its a blend between my own OCD+ART if you may. The best part about it is, its something I LOVE DOING. While price is always going to be a factor, if your good at what you do and you love doing it, then charge what you think YOU are worth. I know after graduating nursing school the biggest question was "how are we gonna find jobs! its such a saturated market" and "how do we ask for what we want our salary to be!" - If you feel you are confident in your skills and can deliver a product or service second to none, by all means charge it. Okay Okay, back to the real question. "How do I decide..." I set a standard rate of how long it takes me to do a specific detail. So if its a Concours 2 step + Interior versus a wash/clay/seal/wax I definitely adjust my price. In the end, I would say that if you educate your customers enough to have them understand what it is your doing between each level of detailing, (basic vs concours vs colorsanding) they would feel comfortable spending whatever amount. Another advantage I have found is that, it may not be NOW that the person you expose your detailing business to, gets a detail, but when they see a time and need for that service, they will say, "HEY, I remember Neil gave me a card 3 years or ago..." or "I saw Neil post this picture of this sweet lookin black car on facebook...let me inquire." - Again for my situation calmer. I dont exactly advertise, I dont exactly push my services, alot of my success is due to networking. (This girl got her car detailed, her cousin saw it at a party, she got her car detailed and her husband wanted his car detailed then his brother wanted his car detailed and his coworker knew me in high school and he got it detailed and his wifes brother got it detailed)...kinda system...(lol) I also tell them, look, we are in LA/OC. Southern California is SATURATED with detailers, in fact, down the street i know 5 people that have detailers come to their neighborhood and i know a few car washes/gas stations that detail cars as well, but what separates me from me and them, is that I try to make it a comfortable investment and experience, and I know i can provide something the customer is expecting. $300-$400 detail?!? Thats a car payment! Not very many people have that kinda money to spend in this economy, but I havent really had a downfall in cashflow. If you deliver a product that is worth it, it will always be worth it as long as the quality is there 100% of the time. (if your looking for cashflow, you might make more money washing 20 cars a day for $20 vs 1 detail that may take 12-24 hrs of labor) The last advantage I have is I ALWAYS tell my customer of interest this... What is it that you are trying to accomplish. Don't let the price be so much of a factor. I own my own business, the products are only a fraction of my internal cost, let me deliver something to satisfy YOU! Ive always gone thru the theory, in my case again. that it is better to do a concours detail for $300, than to only detail it for $350. Chances are you just lost $300..over a $50 gain that you probably were going to get tipped anyways. Out of all my customers only 10% don't tip. It is a service you are providing, it is just common nature to give a little extra for labor. I tip my barber when I get a haircut, my gf tips her manurist, and we tip our masseuse(sp) when we get massages, theres nothing like having that 1:1 personal experience.. At the end of the day, it is a business, I understand. When you do something you love, you'll never have to work again. Good luck out there
I dont know anyone that goes into the amount of detail to figure exact cost of X product/s per vehicle and charge accordingly per vehicle and product/s used. It would drive us crazy and I personally dont have time to get into the costs at that level. What I DO, though, is keep exact tracking of my costs on an Excel spreadsheet, and go to the different product sellers and tell them how much I am probably going to spend per year, based on my previous years, and try to negotiate the best pricing I can. If you spend a few thousand a year on products, there are sellers of products who will want your consistent, contribution to their bank account, and you need to find them and set up an account. Since you are going to have a business license, pay big liability insurance, etc., and of course pay taxes, the cost to operate a business can be pretty darn expensive anyway, and now you need to detail enough vehicles each year just to pay for all those things, AND your supplies. Yes, you can write off so much of the business on your taxes each year and that helps some, but it is way bigger than just detailing a few cars a year, if you want to do this professionally. Get very familiar with Excel, and it will help you out on a lot of record keeping of expenses, etc., get the best possible pricing, for your suppllies, take the time and effort to learn the best techniques, build a Website, tie it to Facebook, LInkdIn, etc., get a Logo, think about how you are going to advertise your business, turn out fabulous work, form relationships with the best auto repair shops that deal in high end vehicles, and get ready to bust your butt working long hours.. It sounds like you are already well on your way, keep getting all the education possible and then some. We all need back up for everything, including our job/s... Good Luck ! Dan F
