help a new guy with pricing!

**DMDLouisvilleKY** · 07-30-2014, 02:11 PM

Hey guys! I'm new to this forum! I'm 17 right now, and have my own mobile detailing business. I do a lot of commercial work but as far as residential how do you guys price it? I live in Louisville, so its not the biggest city but not the smallest either. If someone could help out with pricing I'd appreciate it!

Facebook.com/TheVillesDetailers

**zmcgovern45** · 07-30-2014, 02:55 PM

I'll answer this in the most logical way possible...

There is no perfect setup for pricing. In the end, you must determine what type of market you are trying to attract, and how much your time is worth to you.

In general, lower prices attract more of the general population of vehicle owners that are seeking more of the general/basic detailing services (wash, wax, vacuum). These types of jobs typically require higher volume (ie more cars per set period of time) to bring in good money.

Higher prices and higher end services such as paint correction and paint coating installation typically attract more upscale clients and car enthusiasts instead of your typical mom with a minivan. These services often require multiple days to complete and are therefore lower volume, but can yield some nice paychecks.

Ultimately what it comes down to is are you charging enough to make it worth your time? I don't mean are you profitable... clearly that should be a given. Charge more than it costs you to operate your business... what I mean is are you making enough money that you are motivated to perform a quality job and want to continue working each day. If not, you should probably charge more so you feel you are being compensated appropriately for your time.

As a business owner in a service based industry you have the right to decide what your services cost, and your customers get to decide if your services are worth it depending on what they need... much like a restaurant owner can decide that his steak is worth $50 while the guy down the road is only asking $15 for his. While it should be assumed that the $50 steak is of higher quality, it will only attract those customers who are seeking that type of meal... not everyone will want to pay $50 for the steak regardless of how good it is. Not everyone will want to pay $1000 for a paint correction & ceramic paint coating installation, when all they really want is a $150 wash and wax.

Hopefully that makes some sense and you can spend some time building an appropriate business model based on what type of services you'd like to cater to.

**Pureshine** · 07-30-2014, 02:55 PM

It comes down too what your area can support and what kind of detailing are you offering. Are you doing production work or higher end work?

**raysanni** · 07-30-2014, 04:21 PM

why not cut to the chase and just post what your prices are so he can compare.
Car prices:
Wash -n- wax: $65
Shampoo Carpets/Seats & Mats: $75
Vacuum Carpets/Seats & Mats: $20
Engine Cleaned & shines: $40

**215Detailing** · 07-30-2014, 06:07 PM

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-detail-3.html
Hope this helps

**zmcgovern45** · 07-30-2014, 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by raysanni

why not cut to the chase and just post what your prices are so he can compare.

... Because the prices other people charge aren't particularly relevant for the reasoning listed in my first response. Too many variables in play to simply compare prices.

**215Detailing** · 07-30-2014, 06:08 PM

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ml#post1096487

**raysanni** · 07-30-2014, 06:57 PM

Just list your prices so the dude can get s general idea

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**zmcgovern45** · 07-30-2014, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by raysanni

Just list your prices so the dude can get s general idea

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I would assume he could simply view my website if he would like to know specifics about my personal pricing, however since I do not offer any basic detailing services, it would most likely not be of any assistance to the OP... you'd hope he would have already checked the prices of others in his area who offer similar services by searching for their websites.

**VP Mark** · 07-30-2014, 10:12 PM

Zack is dead on guys. There is no absolute right or wrong with pricing as the baseline is different in every market. I always like to work off the general rule of 20% price resistance. At least 1 in 5 potential customers should at least resist your pricing. More and you may he too high less and you are almost always too low.

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