Saturday Detailing Day For Hurricane Relief

zippymbr

zippymbr

New member
Well I volunteered my time and talents to put on a car wash/detail at my kids preschool during a Hurricane relief fundraiser day. I have no Idea how big the response will be, or how many cars I might get to do in a 4 hour period. The preschool is in the middle of a nice area in Raleigh NC on a pretty busy road. So I hope I can make some money for the relief effort , and maybe get my name out there alittle more. I need some help figuring out what I should charge. I usually charge $30-50 a car for a complete wash and dry with the trim and wheels detailed and dressed with window cleaning, jambs, and a light vacuum. I think that price range would turn off most basic wash customers who just want their car cleaned. What do you all think?
 
zippymbr said:
Well I volunteered my time and talents to put on a car wash/detail at my kids preschool during a Hurricane relief fundraiser day. I have no Idea how big the response will be, or how many cars I might get to do in a 4 hour period. The preschool is in the middle of a nice area in Raleigh NC on a pretty busy road. So I hope I can make some money for the relief effort , and maybe get my name out there alittle more. I need some help figuring out what I should charge. I usually charge $30-50 a car for a complete wash and dry with the trim and wheels detailed and dressed with window cleaning, jambs, and a light vacuum. I think that price range would turn off most basic wash customers who just want their car cleaned. What do you all think?
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$30-50 through car wash is very resonable, however, preschool' parents might not be able to swallow it if they are using local car wash for $10 on regular basic.
 
So I should start at $10 for a basic wash nothing extra included? Extras would be wheel cleaning/dressed, jambs cleaned interior vacuumed, trim dressed. I will have one teenage helper/rinse boy, so I may be able to get several washed but at $10 that does not seem worth it.
 
zippymbr said:
.... I may be able to get several washed but at $10 that does not seem worth it.
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At that price, if you promote it properly, you may end up with a line of cars a mile long. The key here is that you're donating your time and materials and everything you make is going for a good cause. Sounds like a win/win fun filled day. Keep us posted.
 
mirrorfinishman said:
At that price, if you promote it properly, you may end up with a line of cars a mile long. The key here is that you're donating your time and materials and everything you make is going for a good cause. Sounds like a win/win fun filled day. Keep us posted.
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That's what I am hoping for. I want to make some decient money for the relief fund. Lowes is matching the money we make so it should be great. I just need some advice on what to prepare for and how to effectivly price my time.
 
mirrorfinishman said:
At that price, if you promote it properly, you may end up with a line of cars a mile long. The key here is that you're donating your time and materials and everything you make is going for a good cause. Sounds like a win/win fun filled day. Keep us posted.
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I would agree with this statement, have fun and remember you are doing this for a great cause. keep in mind that you will aslo be setting a great example for your kid and the rest of the people involved. wish I lived in your area ,it would be cool to have a few people banging out the cars and all the while feeling good about what you are doing. I for one commend you and think this is a great idea. my cap is tipped to you my friend :bow
 
I'd personally say knock the price to $20 or $25. How long does it take you to do the wash service as you normally would? Will you have a pressure washer handy? Personally if I were to do a wash for a fund-raising cause, I'd have one hose with a regular nozzle, one pressure washer, and a four-person crew. One to pre-rinse with the hose, one to soap it up, one to scrub wheels/tires, and one to pressure-wash the rinse away. After all that, use a CWB or leaf blower to dry.



I dunno... even that doesn't sound organized enough. I'd have to experiment with a good assembly line process for something like that. :o
 
I do have a pressure washer but very limited space and not much help. Just one teenager from the afternoon program will be available to help me. I will put him on rinse and dry duty along with keeping the rinse and wash bucket clean and full. I can bang out a normal sized car wash, dry, clean jambs windows and wheels/tires with a vacuum and dress in about 1 to 1.5 hours. Hopefully with help 45 min. I want to do a great job first, and do not mind just getting $20 for it all. Thanks for the advice so far.



Matt
 
zippymbr said:
I can bang out a normal sized car wash, dry, clean jambs windows and wheels/tires with a vacuum and dress in about 1 to 1.5 hours. Hopefully with help 45 min. I want to do a great job first, and do not mind just getting $20 for it all. Thanks for the advice so far.



Matt
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Even at 45 minutes, you'll only be able to do about 5-6 cars in that 4 hour period you mentioned. Have you considered just a basic exterior wash with nothing done to the interiors? With help, you could bang out a car about every 15 minutes or so. It would still allow you to do a good job on the outside (wash, bugs, wheels, and tires, etc) so people see the type of quality you provide without the hassle of having to clean out people's cars first...and then clean them. Also, you might not even want to put a price down and instead say any donation they give will get them the wash. After giving them information about where their donation is heading, most people would probably give anywhere from $20-$50 anyway. Just a few thoughts, good luck with it at any rate.



Matt
 
^^^^^ thats what id do, $10.00 exterior washes (or 15) and do a wash , wheels and dry thats it. PERIOD that way theres no options, let the teenager do the bugs and bottoms while you do the wheels and tops,it will make it easier to make more AND get your name out there cause youll be able to do more, also itll make it so u can show YOUR "good" work, hoping you clean your bottoms and wheels good!!

without the hassle of having to clean out people's cars first...... thatll take 10 mins or more each car sometimes!!! lol

and also i WOULD put a price because if you say ANY donations than on some you may only recieve 2 dollars and that would be in vein of doing it the RIGHT way tring to get your name out.....(wouldnt want to only go home with say$8.00 for the 4 hours HEHE)

i think youl do better this way. jus my .02

** display that you are having this fund raiser for RELIEF EFFORTS!!!, Lots of signage saying this, and because of this u may bring more than just the reg. donator :up **
 
Thats good advice guys, thanks. I think I will just do a basic wash for $10 wash and dry only. If they want more we'll talk. I will have a small price list flyer with info on it to pass to people as they pull in.
 
Finnished up this afternoon. Did 10 cars and one motorcycle in 2.5 hours. I am bushed. Every car was filthy and large. The smalest was a Mitsubishi wagon, the rest were large SUV's or soccer mom minivans. My WW towels are filthy. Overal things went very well, and I made some money for the relief efforts. Hopefully I got my name out there alittle with the flyers I and others passed out.
 
great!!! so you roughly made $60.oo an hour thats great! see what i was sayin before is if u would have done interior also maybe 3-5ish is all you would have been able to do and that means you would have turned down roughly 5-6 cars and possibly a motorcycle so think of it that way to that you made 5+ more people happier :)



thanks from the people that wont be able to thank you for your donation!!:) :woohoo: :xyxthumbs
 
Yea, people were happy to have a clean car. I got them much cleaner than a regular car wash would have ever gotten them. It was hard to let them go with just a wash, no polish or wax. So there are 10 vehicles that are out there clean and money going to a great place.
 
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