What to stock

[Heatgain]

I'm planning on detailing (hopefully) one car a week, on weekends, to supplement my income, so I have about 4,327 questions. The products I have right now are mostly consumer line, but that's expensive to use when I'm working for profit. On a car this past weekend, for instance, I used GC vinyl/rubber cleaner/dressing, clay with Quick Detailer spray, M80, NXT 2.0, #6 Cleaner wax in the truck and jams, etc. Expensive.
My question is, what stock to buy? I've used M80 on 2 cars and still have over half the bottle, so I figure I'll get 32 oz of M83.
Which wax should I get? I figure if I a car needs 83 then 80, it's now polished, so instead of NXT 2.0, I'll top it with......which? 21, or 20? Then a spray wax, or detailer line of UQD? (I forget the number).
Would I stock Xpress wax or M66 for cars that don't need the 80's? For cleaner/dressings should I get a gallon each of All Season Dressing and Hyperdress dressing, or M40 cleaner conditioner?
I'm not just going to wash and wax, all jobs will be a full detail.
Any help from the pros would be appreciated. I'm looking to balance WOW factor with costs/profit.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: What to stock

Depends on what kind of service you'd like to offer to your customers.

I own a detailing business, and we are proken up into 2 parts. Production, and High End Detailing.

Production side is for people that just want their vehicles cleaned. Thats all they are willing to pay for. Just the basics. For this, I stock things I can buy in quantities, like #66 for wax and things like that.

On the high end side, my customers demand that they get the best avaliable. For these people, I use products like NXT 2.0 and #16 for wax.

Here's a look at all of the things I stock...

[onawrxhigh]

Re: What to stock

heatgain,

I have a question for you. Will you be working by hand only? Do you own a g100 or similar polisher? I also detail on the side for some extra cash. I really have a large selection of products. I have 85,84,83,82,81,80,21,16,NXT. I also have hyper wash,super degreaser,safe degreaser,APC,APC +,last touch,wheel brightener,glass cleaner concentrate,ASD,Water based dressing, and about 35 different pc pads. so as you can see you need and don't need a lot of stuff. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. My usuall plan of attack is wash,clay,polish with 80 w/the g100,wax with 21. In most cases this is all that is needed, in the rare instance that 80 doesn't workI have 83 to lean on if need be. I have found that buying from the detailer line and the mirror glaze line I am actually saving money in product over having to buy smaller bottles of product. Check out autodetailingsolutions.com they have every thing meguiars.

Andrew

[Heatgain]

Re: What to stock

heatgain,

I have a question for you. Will you be working by hand only? Do you own a g100 or similar polisher? I also detail on the side for some extra cash. I really have a large selection of products. I have 85,84,83,82,81,80,21,16,NXT. I also have hyper wash,super degreaser,safe degreaser,APC,APC +,last touch,wheel brightener,glass cleaner concentrate,ASD,Water based dressing, and about 35 different pc pads. so as you can see you need and don't need a lot of stuff. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. My usuall plan of attack is wash,clay,polish with 80 w/the g100,wax with 21. In most cases this is all that is needed, in the rare instance that 80 doesn't workI have 83 to lean on if need be. I have found that buying from the detailer line and the mirror glaze line I am actually saving money in product over having to buy smaller bottles of product. Check out autodetailingsolutions.com they have every thing meguiars. Andrew

Hi Andrew,
Yes, I use a G100. I'm going to be doing the same type of detailing as you, usually....that is....wash, clay, polish, 80, (or 83 then 80), clean & dress exterior trim, then an NXT type bulk product, plus vacuum, clean and dress the interior.
So you're saying I should stock 21 instead of 20? Should I stock ASD or hyperdressing, M40, some other dressing/cleaner or whatever? Which products did you stock that end up not being used, or which ones do you find that you use the most?
If the car doesn't need the 80 step.....which wax and/or sealant to stock...66, or Xpress wax, or a cleaner/wax, 20 or 21, or is there a bulk polish/wax I should use in that situation? Which detailer should I bulk stock for clay lube and/or to 'POP' the finish after the sealant?
Pros, knowing what you now know, if you were to make an order of Meg's pro products to stock, (keeping in mind my initial goal of 1 detail a weekend), which pro products would you choose to order?

