Is the real money in lower end detailing??

**rustytruck** · 04-04-2012, 01:12 PM

I ask not to start a debate but for constructive conversation. I see a lot of Detailer's offering mini/express/quick details wash and wax maintenance details what ever you want to call them. These are priced 89-149 price range. usually wash clay aio quick clean up of interior. Maybe 2 1/2 to 3 hrs work 50 65ish dollars an hour I'm thinking guys like seajays, northeast detailing(chime in guys if I'm wrong about your business) Then i see the guys claiming to be the best high end dealers full correction specialists. With rates of 50 75 even 100 dollars an hour but if you look at their posts they claim we spent 40 50 75 100 even 100 plus hours on a car. I find it hard to believe there are people spending 4000 -8000 dollars on a detail I'm assuming the high end guys are actually making a deal and doing it for xxx amount of money. Which divided by the crazy amount of hours spent on car probably makes the earning per hour much lower than those wash and wax guys. Are my observations and assumptions wrong?

**silverfox** · 04-04-2012, 01:36 PM

If I were starting a new Detailing business...I'd make sure I was the best Interior guy within a 50 mile radius. (and include a wash n spray wax with the package)...the guys who just know how to polish with a DA polisher are a dime a dozen, but a good interior guy who offers a nice and wax package included...will have customers standing in line in my opinion.

You have to separate yourself from the pack...most folks seems to hate doing interiors, but love polishing paint...so there's your que. The car owner lives in his car, some hours per day. The exterior gets dirty before it leaves the street.

**tuscarora dave** · 04-04-2012, 01:44 PM

A good friend of mine reminds me often that there are a heck of a lot more $100 dollar bills out there than there are $1000 dollar bills. I myself started out with show car style paint corrections as the main focus of my hobby. The further I grow in the direction of a business rather than a hobby, I see much more earning potential in the quicker services. I don't offer anything as quick as a tunnel wash, and do still offer paint corrections based on getting paid $50 per hour but there are statistically very few people willing to pay for that service, though some of my clients do.

I am currently aiming to do the quick details starting at $100 (for cars) and have a menu of additional services that can be added at an additional cost. That (I believe) is where the money is. Affordable services bring volume.

**rustytruck** · 04-04-2012, 01:55 PM

Your probably right in what your saying(figures because I hate interiors) but if you google auto detailers in my aera you'll see my competition
is far and few between. There really aren't any guys trying to build a retail type clintell.

**bigdriver4u** · 04-04-2012, 02:05 PM

This is a great topic for discussion. In my opinion, you can divide the detailing business into 3 types. (1) Low end details.. IE wash, wax with no correction (2) Midrage detailers providing wash, maybe a polish or one steps IE.. xmt360 or optimum Poly seal, etc .... (3) the multi step detailers. They are selling 2-3 steps corrections with a seperate polish,glaze, wax or sealant. Being a smaller detailing company my primary focus was in the #2 midrage to multi step market. I have very few, I MEAN FEW customers that can appreciate at 2 or 3 step detail. I use the word appreciate because I think many detailers forget why they are in business. It's to make MONEY!!! Period!! Passion, love , committement goes out the door when you have set the wrong expecation and find yourself on a job that a customer does not care about or willing to pay for. People think most customers are leaning 6 inchs away from the paint with a zeon light checking for swirl marks. NOT!! That's what we do. Most do not care.. They want a clean, shiny vechicle that is driven daily to work or on the weekend.

I have a high quaility of work and level of expection for the product that I deliver to every customers. Which is why I can't be just a wash and wax guy(That just me, not knocking anyone else). For my higher end customers, most require a small amount of compounding and a good Polish(WG) follwed by a color matched wax and you have a great result. I belive the best business is in the $85-$175 range. They are repeat customers that you maintain longer and develope better oppurtunities to grow your company. If you technique and process is sound, most of the #2 type details can be completed within 3 hrs yeilding $35-$50 dollars an hr.
Now I'm sure someone would say that I've not had much hi-end business and I would agree. I've done less than 15 jobs over $400 this year. I am very selective about my commitments because I'm small and understand the labor cost associated with a 40+hr job which is what I would consider Higher end. This is my two cents and would entertain hearing others comment on my statements or their experiences.

