so cal pricing...am i too high???

E

Envious Eric

New member
seems like everyone I talk to thinks that 275 for a wash, clay, two step, wax, full interior with carpet shampooing, leather treatment, and all the rest is too much...



good price or what??? I mean it takes me about 5 hours to complete...
 
I was thinking about sticking with 250 to stay within the norm...maybe Ill adjust...



what are you typically for a full two step and interior for something like a escalade? Takes me about 7 for those...350, or do you tone it down to 300??
 
I live in the DC area and the cost of living is probably less here then it is out their. I got a quote from 01BlueCLS (Chris, great detailer) and he wanted about $300 for a complete exterior only detail. I believe I have scene some of your work and I think it is very quality work. I would be happy to pay $275 for a full detail from you.



Tom (Tdekeny) also does great details in my area and I think he is a little cheaper then Chris but still probably more money then you. Maybe everyone in Cali is sick of the gas prices and can't afford quality work anymore. I know its about $3.30 out here at thats as high as its ever been.



Overall, I'd say your prices look great!



-Frank
 
I wish gas was $3.30. I saw $3.79 I think on my way home for 93 octane.



I think we both charge $50 an hour.



Toyota - How come people complain? With real estate prices in CA what is $300 for a FULL detail???? :nixweiss:nixweiss
 
If your mobile i think its a fine price.Im about 300 without carpet shampoo.The way i look at it is if you call a plumber ,hvac or whatever the feild may be and he works at your house for 5 or 6 hours im pretty sure your bill is going to be more than 250-300 bucks.
 
that is what I dont understand....I live in an area where all the house around are sitting at 1.2mil+...granted I rent a condo in the middle of all these nice house...LOL



But I get calls from people and they as how much, whats involved, etc and bawk at the 275 price...thats interior as well...I try to explain its going to clear up about 85% of the paint defects, remove oxidation, add UV protection and enhance the overall appearance of the car, and I sometime get the oh well joe shmo will do it for 150.



I just sit back and think to myself, maybe I should just do a few lower priced jobs and show them how its worth it...but there probably wont be a next time with some of these people...LOL



I also want to say, look, you work for X/hr right? well, I am X/hr as well and its going to take me X hours to recondition your car, hence the XXX price...would you work for less pay? no? neither do I!!!!



the fight continues....oh yeah and gas is 3.75 for regular, and over $4 for premium....time to start riding my bike to local places....
 
the 275 price is just for a car/sedan...and not going for perfection....I dont know how many cars you can perfect with a two step when they never see a detailer but once every two years or so...obviously on a lightly swirled, well maintained car you can, but not on what I see car after car...



back - rotary cut out about an hour for me...and produces better finishes...
 
It gets really rough out here sometimes.



I had a lady call me last week who was a referral from one of my other customers. She wanted to know what I would charge to perfect her black RR Phantom. I told her that without seeing it ahead of time I could only speculate, but with a car of that size it could go anywhere from 500-1000 depending on the amount of time necessary to get it into the condition that would make me happy.



She told me that she got a quote from another local and he said 250, so she was going to go with him.



$250 for a full, multi step polish, on a black phantom. You have got to be kidding me.



I am sure I will hear from her when the glaze wears off and she gets to revisit all her swirl marks and holograms.
 
its like people FLAUNT like they have all this money lying around...nice house, nice cars, designer everything...but when it comes down to it, the are cheap and want things done for less than its worth...



black escalde, swirled to hell, tunnel washed, detailed before as there were holograms all over, - how much? I quoted 350 with light interior clean up....his response...what? the car wash only charges 150....HAHAHAHAHA....take it back to the car wash buddy, thats why your car looks the way it does...lol
 
customers that second guess my prices aren't customers I need, they are normally to picky, can't make them happy and generally are pissy people and I dont like people that will make me mad! :) plus they WILL BE BACK with a much bigger mess than before and they will have a larger bill from me....



for a full exterior only multistep polish here because I am just starting I ask for $175 and most of the time I give the interior a quickie for good measure, but I have done friends and family for much much less just to get the "word" out.
 
i have the friends/family deal at 150, but I am talking clients...



