Non-pro detail pricing for friends

M

mc2hill

Member
Like many of you, I am honing my detailing skills and am ready to try them on someone else's car. I have done a couple of jobs for family (mother-in-law and my father) for free, but what do you charge friends? I was thinking about charging them the cost of materials, since I'm kind of using them for advertising, but was also thinking maybe I'd ask them to re-up me on a bottle of wax or polish, is that a fair price?



Thanks in advance,

Mike.
 
I charge friends $50-100. It's enough to say, hey I am serious about this, but not so much that they think they are getting reamed.



If you do 4-10 jobs like that, you can afford to buy some fairly professional tools and products and get going with some paid clients.



If I am working on some new process (like leather cleaning, or trim restoration) then I charge them for product costs only plus an hour labor. They don't get a detail out of it, but they get something cleaned up nicely, and you get a test car.



I am sure there will be varying thoughts on this, but this is what I've done, and it's never been a problem.
 
if you are going to charge materials, the way *I* charge for that is like so:



If I open it you get to pay for it...not just what I use, the whole bottle...so If its 32oz bottle of Menzerna SIP that I open or use, they get charged the full price for that 32oz bottle. Same for wax, If I use it they get to pay for a brand new bottle of product used.



You can this way make a little money off of them, get to hoan your skills, and aren't out a thing. If its a single stage car, they get to pay for pads as well...



I dont charge friends labor, just material cost like above. Paying clients get to pay full price ;) (by the hour)



edit:



typically they dont want a full detail, they just want an AIO like Poli-seal or something like 106FA via white pad for a quick clean up. But if they want a complete detail then yah they pay, nothing in life is free, except for the mom-in-law and the mom/dad :)
 
my closest friends i might give about 10-15 bucks off my regular prices or i might do whatever they want at a discounted hourly labour rate ...



but if it was a full $170 detail for 9 hours i dont think i could afford to charge any less than $155 ... because then im not making much and using a ton of cleaning agents and supplies ....



i still have to go thru my whole detail bag and tally up the value of all my materials and then guestimate how many cars each product can do ... and re evaluate my prices !
 
I, like many above, try to get some free products + some pay out of it. While they might not pay the full price, I'll charge them enough to cover what i used (full bottle of polish or few pads or whatnot), plus enough to cover my time spent (If i'm going to spend a few hours, I want enough to fill up my car with gas + eat for example).



they're still getting outstanding service at a discounted price, and i'm not raping myself. it's win-win.
 
Friends....................$50 I really can't charge more. Thats why they are called FRIENDS wait till you need them !!!!!
 
This might be one of those "it's just me" things that doesn't resonate with anybody else, but...



I hardly *ever* do this stuff for friends and the only relatives I cared about are long dead, but I have a few friends with really cool cars who can't do the work themselves for various reasons.



I do 'em for the cost of materials, no charge for my labor. And my labor is sometimes extensive (as in, day; I'll have dozens of hours in on the '60 Jag MKII before it's ready for the show season).



I simply keep social stuff separate from business/financial/money period. Yeah, they can spring for dinner or something and I won't argue, but I only expend time/effort for friends because they *are* my friends, I don't want any monetary compensation for it.



If doing the work were such a big deal that I wanted paid, I wouldn't do it.
 
I give family, and very close friends 50-65% off..After seeing the work I do they spread my name (best way to promote a business), and Im also gaining experience and putting some money in my pocket.
 
Thanks to everyone that has replied so far.

What got me thinking abut this was a friend that has 2 yellow Mazda's, both with dull paint. I was thinking about charging $50 (from everyone's feedback a fair rate) to do the Miata, which would re-up me on a bottle of polish, a pad, and some clay. Since it is a small car I would do the interior as well the headlights, but would not plan to remove scratches, just shine up the paint. If he wants to do the MX-5, that would be a little more. The plus for me is eveyone at work could see the results, hopefully provide more work.
 
+1 on just charging for materials.



Mainly, I look at it like this. I get practice, I get the materials paid for, I get advertisement ( I make them hand out cards), and I dont have to ride around in their dirty *** cars lol.
 
True that Brandon1! (is that phrase still allowed?)

Went to lunch in a friend's Lexus yesterday and I was bitching at him that the interior needed to be cleaned (a few coffee drips and scuff marks on the leather). He said he had taken his parents to the airport that morning and they were commenting on how clean the the inside of the car was! :)
 
I agree with charging for the product. For example, I'm looking to buy a headlight restoration kit for $20. I plan on testing it out on my father inlaws car because his lights are horrible. I might charge him or might not, but I know he'll spread word of mouth, pass out business cards, and I'll take pictures of his car for whenever I get a website(who knows).
 
just enough to charge for materials plus lunch (which usually happens after the car is taped up before polishing). works out both ways
 
Accumulator said:
I simply keep social stuff separate from business/financial/money period. Yeah, they can spring for dinner or something and I won't argue, but I only expend time/effort for friends because they *are* my friends, I don't want any monetary compensation for it.
Click to expand...



+1 I don't see how they are really "friends" if you are charging them money for something. What do you guys do if you give your "friend" a birthday or holiday present, include a bill with it?
 
I usually give my friends a break as they normally are going to tell people about me anyway. But what i truly like to do for friends is tell them to bring their car down and "we will work on it." I try to involve them so maybe they can either help me some day later or get them to see what exactly is involved so they would consider tipping me well.



Though my next detail is a friends nsx, I just dont see how I can charge him after letting me drive such a car that put an irremovable grin on my face.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
+1 I don't see how they are really "friends" if you are charging them money for something. What do you guys do if you give your "friend" a birthday or holiday present, include a bill with it?
Click to expand...



if your friends a Doctor, do you expect to be evaluated, then prescribed and given medicine all for free?



if your friends a lawyer, do you expect them to represent you multiple times for free?



this isn't about "gifts", this is about a business in which people are trying to make money. I've had friends tell me that no matter what, they want to give me some money - they know the service they're getting shouldn't be free. They're just happy to get a huge discount.



I couldn't imagine something going wrong with my car and having a mechanic buddy fix everything for free - including parts. Or having someone repaint my car without even paying for paint.
 
MuttGrunt said:
if your friends a Doctor, do you expect to be evaluated, then prescribed and given medicine all for free?



if your friends a lawyer, do you expect them to represent you multiple times for free?
Click to expand...



With friends, I usually don't pay retail (absolutely including the above two cases). I often don't even get charged. I don't *expect* preferential treatment, but I'm not rude enough to argue about it either. Well, OK...by now I'm so used to it that I'd probably be surprised if I ever got charged full-price, but I still ask if the break is really OK and I always say thank-you.
 
^ exactly. I'd think my friends could hook me up, and i'd hook up my friends just as well. hook up doesn't mean eating product costs to me however. I think its nice enough to give folks a big discount
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top