how much should i charge? light paint correction

**ride5150** · 08-17-2011, 11:53 AM

i had a little display at a car meet last night, and met a guy who wants to get the swirls out of his 2007 subaru wrx. its white in color (beautiful paint job) and has light swirls as well as some little rust spots that need to be clayed. i told him i would wash it/strip the wax, clay, do a light polish (probably m205 on a white pad, swirls are light), seal it with poliseal and top it with carnauba (megs #26). i quoted him $150 but wasnt sure how much i should be charging since this is my first paint correction.

he tells me that some guy told him he'd practically do the same (not sure about sealing and waxing, but definately claying and polishing) for $55!!! i told him if he can get a good paint correction for $55 then go for it, it should take 4-6 hours and at $55 thats not even $10 an hr. i shouldve told him to call me when he wants me to fix the $55 job! haha. its probably a hack detailer using a rotary leaving buffer trails.

is $150 okay for this? should i be charging more? less?

**reality33** · 08-17-2011, 11:59 AM

IMHO $150 is cheap for a 1 step. I start at $250 for a one step including wash, clay, sealant /wax & interior.

$55 for that is just ridiculous!

**ride5150** · 08-17-2011, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by reality33

IMHO $150 is cheap for a 1 step. I start at $250 for a one step including wash, clay, sealant /wax & interior.

$55 for that is just ridiculous!

$150 would be for just exterior, i wouldnt be touching the interior. you mean a one step polish/sealant? by hand or machine?

**Rei86** · 08-17-2011, 12:19 PM

Seeing "pro detailers" on this and other forums charging far more than this. Even more than what you're asking.

55 dollars sounds like a quicky job, might use something rich in fillers to, too help mask all the failures.

**ride5150** · 08-17-2011, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by Rei86

Seeing "pro detailers" on this and other forums charging far more than this. Even more than what you're asking.

55 dollars sounds like a quicky job, might use something rich in fillers to, too help mask all the failures.

yeah i think thats what hes going to be doing, using a glaze with a lot of filling capabilities.

**Wills.WindowsAndWheels** · 08-17-2011, 01:38 PM

Personally i think $150 for a single pass and seal is pretty fair. I charge $250 for a car if it includes the full interior also....to give you an idea we just did a single pass and seal on a Lexus SUV yesterday for $175. We had done the full interior a couple months back (just interior) for $85. For an SUV we probably underbid the exterior by about $25, but she was on a tight budget and we know she really wanted it done.

Some people focus on squeezing every dime out of a customer they can...some drop the price extremely low and do a quick and half ass job....for me I'd rater, like in this case...lose the $25 but get the JOB...$175 is better than ZERO...then do my BEST work...and cross my fingers for a referral.

It usually works, and to prove my point in this case...before i could even DRIVE HOME, the lady had put a post up on her online community forum saying what a beautiful job we did, how we paid attention to detail and would highly recommend us to anyone looking for a detail.

So that will almost surely lead to another job...that will probably pay way more than $25 lol. PLUS she signed up for a monthly maintenance wash and thats $25 a pop right there.

So back to what i first said, i think your price is fair...the $55 guy is PROBABLY gonna do super cheap work. I won't condemn cheap prices because i once charged $30 for a wash/wax and interior for cars...but at that time i didn't really know what DETAILING was, once i got into working with machines...i did my homework and found out more on process and pricing. If this guy is going to 'polish' and then NOT seal OR wax, thats all the ammo yo need right there. Next time you talk to your customer tell him that if the other guy isn't even aware that you HAVE to wax or seal after a polish, that chances are there are a lot of other things he doesn't know...or other corners he'll cut

**ride5150** · 08-17-2011, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Wills.WindowsAndWheels

Personally i think $150 for a single pass and seal is pretty fair. I charge $250 for a car if it includes the full interior also....to give you an idea we just did a single pass and seal on a Lexus SUV yesterday for $175. We had done the full interior a couple months back (just interior) for $85. For an SUV we probably underbid the exterior by about $25, but she was on a tight budget and we know she really wanted it done.

Some people focus on squeezing every dime out of a customer they can...some drop the price extremely low and do a quick and half ass job....for me I'd rater, like in this case...lose the $25 but get the JOB...$175 is better than ZERO...then do my BEST work...and cross my fingers for a referral.

It usually works, and to prove my point in this case...before i could even DRIVE HOME, the lady had put a post up on her online community forum saying what a beautiful job we did, how we paid attention to detail and would highly recommend us to anyone looking for a detail.

So that will almost surely lead to another job...that will probably pay way more than $25 lol. PLUS she signed up for a monthly maintenance wash and thats $25 a pop right there.

So back to what i first said, i think your price is fair...the $55 guy is PROBABLY gonna do super cheap work. I won't condemn cheap prices because i once charged $30 for a wash/wax and interior for cars...but at that time i didn't really know what DETAILING was, once i got into working with machines...i did my homework and found out more on process and pricing. If this guy is going to 'polish' and then NOT seal OR wax, thats all the ammo yo need right there. Next time you talk to your customer tell him that if the other guy isn't even aware that you HAVE to wax or seal after a polish, that chances are there are a lot of other things he doesn't know...or other corners he'll cut

yeah your absolutely right, its better to lose $25 now and get a good review then make $25 extra and not get called again. im thinking about calling this guy and telling him ill do it for $100 just because ive got some time on my hands this week.

what do you guys think? theres no way im doing it for $55, but maybe $100 to get some good word of mouth? maybe $110? this guy is kinda deep in the car enthusiast community i see him at a lot of meets, im sure he would brag about his flawless finish to everyone.

its not much pay for washing, claying, taping off, polishing, washing again to get the residue off, sealing, then waxing. but if it gets me some more work then its worth it.

**ride5150** · 08-17-2011, 04:59 PM

bump

**A.P.A.D.** · 08-17-2011, 05:52 PM

I would charge $200. I aim for $30 an hr on jobs. at 6 hrs for this job i would get round $33/hr.

of course it depends on your area as well.

u could do an AIO product instead...

**catfish07** · 08-17-2011, 05:53 PM

$55 for all that? I think he might be BSing you.. I think $150 is more than fair. But he does not know what we do and that is that you will do a great job for him. It's hard sometimes to negotiate with folks that(as Mike Philips says) Don't know the difference between a swirl & a squirrel. Also, I hate white paint cause it's so hard to pull a real difference out of the paint unless it's really beat.. Now red and black on the other hand....