Why Most Detailers Undercharge (And How to Fix It)

The $30/Hour Detailer Making $10/Hour

Here's a scenario that plays out every day: A detailer charges $30/hour for their work. Sounds reasonable. But after accounting for product costs, drive time, equipment wear, towel washing, bookkeeping, and all the "invisible" work that doesn't happen with a polisher in hand—that $30/hour quietly becomes $10.

Most detailers don't realize they're running a charity until it's too late.

The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About

When you're starting out, it's easy to focus on the obvious: products, equipment, maybe insurance. But the costs that actually kill your margins are the ones you forget to track:

Time you're not billing for:

• Driving to mobile jobs (often 30-60 minutes each way)
• Washing and folding microfiber towels
• Cleaning your shop or mobile rig
• Quoting jobs, answering calls, managing bookings
• Shopping for supplies and restocking

Recurring expenses that add up:

• Vehicle wear and fuel (mobile detailers: this alone can be $500+/month)
• Equipment replacement (that DA polisher won't last forever)
• Insurance, licensing, and software subscriptions
• Marketing and advertising spend

One Colorado Springs detailer tracked every minute for a month. His $100 flat-rate details were costing him $70 in real expenses. His "profitable" business had a 30% margin before he even paid himself.

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Why Menu Pricing Is Stealing Your Money

Most detailers use menu pricing: Sedan wash is $X, SUV interior is $Y, full detail is $Z. Simple. Clean. Also leaving massive money on the table.

Here's the problem: Two customers with the same Toyota Camry book your "Full Detail" package for $200. Customer A's car is a year old and garaged. Customer B's car has two kids, a dog, and hasn't been cleaned in 18 months.

Same car. Same package. Same price.

But Customer B's car takes you twice as long. You're doing twice the work for the same money—which means you're making half your hourly rate.

The fix is variable pricing. Quote each job based on actual condition, not just vehicle type. Detailers who switch from menu pricing to variable pricing report making 40% or more with the same amount of work.

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How to Actually Calculate Your Prices

Use this formula for every service:

(Labor Hours × Target Hourly Rate) + Material Costs + Overhead + Profit Margin

Let's break it down:

1. Know your real hourly rate target. If you want to make $75,000/year working 40 hours/week, that's roughly $36/hour. But you won't bill every hour—account for admin time, so target $50-60/hour for actual detailing work.

2. Track your actual material costs per job. Most detailers guess. Stop guessing. A full detail might use $15-30 in products. Ceramic coatings have material costs of $50-200+. Know your numbers.

3. Add your overhead allocation. Take your monthly fixed costs (rent, insurance, subscriptions, marketing) and divide by the number of jobs you do. That's your per-job overhead.

4. Include profit margin. Your time is labor. Profit is what's left to grow the business. Target 15-35% margin on top of everything else.

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Signs You Need to Raise Your Prices

If any of these sound familiar, you're undercharging:

• You're booked solid 2+ weeks out
• Customers never push back on price
• You haven't raised prices in over a year
• Your costs have increased but your prices haven't
• You've added skills, certifications, or better equipment

That Colorado detailer? He raised his base price from $100 to $130 after doing the math. Not a single customer complained—his quality backed it up. His profit per car jumped 20% overnight.

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The Premium Services Opportunity

Ceramic coatings and PPF (paint protection film) represent the highest-margin services in detailing. Ceramic coating jobs range from $500-3,000+. PPF installations run $900-7,000+.

If you're not offering these services, you're leaving significant revenue on the table. If you are offering them, make sure you're pricing for the skill involved—not competing with the shop down the street who's racing to the bottom.

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The Bottom Line

Stop pricing based on what you think customers will pay. Start pricing based on what you need to run a profitable business.

Your skills have value. Your time has value. Your expertise has value. Price like it.