Dealership Issues/Pricing

so I took a dive yesterday and did 6 cars yesterday in 2.5 hours (wash and wax using optima steamer method and power lock) and the cars all look ten times better that what the other detailers did on the exterior.

I did these cars for only 15 dollars each to get in and show them what I could do. they were not there when I was working on the cars so they did not see what I was doing. the owner told me that if I do the cars for these pricing she will go around looking for work where I am getting wash and waxes for 50 dollars per car.

well this morning I gave her a car and she did not go to the lot yet, she is on her way to see the cars now, but she told me she talked to her brother that has 30 cars on his lot and he is in a very rich area of washington and he told her that I should only be charging "5.00" dollars for a wash and that is it.

I exlpained to her, before she told me this, that the prices I gave her were promotional prices and that I wanted the prices to be at 50.00 dollars per car for a wash and wax at the level I do but she let the cat out of the bag and told them what I was charging her.

I use the optima steamer method, power lock and did the tires in meg's NXT. I can get 8 cars out of a can of NXT so that alone costs me 1.00 per car and then the wash method costs me about 1.25 per car and is fast and then the wax. I have not figured out how much it costs to wax one car (product used) when using power lock.


how do you guys think I should approach this situation? she was in the wrong for telling them the pricing and now I think that they are trying to smell out my desperation here and I am not going for it. my price will stay firm at 50.00 dollars per car for a wash and wax and if there are more cars, like a huge lot I might lower my pricing by the detailers in the area, and the dealerships, they can not make the cars look anywhere near as good as I made those cars look yesterday.

godoman

 

Well, how much is your time worth to you? $10/hr? $15/hr? You need to work your time into your pricing structure. Yes, it's more expensive for them, but it's only fair to you.

IMHO, $50 per car is plenty for volume detailing, especially for the services that you provide. If that fits within your pricing structure (which should include product use, markup if applicable, and your time), then so be it. I'd take $50 a car as long as I could do at least 12 cars a week.

 

thanks swest.

that is my point exactly. after I got off the phone with her and what her friends/brothers were trying to tell her I was insulted with the pricing of 5 dollars per car. I have worked at dealerships that paid me 75 dollars per car to wash/wax and vacum out the interior. I would vacum and steam clean floor matts of the interior for 25 dollars a car if I had them in bulk but dont. so 50 dollars per car in bulk to me seems more than reasonable because the work I do reflects when you look at the cars and they "will" sell faster. if they are not than that is the fault of the dealerships poor business practice.

you should have seen how bad the cars were on their tiny lot.


I will stick to my guns and go for 50 dolllars per car

thanks for the feedback

godoman

 

$5? That dude must be crazy. That won't even cover product cost. Around here $5 won't even get you a tunnel wash.

Hold firm at $50 if at all possible. Quality doesn't come cheap.

 

thanks for the support vtec

I am just starting out and have something way better than everyone else here.

I had a grandson of my next door neighbor just come over for a wash only for 10 dollars because he is friends of the family. he drove this car to montana for his friends birthday from washington.

he rolled up and right away I hit the rims with my rim degreaser that is EPA compliant and does not burn the rims. then I went around immediately and steam cleaned it all off and it only took me 2 minutes to go around the car doing this. then I hit the tires with NXT. from there I use my soap mix and optima method and from there we had all the intense intense intense intense bugs removed from all over the car (it has power lock on it from 6 weeks ago when I last detailed his car).

this whole process only took me 5 minutes to get it sparkling clean again and i used minimal, I mean "minimal" soap to get the whole car cleaned and done in 5 to 7 minutes (for SUV) and dried. then I hit the glass all over the car real quick with the glass towels that I get from detailersdomain.com and the soap streaks that were on the windows came right out because the soap is lubricated and dried. windows streak free.

the kid was really impressed this time because last time I did not have this method at all and we used just steam to do it and it took like 30 minutes from all the build up and lack of soap method.

in and out with no water run off for ford SUV in 5 to 7 minutes

somebody has to start taking note of what I am doing and pick up on it eventually and see that this is going to change things.

godoman

 

just got off the phone with the dealership that was trying to get me to lower my prices.

