What is to cheap?

[immaculate]

Ok, so I probably undersell myself, but I`m new and trying to get a niche in the market place. My sole means of advertising is flyers going door to door. This drums up a few clients each week. I figure if my prices were higher I probably wouldn`t receive as many clients.

What I do on each vehicle is: Clean wheels and tires; wash; Clay; Dacp; AIO or Wolfgang pre-wax; SG or Wolfgang Sealant or UPP or Pinnacle Souvergn Wax.

Interior: Clean Vinyl and dress with Meg`s 40, vacuum Carpets and use little green machine to shampoo, clean and condition leather, door jams, windows, trunk, plastic, etc.

I generally end up charging only about 90 dollars or so.

Now my question: Should I continue doing this until I build up a good clientelle base and then raise prices? Or is there some way of having high prices and getting customers (early on)? A better way to advertise?

My most humble thanks in Advance......"the King of Cheese"

[immaculate]

Oh and I meant "too" not "to". :)

[wifehatescar]

Are you doing this as a side business? If so do less cars for a higher price i.e. a fair price for the work you are putting in, and $90 ain`t fair to you unless your reeeeally quick!

[usdm]

what he said......

[Ringo]

In my opinion you are truly underselling yourself. My price for such a service is more than double that price. I will also say that those are very high end products for $90.

You kind of have to know your market but I don`t know of any place that does a full detail for $90. But I`m in the Wash. D.C. suburbs and everything here is expensive.

[Scott P]

I think you are really doing a lot of work and using a lot of product for little return. Sure, it`s good to get the business as any business is better than no business, but I think the prices are still too low. I would move claying to an up sell position. DACP is still a good idea, but I`d go with a glaze and wax or sealer.

Klasse, Wolfgang, and especially Souveran are pretty expensive. If you buy the stuff in bulk, you would save some money though. I wouldn`t even use Souveran and the durability is poor. After a few weeks, the customer may have no beading and think you didn`t use a good product. I`d go with Natty Wax, S100 or Carnauba Moose Wax for a lower cost option with better durability.

For the interior, I would limit it to a vacuum and wipe down. Using a dressing wouldn`t be too bad either. I would skip Leather conditioning and simply wipe it down. Wiping down the door hood and trunk jambs is quick and easy enough. Glass and tires is a given to do.

People who only want to pay $90 for a detail may not notice the difference between Clay/DACP/AIO/SG and DACP/PwC/Natty Wax or DACP/VM/CMW. The latter two options are significantly cheaper and will add to the profit margin. Once you get them as customers, you can up sell on claying, leather conditioning and carpet cleaning.

[immaculate]

Thanks for the responses. I think you were right scott about individuals not knowing the difference between what I do and a quick wash n` wax. I just can`t find it in me to do a "quickie" detail. And I don`t know how to market to the individuals who would pay for what I do. So I`m in a dilemma that way.

I think you have a good point about dropping some of the options, and sell them a la carte. But I do this full time (I don`t take much to live off of, with 150 rent a month and no car payment) so I have lot`s of free time,and don`t generally mind adding some additional time to the vehicles. But I just want to know if this is a good way to get a clientelle and then jack up the prices some (actually I`m advertizing a 20% discount, so I usually charge about 110, but it`s coming out to be around 90 with the discount). Or is there a better way to market the high end individuals who want the type of details I can do?

Anyways, thanks so much for the comments.