3-Stage Paint Correction + more for $400?

$400 Standard Detail Service

Sorry guys, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this or not but am I wrong to think that this service is underpriced? I know a few amazing detailers that charge well under what they should, mostly weekend warriors that don't earn their living doing this...but as a business this seems to be cutting into the market a little bit.

$400 - Powergloss, SIP, M205, glaze, wax, two days minimum, full interior detail, seat removal, full leatherique treatment...headlight and taillight removal and corrected. It's really making me consider dropping my pricing a few hundred dollars to make up for it. I've already had a few customers note this detail as an example for me to try to price match. Any comments?

 

I charge 350 for a 2 step polish and interior. I do not remove wheels (liability nightmare) or seats. I suppose if I were asked I would do it, and charge accordingly.

But I do not detail for a living.

 

Tell them to go to him, Oregon is just around the corner from Florida...

Seriously, $400 is very cheap. Imo, to cheap to be legit.

 

Jesus christ. 400 dollars for all that is INSANELY cheap. Either the guy is lying about his pricing or he is out of his mind. I don't get it...

 

$400 is way too cheap for a full meal deal like that. They can take it or leave it to be honest.

 

Its very cheap but if the guy is doing it as a sideline, $200/day isn't bad. Especially in this economy.

 

that's for sure.

The amount of work that went into that was crazy but . . . .

$400 for the detail
$900 to refinish the wheels &
$300 to tint the windows.

Total $1600
subtract supplies and you should still be left with a good $1200 or so profit. Pretty damn good.

 

That's what I was thinking, that the detail was basically discounted because the owner of the M5 was getting the wheel refinishing and the tint. But they are offering the full detail as a standard price of $400 for everyone. I would have brushed this topic off as nothing on a normal occasion, but two potential clients brought this to my attention asking me to price-match. I don't think I can afford that! I'm only thinking others are going to ask me to do the same...the BMW community is one of my largest client base.

 

tell you what man. If you can book these details on a regular basis $400 will be your new best friend.

If you can do 3 a week at 1.5-2 days max each that's $1200 per week and really not bad if you think about it. It depends on what you want to do and what your market allows for.

Here where i am . . . . . i would be jumping at the opportunity to make $400 on a car especially if i could make it a regular thing.

It would be even better for you if you could book one of these details everyday and hire someone part time to help prep the car:

wash, wheels, dry, clay, tape up while you prepare to polish and then that person could start to vacuum the interior as well and do some of the little things to prep for you to go in and start treating the leather and what not. There are a lot of people who would love the opportunity to work and i'm sure would be more then happy to do some of that light stuff for like $10 hr cash. It's all about finding a way to make things quicker and easier for you while still being able to make a profit and get vehicles in and out.

Imagine maybe charging $450 and doing 4 a week that's $1900 subtract for supplies and a little bit for help and you walk away easily over $1,000 a week profit.

Just some food for thought.

 

X2 i would do everything except maybe wheel removal for $400 bucks if i could have a steady client stream. around here in LA, there are detailers doing all that for $149!! granted its horrible work, but they are still churning out cars every day.

 

Prepare to polish?
What like, psyching yourself up?
Doing stretching exercises?
A spot of shadow boxing?

Good God Almighty, it's not an Olympic sport - it's a polisher, some pads, and a bit of polish!
Let's not make out it's some form of Zen Buddhism where you need to become one with the paintwork.

Although if you can get away with charging twice as much to gullible individuals, then work away.
Of course, if you do mobile details, you'd need to bring your own sand, rake, and stones, to create your contemplation zone - so you could be doing that whilst your assistance preps the vehicle for you!

 

hahahahahahaha that was funny!!!

 

pricematch? wtf, this is not walmart or grocery store

 

Awesome PJS!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :giggle:

 

I read the link and every post made. Uses all quality products and also seems to indicate where he has a separate person do the removal of lights and such and another person does the complete detail, which takes a full 2 days. I am just trying to figure out how in this amount of time, material, labor, to arrive at 4 hundred bucks. It's like there is a price war going on.

 

$400 = 1 step polish (P203S), full interior, and leatherique...no wheel refurbishment, and no seat removal... Now, $300 for window tint is too much if you ask me...

 

How safe would it be to have a car on those bottle jacks? I'd be afraid that one would fail, sending the car crashing to the ground. Wouldn't it be better to have a floor jack at both ends of the car, in conjunction with the bottle jacks?

 

No reason why axle stands can't be used - they're designed for that purpose.

As for the price - just like every other commodity/service the hourly rate varies, allowing you to pick and choose who to go with.
Some people don't value their time as much as others, for whatever reason.
Also, if he's new to the scene, he could be going in low in order to grab his share of clients, with the intention of raising prices once he has won their loyalty.
Equally, it's a bit of extra money to supplement his regular income, with the view of going full-time if he can have enough bookings.

There's any number of scenarios why he's priced the job at the level it is.

 

Working alone I could have that car on jack stands, wheels removed, tailights & headlights removed in less then 1 hour. Its really not that big a deal. I do find its going a bit overboard doing all this on a daily driver. I would also wager to bet he only preforms this type of service to less then 10% of his client base :tiptoe: