# Mini valet, full valet, excutive valet/detail...



## r8byb (Jul 7, 2007)

Im new to the site, quite young and really looking to the future as a business prospect, just wieghing up a few idea's on how you would gain a good income, had a read through the stickied thread about setting up a business.

Just wandering so i can get a rough idea on how much is the general rate for:

Mini valet
Full valet
Executive valet/Detail

From reading it seems you need to work on the basis of charging around 20 - 25 pounds an hour, to take home around 10 - 12 pound hour after, tax, overheads, product costs etc..

And what you would say is involved in each..

Thanks Rob


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## mba (Jun 17, 2006)

Best thing to do m8 if you are starting up is look at your competitors are charging

Take into account your ability and products used as some guys on here are nothing short of brilliant but they do charge or it

Good luck mate, before you jump in head first i would do 12 months weekend work that way you are not basing a business on seasonal activity, also you might get pi55ed off, it really is very tough going

Mark


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE (Apr 19, 2006)

have a bit of money behind you your going to need it , and thats after you have purchased all your equipment.
dont scrimp on the equipment side either , buy the best you can at the start , or you will be looking to replace broken kit quite early , .
read through all the im starting a new business threads take in as much as you can .
good luck


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## r8byb (Jul 7, 2007)

Cheers wouldnt be for another few years, like said would strat doing weekends and see how it goes, need to buy some products and get practicing on the detailing side of things first


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## Graeme1 (Dec 9, 2006)

very hard to compete these days with all the hand car washed!


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## Affection to Detail (Jul 6, 2006)

Graeme1 said:


> very hard to compete these days with all the hand car washed!


Last time I looked they were only doing cleaning, and just what is visable at that.


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## pamibarry (Jan 9, 2008)

*The more leg work the more you get*

Hi, We supply a lot of mobile valeters, mainly in the manchester. It really is a case of the more leg work you put in advertising yourself the more money comes back to you. mini valets for example should range between £12 - £15 for a mobile valeter is easily achievable. To the point where a lot of our valeters stipulate that the will only go to businesses if there is a minimum of 4 mini valets, thereby making it more worth your visit. Each mini valet should really take you between 30 & 45 minutes if it is being done properly so that would add up to about 3 cars every 2 hours, which at £15 per car would make you about £22.50 an hour. Obviously full valets etc would be charged at higher rates and would really depend on the size of the vehicle that you are valeting, but on an average car it should be £50 at least but would only really earn you somewhere near the £22.50 we mentioned earlier. Hope this helps?


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE (Apr 19, 2006)

sorry to disagree but at those prices it wont be worth going out , a mini valet is half a full ,my prices start FROM £60 for a full valet on a small car like a ka , so a mini would be £30.
dont forget a mini valet nearly always includes the interior , and that can take the times you specified alone .
i agree about checking the competition but dont under price yourself just to get the job , youll just end up doing all the ****ters , and that can be demoralising .
note the word FROM dont forget it , it gives you the scope to add to the price if the car is in a state


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## pamibarry (Jan 9, 2008)

I did say easily achievable and once you;ve got your business going then you can pick and chose which jobs you want, but if you start up a business expecting to get £30 mini valets all day long then there are going to be a lot of disappointed valeters. When preparing a business plan which this chap seems to be doing, you are far better to estimate less and achieve more. I understand what you are saying about the prices and agree with you. but what you are doing and what this chap needs to allow in a business plan needs to be worlds apart. he needs to know worst case not best case, everything after his worst case is a mssive bonus then. but I do agree with you totally on why you say the prices you have. cheers, Paul


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## broomfield (Jan 1, 2008)

Well ive been valeting for over 18 years now and started up mobile 5 years ago near manchester and pamibarry is right with his prices. I just wish i could get people to pay £30 for a min valet


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE (Apr 19, 2006)

all depends then what you do for a mini valet


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## SDP (Oct 17, 2006)

This just illustrates the gulf between those who know how to price a job properly, sell properly and actually run a viable business as opposed to scratting around for naff all.

Can't get £30 for an MV - you just gotta be kidding.


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## Mr P (Aug 22, 2007)

You get what you pay for at the end of the day ! 
I think if you want to make a living from it start as you mean to go on and charge an hourly rate plus costs!


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## Simon01 (Jan 14, 2008)

peter richards said:


> sorry to disagree but at those prices it wont be worth going out , a mini valet is half a full ,my prices start FROM £60 for a full valet on a small car like a ka , so a mini would be £30.
> dont forget a mini valet nearly always includes the interior , and that can take the times you specified alone .
> i agree about checking the competition but dont under price yourself just to get the job , youll just end up doing all the ****ters , and that can be demoralising .
> note the word FROM dont forget it , it gives you the scope to add to the price if the car is in a state


bit of good advive/ info there i have a valet business now at a unit but in the process of setting up a mobile van to go out in with lads staying at unit, im going to be looking from £20 - £30 for mini valets i know a few companys do them for £14 but they dont do half as good job as i do and i do more extras alot wont do tyre shine (WOT i hear you say ) and no airfreshener.
Also i see it as the more effort and work you put in the more you get out of it im usually seven days a week and its a service like mcdonalds you never see them shut!!


