Detailing Packages Help!!

StealthXJ

StealthXJ

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Hey guys, so I could really use some help polishing up my detailing packages list and prices asap! I have been so busy with jobs, a very good thing, that I have only had limited time to work on my website content and such. My dad has helped a lot, but I would really appreciate the help of other true professionals with this matter! I have so many people that are very interested in getting their vehicle detailed that I MUST get this out ASAP! On top of all of this, I am still working a part-time job... I have a price comparison document and my detailing document. Would anyone be willing to take a look at this for me and give me some advice? This would help me out tremendously! Please PM me. Thank you!
 
I don't know know if I could help, but I'm sure someone would. Post them up or put a link to your website.
 
Keep it simple. I have 3 "packages" that i offer, each building off the lower one. Also if be flexible on the services offered in them and be willing to work with the customer on what is important to them. Obviously try to up-sell them to the highest level you offer, but if they want a premium detail but without the carpet cleaned or the paint polished, you need to be respectful of that and work with them. Here is a link to my services page showing the three levels i have...Firehouse Mobile Auto Detailing

Good Luck!
Mike
 
Thanks guys. Here is my situation. I made $120 today on a 7 hour job completely detailing a truck. I wash, clay, clean wheels and tires, dress tires, clean all door jams and every part of the door, wipe down the engine bay, clean windows, apply a sealant/wax, clean and condition all interior vinyl, dash, cup holders, console, complete vacuum, clean and condition leather, spot removal, etc... I do not shampoo or steam clean yet, as I do not have the equipment. I also do not do any paint correction quite yet. Still getting my kit together. I pride myself in detailing the areas that most people would pass over because it is not usually seen. I know that I am severely under-pricing my services. That job was only like $17 and hour... My new outline for this service would see that same truck costing a client $179.95.

I have done price comparisons in my area and I am still lower. I do not want to under or over price people, but once I put it out there I don't want to change it for a long time. This is why I am stressing all of this. PM me if you wouldn't mind looking at what I have and talking further in detail. Thanks guys.
 
StealthXJ said:
Thanks guys. Here is my situation. I made $120 today on a 7 hour job completely detailing a truck. I wash, clay, clean wheels and tires, dress tires, clean all door jams and every part of the door, wipe down the engine bay, clean windows, apply a sealant/wax, clean and condition all interior vinyl, dash, cup holders, console, complete vacuum, clean and condition leather, spot removal, etc... I do not shampoo or steam clean yet, as I do not have the equipment. I also do not do any paint correction quite yet. Still getting my kit together. I pride myself in detailing the areas that most people would pass over because it is not usually seen. I know that I am severely under-pricing my services. That job was only like $17 and hour... My new outline for this service would see that same truck costing a client $179.95.

I have done price comparisons in my area and I am still lower. I do not want to under or over price people, but once I put it out there I don't want to change it for a long time. This is why I am stressing all of this. PM me if you wouldn't mind looking at what I have and talking further in detail. Thanks guys.
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At 179.00 for a truck is cheap,heck I don't even mess with them at all unless they are somewhat clean.just leave it at by estimate only otherwise you will hurt yourself listing 179 for a disaster of a vehicle.some people won't give you extra cause you listed it at a certain price point,others understand and will give more.
 
GSKR said:
At 179.00 for a truck is cheap,heck I don't even mess with them at all unless they are somewhat clean.just leave it at by estimate only otherwise you will hurt yourself listing 179 for a disaster of a vehicle.some people won't give you extra cause you listed it at a certain price point,others understand and will give more.
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You see, it was just a Honda Ridgeline. It wasn't all that dirty, actually, but the paint still needed claying badly, plus I never skimp on anything! I want to leave the customer knowing that I did my absolute best!

But yes, I feel that I may be still too cheap. I'd rather not do a quote each time, for various reasons, but I do plan to charge extra for excessive pet hair and dirt. Ah, this whole going into business for myself thing takes a lot of effort just to get rolling. I have so much content to write for my website and so little time!
 