Actually I already have a logo and cards, and as I'm typing this, my friend is building a website for me. It's already up, but it's extremely basic right now because he literally just started on it today LOL. He's had his own computer/IT business since he was in the 7th grade, but got everything legitament a couple years ago... He's only 21 years old right now. He's helped me a lot. He designed my cards for free, as well as making this website for free. I decided to name my business "OCDetailing" thinking it was clever and original,,, turns out, it's fairly popular So I bought a domain a few nights ago, stldetailing.com (St. Louis detailing) and he just put something up just for people to look at right now. The full site should be done in about a week and a half ( he's doing it for free so I can't complain) I'm just waiting for ocdetailing.com to be available for purchase and hopefully buy it ASAP. Btw, I am very useless with computers haha
like what Neil said........... "what do you want to accomplish" ? I did away with packages for the most part, I was finding people didn't care about the exterior as much as the interior or vice versa. There for I do not have a "all in one, interior/exterior" type package, I do offer suggestions/suggested services and I always have "starting at" to leave room for extra services or something that could cause a overrun in time or even products. I feel my prices are very reasonable, and I have a base price. Not everyone wants a correction detail, and most of my customers have no clue what that is, so when they become educated that its not a "cut and polish" deal and there is a lot of time and labor put into it they understand price versus wants and needs and money becomes less of a factor. I get a lot of people who have SUV's who just want the outside washed down, some tire shine and maybe some sort of sealant or wax, but where they want the effort is in the inside. In fact I don't really have a determined price for interior work, I offer a base interior price point and then people can a'la carte other things like spot treating carpets, or full on extraction again all based on a hourly rate. So if they want x,y,z and I know its going to take me 4-5 hours ill quote them 5 hours @ X rate, people understand this concept better then saying "ill do A-Z for 750.00" clients want options, but they want you to tell them the options, they come to you because you are the professional, and they already have in their mind what they want, you have to put a price on it. Never be afraid to ask for a sale, and if they say no, its your right to ask..... why, without being a used car salesman. I have had alot of people who tell me they like how I price/quote a job, makes sense and is easier to comprehend. I still do commercial picture framing, and have some core clients I do work for and its the same thing........ same thing when I do firearms training. "What do you want to accomplish" 90% of sales or selling is listening, and explaining what you can do for them, price will work itself out. And I have learned this, I don't argue about price, and I don't apologize for my prices and I do not ever try to justify the price to a customer, this is the price; this is what I charge to keep me in business. sorry for rambling.
I base my estimates on my hourly rate $25 ( which its low ) for example Audi A3 hatchback ( small car ) condition dirty in/out wash 2 hrs clay 1.5 hrs 1 step polish 6 hrs seal 1 hr interior 2 hr total 12.5 hrs x $25 = $312.5 so i would tell the customer around $325
I would advise against "picking up" client cars. Worst case scenario is you get in an accident; then what happens? Since I'm starting to do paid work for others, I began listing my services and basing my work on estimates of past work I have done like overtimedetailer does. However, I would suggest setting a minimum charge because in all honesty, you probably don't want to work for a single hour (which translates to even more time in travel, cost of fuel, etc). So your services list might look something like this: Based on an hourly rate of $__* *with a minimum charge of: $__ À la carte: 1hr Wash 30min each coat Wax 30min Interior vacuum 30min Engine bay 5hr 1 Stage polish 10hr 2 Stage Polish Packages: 12+ hr Complete package
Setting a Price- Setting a price should be fairly simple, materials used plus, a percentage % of (b) items 1 -6, plus Labour costs, plus profit margin Costs Any cost that is incurred by carrying out business a) Materials used (car care products) + expendables (i.e. micro fibre towels, latex gloves, etc) + depreciation on tools (machine polisher, pads, vacuum, power washer, etc) b) Overhead Costs 1. Tools 2. Water 3. Electricity 4. Rent or Lease 5. Insurance, business licence, etc 6. Marketing c) LabourEstimated time x expected hourly rate To estimate labour wage cost it’s important to include paid holidays (9) 4% vacation pay, 1.73% Worker's Compensation Board (WCB) (both calculated on gross pay) a matching employees pension plan (PP) contribution and pay 1.4X what our employees contribute to employee insurance (EI). As a general number for actual labour costs multiply hourly rate 1.35 (not including benefits). At a minimum wage of $10.25 per hour that equals $13.87 per hour. Your labour costs should never exceed 30-35% of your total costs so you need to include 3.3x labour costs included in sales to cover all your costs plus profit. This equates to approx $42-$45 an hour for a minimum wage employee. (Check these figures as they vary by state)d) Profit MarginPercentage profit that you expect to make on sales Stokdgs - tracking costs / profit margin on an Excel spreadsheet is a great idea
