Nothing to booked - love it!

slickooz said:
What a score! I'm going help two of my friends with their s2k this weekend. Going wash, clay, sealant and wax. Doing it for 50 each and they told me they going help me post a write up for my work on s2k forums.

Since I just started can I charge people 250 for wash,clay,polish,wax and clean windows and dress tires? I just got into detailing about 5 months ago when I bought my car, but I have learned so much from talking with you guys. Do you think my pricing is too high for someone just starting?
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Charge what you think you are worth..... If you feel that you can correct the paint and make people's heads turn - absolutely. If you are still struggling with swirl marks, holograms, etc..... IMO No - Its what you feel you can provide for the customer - - - look at the show and shines here and compare you skills too.... if you don't feel comfortable charging that much yet - get to the point to where you do feel comfortable by practicing more until you know you are getting it down to a T. Hope this helps man....
 
B&B Tennessee said:
Charge what you think you are worth..... If you feel that you can correct the paint and make people's heads turn - absolutely. If you are still struggling with swirl marks, holograms, etc..... IMO No - Its what you feel you can provide for the customer - - - look at the show and shines here and compare you skills too.... if you don't feel comfortable charging that much yet - get to the point to where you do feel comfortable by practicing more until you know you are getting it down to a T. Hope this helps man....
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Thanks a lot! I haven't polished a lot of car yet, but the few that I did turned out real good. I'm going see how these people feel before I make any changes to my price.
 
slickooz said:
What a score! I'm going help two of my friends with their s2k this weekend. Going wash, clay, sealant and wax. Doing it for 50 each and they told me they going help me post a write up for my work on s2k forums.

Since I just started can I charge people 250 for wash,clay,polish,wax and clean windows and dress tires? I just got into detailing about 5 months ago when I bought my car, but I have learned so much from talking with you guys. Do you think my pricing is too high for someone just starting?
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Like B&B said...you can technically charge whatever you want. But, bear in mind...that most the time people that pay those prices expect HIGH quality. Especially for just an exterior service. IMO, I think that's a little much for not involving correction, or paint sealant. But that really depends on your location as well. Around here people aren't so willing to dish out hundreds for an exterior cause of the harsh winters.

I get prices anywhere from $125-$300 depending on what I'm doing. Usually if it goes into the $250+ range...that means there's some level of correction taking place. If you're just washing, clay, polish, wax, and windows...it may be tough to get $250 without a large customer following, word of mouth, and reviews to back you up. But, again...you can technically charge whatever you want.

I just think when you throw $250 at someone they're gonna raise their brow a bit. It would be different if you were standing in your shop, and had 3 or 4 vehicles being worked on...and THEN you said $250. They can't argue it...cause clearly you're worth it! This is all just my opinion. Screw it, charge $350! lol :buffing:
 
That is awesome that you are getting booked up, but I have a question about getting stressed out about over booking.

Why don't you try to get a few big jobs instead of tons of smaller jobs? I know the market everywhere is different, but I would kill myself if I was doing 5 wash and waxes a day to make my money instead of 1 or 2 corrections a week. Sure I don't work on as many cars or have as many customers, but I don't need that high number of customers when you are getting paid so much for one job. Just a thought.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Like B&B said...you can technically charge whatever you want. But, bear in mind...that most the time people that pay those prices expect HIGH quality. Especially for just an exterior service. IMO, I think that's a little much for not involving correction, or paint sealant. But that really depends on your location as well. Around here people aren't so willing to dish out hundreds for an exterior cause of the harsh winters.

I get prices anywhere from $125-$300 depending on what I'm doing. Usually if it goes into the $250+ range...that means there's some level of correction taking place. If you're just washing, clay, polish, wax, and windows...it may be tough to get $250 without a large customer following, word of mouth, and reviews to back you up. But, again...you can technically charge whatever you want.

I just think when you throw $250 at someone they're gonna raise their brow a bit. It would be different if you were standing in your shop, and had 3 or 4 vehicles being worked on...and THEN you said $250. They can't argue it...cause clearly you're worth it! This is all just my opinion. Screw it, charge $350! lol :buffing:
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I agree.

$250 is way too much for someone with 5 months experience.

Its hard to even get some folks to spend that kind of money.
 
I know what you mean about the weather. I have a lot of customers waiting till the spring time to get work done, but even still, I have worked everyday for the last week and a half and am booked up to Saturday of this week.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Like B&B said...you can technically charge whatever you want. But, bear in mind...that most the time people that pay those prices expect HIGH quality. Especially for just an exterior service. IMO, I think that's a little much for not involving correction, or paint sealant. But that really depends on your location as well. Around here people aren't so willing to dish out hundreds for an exterior cause of the harsh winters.

I get prices anywhere from $125-$300 depending on what I'm doing. Usually if it goes into the $250+ range...that means there's some level of correction taking place. If you're just washing, clay, polish, wax, and windows...it may be tough to get $250 without a large customer following, word of mouth, and reviews to back you up. But, again...you can technically charge whatever you want.

I just think when you throw $250 at someone they're gonna raise their brow a bit. It would be different if you were standing in your shop, and had 3 or 4 vehicles being worked on...and THEN you said $250. They can't argue it...cause clearly you're worth it! This is all just my opinion. Screw it, charge $350! lol :buffing:
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Some of this is rather not true. Hell, I did a Wash, Clay, 1-Step Polish(M205), Sealed, General Interior, other misc things involved on a Ext. Cab SRT-10 yesterday, at a underpriced $200. Granted I would have charged normally around $275 but was running a special. The correction landed around 80%. So $250 with a polish involved is a going rate as long as your taking your time on the polish, making sure your getting to a certain level of correction. I think I spent a total of 5 hours working on the truck and the customer was very happy.
 
