Detailing for friends & family

Same here. If f&f want it done for free (parents excluded, for how much they've done for me, there's no way in hell I'd charge them for anything) they help. Every step of the way. They can polish exhaust, wash wheels, clean interior glass, all the things that I don't like to do lol.

Oh, and I've never done a paint correction detail for free.

 

keeping in mind that i dont have any paying customers. i have been asking the friends that i do work for to buy me products. that works out in my favor and thiers

 

I charge 1500 dollars per hour, no one has signed up yet:drinking2:

 

for family i dont charge since i do all maintanance myself. my dad doesnt care about exterior so i dont either.
my mom does so i do it when i have time.

for friends. i dont have many that care enough about their cars. for those who ask to do it for free, i say not, supplies arent free

 

My immediate family is free, I mean they have paid for most everything so far so least I could do. For friends it depends, if it is a good friend who cares about his/her car I ask them to help out a bit, and maybe cook a nice steak. For the gf, well her car is beat to crap but did do her Mums car and got paid back with her mom cooking me an amazing dinner, . Like most, I dont have many friends that care about there cars so do not get asked much.

 

Family free, very close friends i tell them to contribute to the materials fund, help out and provide some good brews. Besides that everyone else pays. :drinking2:

 

Family i agree, it should be free, they pay at least 18 years for you so thats at least you can do
sorry, spending 6-10 hours for free is kinda out of my rule book, i have too many other things i can do for my car. i usually ask to pay for materials if im doing something (detailing or not).

 

it's tough when it's a close relative or friend. Also take in cosideration if you are doing it as a business or hobby. business is business!!!!

 

My sister in law just bought a new Lancer Sportback, so I'm doing a new car prep on that on Saturday -- polish and everything. No charge. But she offered to cut/color/style my wife's hair and I may get a trim as well.

Family is family -- they're always free when I have time ( I still have to do my dad's truck, it's been 6 months since he asked, lol)

Close friends get a great discount as long as they help/hang out.

Friends get a discount, maybe 25% off or something.

Friends of friends get 10% off.

But I haven't ran into that too much yet. Most of my friends are broke like me

 

:agree: with this! I did pinstripe removal on my parents truck earlier this month. The cordless drill just couldnt hang. I went thru 4 batteries on 2 drill. He brought out an electric drill. went so much faster, and lighter!

He ended up giving me the drill. So I can't complain

 

thanks guys for all your help. its hard enough to explain to the averge joe off the street why you charge more than that guy who charges $80 its even harder to try to explain to a friend. im not a cheap person when my friends wants wax & tire dressing etc i have no problem giving them supplies for free but they dont understand all the labor thats involved in a detail i know i dont want to bust my ass outside in the sun for 10 hours for nothing id rather be inside watching tv for no money, at least its relaxing

 

^^^ its with any kinda work. i do some LED light work for cars and when ppl ask how much it cost for me to make it, they compare it to ebay stuff.

 

the line i dread hearing is always "hey how much WILL YOU charge me to do my car" you might as well ask "hey how much of a discount will you give me cause we're friends" :shakehead:

 

I am not an experienced detailer by any means, but I enjoy every minute of it and half the reason I'd like to start detailing part time is to make a little extra money and justify the added expense of detailing supplies to my wife. So, when it comes to immediate family, I would gladly do it for free, and most likely they will end up paying me anyway. As for friends, since I don't exactly have anyone beating down my door to book me for their Aston Martins, I would probably give them a pretty terrific deal, still make some money, and enjoy the time I spend detailing their cars. I'm not talking about correction, just a wash, clay, one step cleaning/polish (DG501 or Klasse AIO) and LSP. If they wanted more, I would educate them about the nature of paint, how correction is performed, how long it takes, and throw out a ballpark that's cheaper than the true professionals, but more than the average phone book "detailer" and if they agree, great. Now, if I had customers calling me every day offering hundreds of dollars, then it would probably be different, but until then, I can't exactly be picky.

 

I'll do a full detail on my Mother-In-Laws vehicle for free because she's a sweetheart. Most other relatives if I do a wash, get the brake dust off the wheels and a spray wax they think that Paul Dalton just did a full correction. Those in the know about what it takes to do a full detail won't even ask for a freebie.