Wasting time!!!!

been detailing for almost 40 years . now i am retired and live in the sticks. i do this as a hobby at the level of a pro. best way to get here , start and run another business for 25 years 7 days a week with no support but yourself and employees. i get paid for 2 step polishing and everything else with food if it warrants it. cookies, pies etc. I have to bust my butt to stay healthy but $ are not my biggest concern. all the pros that do this exclusively are tough and one of the hard workingest group i have ever seen. i left calif and moved to oregon to chill out and change my life. each market has its limit and best to all of you in them.
 
This thread took a turn for the worse but there is a lot of good information. .. I saw it posted here or somewhere else yesterday someone posted about pricing with 3 c's
Car....color....condition....
Markets are different everywhere its been covered... portfolio is another large bullet, and biggest of all word of mouth reputation.
I think you should post in the introduce your self section. Post up a list of materials you work with what machines pads products. Include a couple 50/50 photos of corrected and un corrected paint samples. Maybe a wet sanding photo. How long have you been detailing? How long in the area have you been detailing?
There is a lot of hide behind the keyboard that floats around on forums and even more so on here anyone who is good with a camera can change the appearance of paint... this will give people a warm and fuzzy on the detailing level and experiance of any given person. Not saying you have something to prove but... this just helps give an explination for the "norm" that it might be. A wash and wax for the price your talking even for guys with 150+k cars are going to have to ponder what your providing differently to justify the bang for the buck... and at some of the rates you are talking about anyone who needed a substantial amount of paint correcting would be hard pressed to just have a car resprayed... 18 hour detail at 200+ an hour 3600 is half the cost of a house of colors paint respray.... (dep on paint and hourly rate of an average paint shop [$88 an hour down here for a good paint shop where im at])

So if you wouldent mind entertaining most of us with a good introduction.
Thanks
Im Rich by the way, welcome to autogeek.

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I had to go back and reread the question. People do not pay that much for a detail because that is not what the market is. The cost of the vehicle has nothing to do with it. My price for a car is the same no matter what brand the car is (KIA or a Porsche). I do high end ($400,000+) Motorhomes but my customers are not willing to overpay for my services just for the hell of it.

The best thing you can do is order, read and study Renny Doyles book.
 
This might be helpful. Detail a car. I don't care what condition it is in. You could even do your own car that I presume is kept in good shape. Note how long it takes you to do every single step. Then plug the numbers into this chart. If you can make the numbers work with $150 an hour and still get a reasonable price point that customers are willing to pay you then please tell me your secrets! :props:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/11627151/AGO Service Time Chart.xlsx

Also keep in mind that with 2 people the time spent won't simply be cut in half. Unless you literally have 2 complete detailing kits and each one does exactly half the car... you will typically have maybe 35-45% time savings on each job with 2 workers.
 
Rusty i disagree on prices but to each his own... Nick I like the chart but u did say it was possible How about with 2 Highly organized fast people in top condition physically and 2 energy drinks lol.
 
Ok so first of all you don't do this for a living, and you come on here pretty much bashing all of those who do do this for a living. You don't even have a plan, to say you do, then post "HOW WOULD YOU DO IT?" proves just that.

I agree with those that say you're trolling on here. Do me a favor, come open a business in my area with those prices so that way when customers think I'm ripping them off I can send them to you so they can see a true con. These customers that give us a hard time are part of the job and you will see them even with the "2%" your targeting.

If you do this for a living, daily drivers are your bread and butter of our industry, not the high end cars. How about this, go open a detailing business with those prices and come back in a year... actually six months and tell us if you made it, or how fast your business failed or is failing. Till then don't come on here bashing those of us that work hard at making this industry reputable while making a honest decent living.

And lucky Joe you made my day with that comment.
 
Pureshine said:
Then how would you know what to charge? Most skilled trades like Plummer's,auto mechs, electricians make about $30 hour.
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Around here, NYC tristate area, those skilled trades you just mentioned make a lot more than that. As an ammateur many years ago i was making $150-200 a car, often working 7-8 hours on a car.
 
