Dont really know how much to charge

[Setec Astronomy]

Let me do a very quick run down with approximate prices...

OMG!!! Are you for real? You just used an entire quart of APC on one car, and 8 ounces of polish?? 4 oz of sealant and 2 oz of tire dressing? IMO you are in general using 4-8 times as much product as you should be, unless you are working on buses.

 

[statusdetailing]

You probably never took the time to calculate how much product costs to say that. I do purchase in bulk.

Let me do a very quick run down with approximate prices...

Wash:
2 ounces of shampoo for the snow foam (Honeydew): 1$
2 ounces of shampoo for the wash bucket (Meg Goldclass): 0,50$
2 ounces of shampoo for Wheel bucket (Goldclass): 0,50$
4 Ounces of Wheel cleaner (Meg All Wheel): 2,50$
8 Ounces of APC/Degreaser for tires: 0,50$
8 Ounces of APC for Door jambs and trunk jamb: 0,50$
1 Clay bar (don't use those anymore): 15$
About 12 ounces of clay bar lube (Optimum ONR): 0,50$
1 Microfiber towel (wear and tear cost): 0,50$

Interior:
8 ounces of APC: 0,50$
3 ounces of dressing: 0,25$
4 ounces of leather conditionner (Meg's): 2,50$
8 ounces of APC for carpets: 0,50$
4 ounces window cleaner both interior and exterior (Bonami): 1,50$

Correction:
About 8 ounces of M205: About 8,50$
1 Pad (wear and tear cost): 8$

Protection:
4 ounces Powerlock sealant: 5$
2 ounces Opti-Gel Wheel dressing: 1,25$

I am certainly forgetting something and I am not calculating price of electricity from my place.

So this total if roughly 50$. I think I did not charge him the pad when I made the calculation.

Granted I pay insane shipping charges to Canada so if you are in the US your products are gonna be cheaper but even if you pay say half of what I do, that's still between 25$ and 33$ depending if calculate the cost of one pad or not.

I did not even take into account the price of cleaning all the microfiber towels and polishing pads into this. So that's probably something like an other 2$ on top of it.

Product cost add up quickly and I am sure people don't realise it because we buy in bulk and use without thinking of costs. I come from the business world so I like to run cost analysis on everything... I was pretty shocked when I did the math.

I'm seriously not trying to be a jack@$$ here, but 8 oz of 205!? While I do agree that detailing isn't cheap some of the amounts of product seem out of wack. I could seal a monster truck with 4 oz of power lock.

 

[Evan.J]

You should also not be going through a pad every detail either.

 

[statusdetailing]

You can save money on the clay for sure. I buy the big megs clay bar for 30 something. I break it up into around 8 pieces. If I'm working on very sensitive paint I will use a fresh piece but in most cases I can get 2-4 uses out of a piece of clay. Obviously if I do a really nasty car I won't use that clay again on regular panels, but I will save it for getting nasty stuff off wheels and the underside of rocker panels, bumpers etc

 

[KillaCam]

OMG!!! Are you for real? You just used an entire quart of APC on one car, and 8 ounces of polish?? 4 oz of sealant and 2 oz of tire dressing? IMO you are in general using 4-8 times as much product as you should be, unless you are working on buses.

+1

People around my area don't wanna pay the prices that you guys are charging. They would rather go to the swirlomatic down the street and get a "detail". But the ones that do pay are always impressed when they see the finished product when I'm done.

 

[Calendyr]

These as I said are approximate. It's pretty hard to know the exact amount of product it takes so those are my best guesses.

From your reaction it seems I am off. 4 ounce isn't that much. What would be your estimates on product usage then? Just priming the pad takes about 1 ounce of product then you have to re-apply about 1/4 ounce for each section of 2'X2'... I don't know these numbers seemed pretty much in the ball park to me.

For clay, I purchased 2 different kits before switching to Nanoskin sponges. Both were 30$ and came with 2 bars. After using a bar the clay is pretty dirty so I would not use it on an other vehicule. Mind you I have only worked on neglected vehicles so far so it is probably very different for vehicles in good condition.

 

[octane]

These as I said are approximate. It's pretty hard to know the exact amount of product it takes so those are my best guesses.

