1st "customer" and not sure what to charge.

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Grifftech

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First off this is more of a side job/hobby for me, so it is not a full blown business. The client is a friend of me and the wife and she has a Ford Edge.

She doesn't want any sort of paint correction for swirls, but the car hasn't been cleaned in over a year and needs all the bugs and junk that is caked and dried on the front cleaned up, wash and then an wax.

I want to try to convince her that with all the bugs and stuff being left on there I would like to at least clay bar it and at least give it a good once over polish, then seal and wax as I don't want to wax or seal over contaminents and such.

She also has 2 dogs she hauls around in it and is wanting a full vacuum, detail inside.

I was thinking at least $100, what are your opinions?

Thanks,
Chris
 
I normally charge between 75-100 for a full interior cleaning by itself. Bump it up to 150 and see what she says.
 
If you're comfortable offering your services to a friend for $100.00, I think that is pretty reasonable. Be sure she understands the time and effort you will put in to getting her vehicle back in shape.
 
NickZ28 said:
.... be sure she understands the time and effort you will put in to getting her vehicle back in shape....
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I would say this is super-critical. Take before-shots, and after-shots. Give her copies so she can see the transformation.

Personally, unless you are really close to the wife I would do what she says on this first go-around...... let her see the before and after shots and then tell her how long you think the protection layers will last. If she seems surprised she may ask you "why so short a time", and then you can tell her about the benefits of a full set of maintenance and correction steps she did not want this time around.
 
mwoolfso said:
I would say this is super-critical. Take before-shots, and after-shots. Give her copies so she can see the transformation.

Personally, unless you are really close to the wife I would do what she says on this first go-around...... let her see the before and after shots and then tell her how long you think the protection layers will last. If she seems surprised she may ask you "why so short a time", and then you can tell her about the benefits of a full set of maintenance and correction steps she did not want this time around.
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Thanks for the great input. WIll do this and let you guys know how it goes. I may even just take it upon myself and do a swirl/halo correction for free and definitely have before and after photos for that.

Now I need to figure out how to take good photos of the swirls and such, cause I can't get good pictures for the life of me :)
 
Well she agreed to the price I quoted her of $125, she doesn't mind it not being perfect paint correction. But I will definitely be clay barring it before I seal and wax it. Luckily it is a light color exterior "Vanilla" and Light Tan leather interior.
 
Think I have a second client already!! Her friend is going to follow her out to my house to drop off the first client's vehicle and her friend is interested in getting her car done also. Time to get some business cards made up so I at least have my contact information and such
 
Since you're starting out and it's a "friend", I think $125.00 is a good place to start.

Developing your business and reputation early on means offering great prices and outstanding results even if you go overboard on your end. You need not divulge every detail and the time it took but impressing the heck out of the customer and for the right price goes a long way.

There's a lot of work here and even though you want to impress do perform a $500.00 detail for $125.00. The idea is to do a bang-up job for a great price, not to put yourself in an early grave.

Use quality products that won't break the bank...:props:

Duragloss
Detailer's Pro
Meguiar's

Exterior

  • Wash
  • Wheels, wheel-wells, & tires
  • Bug & Tar Removal
  • Clay
  • Paint Cleaner
  • Seal
  • Wax
  • Trim Treatment
  • Tire Treatment
Interior

  • Vacuum
  • Wash
    • Carpets
    • Upholstery
    • Floor-mats
    • Dash
    • Doors
  • Interior protectant
  • Glass
Don't forget the before and after photos!! :dblthumb2:
 
BobbyG said:
Since you're starting out and it's a "friend", I think $125.00 is a good place to start.

Developing your business and reputation early on means offering great prices and outstanding results even if you go overboard on your end. You need not divulge every detail and the time it took but impressing the heck out of the customer and for the right price goes a long way.

There's a lot of work here and even though you want to impress do perform a $500.00 detail for $125.00. The idea is to do a bang-up job for a great price, not to put yourself in an early grave.

Use quality products that won't break the bank...:props:

Duragloss
Detailer's Pro
Meguiar's

Exterior

  • Wash
  • Wheels, wheel-wells, & tires
  • Bug & Tar Removal
  • Clay
  • Paint Cleaner
  • Seal
  • Wax
  • Trim Treatment
  • Tire Treatment
Interior

  • Vacuum
  • Wash
    • Carpets
    • Upholstery
    • Floor-mats
    • Dash
    • Doors
  • Interior protectant
  • Glass
Don't forget the before and after photos!! :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...


What paint cleaner do you recommend?
 
Its a truck but its a friend so I would do 100.

Normally for random people, I do 100 - for car and 125 for trucks but friends I do 80 for cars and 100 for trucks. That's for exterior and interior just a general detail.
 
I would be leary of doing it for a "cheap" price for a friend of a friend. If you do a good job and they're thrilled, next thing you know, somebody else asks and they're like "yeah so and so did it and it ONLY cost $". Then have fun explaining why you want to raise your prices.

Don't ask me how I know this......haha.
 
bigez said:
I would be leary of doing it for a "cheap" price for a friend of a friend. If you do a good job and they're thrilled, next thing you know, somebody else asks and they're like "yeah so and so did it and it ONLY cost $". Then have fun explaining why you want to raise your prices.

Don't ask me how I know this......haha.
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Initial "customers" should be informed that, because they are a friend, or because you're starting your business, that the quoted price is lower than what would be asked of future "unknown" customers. In other words, the price should stay "hush-hush" and any referrals will need to have an on-the-site quote from the detailer.
 
Y2KSVT said:
Initial "customers" should be informed that, because they are a friend, or because you're starting your business, that the quoted price is lower than what would be asked of future "unknown" customers. In other words, the price should stay "hush-hush" and any referrals will need to have an on-the-site quote from the detailer.
Click to expand...


Good advice
 
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