Please Help With My Pricelist..Again

Kristopher1129 said:
Please do. I'll try and help out however I can. As I'm sure others will too. :xyxthumbs:
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Wow, you really made this one of my most favorite of threads. I'm trying to start out a small service as well; so alot of the info from you and other members has really answered some of the questions I haven't thought to ask.:thankyousign::urtheman:
 
there is a guy on craigs list in des moines saying he does a full interior and 2step polish and wax for 125.00$ claiming he has 17 yrs exp. i have a hard time buying what he is selling
 
Yea, that is the case here. They advertise a package that includes Wash, Wax, Polisher, etc etc for $80 or so. So I am dealing with people who are saying "This other guy can do it for $80." when they are really doing a poor job. :/
 
The price list : I say I need your costomers . If you can get the price Go for it . You can always offer a discount . Hear in OHIO you be very luckey to get that much . Wash the car let it dry while quick vacume inside wipe off dash . XMT360 the outside done maybe 2 hrs / 2 1/2. Next :)
 
You need two ways ( and do not post prices ). If you are doing an standard car you should care by the hour. Blue collar, middle income people can relate to that.

High end cars should be charged on what the market bears. You should not charge the same for Chevy that you charge for an Audi.
 
maximus20895 said:
Yea, that is the case here. They advertise a package that includes Wash, Wax, Polisher, etc etc for $80 or so. So I am dealing with people who are saying "This other guy can do it for $80." when they are really doing a poor job. :/
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Last thing you need to worry about is the "other guy". Trust me. If they are willing to do all that for $80...they have no idea what they're doing. If they did, they wouldn't charge $80. When done right, it's not possible to profit charging that little amount of money for that service. It's just a waste of time. That's like getting paid $10 an hour if not less. If they want to pay themselves that much...then let them. They won't be around long, that's for sure.

I get people all the time using that bull crap line. "Well this guy down the street is only charging $150". Know what I say? "Well, you are certainly free to choose where you want to go. Try him out, then try me...I'm confident in who you'll continue to do business with". Simple as that. You are not competing, you're simply ensuring you get paid for what YOU do. You are not selling merchandise...you're offering a service. Your service, and the "other guys" service are not the same. Stress that to the customer. Confidence will get them to pay whatever you want to charge within reason.
 
Yea, I understand. That is the problem, not necessarily the other guy, but since they have low prices customers would probably argue that he charges so much less which gives them the mindset that I am overcharging.

I guess word of mouth helps again in this regard as well.
 
maximus20895 said:
Yea, I understand. That is the problem, not necessarily the other guy, but since they have low prices customers would probably argue that he charges so much less which gives them the mindset that I am overcharging.

I guess word of mouth helps again in this regard as well.
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Then you tell them, you get what you pay for!
 
Indeed!

I'm doing my cousin's car on Friday so I'm going to time how long it takes to do each task. I'm also going to try to start some sort of process, I don't know what yet though.
 
maximus20895 said:
Indeed!

I'm doing my cousin's car on Friday so I'm going to time how long it takes to do each task. I'm also going to try to start some sort of process, I don't know what yet though.
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Take pictures of your work! Not for us...for yourself. Your pictures will help sell yourself to other customers. Make yourself a little portfolio to keep on hand. That would be really helpful being that you're just starting out. Without a reputation, pictures help a LOT. :xyxthumbs:
 
just a quick question. Do you get a lot of clients? I do your bronze +clay package for $100 and I have people trying to talk me down on price. I just might be around a lot of cheap people. Also a lot of people want me to come to them.
And as far as charging per hour, that's a hard thing to estimate. Some cars I do have never been detailed and need extensive claying or shampooing. so some things I think to take an hour might take 2 or 3.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Take pictures of your work! Not for us...for yourself. Your pictures will help sell yourself to other customers. Make yourself a little portfolio to keep on hand. That would be really helpful being that you're just starting out. Without a reputation, pictures help a LOT. :xyxthumbs:
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Yea, good idea. I also need some pictures to put in my website as well. I got some more products today!

