What should I charge?

[pool_player21]

I have a neighbor that has a Peterbilt Semi with sleeper. I was wondering what would be a resonable price to wash and vaccum for starts.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

To wash and vac, are you also doing the sleeper area or just the cab up front?

Personally I'd charge in the area of $75-100 depending how "deep in" you're going (wheels/tires, dressing any trim, how much of the interior you're doing, etc.)

Full detail, You're looking at $300 minimum for a one-step polish and a hand wax.

$0.02

(PS I'm sure some will say that's low, or too high, or something, and I know I'm not always the best at pricing since I cheat myself regularly.)

[Five Star]

charge what its worth to you, there are numerous threads on figuring out pricing.

The most common is to figure out what you want to make per hr to cover expenses, supplies, paying yourself.

Then you estimate the time of the job.

it takes me 2 1/2 hrs to completely detail the interior of a sleeper
3 hrs if its a double sleeper, but thats me.

exterior work i try to put off, due to the size, but i use scaffolding when need be and make it worthwhile for me to do it

HTH somewhat

[mirrorfinishman]

Since it's your neighbor, why not just give them a basic price range?

Base it on what you think it will take to do the job and explain that if it takes you a little longer than expected, then the price will be at the upper end of the range. And if it takes you a lot less time, then the price will be at the lower end of the range.

That's always a good way to be fair, especially with someone you know.

[buda]

Calculating Prices

What you charge for detailing and car wash services should be based on a total of your fixed and variable expenses, including your monthly salary plus benefits and then a percentage of sales for profit, every business should make a 10% to 20% pre tax profit.

Then divide the total monthly expenses by the number of sellable hours per month and you have your hourly monthly rate to cover all costs.

You multiply that hourly cost by the time to do the job and you have a price. Certainly if the market will pay more than that that, charge it, by all means.

In order words, you have to come up with an hourly rate to cover all your costs and that times hours to do the job is your price.

Bud Abraham
DETAIL PLUS SYSTEMS