How much are you guys charging for Cquartz/Opti-coat or any other super sealants?

Actually not the OP, my mistake. One person on this thread is more correct.
 
FUNX725 said:
Good example.:dblthumb2:

I bet the OP's behind will experience a few squirts about this detail!

Most Expensive Car Wash/Detail in the World

I know it's an oldie, just a comparison on costs of details.

Bob
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Another good example.

The way I view business is simply this:

Set your prices at whatever level you feel you're worth. If people come along and are willing to pay you those prices, great. If no one comes along and pays your asking price, either

1) You're not worth what you think you're worth (your prices are too high).

or

2) You're not marketing yourself properly/effectively.

I would say probably 9 times out of 10 the actual problem is in marketing. If you want to sell to a certain market, you have to find a way to access that market.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Another good example.

The way I view business is simply this:

Set your prices at whatever level you feel you're worth. If people come along and are willing to pay you those prices, great. If no one comes along and pays your asking price, either

1) You're not worth what you think you're worth (your prices are too high).

or

2) You're not marketing yourself properly/effectively.

I would say probably 9 times out of 10 the actual problem is in marketing. If you want to sell to a certain market, you have to find a way to access that market.
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100%:iagree:
 
Flannigan said:
Why would someone charging $75 say I'm riping them off at $50?

You can charge what you want hourly, thats fine, but to raise the price of the product itself isn't right.
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By charging $200-$300 to apply Opti-Coat, you aren't charging more for the PRODUCT. You are charging for the APPLICATION of the product. Opti Coat is a permanent coating that must be polished off completely if a mistake is made. That costs more labor, and significantly more product. Opti-Coat requires a certain degree of SKILL, specialized skill, in order to apply properly. That is why YOU as a detailer, are applying it for them, because if they try to apply it themselves, they will likely mess it up, and then maybe need to have the whole car polished and then try again until they get it right, or have someone else do it.

Charging more to apply a tricky product is about charging more for your skilled labor, which is a cost in addition to the cost of the product used. What if you make a mistake and need to redo a panel? Will you charge the customer extra labor to fix your own mistake? I hope not, but that is a cost of doing business, and so the risk of that needs to be factored in and included in the higher price for the application of the tricky product. If you want to, you could just sell a syringe of Opti Coat to the customer at your cost, if you disagree with charging more. But ahh, the customer wants YOU to apply it instead! How much do you think you should really charge for your effort in doing so?
The coating and the car are the raw materials, and the coated car is the finished product. (plus, it's a permanent coating, so it pretty much IS a different car now.) Companies who make products always charge a lot more than the cost of materials to make them.
As an aside, I was totally shocked when I read that you charged $50 an hour to detail. The highest I heard before that was $35. Maybe you think that at $50 an hour, to charge significantly more for this coating is gouging the customer? Maybe. It's your call. Different artists make different amounts of money for their work.
 
I think people are making the application of OC sound ALOT harder than it is...just saying...
 
I remember another thread on another forum talking about how much they charge for Opti-Guard and I must say the total bill was not south of 500 dollars.

The reason being was the whole nine yards they would go to correct the paint. Clean, Compound, Polish, Sanding, OPC, Clean etc etc to get it to be perfect before even opening up that bag with a Plastic Syringe.
 
Flannigan said:
I think people are making the application of OC sound ALOT harder than it is...just saying...
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Maybe for an experienced detailer like you, sure, it's not that big a deal, but for many people, it's too daunting to get right. The fact that you are an experienced detailer is why you are entitled to charge more for your skilled labor in applying this product, which is a lot more skilled than the average person's. Don't sell your skilled labor short, and again, people won't need your services as much after you apply this coating with your skilled labor, which costs you future business. People pay you to take care of their cars on a regular basis because you are skilled. If you in turn use your skilled labor to apply a product that will reduce their need for your skilled labor without charging more money in order to compensate for that lost income to you, you are shooting yourself in the foot. This is a product designed to dramatically reduce the need to maintain a vehicle's finish. I see it as mainly for people who have DDs who have little interest in waxing their cars again, or have anyone else wax them again.
 
Great discussion going on here! Personally, I wish this product was kept in the professional sector for reasons being discussed in this thread. I could care less how expensive or long this product takes to apply. It's a specialty product and deserves a specialty price. I personally feel our industry is way too stagnant with low end prices to try pigeon holding a unique product like this with a cheap price. I'd much rather be on the high end of the spectrum(advancing the industry) than caught behind repressing it. But hey, if you can only get $75-$100 to apply it then more power to you, but keep in mind that lots of other people are able to *sell* this product at a much higher rate.
 
David Fermani said:
Great discussion going on here! Personally, I wish this product was kept in the professional sector for reasons being discussed in this thread. I could care less how expensive or long this product takes to apply. It's a specialty product and deserves a specialty price. I personally feel our industry is way too stagnant with low end prices to try pigeon holding a unique product like this with a cheap price. I'd much rather be on the high end of the spectrum(advancing the industry) than caught behind repressing it. But hey, if you can only get $75-$100 tp apply it then more power to you, but keep in mind that lots of other people are able to *sell* this product at a much higher rate.
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I could sell it at a high price. I have plenty of customers that bring me their cars and say make it perfect no matter the cost. I have no problem selling. I do have a problem with charging someone too much for a specific service. That is all. Again if this was a dealership overcharging for parts and labor everyone would be going apeshit...
 
The cost of the product and maybe $50-$60 more is plenty to charge. Anything over that IMO is shady to say the least.
 
Dubbin1 said:
The cost of the product and maybe $50-$60 more is plenty to charge. Anything over that IMO is shady to say the least.
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So is it shady that your friend charges $10k for a paint job when other painters charge $2-3k? I mean they are both applying the same product and producing the same end result.
 
I think this is the exact reason OPT makes Opti Guard and Opti Coat.
 
rwright said:
So is it shady that your friend charges $10k for a paint job when other painters charge $2-3k? I mean they are both applying the same product and producing the same end result.
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I'm sorry Richard I'm not seeing where you are going with that. This is about wiping on a product that any monkey could do, not about a maaco verses a professional paint job.
 
I guess if you and your client base are happy with the prices you are quoting, all is good. There will always be people to over sell and charge more. Always been that way and always will. You just need to be happy with what you are doing. Your clients will know the difference.
 
Flannigan said:
I do have a problem with charging someone too much for a specific service.
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Dubbin1 said:
The cost of the product and maybe $50-$60 more is plenty to charge. Anything over that IMO is shady to say the least.
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I remember way back when Paul Dalton was condemmed for "overcharging" people for his miracle treatments. Not too long down the road that level of pricing is now much more maintstream. The beauty of this business is being able to charge what you feel comfortable charging. It's user defined and that means that nobody can set a guideline for what is plenty or too much. Charge what you feel you're worth and your customers will pay you accordingly. :dblthumb2:
 
Dubbin1 said:
I'm sorry Richard I'm not seeing where you are going with that. This is about wiping on a product that any monkey could do, not about a maaco verses a professional paint job.
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Not talking Maaco there chief. You can compare the contents of this thread to any industry. Back to the topic though, I could care less what people charge and don't charge and I'm not one to judge what's shady or reasonable. Every market is different. If you feel that charging someone a few dollars to prep and apply a product that is marketed to last up to 10 years, then by all means do so.
 
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