Detailingtime said:
Guys really what have i done wrong? Someone please tell me so i know not to do it agian?
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The way you worded your post basically insulted everyone in here that makes a living as a detailer. Thats all. I didn't take it personally because I don't do it as a living. I just come on here to read and learn. Your prices and methods are unrealistic to most people that have experience in the field.
 
ProDetail said:
Ok so first of all you don't do this for a living, and you come on here pretty much bashing all of those who do do this for a living. You don't even have a plan, to say you do, then post "HOW WOULD YOU DO IT?" proves just that.

I agree with those that say you're trolling on here. Do me a favor, come open a business in my area with those prices so that way when customers think I'm ripping them off I can send them to you so they can see a true con. These customers that give us a hard time are part of the job and you will see them even with the "2%" your targeting.

If you do this for a living, daily drivers are your bread and butter of our industry, not the high end cars. How about this, go open a detailing business with those prices and come back in a year... actually six months and tell us if you made it, or how fast your business failed or is failing. Till then don't come on here bashing those of us that work hard at making this industry reputable while making a honest decent living.

And lucky Joe you made my day with that comment.
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100% Agree with ProDetail here. For those who actually run businesses, my hats off to you. It seems to me that most people that "claim" to run a business are newbs to the game. They stumble upon AGO or other detail related forums, buy themselves a little porter cable, a few polishing compounds/waxes and allll of a sudden, their in "business". Its hilarious to read, then you see them post threads on questions relating to business strategies & how to solve a particular correction job, yet critisize other well established member's businesses.

Word of advise, respect your elders. Not referring to age, im referring to experience in the detail industry & business ownership alike.
 
Detailing to me is almost an art form . I am new at it and do it because honestly I enjoy it and get a lot of satisfaction and pride from doing it.

There are a handful of proffessional high end detailers that I have seen their work on here and other boards that are in a class by themselves that in my opinion are worth $150.00 an hour .

I can count them on 1 hand.They are truly artists in this field and I am amazed at some of their work.

But ,It seems to me that the majority of work out there would be on moms mini vans ,pickup trucks and daily drivers where you just cant justify or get that kind of money.

Anyone trying to make a living at this deserves much credit and respect because its plain hard work !
 
dcgocd said:
Anyone trying to make a living at this deserves much credit and respect because its plain hard work !
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Absolutely. Honestly I could not do detailing full time. This is a hobby for me, and do detail projects every once in a while on the side.

Personally, If I did this full time, it would become a job. I dont need another job, I have 2 already and im swamped as is. I detail on the side, on my own car & get paid while doing what I love to do on my free time :)
 
I think if you can manage to do emergency details like HVAC companies do, then you might be able to pull +/-$100 an hour. But even then you can't do that all the time and expect all your clients to feel the same way about that kinda pricing.
The population that could even afford/have the high-end vehicles most people think of as such are in the .5%, not even the 1%-2% people speak of/claim.

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This thread is still alive? Ignorance will only take you so far. There many well respected and talented detailers on this forum and their work speaks for it self, and you openly bashed them.

Please provide us with a portfolio of work you have done to justify your pricing.
 
Bigbull2984 said:
This thread is still alive? Ignorance will only take you so far. There many well respected and talented detailers on this forum and their work speaks for it self, and you openly bashed them.

Please provide us with a portfolio of work you have done to justify your pricing.
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:whs::cheers:
 
CM8 6MT said:
100% Agree with ProDetail here. For those who actually run businesses, my hats off to you. It seems to me that most people that "claim" to run a business are newbs to the game. They stumble upon AGO or other detail related forums, buy themselves a little porter cable, a few polishing compounds/waxes and allll of a sudden, their in "business". Its hilarious to read, then you see them post threads on questions relating to business strategies & how to solve a particular correction job, yet critisize other well established member's businesses.

Word of advise, respect your elders. Not referring to age, im referring to experience in the detail industry & business ownership alike.
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Not to pull away from the serious and valid poit to your post but man... hahaha all my friends think I perform some sort of "magic" hahaha the part aboht picking up a pc and a buch of products made me laugh and think about there faces when they watch me work on there cars... no pro and no detailing shop here just a whole lotta stuff and a whole lotta fun doing it on the side.