Spicy McHaggis said:
That is awesome that you are getting booked up, but I have a question about getting stressed out about over booking.

Why don't you try to get a few big jobs instead of tons of smaller jobs? I know the market everywhere is different, but I would kill myself if I was doing 5 wash and waxes a day to make my money instead of 1 or 2 corrections a week. Sure I don't work on as many cars or have as many customers, but I don't need that high number of customers when you are getting paid so much for one job. Just a thought.
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Actually I am booked with big jobs LOL! I completely 100% agree with what you said here and 100% completely follow it. I go a bit further than what you are talking about though...... I have my fleet, 4 personal rides (one being a correction), and 2 buses this week - takes about 1 day a bus for full interior and exterior polish - in this 1 day, I will make triple that of what most make on here with a correction..... plus I love the fact that they aren't nearly as picky. That's also why I do RVs and aircraft - big paydays. I will do paint corrections on autos, but don't make nearly the money I do on these. I was wondering where you thought I am doing washes and waxes all day and just remembered my message about going from business to business - that was just a thought that I may try...... and more of a "I have nothing else to do today" type deal. If it works, it will get my guys hours and still put money in my pocket. That's why I wouldn't mind trying it out.
 
Mirror Detailing said:
Some of this is rather not true. Hell, I did a Wash, Clay, 1-Step Polish(M205), Sealed, General Interior, other misc things involved on a Ext. Cab SRT-10 yesterday, at a underpriced $200. Granted I would have charged normally around $275 but was running a special. The correction landed around 80%. So $250 with a polish involved is a going rate as long as your taking your time on the polish, making sure your getting to a certain level of correction. I think I spent a total of 5 hours working on the truck and the customer was very happy.
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Right, and that sounds normal. 5 hours for $250 is fair for an in and out package. But he's talking about just an exterior. $250 for just an exterior without actual correction taking place (meaning compound, or wet sanding), as well as a wax (not sealant). I think that's a high price. Really high actually, especially for someone with not much experience. I mean unless you're doing a big suv like a Denali, Expedition...then I could see $250 from an experienced detailer for exterior alone.

But, what you did was pretty much a full detail. You did the outside, and the inside. $250 is more of a normal price for a service of that nature. Being that you did a truck, and also applied sealant...makes sense for $250.

It sounds more like you agree with me, than disagree. You said what I stated wasn't necessarily true...but then pretty much made my point, ha. I don't get it. :dunno:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Right, and that sounds normal. 5 hours for $250 is fair for an in and out package. But he's talking about just an exterior. $250 for just an exterior without actual correction taking place (meaning compound, or wet sanding), as well as a wax (not sealant). I think that's a high price. Really high actually, especially for someone with not much experience. I mean unless you're doing a big suv like a Denali, Expedition...then I could see $250 from an experienced detailer for exterior alone.

But, what you did was pretty much a full detail. You did the outside, and the inside. $250 is more of a normal price for a service of that nature. Being that you did a truck, and also applied sealant...makes sense for $250.

It sounds more like you agree with me, than disagree. You said what I stated wasn't necessarily true...but then pretty much made my point, ha. I don't get it. :dunno:
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Pretty sure you misread. The original question without regards to level of experience is that a Wash/Clay/Polish(1-Step)/Wax worth $250. I say pending on the vehicle. The inside for what I listed does not carry a high value at all, I spent 90% of the time on the exterior, just did a vacumm and dusted off the dash. Customer only wanted the exterior done.

I would say I agree and disagree with you. Level of experience is going to play a big factor in asking for the price. Now if you think $250 for compounding and wet sanding is involved...to me that is a REALLY cheap price. Granted I have no idea what is all involved in your packages when you start getting into true correction...but that is besides the point in regards to this discussion.
 
Mirror Detailing said:
Pretty sure you misread. The original question without regards to level of experience is that a Wash/Clay/Polish(1-Step)/Wax worth $250. I say pending on the vehicle. The inside for what I listed does not carry a high value at all, I spent 90% of the time on the exterior, just did a vacumm and dusted off the dash. Customer only wanted the exterior done.

I would say I agree and disagree with you. Level of experience is going to play a big factor in asking for the price. Now if you think $250 for compounding and wet sanding is involved...to me that is a REALLY cheap price. Granted I have no idea what is all involved in your packages when you start getting into true correction...but that is besides the point in regards to this discussion.
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$250 would not get any customer of mine full correction, ha. But, if they paid me $250 for just an exterior alone...there is typically some sort of reason. There might be some overspray, particular scuffs or scratches, water spots...stuff like that being tended to in the process.

Regardless, I don't want to derail the conversation here. I just think $250 is way too much for just a wash, clay, polish, wax, and windows.

The original question was... can I just start charging $250 for that service? Answer, sure you can. But, IMO...I don't think there would be many takers. That's all I'm really trying to get at here. Being established, having experience, and the evidence to back it up is what typically gets customers to pay your naming price.

If you're someone just getting into the game...I don't think it's a good idea to come out the gate demanding $250 for a simple exterior job. Especially when you're not a legitimate business, don't have a busy shop, and minimal experience. That's just me!! :cheers:
 

Absolutely man - I need your help real bad on Saturday - can you make it?!?!?!?[/QUOTE]


This was an inside joke by the way guys.......[/QUOTE]

LOL! I'm game, but when a 5 foot blonde shows up and kills me it's on your hands.
 
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