6 hours of interior detailing...did I lose money?

[Lustrous Detail]

I did a full leather reconditioning for a 2005 Escalade this past friday. Interior was beige. 3 row seating. I used a combination of steam and the gray cyclo brush on my PC. Spent close to 6 hours on interior alone. Here are some before and after pics. Ended up charging customer $200. Included a wash and spray wax for exterior.

[trashmanssd]

I would guess you didn't lose money, but may left some on the table. If you have a shop you rent I would say its a little low and also your location Hawaii has a very high cost of living. 200$ there is a lot different then 200$ in Texas.

[dcjredline]

Well, IMO you got about $50 worth of experience and at least $50 worth of before and after shots! Those seats turned out great!!!

[4u2nvinmtl]

I did a full leather reconditioning for a 2005 Escalade this past friday. Interior was beige. 3 row seating. I used a combination of steam and the gray cyclo brush on my PC. Spent close to 6 hours on interior alone. Here are some before and after pics. Ended up charging customer $200. Included a wash and spray wax for exterior.

I would be a happy customer @ $200! Hope you came out ahead, very nice work considering the condition of the leather.

[OTSDetail]

I'd be okay at $200. You could have charged a little more given the fact that you were doing an exterior wash as well, but I would be happy at 200 for that for the most part.

I did a full interior on a jeep that had a sunroof leak. Had their clothy-canvas type seats which are nearly impossible to clean with shampoo or a steamer. basically hand shampooing the seats, tornador the headliner, and shampoo the carpet. I charged them $120 and it took me about 12 hours. I got my butt kicked but it turned out so much better and I really wanted the job to prove to myself what I could do. I did, however, underestimate the amount of work involved (due to me thinking I could just use the shampooer like normal on the seats and carpet.)

Interior never looked 100% but it was probably as good as it was gonna get. Drivers seat still a tad bit wet so it still looks a little bit dirty in the pics.

[conman1395]

Is that all you did on the interior? Just the leather and nothing else? Then maybe you didn't charge too low. I wouldn't have done the exterior though either.

[Lustrous Detail]

Is that all you did on the interior? Just the leather and nothing else? Then maybe you didn't charge too low. I wouldn't have done the exterior though either.

I did thorough vacuuming, door jambs, trunk area, conditioned door panels and dashboard. No shampooing.

[98LowRanger]

So you had roughly $50 worth a product/supplies (on the high side) for 9 hours of TOTAL work on the Escalade? I'm no pro, but I would be pretty happy with $17 a hour. Most professionals with their own shops (overhead costs) will say you have to make at least $20-$25 a hour on most details. If your working at home or even mobile, I think $17 is pretty good. In the end it's all how you feel about it.

GREAT work by the way! Those before and after shots are impressive. The owner had to be pleased with the results.

[conman1395]

I did thorough vacuuming, door jambs, trunk area, conditioned door panels and dashboard. No shampooing.

Well at our shop our rate is $100 an hour.

Don't you think you could have made more money doing six hours worth of work on something else? If so, you lost OC (opportunity cost) money.

[4u2nvinmtl]

So you had roughly $50 worth a product/supplies (on the high side) for 9 hours of TOTAL work on the Escalade? I'm no pro, but I would be pretty happy with $17 a hour. Most professionals with their own shops (overhead costs) will say you have to make at least $20-$25 a hour on most details. If your working at home or even mobile, I think $17 is pretty good. In the end it's all how you feel about it.

GREAT work by the way! Those before and after shots are impressive. The owner had to be pleased with the results.

I would assume that most detailers would try to make around $40 per hour before expenses... I guess it all depends where and what car.