Fair charge for Retail Details?

[AlphaOmega]

I had my only scheduled customer cancel on me today, so I went out on the customer hunting trail. I decided to check dealerships to see what they might have to offer. The first few were big ones which detail in house. I then checked a small "buy here pay here" car lot.

The guy there told me he pays $75 per car for full detail, including compounding, polishing, scratch removal, wet-sanding if necessary.

Now, I am not America's top detailer and I openly admit I still have much to learn. But I have been at this for a few years. It STILL takes me about 4 hours to complete a full detail NOT INCLUDING paint reconditioning. (I offer paint restoration as a separate service).

Is this common? Does anyone really do all that for $75? Please be brutal with me here. Is 4 hours too slow? This guy says he's seen detailers at an auto auction do 6-7 cars a day, full detail + paint recondition. Is this guy blowing smoke? I can understand a team of people handling that many cars, but I cannot imagine a single detailer handling that many in a single work day.

I left - disheartened - and returned to my tried and true lawyers' offices and beauty salons to solicit.

[Beemerboy]

Dealerships are cheap and they are not expecting the type of details that you are giving your other customers...Stick with your Layers, Doctors, Real Estate agents / brokers, etc...those are your best bet for income...they have the money and are not going to nickel and dime you like the dealership...

[bigron62]

yea what he said

[E's Exteriors]

The dealership I do work for only buys high end cars like bmw, infiniti, range rover, and what not. They slap on wheels on every car. These guy move about 5 cars a week. All their cars are bought at an auction and have already gotten that " special auction detail you mentioned above." I get 150 a car and it gets what i think that it should get. I clay the top surfaces. Light color cars get spot buff if needed then some exp and the dark ones get ssr 1 once over then some natty's. The interiors all get extracted and leather conditioned, then windows. I also charge extra for scratches, pin stripe removal, head light restoration, and other things like that. I use to get calls all the time from dealer ships wanting me to do work and the first thing I would tell them is I charge $50/hr, after that the conversation was pretty much over. They keep my pretty busy and are willing to work with my schedule with my other clients that pay full price. I can do 2-4 if I really moving and their smaller light color cars in one day. But one the days that they give me the black SUVs I can do two. It's a give and take relationship that has really worked out for me.

[AlphaOmega]

Now that sounds far more realistic. For $150, I can see claying and, polishing and spot scratch work for each car. I figure the only way they are getting the quantity of work (verses quality) they are getting at auctions is by teams of detailers and they have to split the $$ from each car. That would certainly be incentive to move quickly. But doesn't sound like a good way to make money.