Actual Product Cost??

Troy@DetailCity said:
Your comments on wax comes across to me like you think they are all the same (or do the same thing) just with different price tags. If that's what you are saying than I disagree. There are lots of criteria to measure a wax from being bad, good, better, best and most of the time the price will reflect that. It's not just brand identity people are willing to pay more for.
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Poorboy said:
and wines are the same ;)
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I think that you are loosing out on the point that I was making.
I know that there is a difference in wines and waxes, but by Dave's logic, why would you be charging more because there is only a small difference in the cost of product per application.

I believe that there should be a price difference and a fairly significant one, due to the fact that you have the original outlay, you will most likely have to shelve it longer because it won't move as fast.
The long and short of it is you are offering a premium product and you should be charging a premium price for it, and not only a few pennies either otherwise where doe it end?
 
jaybs02 said:
The long and short of it is you are offering a premium product and you should be charging a premium price for it, and not only a few pennies either otherwise where doe it end?
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Enough said this is what I tell people all the time and if they don't like it then they can go to a production shop and see what they get. :yikes:
 
jaybs02 said:
On that thought, what makes the difference between an $8 bottle of wine and a $100 bottle of wine. Both require soil, water, attention and so on, the cost to the grower will be the same.
Some people out there wouldn't know the difference between a fine wine and a glass of Boone's farm :D but yet they will plunk down the money because they believe that it is better.

Also there is markup, when you get your car repaired at a shop look at the price for a part it is most likely 10+% higher than you would pay at an auto parts store and I will bet that they are getting a discount on it as well, so they are making it on both ends.

Face it that Bud that costs you $5 at a bar you can pick up at the supermarket for $6 for an entire 6-pack. But yet we don't try to to bargain with the barkeep.
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My point is not in the cost difference in product....its in what you charge for the more expensive product...its only perception in some cases that its better and that alone..the same CAN apply in wine, but but completely...There is a difference in visual and taste...I've had 10 bottles of wine that would kick 50 buck wines to the curb...

JaredPointer said:
It's called up-selling. And if he can do it, more power to him. I bet the guy that spends $150K on the BMW could have got one (a different BMW) for much less. I mean, after all, it is just a car that will get him from point a to point b, right? Same thing with a wax. All it does is offer a sacrificial layer of protection for the paint. It makes some folks feel better to pay a higher price to get that brand identity.
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I agree with you up selling is a great way to make more cash on the detail...its not my approach in the detail pricing...I have one detail and base the price off what time it takes to finish, and along the way I use the best products, or ones that give back a superior product...not one person has ever asked me if I can put on a higher priced product and charge them more..and I've never given them that impression.


Lastly both you guys pulled at my hearts strings...wine and BMW:rofl

Rough crowd :D
 
Pander5 said:
I did a very specific cost breakdown about 6 months ago and it was very eye opening. When I say very specific I mean I considered every possible item I would use in a full interior/exterior detail including use of water, electricity, etc. In addition to the obvious product costs (like .75 ounces of M105 = x) I estimated the life of my pads, machines, etc. and factored in the per job depreciated amount for those items. All of this went into a spreadsheet and I can then select the products used for that job and see from there.

This was just to give me an idea of the TOTAL cost of a detail. I then factored in my hourly rate to derive an idea for the customer cost. This was just an exercise to try to fine tune cost recovery + labor rate.
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I'd like to see your results.
 
tmacsad said:
Did you get a DIGITAL camera @ wallyland, while you were displaying your razor like reflexes to retrieve that nickle :confused: You said you don't have one.... last time THA T-Mac checked you could pick one up for $20.00. :wow:
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:cool::dcrules why does clone need camera, when clone has mirror.:cool::dcrules
 
Troy@DetailCity said:
Your comments on wax comes across to me like you think they are all the same (or do the same thing) just with different price tags. If that's what you are saying than I disagree. There are lots of criteria to measure a wax from being bad, good, better, best and most of the time the price will reflect that. It's not just brand identity people are willing to pay more for.
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They all serve the same end purpose is basically what I was getting at. Some may look prettier (ever how slight that is to be able to tell), apply easier, or leave no residue - but in the end a wax's job is to offer a slight bit of protection for the paint.

We pay extra for all the "fluff" that comes optional.
 
heatgain said:
I'd like to see your results.
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I have it on my thumb drive (which reminds me I need to load it on my laptop!).

It's a very basic Excel spreadsheet that lists every single item I use to detail - both interior and exterior. Pads were somewhat difficult to depreciate but I used 200 cars as the life of the pad. For example 10.95 / 200 = $0.054 per job, .75 oz of M105 = $ 0.82 etc.

I then fill in a check value in the first column and use the sum function to only add those items checked for the product, utility and equipment costs of that particular job.

I've stopped doing this as a regular exercise though. I only used it to estimate what my true costs were.
 
Pander,
IF you get a chance, and IF you're so inclined, I'd like to see that.
I'm Excel illiterate, but I can view. :)
Everytime I think of doing that, (writing down everything I use during a detail, amount included), I never do. This would give me a jumpstart, I think.
I wouldn't do it for each detail, part because I can't (Excel), but I'd like to see and be aware of an average cost basis.
Or, if you're not inclined to do that, would you just tell me the average cost and what's included in your calculation?
Thanks!
 
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