Charge for mileage....

Firehouse Mike

Firehouse Mike

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Messages
478
Reaction score
0
So what are fellow mobile detailers doing for a mileage charge. I've been getting a lot of calls for work that are 50+ miles from me. i dont want to turn down the job, but sitting in Seattle traffic for a couple extra hours just isn't worth it sometimes. Does anyone have a surcharge for a set mileage point ( over 40 or ? ) and how have customers reacted to that?

Thanks! :props:
Mike
 
Time is money, definitely charge for long distances. Your driving costs should be built into your prices for jobs closer to you, but for stuff that longer, you should charge a an extra fee. The problem is that grey line where the two meet.

I personally will drive about 30-40 minutes without charging extra, although in my smaller town, about 90% of my jobs take 15 minutes or less to get to. If it's going to take me 45 minutes or longer to get to a job, then I'll charge more, but that is pretty rare for me. I know back when I lived north of Seattle and commuted to Seattle a lot, I struggled with this a lot more.

In the end, you really just have to come up with something that your comfortable with and then too your customers that when they are scheduling appointments. If they want to pay th extra fee, then great! If they don't, then you may lose out on the customer, but you don't want to end up sitting in traffic for extended periods of time without getting paid for it and thinking the whole time that you should be getting extra for it.

Hopefully that helps a bit.
 
As a customer here is my two cents.

Put the mileage in your charge if you wish but dont tell me as the customer you are charging me. I dont really care where someone lives. If i am calling to get some work done i just want to know the price and i will base my decision on that.

I recently turned down two folks for the same thing. Not for detailing but other work around my house. I found them on yelp and when i called they gave me a dissertation on how they live further away and would need to charge me for milaeage, blah, blah, blah. For me it was an intant no thanks. By the way the job ended up being a $4,000 job. I am sure had he put the $100 in the cost and just shut up about it, he could have done the work.

Just my opinion.
 
Goin2drt said:
As a customer here is my two cents.

Put the mileage in your charge if you wish but dont tell me as the customer you are charging me. I dont really care where someone lives. If i am calling to get some work done i just want to know the price and i will base my decision on that.

I recently turned down two folks for the same thing. Not for detailing but other work around my house. I found them on yelp and when i called they gave me a dissertation on how they live further away and would need to charge me for milaeage, blah, blah, blah. For me it was an intant no thanks. By the way the job ended up being a $4,000 job. I am sure had he put the $100 in the cost and just shut up about it, he could have done the work.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I do with a couple of my customers that live over 15 miles and a toll bridge from me. I have always just built my travel expense into the quote.
 
It all depends on the clientele. If you have fixed pricing and advertise a certain service area (i.e. range of miles) with an asteric indicating a small mileage fee will apply outside this area I don't see an issue.

My wife's business has a fixed location, but she is often called to work a different locations. On her website & tri-fold flyer it indicates she will travel up to 10 miles for certain scenarios, beyond that she charges a small milage fee. Her clients appreciate the transparency and have no issues paying. She has actually picked up several jobs with substantial travel due to the transparency and honesty with her up front quote. These clients even tend to tip higher.

In my opinion it is all how the fee is presented. If you do quality work and your reputation is good then many people have no concern with the cost. Consistency is key though.
 
If it is a town just outside my posted travel area I charge $30 extra, anything farther I say no and just recommend a detailer closer to them. You can estimate your mileage for taxes you don't need to keep perfect records.
 
I will travel up to 60 miles. All of my services are priced accordingly. There are services that I don't offer such as "a hand wash".

All services are a minimum of $110. The most common service I sell is a clay bar & polish. 3 hours of work with a minimum charge of $195.00. Definitely worth a 60 mile trip.

Figure your pricing with cost of distance. Maybe weed out some of the services that just won't justify the travel expense.
 
Firehouse Mike said:
So what are fellow mobile detailers doing for a mileage charge. I've been getting a lot of calls for work that are 50+ miles from me. i dont want to turn down the job, but sitting in Seattle traffic for a couple extra hours just isn't worth it sometimes. Does anyone have a surcharge for a set mileage point ( over 40 or ? ) and how have customers reacted to that?

Thanks! :props:
Mike
Click to expand...

Careful how you invoice for these charges. Something like this might be better buried in a quoted price vs. appearing as a line item on an invoice. Sometimes the pill is easier to swallow if you don't know whats in it.

Maybe establish prices for each service based on the mileage and offer a multi vehicle or referral discount if you can perform the work the same day?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top