Your gonna get burned on trucks sooner or later,never give a quote without seeing it first hand.
 
Really? Ok, thank you for the advice. I'm not sure now how to communicate that to my customers. Are you recommending that I just keep a base price in my head, take the price off of the list and only price someone per each vehicle once I see it?
 
You do want to do your best and have your Customer happy, and you also want to be paid for your hard work. I am assuming you are mobile... consider this: You have to drive there and set up before you start working... how long did that take? Then you have to clean your Tools and put your Equipment away and drive home, how long did that take? You used products during the detaill. Some are cheap some are not but you definatelly spent several dollars during that detail. Then you got home and had to wash the microfibers and most likelly your clothes... there is a cost and time expense there... and just when you thought you were done, you have to enter the sale into your books, you probably took pictures for your portfolio... more time spent... You definatelly did not make 17$/hour... do the math you will very likelly be shocked.
 
Oh, I know that $120 is stupid cheap now for what I provide. I am just trying to dial in on the "right" price. I also can't wait to start doing some paint reconditioning once I feel solid and have all of my kit together. That's where the money is. Thank you for the help!
 
I would offer a range. For example $179-199. " depends on condition of vehicle". Don't lock in the price until you see it, but you can still give them a general idea. Be prepared to tell them why it may cost more. Tree sap, excessive bird bombs, pet hair, water spots, tar. Those extra things require more time and product so it's not a matter of just wanting more money.

Yes you can charge more for polishing, but it takes more time. I'm actually considering going back to some more basic offerings. Seems like more people around me can't afford my prices once polishing is introduced, and I feel I'm already fairly low.
 
Calendyr said:
You do want to do your best and have your Customer happy, and you also want to be paid for your hard work. I am assuming you are mobile... consider this: You have to drive there and set up before you start working... how long did that take? Then you have to clean your Tools and put your Equipment away and drive home, how long did that take? You used products during the detaill. Some are cheap some are not but you definatelly spent several dollars during that detail. Then you got home and had to wash the microfibers and most likelly your clothes... there is a cost and time expense there... and just when you thought you were done, you have to enter the sale into your books, you probably took pictures for your portfolio... more time spent... You definatelly did not make 17$/hour... do the math you will very likelly be shocked.
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Thats what I'm saying,wrap up your total time involved.I spend 5 hrs a week prepping my truck everyday filling the tank and bottle and washing the towels etc.
 
Firehouse Mike said:
Keep it simple. I have 3 "packages" that i offer, each building off the lower one. Also if be flexible on the services offered in them and be willing to work with the customer on what is important to them. Obviously try to up-sell them to the highest level you offer, but if they want a premium detail but without the carpet cleaned or the paint polished, you need to be respectful of that and work with them. Here is a link to my services page showing the three levels i have...Firehouse Mobile Auto Detailing

Good Luck!
Mike
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Hey Mike, what do you mean by quarterly maintenance packages on your website? How's that work?
 
I am just about to post my website online, so I have pretty much finalized prices and such. I put a note at the bottom, might do it at the top as well, saying, "prices may very due to condition upon inspection". Can't wait to finally show everyone!
 
Busy mind said:
I would offer a range. For example $179-199. " depends on condition of vehicle". Don't lock in the price until you see it, but you can still give them a general idea. Be prepared to tell them why it may cost more. Tree sap, excessive bird bombs, pet hair, water spots, tar. Those extra things require more time and product so it's not a matter of just wanting more money.

Yes you can charge more for polishing, but it takes more time. I'm actually considering going back to some more basic offerings. Seems like more people around me can't afford my prices once polishing is introduced, and I feel I'm already fairly low.
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You are simply going after the wrong market. If your goal market is people who can't afford polishing, you will not be making any money in this business. Aim higher. Your ideal customer has a luxury car and can afford polishing. In fact, in an ideal world you would want rich clients on a maintenance plan. If you can put that in place you won't have to worry about getting clients. It takes time but it should be your goal.
 
