Are High End Products Worth The Money?

artofdetailing

artofdetailing

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Guys,

I was thinking about purchasing Swissvax leather cleaner after i saw a demo of it online. for 1000ml its $149.00 which seems absolutely crazy. I detail for a living not a hobby but I do have clients that pay good money for my work. I have had no problem cleaning leather with my Ultima shampoo gel, assortment of brushes and Unilux 3000 steamer. I see so many insanely pricey products these days on the net and I am curious to see if the Autogeek family thinks they are really worth the price. I mean, a woman can spend $1200 on a Louis Vuitton bag but its just as useful as a $10 bag when it comes to carrying items lets be honest. Clearly people pay for the LV name. I'm starting to believe this is what's happening in the car detailing world....

Thanks,
Brian
 
Pretty much the handbag example goes for everything else out there. Just had a horrible experience with a product that is worth $200 and horrible quality and customer service. By the way is non related to auto detailing. Just because a product is more expensive doesn't mean is better, best business advice I've seen and been practicing is buy what works for you.

Sent with my Note 2, from Planet Namek.
 
Since you detail for a living, I'd leave it up to the customer. If they want you to use those high end boutique products on their car let them know up front that they'll pay more.
 
I always like to compare things to try to explain.

Are a BMW or Mercedes Benz worth the money? my answer is Yes.

Of course as exotic autodetai said, expensive is not better, but as a customer I expect to receive the best for what I paid.

And on the other hand, some people like the price and not the quality, if you said to the customer that you applied a expensive wax they would be happier than if you said you applied the most durable one
 
"you get what you pay for" ... ive heard that many times and many times it is true. Many times however the consumer is led to believe that because something is more expensive, its better.
 
Most SV stuff is priced crazy. I picked up Best of Show wax and their paint cleaner (thanks Dr Oldz - he sent me the paint cleaner free). So far, I've only used the Cleaner Fluid and I would describe it as excellent.

I think its pretty much agreed that most of their products are very good, but for every bottle of SV leather cleaner you use, your losing over a 100 dollars profit compared to using a comparable product, unless you have people willing to pay a premium for that product.

Nothing wrong with trying one or two of their things though and see if you like them.
 
Just like the rest of the retail world, you end up paying for a brand name and not necessarily the true value of the product. Very few "high-end" products are actually worth the amount of money you pay for them, just my opinion.
 
Frankly speaking...
-Some products are overpriced...(I'll call this being more expensive)...and over-hyped, than others.
-But what about the products that are underpriced...(I'll call this being less expensive)...and are also over-hyped?
-Is there built-in "elitism" in either of the above examples?

For instance:
Turtle Wax, ArmorAll, Meguiar's, Swissvax, etc., and their "marketing-arm Companies"...
all have wrapped their tentacles around consumers with their hyped/over-hyped products for seemingly eons now.

-Seems, to me, that all products are "hyped" in one way, or another.


With that said...
I prefer to turn the question around to:
"If a person were asked to put together/design "the best detailing systems" within certain price ranges...
Of what products would those "systems" be consisted"?

A beginning blueprint for price ranges:
-$25, and under;
-$25-50;
-$50-100;
-$100-200;
-$200-500;
-$500-1,000;
-$1,000, and above.

In this manner, people have an opportunity to be creative about their: PASSION for PRODUCTS...
1.) Without having anyone resorting to speaking unfavorably about products/price-points, etc.

2.) And without anyone saying how much you have to spend to get to a "certain point"...
Instead, IMHO, it asks: "how far will $xx.xx get me".

3.) Without asking: Can "lesser" products, in reality, come close to the "high end stuff" for folks on a budget.

4.) NOTE: "Systems" to be judged against each other within their respective price-ranges.


OK...I'll start:
For ~ the $25 range:
Meguiars 3-Step Deep Crystal System


:)

Bob
 
$25 & Under PB Natty's
$50 & Under Pinnacle and Wolfgang Sealants; P21S
$100 & under Pinnacle Souverän; Wolfgang Füzion Estate Wax ( If you count the refill)

Above $100 is out of my league!

I love D156 for the Money as well as most of Megs Pro Line.

With the 40% off sale you can not beat any Pinnacle, Wolfgang or DP product.
 
Everyone seems to be jaded that high end products are overpriced products. But, sometime you get what you pay for. If that weren't the case, places like AutoGeek wouldn't exist and we'd all be using Rally wax for $2.99.

Sometimes you can't put a value on everything by objective dollars and cents. I went out to dinner last week and paid $50 for a steak. Was it 2.5x better than a $20 steak? Don't know, but it was very good though and I would pay for it agin.
 
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It's really a "It depends..." kind of answer.

The most expensive wax I've ever bought is Souveran paste. Love it. I use it sparingly on my black garage queen, for its intended purpose (beauty wax).

But you'd never convince me it'd be worth it to spend hundreds$$ on Zymol's best wax, or > $1000 on Swissvax's best.
 
I mostly only purchase premium products, definitely not a fan of stuff from autozone. I dont mind paying for something if its good, in fact id pay $150 for a leather cleaner if it was really that damn good. I just want some people with high end stuff to comment whether it was truly worth the money. Im talking stuff over $100 bucks for a small amount :dblthumb2:

FYI: I spent a $1,000 on a Honda EU2000i generator and wouldnt have gone any other direction. But ive found with equipment that the more expensive stuff is made much better, has better warranty, etc.

keep commenting! I want to know as much as I can about the high end stuff from people that use it!
 
artofdetailing said:
keep commenting! I want to know as much as I can about the high end stuff from people that use it!
Click to expand...
Per my previous post:
I sorta promised that I would not become embroiled in this topic beyond what is listed in said previous posting.

However:
What exactly is the price-point that you're placing on products that will be
the determining factor of you considering them to be: "high end stuff", or not?
(Do you remember the adage: 'There's only so many detailing-chemicals that can be put into a bottle'...?)


NOTE:
I honestly don't believe I should further comment on this
subject matter until this price-point is made known...

Thanks.

:)

Bob
 
artofdetailing said:
Guys,

I was thinking about purchasing Swissvax leather cleaner after i saw a demo of it online. for 1000ml its $149.00 which seems absolutely crazy. I detail for a living not a hobby but I do have clients that pay good money for my work. I have had no problem cleaning leather with my Ultima shampoo gel, assortment of brushes and Unilux 3000 steamer. I see so many insanely pricey products these days on the net and I am curious to see if the Autogeek family thinks they are really worth the price. I mean, a woman can spend $1200 on a Louis Vuitton bag but its just as useful as a $10 bag when it comes to carrying items lets be honest. Clearly people pay for the LV name. I'm starting to believe this is what's happening in the car detailing world....

Thanks,
Brian
Click to expand...

I would buy a smaller sample of the product and judge for yourself. A Louis Vuitton bag is very well constructed, has a customer support and guarantee that is second to none. I wouldn't buy one, but know of its quality and the company behind it.
 
CDot said:
Just like the rest of the retail world, you end up paying for a brand name and not necessarily the true value of the product. Very few "high-end" products are actually worth the amount of money you pay for them, just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Are you comparing a Lamborghini to a Prius? Both have two doors, get you from point a to point b, have four wheels, an engine, steering wheel, etc.
 
hamlyn said:
Are you comparing a Lamborghini to a Prius? Both have two doors, get you from point a to point b, have four wheels, an engine, steering wheel, etc.
Click to expand...

Even if you compare a Lamborghini to a GTR still gets you from point A to point B for alot less :p

Sent with my Note 2, from Planet Namek.
 
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