I was offered to detail somebody's car...

C

Corey Bit Spank

Active member
$50 :o I know the guy has money but I think that's a little bit too little for a detail.



How do you deal with this? I really wasn't "looking" for customers, my dad was driving my car and it's his friend and he was impressed with my work.



:nixweiss
 
Two ways to look at this.



1. Politely decline at this price. Explain your services and time involved to make his car look great.



2. Tell him that you can't do it for less then your usual price. Give him a guarantee that if after you detail his car, he is not satisfied with the quality, he can pay you what he thinks it worth.



Good luck.
 
Hi Corey Bit Spank...



If he was impressed with your work then he should pay top dollar. I think $50 is an insult for a full detail (Clay, SMR, Polish, Wax/Sealant etc). You should be setting the price not him. Now you know why he has money. :D Plus, he must know what the going rate is at the local detail shop. Here is something you might want to tell him, "I pay extreme attention to detail so I am quality driven and not quantity like the other detail shops in the area." And then explain the steps and different products.



By the way, what is the make, model of the car? How much work do you think you will need to do to the car?



With Aloha,

Ranney :)
 
I don't think he's going to call (I think he uhm, going to call--I think he got a little, er, plastered last night). So, I think I'll refer him to Mike (tpgsr) seeing, well, I'm working for him now and this guy lives in Syracuse.



All I know that' it's a 1997 Acura and probably a 5 speed because he made fun of my automatic. Maybe a CL? If it's an integra then it wouldn't take long at all.



Thanks for the quick advice. :)
 
no ranny, he works for me, not for that guy :) Corey, tell him to give me a call, i can make my way out to syracuse on of these days, and i will even give you a finders fee ;)
 
If hes so bent on only paying you 50 bucks, don't go as crazy as a normal "Autopian" would. Maybe just wash, polish and wax. I've been doing some cars for people I know, I usually just wash 2x, polish and wax and have been getting really good results. Granted these cars are really treated bad. They are "lucky" to see the automatic car wash like once every 3 months and I did 2 four year old cars that have never been waxed before. Just yesterday I WOWed one of my friends. They couldn't believe how clean and shiny it was, after a wash, polish and wax. I'm charging them really cheap because there are my friends and im really not a professional just started this as a hobby the beginning of the year. I'm hoping through word of mouth people will want me to detail their cars then I can start charging them normal prices.
 
tpgsr said:
no ranny, he works for me, not for that guy :) Corey, tell him to give me a call, i can make my way out to syracuse on of these days, and i will even give you a finders fee ;)
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I'll give him your name and number. :)
 
Give hime $50 worth of service.



For me, that would be a basic wash, one step cleaner wax, vacuum and a 2 second interior wipe down.



2 hours at most.
 
Refer him to Zeibart, or some other hacker. Let him see what their pricing is...



Odds are that he simply has no concept, and thinks he's doing you a favor...
 
I even saw corey's car today, and it looked great, i would consider it insulting to be offered $50 for what i know he did to make the car look as good as it does!
 
jimamary said:
Refer him to Zeibart, or some other hacker. Let him see what their pricing is...



Odds are that he simply has no concept, and thinks he's doing you a favor...
Click to expand...





I agree with jimamary comments , personally I would explain to him what you do to a vehicle when you detail it and how involved your process is. Ergo your price would be alot more than $50. He probally doesn't realize the work you put into your car. Then if that doesn't work tell him you have colleagues that are charging $50 for a hand wash. That's what I charge to non-regular customers. Don't lower your level of work for someone else, always strive to do your best and to be paid accordingly.
 
tpgsr said:
I even saw corey's car today, and it looked great, i would consider it insulting to be offered $50 for what i know he did to make the car look as good as it does!
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:bounce Your truck looked really nice too. I snuck in a touch when you were talking to my neighbor and it was slick. :o



I really don't think he knows the effort it takes. If I get a chance to talk to him I'll have to give him a brush up on detailing 101 and then he'd probably understand.



I mean he really could go to Delta Sonic and get a Super Kiss Supreme plus "hand wax" for $50 complete with state of the art Blue Coral. But I really don't think that they would make his car 1/3rd as nice as a real detailer can (ME!). And at the very least I don't spray window cleaner on the front of a car like Delta does after they put it through the wash.



He never called so no sweat off of my back. But I agree with some of you. For $50 he wouldn't get much out of me for his car, and I wouldn't budge with $50 because quite frankly then you get people that go "Oh, go to him, he'll do it all for $50" and pretty soon I'm either taking a huge hit pricewise or I'm compromising my standards. I'm a good guy so I'd probably take the hit pricewise.



I'm going to give him Mike's number and website and he can decide that way if he asks again. If he likes it then maybe he'll want his son's car done. If not then oh well. :cool:
 
QEW wash and NXT for that price.



I have a customer who calls about twice a year and always tries to get the price down. I tell him if he wants to pay less, I will only do a one step on the paint, or no interior or fenderwell dressing. If he doesn't want to pay full price, he isn't getting my full routine. He usually just wants a one step at that point.
 
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