Non-pro detail pricing for friends

MuttGrunt said:
this isn't about "gifts", this is about a business in which people are trying to make money.
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But it's not "about a business" for the OP...let's reread his post:



(EDIT: even the title of this thread is "Non-pro detail pricing...")



mc2hill said:
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?
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It's about someone who's never been paid for a detail before, who's trying to get some experience. And apparently I have a different definition of "friends" than most of you. I may not make a living as a mechanic, but if I fix a friend's car, I'm not going to charge them for my labor...if it was something I felt I had to charge them for I wouldn't do it. Ever hear the saying "that's what friends are for"? Maybe you guys have dozens of "friends"; I don't...but I would bend over backwards for my friends and I would hope they would do the same for me. Friends are not just people you know...if we're talking about doing things for people that you just know...I don't do that kind of thing, and if I did I would need some compensation. Some of you guys sound like you would charge your mother to detail her car.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Maybe you guys have dozens of "friends"; I don't...but I would bend over backwards for my friends and I would hope they would do the same for me. Friends are not just people you know....
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Good post, same here :xyxthumbs



As the saying goes..."acquaintances help you move; friends help you move bodies".
 
I can definitely see the side that Accumulator and Satec Astronomy put forward, but I also see the number of post counts you guys have (I know that is not a measure of actual experience, but it does show how interested you are in this 'hobby'). I would take the position that mc2hill is starting out, and as such, doesn't have a wide base of products to choose from. I am also in that boat. I've basically got the OTC stuff that I have had forever, and readily admit they aren't the types of products that most Autopians would use on a regular basis. I see no problem in charging friends or family for materials at this point in my career. They would still be saving money, and I would still be gaining experience. It is a win/win in my eyes.



In my professional life, I am a computer geek. I have a lot of friends that would like to make use of my talents. I don't charge them for labor, but do charge for materials. I don't mark up prices on materials either. I look for the best price I can find, and that is the price they pay. Because they are friends, I don't charge them for my time. At this point, I have all the experience I could ever want (but that's not saying I don't learn new things), so I feel I don't need to charge for that. Someone has to buy the parts though, and I would quite easily go broke not charging for those.



SO... to make an overly long answer even longer, I would charge for materials used, but not labor. If they would want me to use a certain product that I would not normally have, they would pay for it, and I would keep it separate for them, since they paid for it.



But that's just me. :)
 
With me, there's not a specific price I charge fam and friends, there's too many variables (friend bought me drinks last night, uncle fixed my bike, ect...). It always works out since I end up getting the price of materials back + some lunch, drinks or some other small hook up. I only do jobs like that if I am 100% free that day.
 
I as well do not work pro but many times I will work a few hours on friends and relatives' cars. Since this is my hobby and I like doing it, I do it pro bono. My friends are my friends so getting money restitution leaves a bad taste. But this is me. :)



Cheers



Nick
 
wogdog said:
In my professional life, I am a computer geek. I have a lot of friends that would like to make use of my talents. I don't charge them for labor, but do charge for materials. I don't mark up prices on materials either. I look for the best price I can find, and that is the price they pay. Because they are friends, I don't charge them for my time. At this point, I have all the experience I could ever want (but that's not saying I don't learn new things), so I feel I don't need to charge for that. Someone has to buy the parts though, and I would quite easily go broke not charging for those.
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Yeah, but...if your friend blows a hard drive, you go to the store with him, and make him pay for a new drive. But if he brings his laptop over with some software problem, and you fix it and ask him "do you have a backup?" and he says no so you pull a CD-R off your stack and burn him a disk...do you say "that will be 73 cents for the CD"?



So if my friend comes over and has a parking lot paint transfer and I put a glop of polish on a pad and take it off, do I calculate how many ounces the glop was and say "I'm not charging you for my labor, but you owe me 46 cents for the polish". If you charge them for a whole bottle of polish, or a whole spindle of CD's, then you are in effect charging them for labor because you're way overcharging for the materials.
 
titsataki said:
I as well do not work pro but many times I will work a few hours on friends and relatives' cars. Since this is my hobby and I like doing it, I do it pro bono. My friends are my friends so getting money restitution leaves a bad taste. But this is me. :)



Cheers



Nick
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There you go.
 
my friends, except one, won't let me detail their cars for free, that's just the way they are. I will go from 40 bucks to 500 depending on what they want and the results they want, and they don't have a problem with it at all. I think they see me work and realize how hard I work on cars so money for my services is not an issue.
 
RZJZA80 said:
my friends, except one, won't let me detail their cars for free, that's just the way they are. I will go from 40 bucks to 500 depending on what they want and the results they want, and they don't have a problem with it at all. I think they see me work and realize how hard I work on cars so money for my services is not an issue.
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That's the way it has been for me also. It's either been a free dinner (lovely restaurant last night), or check, or something else. But they simply don't expect something for nothing.
 