Calendyr said:
You are simply going after the wrong market. If your goal market is people who can't afford polishing, you will not be making any money in this business. Aim higher. Your ideal customer has a luxury car and can afford polishing. In fact, in an ideal world you would want rich clients on a maintenance plan. If you can put that in place you won't have to worry about getting clients. It takes time but it should be your goal.
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Thank you. I am working towards that, but first I need to get my kit ready to go and my skills and procedure refined. I want to be fully prepared. I am going to use my Jeep to show what I can do, then finally offer those services. Prime Auto Detailing - Home
 
Forget all of this "I don't want to be over or under priced" talk. The muddy middle is a place of bankrupty, and there can only be ONE lowest price point, so set yourself well above everyone else if you want to stand out.
 
VP Mark said:
Forget all of this "I don't want to be over or under priced" talk. The muddy middle is a place of bankrupty, and there can only be ONE lowest price point, so set yourself well above everyone else if you want to stand out.
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While I do agree with your statement for the most part, I also need to be conscious of my demographic. My prices now are considerably higher than what I used to have them at. Before I made this into an actual business, I was charging only $120 for a complete detail including a clay bar. Entirely too cheap! I work another job, but I would really like to completely drop that to pursue this.
 
I would recommend not to print out and distribute a "menu" type advertisement. This will limit your ability to raise your prices in the future or change your service offerings.

Your prices are very low. I'm not sure how long you've been doing this but soon you will eventually realize that spending all day on a $125 service is a quick path to business insolvency. By the time you take out cost of supplies, fuel, insurance, city/state business licenses, utilities, etc., etc., you are left with only a small percentage as "profit."

As a sole proprietor if you plan to just pay yourself the entire net total from each job then your business is actually producing ZERO profit. All of your services should be designed as if you are paying an employee to perform the task and have a margin of profit which you can use to expand your business in the future. If you yourself are the only employee then that is absolutely okay; however, all of your services should be able to yield a profit after you've paid all expenses including labor, even if the "labor" cost is only for yourself.

You also have to account for all the time you spend OUTSIDE of physically working on each vehicle. The time you spend building your website, ordering supplies, diluting chemicals, phone calls, emails, etc. As the sole employee of your business you need the "profits" from each service to be able to pay your hourly wages while you are performing ancillary functions. These are all things that contribute to the value you are delivering in each detailing service. Because you've spent the time learning, practicing, organizing, and preparing, you have created a professional service offering that should command a corresponding price point.

Bottom line this is what I see when someone says "I spent all day detailing a car and made $125." It's basically a math problem:

Service Price $125
- Supplies $10
- Automotive / Fuel $10 (cost to get to and from each job, this is an average of all automobile expenses throughout the year)
- Insurance cost per vehicle $4 (this will be lower if you detail a higher volume of vehicles)

That leaves $101 to pay for labor; or, if the job took 7 hours that equals $14.42/hr. Now imagine you wanted to ever grow the business or hire an employee. Let's also say you wanted to pay your employee a decent, living wage of $15/hr. With state, federal, workers comp, payroll processing, etc. your employee would actually be costing you roughly $21/hr. Your business is now insolvent. It would actually cost you $147 to pay someone $15/hr to detail this vehicle. Now add in the cost of supplies and other business expenses and it costs you $171 to detail this vehicle.
 
StealthXJ said:
While I do agree with your statement for the most part, I also need to be conscious of my demographic. My prices now are considerably higher than what I used to have them at. Before I made this into an actual business, I was charging only $120 for a complete detail including a clay bar. Entirely too cheap! I work another job, but I would really like to completely drop that to pursue this.
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I live in a city of 2400 people, I thought the same thing for years. Learn from my proud and ignorant mistakes. People with real money wanting a premium service will literally crawl out of the woodwork if you give them the slightest reason to think that you are better than the rest of the crowd.
 
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