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HellaBroke said:
a whole lotta stuff and a whole lotta fun doing it on the side.
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Thats what its all about man, having fun detailing, and if you can make a little or alot of money doing it then its that much better!

What really annoys me is newbies that have little to no experience that act like they know what their doing, or give the wrong advice on products they know nothing about. What I love about AGO is for the most part anyone can ask any question, and someone is always friendly enough to help out. Most other forums people will bash you and tell you to go "search". The other great thing about AGO is you have a wide variety of expertise available. You got detailers who have alot of experience with either a specific product brand, business experience, marketing experience etc. You dont just come in when you have NONE of that, start critisizing other peoples practises and expect a positive reply in return.

My 2.5 cents
 
CM8 6MT said:
Thats what its all about man, having fun detailing, and if you can make a little or alot of money doing it then its that much better!

What really annoys me is newbies that have little to no experience that act like they know what their doing, or give the wrong advice on products they know nothing about. What I love about AGO is for the most part anyone can ask any question, and someone is always friendly enough to help out. Most other forums people will bash you and tell you to go "search". The other great thing about AGO is you have a wide variety of expertise available. You got detailers who have alot of experience with either a specific product brand, business experience, marketing experience etc. You dont just come in when you have NONE of that, start critisizing other peoples practises and expect a positive reply in return.

My 2.5 cents
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:iagree:

This is what my martial arts teacher taught me many years ago. To find success.....you must pay respects to all past masters, all current masters, and finally to all future masters.
 
Detailingtime said:
Pure I know one thing i would be absolute highest in my area and only go after 2% of population and do it relentlessly and start parttime keep current job for 5 yrs and build a very very solid clientele That is based on Relationship/Skill not cost.I wouldnt even post prices because if they asked price probably not my kind of customer.I am just saying what i would do since YOU asked...Is this the wrong method to a solid business?
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Well that sounds like a statement I told the guy that used to live next door. He travels the country working on transmission towers. Cell towers is what he warms up on, for breakfast! He typically works on towers over 1000 FEET TALL! I told him I might very well do that job, but I'd only have to do it ONCE! ;) Because for what it'd take to pay me, I'd be set for life!!! :D

Detailingtime said:
WOULD is the key word here....I can detail no problem but man how does anyone make money at less than $75 a hour with insurance,taxes,overhead, Just trying to learn
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Sounds like someone doesn't know how to budget their money. Insurance isn't that bad, taxes are taxes no matter what you make. (And if you make more, you pay more....)

You mentioned a $399 full detail. OK, so how long is that going to take, what 2½ hours? Me don't think so! Lets pretend it's something really small, say a Miata. OK, quick wash n dry, 2 guys going on it at once followed by a quick clay then another wash n dry. That's a SOLID hour with sweat dripping in all directions. Now grab 2 buffers and hit it with D300, no way even 2 guys are going to get that car done in under 90 minutes (likely 2 hours easy). And now we move to .......

ALARM IS GOING OFF...... TIME TO STOP.....

Already looking at 6 total hours into the job and not even STARTED glazing, sealing, waxing, LSP, windows, interior, wheels, wheel wells, tires. What was it, $399 / 6 , that's $66.50 and the car is half finished.

In other words, to get that magical $150 hourly you're going to have to wash in 10 minutes, clay in 10, compund in 30 etc.... Not gonna' happen, sorry.
 
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I believe "getting it done" is possible in the world that OP lives in. But the perfection that a client paying $150/hr would be expecting is probably not gonna exist. In production detailing you could see a car "polished" in 30 minutes and interior in the same or less. But, I'm not paying for that kinda work when I know the paint would be worse than when it came in, and the cracks and crevices inside would not even be used car lot prep'd.
If your dealing with high end cars that have been kept immaculate before you showed up the any time frame is possible but still be hard pressed to find even 1% of any city's population that would pay more than $75/hr.
I think it's fun to live in a fantasy world but it's tax season, and the IRS is no fantasy. So I'm might entertain detailtime's threads after April.

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