[onawrxhigh]

Re: What to stock

Hi Andrew,
Yes, I use a G100. I'm going to be doing the same type of detailing as you, usually....that is....wash, clay, polish, 80, (or 83 then 80), clean & dress exterior trim, then an NXT type bulk product, plus vacuum, clean and dress the interior.
So you're saying I should stock 21 instead of 20? Should I stock ASD or hyperdressing, M40, some other dressing/cleaner or whatever? Which products did you stock that end up not being used, or which ones do you find that you use the most?
If the car doesn't need the 80 step.....which wax and/or sealant to stock...66, or Xpress wax, or a cleaner/wax, 20 or 21, or is there a bulk polish/wax I should use in that situation? Which detailer should I bulk stock for clay lube and/or to 'POP' the finish after the sealant?
Pros, knowing what you now know, if you were to make an order of Meg's pro products to stock, (keeping in mind my initial goal of 1 detail a weekend), which pro products would you choose to order?

For me I like to mess around with different LSP's on my vehicles so I have 21,16,NXT,and gold class. If you are looking to save some money then yes I would say stock 21 due to the fact that it is the longest lasting sealant Meg's makes,plus it gives great gloss and depth to the paint. It would be very rare that you find a car that is a daily driver and the paint is perfect,but in case you do I would stock the 66, but I would then top the 66 with 21 for a longer lasting protection. For clay lube I like Last touch simce you can cut it 50/50 with water to make it a lube for claying the paint. For that final pop QD I really like UQD but at 10.00 dollars a 22 ounce bottle I think 135 in the gallon size would be better. I really like ASD for all exterior rubber and plastic trim. I have never use hyper dressing But I use water based dressing . Hyper dressing is water based so if it is used on the outside it will evenually be removed by washing and rain. I have never used 40 but I want to get some to try. The products that have not been used much are my compounds84,85. They are rotary only product and I have by no means the skill with the rotary to put it on someone elses car so they are not used to much. Any other question and I will gladly help. I hope this helped a bit.

Andrew

[Heatgain]

Re: What to stock

.....but in case you do I would stock the 66, but I would then top the 66 with 21 for a longer lasting protection. ...Any other question and I will gladly help. I hope this helped a bit.
Andrew

Thank you. Just what I was looking for in my question.
BTW, can 21 top a wax? I thought it was vice versa. 66 is a cleaner wax, so I suppose it shouldn't top 21, but I was thinking of topping 21 with Xpress wax?
I was thinking about using 66 cleaner wax on cars in good condition, skipping the 80 if not needed.
Or #5 glaze, SPARINGLY, then 21, or Xpress wax, on cars that don't need 80?
Again, leaning towards profitability versus WOW factor.
Well, you SAID ask questions!
Any other pros out there have bulk purchase advice for my situation?

[onawrxhigh]

Re: What to stock

Thank you. Just what I was looking for in my question.
BTW, can 21 top a wax? I thought it was vice versa. 66 is a cleaner wax, so I suppose it shouldn't top 21, but I was thinking of topping 21 with Xpress wax?
I was thinking about using 66 cleaner wax on cars in good condition, skipping the 80 if not needed.
Or #5 glaze, SPARINGLY, then 21, or Xpress wax, on cars that don't need 80?
Again, leaning towards profitability versus WOW factor.
Well, you SAID ask questions!
Any other pros out there have bulk purchase advice for my situation?

Heatgain,

From what I understand all of Meguiars products are totally compatable. What I know about XPress Wax is that it is primarily used in production shop environment(get them in get them out). With XPress wax you will not have the durability of say 21, but it will look very good. I understand what you are saying about profitability versus WOW factor, but for me everyone of my details is getting the best that I have. wash,clay,80(minimum),16,26,or21. Once you get a good system down and know how long it takes to do it you will only get faster and the profitability will go up and so will the WOW factor. I am not saying what you are thinking of using is not the best but for you and your ability level this at the present time may work for you. That is why Meguiar's makes and markets so many different products because every detailer has different needs. I hope this helps you out. Continue to ask your questions I don't mind answering them.

Andrew

[23lebron23]

Re: What to stock

Depends on what kind of service you'd like to offer to your customers.

I own a detailing business, and we are proken up into 2 parts. Production, and High End Detailing.

Production side is for people that just want their vehicles cleaned. Thats all they are willing to pay for. Just the basics. For this, I stock things I can buy in quantities, like #66 for wax and things like that.

On the high end side, my customers demand that they get the best avaliable. For these people, I use products like NXT 2.0 and #16 for wax.

Here's a look at all of the things I stock...

How much money did you put into your stock? Very nice!

[Duff]

Re: What to stock

^ I agree. I just love that pic.