I have no problem when people question the price and want to know why it is what it is, but I dont like the "will you match, will you lower, will you..." questions...the answer is a firm no most of the time...if someone wants less work, then Ill cater, but I like to complete a car, not half *** it...
 
toyotaguy said:
i have the friends/family deal at 150, but I am talking clients...



I have no problem when people question the price and want to know why it is what it is, but I dont like the "will you match, will you lower, will you..." questions...the answer is a firm no most of the time...if someone wants less work, then Ill cater, but I like to complete a car, not half *** it...
Click to expand...





One way to eliminate those people who question your prices is by focusing on what you actually want. Not what you don't want.



If I can give you one advice, it is this: Know that your THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS.



So as long as you are thinking of people who question your prices, they will call.



Now that you know this - the rest will be pretty easy.
 
This is just my opinion and it's not meant to offend anyone, but I think a major reason why you're having trouble getting people to pay the price you want is due to the amount of competition from immigrant labor. It's hard enough already convincing people the difference between a car wash and a car detail because the majority of people just want a shiny car. But to make it worse, you can find a car wash every few blocks here, many of which offer a car wash/dry early morning special for $6. And these businesses can charge such an absurdly low price and still stay in business because they're paying undocumented/illegal immigrants under the table less than minimum wage to do this job.



That in turns gives a bad image to detailers because people think of it as a menial job. Look at it this way...when was the last time you ever saw a non-latino doing paid yardwork? A lot of these people refer themselves as landscapers but a majority of them do nothing but mow n' blow. I think car detailing work is probably viewed as step above that at least here in SoCal.
 
BlackElantraGT said:
I think a major reason why you're having trouble getting people to pay the price you want is due to the amount of competition from immigrant labor.
Click to expand...





Couldn't be farther from the truth. It has nothing to do with it. Otherwise ALL other detailers would be having the same issue. Obviously that is not the case.



And that is my opinion.:grinno:
 
BlackElantraGT said:
This is just my opinion and it's not meant to offend anyone, but I think a major reason why you're having trouble getting people to pay the price you want is due to the amount of competition from immigrant labor. It's hard enough already convincing people the difference between a car wash and a car detail because the majority of people just want a shiny car. But to make it worse, you can find a car wash every few blocks here, many of which offer a car wash/dry early morning special for $6. And these businesses can charge such an absurdly low price and still stay in business because they're paying undocumented/illegal immigrants under the table less than minimum wage to do this job.



That in turns gives a bad image to detailers because people think of it as a menial job. Look at it this way...when was the last time you ever saw a non-latino doing paid yardwork? A lot of these people refer themselves as landscapers but a majority of them do nothing but mow n' blow. I think car detailing work is probably viewed as step above that at least here in SoCal.
Click to expand...



Kind of a loose association there. I really don't see a strong link (or any at all) between those two variables (price for a pro detailing job and illegal immigrants) :think:. I sense more personal feelings involved there than anything else.



Toyotaguy, I think you can probably charge a bit more and be fine. Most people don't have an idea what true professional detailing entails. With those people I find it helpful to explain the process in detail (step by step) and the result of each step and why each step is needed and also explaining to them everything about the high quality (expensive) products that I will be using on their vehicle and why they are superior to the OTC products.
 
Wow, I think your prices are way too low...



I start my one steps at 350, my full corrections at 750, and go from there.... I would say that 85 percent or more of my new clients are around 800-1500 dollars for a full "perfect" finish. However, I spend 10-30 hours on the car, as perfection is really my niche.



Seriously, Sam Walton said it the best... Either charge the most or the least, but don't be in between, period...
 
tdekany said:
Couldn't be farther from the truth. It has nothing to do with it. Otherwise ALL other detailers would be having the same issue. Obviously that is not the case.



And that is my opinion.:grinno:
Click to expand...



ALL detailers don't live in California. It's about supply and demand. Sure we have great detailing weather most of the year here, but when you have every car wash competing and advertising a full detail for $100 and a multitude of "detailers" to pick from all charging way below what most Autopians expect to make, that makes it more difficult to get the prices you want. I'm not saying there isn't a market for higher end detailing services, I'm just saying you have a lot more people to compete with.



If you're going for a job interview, would your chances of getting hired be better if there were only a handful of other candidates vs. 100 people competing for the same job?
 
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