From your reaction it seems I am off. 4 ounce isn't that much. What would be your estimates on product usage then? Just priming the pad takes about 1 ounce of product then you have to re-apply about 1/4 ounce for each section of 2'X2'... I don't know these numbers seemed pretty much in the ball park to me.

For clay, I purchased 2 different kits before switching to Nanoskin sponges. Both were 30$ and came with 2 bars. After using a bar the clay is pretty dirty so I would not use it on an other vehicule. Mind you I have only worked on neglected vehicles so far so it is probably very different for vehicles in good condition.

your estimates are very high to say the least!

best way I found to know how much products you use, buy those little 4 or 8 ounce plastic bottles they sell in the cosmetics section at walmart, and use those instead of the original bottles...

I can do about 6 cars with a 4 ounce bottle of power lock. it doesn't take a lot when you have good quality products.

 

[VP Mark]

You probably never took the time to calculate how much product costs to say that. I do purchase in bulk.

Let me do a very quick run down with approximate prices...

Wash:
2 ounces of shampoo for the snow foam (Honeydew): 1$
2 ounces of shampoo for the wash bucket (Meg Goldclass): 0,50$
2 ounces of shampoo for Wheel bucket (Goldclass): 0,50$
4 Ounces of Wheel cleaner (Meg All Wheel): 2,50$
8 Ounces of APC/Degreaser for tires: 0,50$
8 Ounces of APC for Door jambs and trunk jamb: 0,50$
1 Clay bar (don't use those anymore): 15$
About 12 ounces of clay bar lube (Optimum ONR): 0,50$
1 Microfiber towel (wear and tear cost): 0,50$

Interior:
8 ounces of APC: 0,50$
3 ounces of dressing: 0,25$
4 ounces of leather conditionner (Meg's): 2,50$
8 ounces of APC for carpets: 0,50$
4 ounces window cleaner both interior and exterior (Bonami): 1,50$

Correction:
About 8 ounces of M205: About 8,50$
1 Pad (wear and tear cost): 8$

Protection:
4 ounces Powerlock sealant: 5$
2 ounces Opti-Gel Wheel dressing: 1,25$

I am certainly forgetting something and I am not calculating price of electricity from my place.

So this total if roughly 50$. I think I did not charge him the pad when I made the calculation.

Granted I pay insane shipping charges to Canada so if you are in the US your products are gonna be cheaper but even if you pay say half of what I do, that's still between 25$ and 33$ depending if calculate the cost of one pad or not.

I did not even take into account the price of cleaning all the microfiber towels and polishing pads into this. So that's probably something like an other 2$ on top of it.

Product cost add up quickly and I am sure people don't realise it because we buy in bulk and use without thinking of costs. I come from the business world so I like to run cost analysis on everything... I was pretty shocked when I did the math.

I know almost down to the penny my costs. That is why I posted that comment...

"Average" Costs:

1 oz ONR for wash, wheel wells, wheels 25 cents
Nanoskin decon towel, good for about 60-80 vehicles, about 30 cents
ONR for door jambs in QD strength, about 15 cents
APC+ for leather cleaning, interior cleaning, carpet pre treating, about 4-8 oz(before dilution) roughly 50 cents
CG Fabric clean for treatment before steam... maybe 50 cents if I'm being liberal
Optimum Protectant Plus for interior dressing, and leather about 2 oz 30-50 cents
Hyper dressing for tires, wheel wells 75 cents
HD Polish 2-3 oz per car, about 50 cents
Opti-Seal, about 15 cents for enough to seal a car

So about 6 dollars... adding on pads, sprayers, mf's, and the need for possible misc. random chemical uses, maybe about $10 per vehicle is average.

Usually less, however. Especially on basic cleanings where no carpets are done.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

From your reaction it seems I am off. 4 ounce isn't that much. What would be your estimates on product usage then? Just priming the pad takes about 1 ounce of product then you have to re-apply about 1/4 ounce for each section of 2'X2'... I don't know these numbers seemed pretty much in the ball park to me.

Either you simply use way too much product or you are terrible at estimating. It doesn't take an ounce of polish to prime a pad. Some of us know how much it takes because we transfer to other bottles, Poorboy's and Chemical Guys have clear bottles (hmm...), some of us have mixed Zaino or DG sealants in separate bottles, and other products have translucent bottles where you can see the level.