Here's my take, I started off detailing my stuff and reading these forums - ok, got the detailing bug and started trying to buy every "wonder" product there was, gets expensive huh. So I decided to detail for $ for my friends and co-workers. I didn't charge much - average 8 bucks a hour, no charge for products, and I cleaned some nasty hunting trucks, mini-vans and neglected beaters. I learned a lot and after a few years here is my advice: your time is valuable, make your "friends" realize this, it's better to get paid either cash or for some service they can do - the important thing is it's mutally understood that this is work and not just a favor cause you're a nice guy. I also learned that trying to make a show car out of a turd was dumb - they just want a clean car, they don't care if you cleaned behind the wheels or treated the rubber gasket around the trunk - LEARN the customer/friend and deliever what they're asking for, and don't think that 12 hour 3 step polish on the 15 year old Civic is going to get you a medal, just tired and sore. Eventually you will get referrals from friends, you'll want to charge more and that's fine, give a cost per hour - and a rough estiment - think how long it will take and add 3 hours. I still do the cars of friends I started with and I charge 25% less for them than I do for others, but it's still the same damn work.



BTW - I pay for jobs my friends do too - like the guy that brought his tractor over and worked a couple hours, he got way more per hour than I do, but - I don't have a 20K John Deere either!
 
Eh...I think we're all getting wrapped around the axle on the definitions of "friend" etc. None of my friends would come to me and ask me to do an 8-hr detail on their car. They might come to me with a scratch or paint transfer and ask if I could fix it. Or they might say they have to fix something on their car, can I help them with it? (as opposed to can I do it for them). Or "are you going to be washing cars? can I come over and do mine with you?"



Those of you that do detailing full time or on the side for money, you could be doing a paid job, which you are giving up, so I can see you charging for a full detail, friend or not. Me, I have a day job, I just detail for fun, so how could I charge someone? I wouldn't do it, anyway, I need that time for my own cars/life. Sometimes I will detail for a friend/family/neighbor etc. just to be nice or for the challenge or to get to work on a different car.
 
While stumbling through life we meet up w/ other folks out of the family context. Some we get acquainted w/ such as neighbors, co-workers, etc. A select few will become friends. Friendship should be cherished as we all know true friends are hard to come by.
 
I had a friend once, then I married her, guess that's the highest level - anyway, she's the only person that I trust completely, everybody else - as far as I can throw them LOL!
 
Setec Astronomy said:
None of my friends would come to me and ask me to do an 8-hr detail on their car..
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Heh heh, for the few that I do, I basically had to *insist* on doing the initial details (which took a lot more than 8 hours too!). "No, no, I *really* want to detail that car for you, could I *please* have it for a few days? If you don't like how it turns out I'll never mention it again."



The friends in question are always concerned that I'm putting too much time and effort into the job, not that they mind the final outcome.
 
Very close friends (3-4) it's free. Why? Because I know if I have only $40 in my wallet on a Saturday my friend will buy me $200 worth of drinks if necessary.



Those are those friends that, as someone mentioned above, are true friends and you'll need them just as much as they need you... I don't count ANYTHING with those friends... I can borrow one $10k and know it's being returned somehow.



The 'secondary' friends, who you hang out maybe every week or more, get $100-200 off correction services, depending on what it is. A 1-step on a E36 M3 would be $300, so $200 for these friends. 3-step $5-600, so prolly $350-400, etc.



Everyone else gets to pay full price.
 
Here's a question for you guys:



What do you to that certain friend that wants to wash their car, and wants to use your products and materials to wash their car? They wash their own car, but use your stuff. So far, I'm allowing one of my friends to do this, but after so many times it gets annoying. What do you guys do?
 
RZJZA80 said:
Here's a question for you guys:



What do you to that certain friend that wants to wash their car, and wants to use your products and materials to wash their car? They wash their own car, but use your stuff. So far, I'm allowing one of my friends to do this, but after so many times it gets annoying. What do you guys do?
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Not to sound harsh but he's probably not a good friend to you (or you're an a*hole haha) if you care that he wastes about $1-2 of your stuff per week... that's a whopping $50-100 per year.



If it really bugs you though, next time he plans on doing it, say you ran out of materials and tell him to go buy some and come back. That should help both of you.
 
RZJZA80 said:
What do you to that certain friend that wants to wash their car, and wants to use your products and materials to wash their car? They wash their own car, but use your stuff. So far, I'm allowing one of my friends to do this, but after so many times it gets annoying. What do you guys do?
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You clearly have not been a member here long enough, because otherwise you would have more detailing products than you could ever use, and would be happy to find a way to use them up. I myself am looking forward to finally using up my GC liquid from 2003 on my aluminum clad windows this year. I wonder if I'll ever use that Blue Coral kit I bought in 1982?
 
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