she just got to the dealership to see the cars that I did and said I did a "fabulous job and the cars are all sparkling and none of he other detailers make the cars look anywhere near that with a full detail".

this is good news and with a couple more sacrifices her way to put my work out there I think word will spread with the wash and wax jobs I am doing.

what do you guys think? should I raise the prices on her to 25.00 dollars since she is so impressed and keep that as the "special" price I give her and with this she has to aggree to only promote me to dealerships for 50.00 dollars per car?

she also called to tell me right away that she has 3 more cars for me to do right away!

godoman

 

Believe it or not many dealerships pay less than 5 bucks for exterior cleaning. Basically a couple of guys power wash the cars with water and shammy them dry. Not the detail you are providing but that price is out there.

 

she called me back and has a mustang. they want to see what I can do with that car on a full detail and I told them I would do a full polish for only 100 dollars (with my partner) just to show them. this is not what I am looking to get for a full polish detail and wax on a car and vacum out the interior and quickly steam clean the floor matts.

looks like I got their attention. she also mentioned that she is going to call the other guys back and tell them that I am doing more than what you just mentioned "preasure wash and dry with a shammy". I aggreed to wash her cars on the lot every friday for only 10 dollars each. now that they all have the power lock on them it will be super easy and fast and that is ten cars each time I go up there.

so the ball is moving....a little

godoman

 

Take the lower price for now. Build your clientelle and gently increase your price from new client to new client

 

gotcha, so dont up the price on my current dealership. rather, use it to get into the industry and find another dealership and charge them 10 dollars more? then eventually I will, hopefull, be at the 50.00 dollar mark per wash and wax at the dealerships.

cool, so I will keep the prices for her at her small dealership and hit the new ones up for higher prices

thanks

godoman

 

Dude, you can steam-wash a full SUV easily under 10 minutes? Please make a YouTube video, I have to see your method !! :thumb:

 

Your work should be dictating your prices, not your customers.

 

Please tell me this thread is not real and I am just having a bad nightmare :thud:

 

thanks guys.

I will show my method/technique in the future after I have the patent for the recipe that i use. I am thinking 3 to 6 months out because these things take time to process.

you are right that my work dictates my prices. I went to the dealership and the owner and her father came out and held their hands up in the air as I walked up and apologized without me even saying anything. they said my work is not low level and for the prices I am giving them they are going to hook me up with other dealerships as long as I let the prices stay the same for them for a year.

they gave me a mustang to do a full polish detail today, a BMW x5 and a honda civic (black). the bmw is the owner's car (silver) and she wants me to do the car and she is going to show her brother and boyfriend (both own dealershiops) and tell them this is the work I do and that I am trying to do bulk on exteriors only for 50 dollars per car.

comin along

godoman

 

Bill's right... I'd still stand firm at $50. In & Out for $50 is still amazing...

BTW it's called self respect :thumb:

 

my dealership will pay you more than $75 per car, cuz thats what these guys get paid here. n to me looks like they vacuum inside and wash the exterior.

 

thanks overtime,

looks like all of you guys aggree with me. i need to hit the dealerships that will pay more because their customers will. like I have said, I have already had the dealerships pay me 75 per car, they just tried jipping me on three cars too many times or could not keep enough cars coming my way to justify driving out their to do work for them with loading up the truck so much just to get 150.00 dollars.

now is different, I have an easier method so might have to rethink it.

godoman

 

im also on same boat as you on pricing. I told this guy that I will wash-wax-steam interior for $75. he told me he'll pay me $50 per car. I told him he can go find someone else, n he called me more than 5 times last week cuz I don't pick up!!! lol maybe this is not the way to do business, but not like I care cuz im hobbyist

 

LOL.... well, maybe not the way to do business, but when his own guys can't detail crap, who else is gonna do it for any price?

 

exactly.

I have been given the run around with the dealerships many times. lots of talk and no results.

"Sure we will give you 30 to 50 cars per month no problem"

guess what.....2 or 3 per week and then a bumb rush of ten one day. just isn't worth it, some of them that is, to do business with but it is where the money is at in the winter and they are putting the word out for me.

I will keep you guys posted on this. more than anything I need guidance with dealing and negotiating with the dealerships

godoman