ThirdgenTa said:
just a quick question. Do you get a lot of clients? I do your bronze +clay package for $100 and I have people trying to talk me down on price. I just might be around a lot of cheap people. Also a lot of people want me to come to them.
And as far as charging per hour, that's a hard thing to estimate. Some cars I do have never been detailed and need extensive claying or shampooing. so some things I think to take an hour might take 2 or 3.
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I am just starting out so I don't have any clients other than my cousin. I think I am going to make flyers and put them in my neighborhood to get things going.

Wouldn't it be better to charge per hour. If you have a set price at $100 then you have to do that work regardless if it take 4 hours or 44 hours. At least with charging the client hourly you can adjust your prices accordingly.
 
i would put the offer out there for correction work for ahourly fee,but keep the one step in the package
 
maximus20895 said:
Yea, good idea. I also need some pictures to put in my website as well. I got some more products today!



I am just starting out so I don't have any clients other than my cousin. I think I am going to make flyers and put them in my neighborhood to get things going.

Wouldn't it be better to charge per hour. If you have a set price at $100 then you have to do that work regardless if it take 4 hours or 44 hours. At least with charging the client hourly you can adjust your prices accordingly.
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I can understand for correction but most people want to know up front how much they are being charged. I've had some pretty easy cars that have taken me 4 hours and some that are just trashed that have taken me 10.
 
ThirdgenTa said:
I can understand for correction but most people want to know up front how much they are being charged. I've had some pretty easy cars that have taken me 4 hours and some that are just trashed that have taken me 10.
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I agree. Trying to give people hourly rates would be a HUGE headache. It's much easier to have set rates. If I end up getting a vehicle that has lots of dog hair, nicotine, or any other type of excessive quality...I just make a call and let the customer know about the price adjustment for the extended service time.

It's never been a problem for me to do it that way. Customers are usually understanding about it. They typically know their vehicle is in sad shape.

The problem with hourly rates is that you're just going to get a lot of people not willing to take the risk of a $100 detail turning into a $200 or $300 service. I find when it comes to detailing...people don't like uncertainty in price. But like Third said...correction is accepted with hourly rates. Although I have charges for that as well. Not an hourly rate fan.
 
Well, the base price is set on an hourly rate, if the car is in horrible shape then I would probably charge more. Does that seem reasonable?

I just set my prices on hourly rate, it's just how I got those prices. I don't know how to explain. How else would you calculate your base prices?
 
maximus20895 said:
Well, the base price is set on an hourly rate, if the car is in horrible shape then I would probably charge more. Does that seem reasonable?

I just set my prices on hourly rate, it's just how I got those prices. I don't know how to explain. How else would you calculate your base prices?
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I have seen some shops say for "excessively dirty cars add $20 or excessive pet hair add $20."
And as far as calculating prices goes I would take a look around at other good quality detail shops and see what they are charging. Then I would set my prices lower than what they charge. Just don't use any express chain detailers where they run the car through a car wash and spray wax on the car and call it a detail. Some of those places only charge $50 and only get the wow factor for the first day it was "detailed".
You basically have to sell yourself a little bit on your flyer as well. I don't have flyers but I tell my customers that I do use professional, long lasting products. That way they know whatever it is I use wasn't bought at the local conveniant store and is going to wash right off. I also put in parenthesis what a paint cleanser is and what a clay bar is. If I just write "clay" people are going to say "what is that"? And a lot of times people say they don't need it, when in fact they do.
Make sure you have competitive prices before you send your flyers out too. Once they are out that's pretty much it. You can't really go back and say just kidding I'm doing it for $150 and then a couple weeks lower it because you aren't getting customers.
I know you want to be payed a certain amount hourly for your time, but unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes I end up making $8 an hour and sometimes $15.
Once you get the experience, knowledge, good products and equipment you will be able to better estimate how much you will be making avg per hour.
 
maximus20895 said:
Well, the base price is set on an hourly rate, if the car is in horrible shape then I would probably charge more. Does that seem reasonable?

I just set my prices on hourly rate, it's just how I got those prices. I don't know how to explain. How else would you calculate your base prices?
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Yeah, I guess my prices are kind of set to hourly rates when you put it that way. I just didn't set it up like that intentionally. I'm more or less the type of person that will just spend the amount of time needed to get a vehicle done. I try to stick to my base prices as much as possible. People don't like that surcharge phone call.
 
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