Bryan
Superior Auto Salon
Car and motorocycle Detailing
St. Augustine, Florida

**rustytruck** · 04-04-2012, 08:45 PM

That's what I keep hearing, so if your going to start a business why not come up with a nice product offering in the $85-$175 range make those repeat customers the base of your business and laugh all the way to the bank. I know some people reading this are thinking "well I guess their not real detailers if they don't do paint correction" maybe not but they sound like great business men.

**rider9195** · 04-04-2012, 08:49 PM

I am starting a small detailing business this summer. I know I will maybe get two paint corrections this whole summer. So I plan on focusing on wash & waxes and AIO clean ups and interiors because of my location.

**DealerDetailer** · 04-04-2012, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by tuscarora dave

A good friend of mine reminds me often that there are a heck of a lot more $100 dollar bills out there than there are $1000 dollar bills. I myself started out with show car style paint corrections as the main focus of my hobby. The further I grow in the direction of a business rather than a hobby, I see much more earning potential in the quicker services. I don't offer anything as quick as a tunnel wash, and do still offer paint corrections based on getting paid $50 per hour but there are statistically very few people willing to pay for that service, though some of my clients do.

Originally Posted by bigdriver4u

[...]I MEAN FEW customers that can appreciate at 2 or 3 step detail. People think most customers are leaning 6 inchs away from the paint with a zeon light checking for swirl marks. NOT!! That's what we do. Most do not care.. They want a clean, shiny vechicle that is driven daily to work or on the weekend.

I took quick "snips" of what Dave and Bryan said and can't agree more with them.

Privately when I do work from customers its usually a referral from someone at the dealership (co-workers or customers when their walking the lot looking at new cars and see me working in my stall and stop in and ask questions). Truth is these people usually have me doing most of my correction work outside of work. These details normal involve an extensive interior cleaning. I for one love working on interiors. Sure it can be a pain, but we spend most of our time sitting there and I believe you get some really outstanding turn arounds with the inside.

here my little saying I work by. The exterior is the WOW factor (shiny wheels, shiny/wax'd paint). The interior is the bed rock (everthing occurs here and for the longest of time with the vehicle).

Back to where the money's at. At the dealership the greatest up-sale by far is a full exterior clay a coat of wax. This put it in the range of what Tuscarora Dave said about more $100 dollar bills than $1000 dollar bills). Our price is a little cheaper than a "bill", but this IS where the money is at. And if I where to go into this more privately and wanted to build a growing and solid "foundation" I would be sure to included a wash, wax and great interior clean (this the bed rock). As Bryan says, almost every customer besides us detailers isn't looking at swirls and scratches under swirl lights.

**LuxuryMobile** · 04-04-2012, 09:37 PM

I was able to squeeze in 4 washes/waxes today at the end of the day. Took about 3 hours and made well over $125/hr.

A paint correction can take 8-16 hours at 50-75/hr...

It is important to be able to do both, but life is easier doing washes and waxes.

I have posted before that with the fancy show-n-shine write ups it is easy to get caught up thinking everything needs to be a paint correction with hundreds of pictures being taken.

**Kristopher1129** · 04-04-2012, 09:43 PM

Opinions on this will probably be all over the place. But, I think anyone doing this full time long enough would agree that a 1-step AIO with a full interior is the most common service.

At least for me, that is how it is. Most of my customers will get our "Silver Package" which is a wash, full clay, AIO buff, and a full interior. We sell it for $145-$215. I probably do 1 "Gold Package" ($245-$315) to every 4-5 Silvers. Then I probably do a Platinum (full correction, engine, interior, $500-$800) a handful of times a year.

Then again, I have two Platinums scheduled next week, ha.