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

Gumball said:
I agree with your tactics BuffMe, and share the same passion. I will also say that 90 plus % of the people on the street that see our work dont fully understand what they are looking at. Most see a fully detailed car just like they see a car that just came out of a tunnel wash. So there is an argument for both sides I guess. Again, I do see your point though.



............................................................Chris :D
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Exactly, and I'm going for those who can see the difference :2thumbs: But, yes, very equal arguments for both sides.
 
Hey toyoya guy your pricing is right in the middle in my experience. But it sounds like you are trying to compete with the low end of the market and not the high end. This may define your business negatively. I work in orange county, and get $350 and up for the job you mentioned. I also have basic details priced ar $250 ans $150 for the people that don't want the high end work. 99.9% of people don't know what a swirl mark is and honestly don't care, so why sell them on that. It took me about 2 years to get established, but now I am doing 9,000/month gross and have a nice niche in the market that I can control.
 
BuffMe said:
I hear ya, man. I have been consistently undercharging in order to build my client base. For example, I just spent 11 hours on a full detail on an S500 AMG and will be spending 11-12 hours on a Range Rover from the same couple for a total of $375. Yea. I'm insane. But, in doing this, I have driven them away from their usual $100 detail they were used to and will be receiving referrals from them with friends and family with the same luxury type vehicles in the future. It's worth the loss of money for the time being in order to gain a large client base.



I was talking about this yesterday with a fellow detailer while I was doing the Range Rover. I have spent 8 hours on the interior alone. The big debate is whether to spend less time on the car b/c I'm charging so little and try to sell them for more, or to spend just as much time as I would normally and tell them the price will be more in the future. I think the latter should be the case b/c when the car is all done, no matter how much or little they paid, when it's seen on the street it needs to be perfect b/c that is my advertising. No one knows what they paid, just whether or not it looks great. This has been working out for me and I can't tell you how much business this produces.



As mentioned, it's extremely hard to pull customer's in CA b/c of the extremely cheap 'detail' shops. However, I think I've got a hook on it with my method. Hopefully it can work for someone else, too.
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This is not a good idea at all. The firends will expect the exact same price and service you gave the first people. How will you make money? You make $16/hour on the labor at this rate. Factor in your insurance, gasoline, chemicals, vehicle costs, and advertising, I think you may actually be losing money. Think before you speak man, people come on here for quality information.
 
The problem is getting out of the gate. The problem is getting the clientele that want the results that you want to give. The problem is finding people that are going to appreciate that 100% effort, and want to pay what that effort is really worth.



The problem is that there aren't that many of those people out there.



There are lots of people that want a "clean" car. The issue that many of us have lies in the difference between their idea of "clean" and our own. We see clean as perfect; we see it as free from defects. But that isn't clean, that is perfect, that is free from defects. Clean is just what it says, it is clean. It is paint that is shiny, windows that are streak free, and wheels that are the color they are supposed to be. Sadly, in many cases it isn't a whole lot more than that.



So we have a few choices. We can keep doing those 100% effort jobs and wait patiently for the proper customers to come, or we can stop. We all want to do jobs like Todd and Joe. We all want Bentleys and Ferraris and Zondas and Lambos on our daily schedule. We can't all have that.



We understand that word of mouth is the best advertising. No ad in any magazine, newspaper, whatever, can possibly match what value a supremely happy customer has. That person who is so happy with your results that they find themselves walking into their garage to stare at their car, and your handiwork. Those people, those jobs, and that performance, earn you more business. Whether it is on an F430 or a Camry, flawless is flawless.



Sometimes it just takes a really long time for that word of mouth to reach the people you want to reach, the Ferraris and Bentleys. And it sucks, there isn't any way around it. So instead we have to turn out work of that quality on every Camry and Accord and Navigator that comes our way, and get paid whatever the market will support until you slowly rise to the top. It sucks, but that is how it seems to work. Sometimes there are shortcuts, but those are few and far between.



So all we can really do is understand that just as our customers have a different concept of "clean," they also have a different concept of what is worth their money. As detailers it is our jobs to clean cars to the best of our ability, but as businessmen it is our jobs to understand what our customers are going to view as "worth it" and act appropriately. Success comes in how we find the balance between those two.
 
beachcities said:
Think before you speak man, people come on here for quality information.
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I think that this is kind of an unnecessary thing to say. I can't say that I fault his tactics, especially not knowing exactly where his market is.



You are in Laguna, it isn't a fair comparison. Saying that you gross 9K a month is amazing, but you have a market that supports high end work. You have a market where there are people who have no problem paying for something that is quality. These people aren't everywhere.



Come to Temecula and charge those prices with your same business plan and see how long it takes for you to change your tune.
 
beachcities said:
Think before you speak man, people come on here for quality information.
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I think you have already shown that you need to heed your own advice. I'm sorry that you can't understand the differences in marketing depending on the area's customer-base and wealth. This isn't my full-time job, and I don't do this to make big money. I'm looking more toward helping people out as it's one of my passions to be able to do complete turn-around's on cars, no matter what it is or how much/little I get paid. It's a pity you look down on people with this methodology. If I weren't getting more referrals than I knew what to do with, I might be upset by your opinion.
 
I think that with my new pricing structure I am hitting all the main type of clients...tell me if I am wrong by going to my website and giving my feedback ( on the pricing and the process, not on the site as its not done yet)



I have middle income, not ready for show quality, but want a clean car (wash/wax/light interior)

higher income - two step detail

upper income - $60/hr full reconditioning (roughly 600+ details)...
 
by the way all advise is well appreciated and well taken...hopefully I will reach a new market soon and not have to deal with lowe ballers...
 
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