BookingKoala Mobile Car Wash Business

We write on topics related to the car wash business industry.

How Much Is Car Detailing

Car detailing prices tend to range wildly from one location to the next. In addition, there are several ways by which individuals may get their car washed, which adds even more elements to consider. Some car washes allow customers to pay hourly to clean their own vehicles. Others are available for customers to simply pay and drive through. Finally, some individuals visit customers directly to provide car detailing services.

Thus, deciding how to price your services may seem difficult when beginning your own mobile car wash business. However, selecting the appropriate prices for your services does not have to be a daunting task. Instead, by following a few simple steps and guidelines, you will have your set prices within little to no time.

First, you will want to understand the average price to detail a vehicle. Next, you will learn how to calculate your expenses to project the minimum you need to profit from breaking even. Finally, you should review whether you want to charge a standard fee with optional membership or if you would instead try a less traditional approach requiring some risk.

Understanding Average Detailing Costs to Compare to Your Future Ideas

Before deciding on how to price your services, it is wise to look into industry and competitor prices. Understanding how the industry you are entering currently prices similar benefits, especially within your area, can assist you in various ways. One of the most important ways is that it can prevent you from making a mistake with your pricing.

For example, if you set your prices without research, you may find that you severely underprice your services. Then, if you attempt to raise them too quickly, it may backfire and turn potential customers away from your newly budding business. Alternatively, you may overprice your services and lose potential clients because what they have already secured with another service business is cheaper.

When first examining the industry prices, you can look at mobile car detailing services as a whole to get a general idea of the price range for each service. This will help you get a general idea of how you want to base the prices for the specific services you offer through your mobile detailing business. One of the best places to begin looking is on a website such as Statista, which offers national data on various industries. Various factors affect the average cost to detail a vehicle, but generally, the price falls somewhere between $75 – $300.

Most car detailing businesses offer their services in tiered membership packages. For example, an individual may purchase the bronze package, which shows the fewest options at the lowest rate. The bronze package may include a regular hand wash, rinse, towel dry, and vacuum for $50. The silver package may incorporate all the same benefits as the bronze package but with added features such as a wax or tire shining. By offering different tiers, you can reach all types of buyers — those willing to spend only the minimum and those willing to pay a little extra if it includes additional perks. Offering tiered packages is a good idea if you want a simplified method of reaching customers without having to do too much additional calculating.

Calculating Expenses to Set Your Car Wash Prices

Once you have determined the different services you can provide, you will want to estimate how much your expenses will cost monthly. Calculating your monthly costs is extremely important because it will be the crucial factor in determining how much you need to make each month so that, at the very least, you will break even without having a deficit. If you are not actually earning revenue and it’s costing you more to keep your business running, it won’t be long before you are out of business. For this reason, you should take care to estimate the costs of your services to ensure you can charge a reasonable fee that will cover the cost of your supplies and net your business a profit at the same time.

It may seem overwhelming to calculate how much your services will cost, but you do not have to use a specific price that you have broken down yourself. You can easily find online estimates to give you a good range of where to begin your pricing. If you plan to use the standard industry cleaners, then you can use everyday industry prices to estimate your overall costs for getting started to help you better price your services. You can visit your local automotive store to assess the fees for each type of cleaning product you will use for your mobile car detailing business. Try to estimate based on monthly expenses so that you can get a better estimate of the actual cost of your expenses and how it will impact your overall revenue.

For example, if you determine that your monthly expenses are $1,500, then you want to make sure that you are pricing your services so that you are making $1,500 a month at the very minimum. Ideally, you may be shooting for a salary of $5,000 per month, so that would mean that you would need to make $6,500 per month to cover the cost of your expenses and still make a profit of $5,000. This is important to remember because if you have a higher amount of costs, it can quickly diminish what you likely consider as profit. Therefore, take care to price your services high enough to cover the expenses related to necessary purchases to keep your business running.

Deciding Whether to Charge a Flat Fee for Membership or a Variable Rate

Several options are available for pricing your mobile car detailing business services. For example, one option already discussed is a tiered membership such as a bronze, silver, or gold package, each with additional services added at each higher tier. This is a good option if you want to have fewer calculations involved on your end and want to have a relatively simple process for your members. The downside to this type of pricing is that it assumes an equal level of dirtiness for each vehicle. It also does not take into account the size of the car. If you want a better bang for your buck, you could consider pricing based on several variables, such as the vehicle size and how dirty the car is.

For example, for the additional vehicle options, you can have different categories such as dirt level, type of vehicle, aftermarket accessories, etc. If you break down the options like this, it will allow you to earn an appropriate amount for each vehicle rather than assuming that every single car is the same size and will take the same amount of time to be cleaned thoroughly. In addition, by splitting up the different categories, you ensure that you can provide top-tier service to your customers. You will be able to provide a high level of service because each car will be allotted a reasonable amount of time and effort based on its individual characteristics instead of a cookie-cutter version.

Overall, how much a car wash costs depends on the individual running the mobile car detailing business. Most auto detailing companies set the price of their detailing services within the range of $75 to $300. Despite this, you can select your costs to suit your business best. For example, it may be that for your mobile car detailing company, choosing tiered membership packages is the best option for you and your customers because you are familiar with the area and the types of vehicles you will be servicing. On the other hand, you can create more curated packages based on the individual characteristics of each car.

By creating individualized packages, you may be better able to recoup any additional costs associated with extra-large vehicles or vehicles with an extreme amount of dirt and grime compared to the average amount. While tiered packages are the most straightforward option for a new business owner, for someone willing to take a risk and step outside the usual comfort zone, creating individually priced packages can be a much more lucrative business option.

Individually priced packages allow a mobile car detailing business to earn greater profits that align with the actual work on each vehicle. This way, there is not a cookie-cutter version. Instead, each car gets priced based on its characteristics, a much more fair way of pricing. When priced this way, the business maximizes its earnings and can better cover any related expenses due to more significant individual vehicle needs.

Finally, how you elect to charge for your services depends on how you want to present your mobile detailing services. Whether you believe you may net a better profit by categorizing broadly into tiered memberships or decide to take a risk and charge based on each vehicle, there is room for personal preference. Personal preference will guide each business owner to the best pricing model for their mobile car wash business.

Helpful resources

To help you get started in the car detailing industry, check out these helpful blog posts:

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