At any rate, I wish I could use products at the rate you do, I wouldn't have so much flavor-of-the-month product to use up. But really, you can't believe you are using a quart of APC on each car (at least I hope you're not really doing that)? You would be buying a new gallon every few weeks even if you are just a weekend guy.

 

[Bill1234]

On the detail job that I posted, I used about half a mothers bottle spray bottle and 1 meguiars bottle. These rims were soiled and were big. I went through about 1 and half clay bars as the paint was bad and about 15 microfibers

 

[hernandez.art13]

You should also factor in your skill level. I am sure you know a ton more than the Civilians (i'll call them that, because I couldn't think of another name for the non detailers )

I like to ask my friends and family to take a lot of pictures of me working, mostly for paint correction or when I am wet sanding and buffing out repaints, not really quick washes like I explain further down. So I can have it for future references.

I just did my Mom's car, took me 1.5 hours. Cleaned wheels, tires, wheel wells with APC, and my 3 Mothers Brushes.

Then washed the car, and used Pinnacle WW as a drying aid, followed by cleaning the glass,

I then dressed the tires. And trim of the wheel wells.

(I want to invest in a spray wax for quick washes like this btw)

I only did the exterior, wheels, tires and wheel wells, plus windows. So at 1.5 hrs x $40=$60 (sounds about right)

She did help me by swatting the wasps away and shooting the hive with her windex and knocking it down. ( Because I'm allergic, lol) she also said, "i don't want to take you to the hospital again, so i will swat them away for you." In my head I am thinking, thanks Mom but you asked me to wash it for you. lol

I would have kept going but my body had to call it quits.

Was all for free, just glad I could help out my Mother.

View attachment 21184

View attachment 21185

 

[Setec Astronomy]

She did help me by swatting the wasps away and shooting the hive with her windex and knocking it down. ( Because I'm allergic, lol) she also said, "i don't want to take you to the hospital again, so i will swat them away for you."

Night, a flashlight, and a can of wasp spray is the proper way to handle this, for future reference.

 

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

You should also factor in your skill level. I am sure you know a ton more than the Civilians (i'll call them that, because I couldn't think of another name for the non detailers )

I believe muggles is the term you are looking for c7424xp:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[hernandez.art13]

I like that, I will adopt the term Muggles.

Loved the books and the movies btw haha

 

[Calendyr]

Good idea about using 4 ouce bottles to calculate product use. All my products are in 32 ounces bottles and it's pretty hard to evaluate how much was used.

I am surprised about some of the prices posted though... 3 ounces of HD polish for less than a dollar?

I just purchased HD Speed polish and the cost was 19$+tax (2.85$) for 16 ounces... so that's 4,09$ for 3 ounces, not pennies... If I was to purchase it bulk in say gallon size, I would expect the price to drop by about 30%... still a lot more than pennies.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I just purchased HD Speed polish and the cost was 19$+tax (2.85$) for 16 ounces... so that's 4,09$ for 3 ounces, not pennies... If I was to purchase it bulk in say gallon size, I would expect the price to drop by about 30%... still a lot more than pennies.

Just looking at the list price it's $1.25/oz in the 16 oz size, and $0.70/oz in the gallon.

 

[VP Mark]

Not where I order it from. I'm dead on with my calculations.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online

 

[Calendyr]

If you are paying 25% of what we are paying, you have to share the information, otherwise it will screw with your karma and bad things will start to happen. So now, come on, talk !

 

[beamerstrumpet]

If you are paying 25% of what we are paying, you have to share the information, otherwise it will screw with your karma and bad things will start to happen. So now, come on, talk !

PM if you want to know where, but look up the product and you should get there

HD speed 14.99 for 16 oz 21.99 for 32oz (Speed is my new favorite easy to work AIO!)
UNO has the same size/pricing
the Cut and Polish is a bit more expensive at 16 oz for 19.99 and 32 for 29.99

 

[beamerstrumpet]

Hey ART
You said "I want to invest in a spray wax for quick washes like this btw"

or

I think youll be happy. I have not tried the GPS but im seriously thinking about it! I love the spray wax. use over top of something you just waxed and its awesome! I used it where I ahve not waxed for a very long time and its almost as awesome.