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What are the pricing structures that some of you are using for auto cleaning? Is it very tedious compared to regular upholstery/ carpeting or similar? Thanks.
Dan,
Yes it is tedious and time consuming. Working the small wand into all the tight spaces between seats, doors, etc. is a pain.I have cleaned a few at the request of regular customers. I haven’t actually pursued auto cleaning jobs.
Depending one how dirty it looks and the size of the vehicle, I would charge at least $75 and probably more in most cases.
Some vehicles’ carpets seem to be an endless source of dirt and spills. I have suctioned up the carpets in a pickup truck and was still getting brownish liquid after at least 15 – 20 passes over the area. I don’t know how so much was hiding in that truck’s carpets.
Having said my opinion on this, I suppose a person could get a bit faster if they pursued this work and cleaned more than I have. Perhaps you could work out your routine and get through the vehicle more easily than I have on the ones I cleaned.
By the way, I have also cleaned a few RVs. I priced the first one at $100 and the customer seemed quite happy with that price. It was obvious that they were fairly neat and the job wasn’t bad. Because of RVs’ size, the tight spaces aren’t quite as tight as in cars.
I cleaned a smaller RV trailer recently that a regular customer bought from FEMA through an auction. It was previously used by a displaced family from a Hurricane Katrina area. I could tell it was pretty dirty, so I quoted high – about $225 I think. That wasn’t high enough though! I am still cleaning out my upholstery mate after that job. I got it done in about three hours, so I guess it was OK, but I’ve spent another couple hours cleaning up afterwards. The dirt was so thick that the fluid I sucked up was more like mud.
I believe more normal (as in not filthy through and through) RVs could be decent jobs as the owners don’t seem to be very price sensitive. I know my few jobs’ quotes were accepted without a blink of an eye. I will certainly quote higher on future RV jobs.
Mike
Thanks Mike. I haven’t actually had anyone ask me for automotive cleaning yet. I know of a guy who does nothing but that as a part-time business. I might get a hold of him and see if we can maybe share our customers and just direct business to each other that way. I could easily see myself getting into cleaning out RVs however. They are somewhat similar to homes and would definitely be much easier to get in and out of than a car. People that usually would want them cleaned probably either live in them full time so they want their homes taken care as if it were a house. Or they have more than enough disposable income to be able to afford their weekend toys on the side. Either way I believe that more people would be willing to spend a little more to take care of them than their cars. I know that they probably have their own unique set of problems, but I think that I may start to push it a little as a lot of my customers either own one or live right next to someone who does. I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, but at this early stage of my business I could definitely use the work.
Dan,
When I was in the business everyday, I did many a boat (Sleepers) and motor homes almost on a weekly basis. Being in Fl. you have an advantage to many of the above.
RonThanks Ron. I’m gonna nail down my pricing on these by this week and really start pursuing them. You’re absolutely right about the abundance of motorhomes and boats around here. There’s possibly a very good opportunity here.
We don’t do much with vehicles, RV’s or boats. Call around your area and see what people charge. Then base your price accordingly. I would think RV’s and boats would be pretty common in your area.
Yeah, they’re really abundant around here Dave. I would bet that it’s the same almost any where in Florida. I’m going to start researching the going rates in my territory. Later.
I tell people that call for auto work that they would get more value in taking their car to an auto detailing shop. I’m going to charge them about $120 and they could get their entire car detailed for that.
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