Suggest A Simple Price Structure

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lancerplayer

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Hey guys,

I'm a hobbyist looking to make some money detailing on the side. I have a 9-5 40+ hour per week job, so this is something I will do for fun on the weekends. Knowing what you know now and putting yourself in my shoes, how would you construct simple and clear price options for your services?

At the moment, I do not feel confident in my skills to do major paint corrections. I can handle average swirls and fine scratches, but I'm far from being able to do some of the restoration/corrective paint work you experts can do.

Could you please provide your suggestions for exterior pricing and interior pricing?

All feedback is much appreciated! :dblthumb2:
 
lancerplayer said:
Hey guys,

I'm a hobbyist looking to make some money detailing on the side. I have a 9-5 40+ hour per week job, so this is something I will do for fun on the weekends. Knowing what you know now and putting yourself in my shoes, how would you construct simple and clear price options for your services?

At the moment, I do not feel confident in my skills to do major paint corrections. I can handle average swirls and fine scratches, but I'm far from being able to do some of the restoration/corrective paint work you experts can do.

Could you please provide your suggestions for exterior pricing and interior pricing?

All feedback is much appreciated! :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

My suggestion is to look on Yelp and Google for detailers in your area and base your prices off what they charge. There are people on here who do this for a living that won't do a basic wash for less than $75 and have a solid customer base. Where I live if you charged that you would be out of business. Place to place how much you can charge for various detailing things varies so much, it's crazy.
 
Select an hourly wage for yourself and charge everything by the hour.

For example, it takes me 2 hours to do a deep clean wash, clay, dry, sealant. I charge $90-130 for this service depending on the condition and size.
 
Are you doing this at your home?

I would get me some quality mitts, quality soap, two buckets, and some tire dressing. A good vacuum, a good spray sealant and start offering wash and seal in your area while you work to gain the knowledge to do paint correction.

Not sure of the area, but Scott hits it on the money, but you could get by on less for a lot of people.

You could call AG direct and let them know you want a starter kit, two buckets and let them taylor a kit for you. I am sure they could do that.

HUMP
 
Set your prices well above average for your market is my suggestion. If you are doing this part time there is NO reason to tailor to the lowest common denominator. Set your prices high, get quality higher end clients, have fun, cash checks.
 
I agree with establishing an hourly rate and getting comfortable with how much time it will take you to complete THAT particular job based on what the customer wants. Take that info and then compare it to your local competition...that is, what they charge... and tweak it as you want.
 
Thank you all for the responses so far.

Do you recommend I do a basic exterior and a basic interior and then a full exterior and ful interior? Charge accordingly obviously.
 
I've been thinking about this myself. I'm assuming even as a side business you'd still have to get insurance? ?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using AG Online
 
get out and do a simple price survey in your local car washing community. Get to know the market price. Thats what I did and found a range of prices for the level of service that Im offering and thus my pricing is based on it.

For me, I started out with slightly below average to gain recognition. And also because I was learning to handle customer's cars. Once you are comfortable with it, you can increase your price. Once they know you are good, they do not mind paying a premium for your services.

However you will be bombarded with people complaining why are your services more expensive than others. Just ignore them.

For me, to ease the confusion in explaining to customers. I provide them with a full exterior detailing price and explain to them if you are interior you have to add on. If they sound a bit discourage, you can go ahead quote them a basic polishing package pricing which is lower. The most important point is to not CONFUSE the customer with your pricing. They are lazy to think about pricing and would love you if you can summarize properly for them.
 
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