Did first buff for a dealer - any way to cut price down???

[Bates Detailing]

Ok, just had a dealership call me and say they needed 20 Level II's asap ( one step polish + full interior *minus headliner and seat belts* ). I told him $150 a vehicle. He scalfed at me and said what is you dealership price? I said $150 a vehicle lol! He said, well that is WAY more than others have quoted me..... so I say, You get what you pay for - if you want quality, go with us. He said he would call us back - but never did. BUT, with that said - we have the week booked already this week.

Even when you think it is profitable, seriously jot down the "true" numbers - product + gas + time + employees + business bills + wear and tear on tools/vehicles + etc. Seriously figure those numbers out and realize what you are really making before lowing your price and loosing while they profit heavily.

 

[dnoraker]

This was a case of two brothers that own the dealership- one that does the numbers, the other is more of a "free spirit", who was the one that called me without telling his brother. The numbers brother chewed him out for it.

I finally got in touch with him a couple days ago and they ended up hiring a body shop guy to do repairs and also the buffing work, so that's probably it for that dealership. He did say that he was thrilled with how the car turned out, and I believe that if they hadn't hired that body shop guy, and he could have talked his brother into it, I would have seen more work.

I'm not actively seeking dealer work at this point, though we'll see how my other businesses go. I'm kind of in this weird spot where it's more than a hobby level business because I need it to pay the bills (mainly in the summer) but I'm also not looking to expand to anywhere near full-time and don't really want to.

 

[Bates Detailing]

This was a case of two brothers that own the dealership- one that does the numbers, the other is more of a "free spirit", who was the one that called me without telling his brother. The numbers brother chewed him out for it.

I finally got in touch with him a couple days ago and they ended up hiring a body shop guy to do repairs and also the buffing work, so that's probably it for that dealership. He did say that he was thrilled with how the car turned out, and I believe that if they hadn't hired that body shop guy, and he could have talked his brother into it, I would have seen more work.

I'm not actively seeking dealer work at this point, though we'll see how my other businesses go. I'm kind of in this weird spot where it's more than a hobby level business because I need it to pay the bills (mainly in the summer) but I'm also not looking to expand to anywhere near full-time and don't really want to.

Good man - Thanx to AG I never pursued Dealers - because of everyone's horror stories on here - I stuck basically to personals and B2B with buses - auto dealerships I left behind - one of the many great things I learned from AG!