Canadian detailers: What do you charge?

[SierraDetail]

I am in the research stage of starting a business and it's fairly easy to find American pricing, but I was wondering what the average is up here. I know from looking around on local (Edmonton) websites, the range is huge ('bottom feeders at 60 bucks+, Average for a thorough 'cover the bases' detail is about $199, up to 300+ once you add in more intensive options.

[ryandamartini]

I think this is a loaded question.

First, what are you focusing your business on? If you're good at what you do, charge for it but be sure you can deliver for the value the customer is paying for.

Figure out what you need to make to be profitable, how much time xx car would take then go from there.

[SameGuy]

We get our weekly flyers in a plastic bag every Tuesday, and today the five pounds of recyclables included a 3x5" glossy full-colour card from a local "hand car wash" place I didn't think was still in business, about a mile away. I'm trying to extrapolate from the blurbs on the card, but it looks like $10 for an exterior wash "with hot wax" and "ArmorAll tires" and $15 for the same plus interior. "Promotions" include "carpet shampooing" for $30, "engine wash" for $30, something called "hard wax" for $45, "complete int. shampoo" for $70. All "promotions" include a "free car wash (int. & ext.)".

Gotta love the dirty rag "hand car wash" places.

[SameGuy]

Last week a good friend asked how much I'd charge to do a production exterior detail on his father-in-law's newly-acquired used car. I said I like to make $20 a detailing hour after product costs (which never includes setup, cleanup and laundry time, of course) and he immediately said that was more than fair.