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Starting up is a strugle with all the comp around, you will need some money behind you more than just the stuff to start up on, as you will be lucky to break a profit in the first few months, Do you have any experiance in valeting?? if not maybe go work for some one to learn the basics 

As for what you charge as said to start with you can only really charge what other around you do, i get away with a little extra but thats due to my local reputation and the fact i use the best methods and products no expence spared. but i doubt if i started out now as a newebi i would be able to charge half of what i do as people are paying me for my experiance and for the peace of mind i know what im doing, if your fresh new you need to be atractive to new clients and the best way is IMO to be cheaper than the other guy, only down side to that is the clients go for the cheaper service seem to be the least loyal so repeate business never seems to last long cos there is always some one else who will under cut you.

Basicly its hard work and dam hard to earn money like some you see on here, its a whole load of things from how you your company look, to price and the way you sell your self, theres far more to it than doing the work, getting it is 80% of the battle

Sorry never spell checked that lot 

James B


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Mr P said:


> You get what you pay for at the end of the day !
> I think if you want to make a living from it start as you mean to go on and charge an hourly rate plus costs!


If you want to be the best you cant just step in and be it, you have to build your skills abilitys and product knowledge, it all takes time and you have to build a business and climb the ladder,


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## NKS (Feb 22, 2007)

james b said:


> If you want to be the best you cant just step in and be it, you have to build your skills abilitys and product knowledge, it all takes time and you have to build a business and climb the ladder,


Sound advice from a pro:thumb: . Take it - its free :detailer:


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

Two choices with charging. You either charge the same as your competitors, and offer the same level of service, or you could do what I did, and offer a much better service for a fair bit more money. I honestly don't know, short of them cutting corners, the valeting lads round here to a 'full' valet for £20. I'd be running on a loss if I charged as little as that. bare in mind, when you charge £20, by the time you take everything off (if you are legal and declare) like tax, fuel, equipment, products etc then you end up with £10. I simply couldn't run my business on that little. I charge 4 times my competitors for the most basic service I offer, and I make no bones about the fact they are much cheaper than me, but then all it takes is a customer to see my work, how different the approach is, and the end result, and they realise it's worth it.


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

james b said:


> If you want to be the best you cant just step in and be it, you have to build your skills abilitys and product knowledge, it all takes time and you have to build a business and climb the ladder,


completely agree with James there. I started doing folks cars for next to nowt. Two years of families cars, friends etc etc. It wasn't until that amount of time that I felt knowledgeable and skilled enough to do it properly, and charge full price. You can't jump in this game and expect to be warm and dry. It's a skill, and it's one you have to master. Anyone can do a quick, cheap valet, but it takes experience to do a proper job.


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## JayDee (Jan 12, 2008)

Wonderdetail said:


> completely agree with James there. I started doing folks cars for next to nowt. Two years of families cars, friends etc etc. It wasn't until that amount of time that I felt knowledgeable and skilled enough to do it properly, and charge full price. You can't jump in this game and expect to be warm and dry. It's a skill, and it's one you have to master. Anyone can do a quick, cheap valet, but it takes experience to do a proper job.


Well said. I did so many family, friends and "friends of friends" cars for next to nothing. It probably cost me money everytime I did it just with the products I used. Worth it now though for the reputation and word of mouth advertising I had from it not to mention the experience and product knowledge gained. Invaluable IMO!


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## Simon01 (Jan 14, 2008)

more sound advice threre :thumb:


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## Wash'n'Go (Mar 13, 2007)

Some great replies there. A word of advise on pricing, try and get it set before you start as once you've started and got a client base it's hard to keep changing the price or service as I found out. Once customers have paid a price some are reluctant to pay a higher price for the same service.

I put my prices up slightly to counter the fuel increases and running cost nearly everyone was fine but one customer sent me an email complaining that they didn't think anyone would pay the extra and would I reconsidered......errr NO.

I wouldn't mind but they mess me about something chronic and I did a freebies to start with to get them on board.

Hey ho that's being self-employed for you.


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## broomfield (Jan 1, 2008)

^^^^ Thats spot on that advise when i started out i did some very cheap just to get my foot in the door BIG mistake. you just cant belive that people with a car worth big money can be so tight over a few extra £. And just to put the story strate what i do for £15 is 

Clean the wheels wash and leather the outside, clean the windows inside and out, vac the seats and carpet and leather the dash,and tyre shine the tyres and an airfreshener
so it's nearly a min valet if they want a quick polish then its £15 on top


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Lads you have to choose the market you are going to target and go with that, price increases are acceptable to most (dam Mc Ds charge more these days lol) it just depends how you go about it, i dont bend any ones arm behind there back so they have me do there car i tell them what i do and show them how i do it they can decide for them selfs and when i put prices up (every year i look over them and adjust accordingly) i send letters to every client 2 month before they take affect 

This guy who aske this Q has not come back to answers any of the Questions put to him, he needs to tell us

1 where he is
2 what his target market is going to be ( day to day drivers, trade, commercial or high end?)
3 is he going mobile or from a work shop?
4 dose he have any experience at all? (other than washing your own car)

Also the budget you have to start on can some times determin the answers to these questions, if your going high end you going to have to spend a fair wack on prods ad equipment etc etc and your van/work shop image/uniform and marketing goods all need to reflect the same, and appeal to the clients your after


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