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50 cent vacs

chaz

chaz

Active member
I'm two bucks for 6 minutes on my vacs. Most washes around me are one buck for 3 or 4 minutes. I'm fine with being at $2. I get an occasional customer comment about my pricing....but today someone accused me of "highway robbery" saying the wash he usually goes to is 50cents, though he had no idea how much time he gets for the 50cents. I plan to go and visit that wash.

But my question is.... does anyone vend vac that cheap and at what time.

I can't even imagine a 50cent start, at any time...just invites the slobs.
 
I will fess up and admit that I have 50 cent vacs at a location. I have kept the vacs at 50 cents since the day I opened the wash in 1990. Small town courtesy that I choose to do. 2 minutes time and they are always busy.
 
Same here...50 cents for 3 minutes...My reasoning? There are 2 other washes within a mile that I compete with in a small town. They are $1.00 for the same amount of time. I never see anybody use their vacs. Mine gets a lot of use and I make $$$. It also helps draw in customers and helps increase bay revenue...Plus I remember doing the math once. It cost less than a penny in electric for 3 minutes of vac time. The highest profit margin $$$ source at the wash.
 
Yeah, I agree great profit margin. But cleaning the vacs is a dirty awful mess, especially after a rainy period. I had thought about staying at a buck and dropping time but figured that wouldn't accomplish my goal.

1)chasing away the "vac and run customers" that make the biggest mess and will vac anything including concrete fix, so far so good.
2)increasing revenue per activation.
3)Reduce wear and tear on equipment.
 
This is a funny makes me think back. I was at one time 50cents over 11 years ago and 75cents I had every farmer,brick mason,painter,vaccuming out truck beds the turning point for me was i had enough and seen a guy vacuuming out a boat livewell with water in it and water was coming out my vac door. One of the best things I ever done was put in new vacs and go to $1.50 for 3:10seconds and my customers comment on how happy and clean and powerful they suck now. Thanks too one of my Carwash buddies for shinning the light for me to do this. I got tired of practicing on the vacuums and got with the program.
 
tdlconceptsllc said:
This is a funny makes me thing back. I was at one time 50cents over 11 years ago and 75cents I had every farmer,brick mason,painter,vaccuming out truck beds the turning point for me was i had enough and seen a guy vacuuming out a boat livewell with water in it and water was coming out my vac door. One of the best things I ever done was put in new vacs and go to $1.50 for 3:10seconds and my customers comment on how happy and clean and powerful they suck now. Thanks too one of my Carwash buddies for shinning the light for me to do this. I got tired of practicing on the vacuums and got with the program.
Click to expand...

Yep, it was the concrete mix followed by water that got me thinking. Lucky for me the concrete was not set....but still a huge mess that took over an hour to clean. $1.50 for 3:10, that's great. I wanted to stay in $1 increments since I dispense dollar coins. I have countdown timers on the vacs with add money for more time option activated. I sometimes think not showing the running clock would add to overall revenue.
 
That’s all BS that you keep the vac prices low to draw in customers. In the small town my car wash is in the only other car wash in town is .50 for 5 minutes on 2 of his vac’s and .75 for 5 minutes on the 2 new vac’s. My vac’s are $1.25, soon to be $1.50 for 3.5 minutes. They are always busy. I clean them out 3 times a week, keep the bags clean, and the do very well. You guy that only charge .50 or .75 are leaving a lot of money on the table.
 
chaz said:
Yep, it was the concrete mix followed by water that got me thinking. Lucky for me the concrete was not set....but still a huge mess that took over an hour to clean. $1.50 for 3:10, that's great. I wanted to stay in $1 increments since I dispense dollar coins. I have countdown timers on the vacs with add money for more time option activated. I sometimes think not showing the running clock would add to overall revenue.
Click to expand...

I've thought about the idea of not showing a timer. My most used vacs show time and people seem to race the clock. Lesser used vacs don't show the time and people seem to take their time. Location is the difference in usage for me, but have thought about switching around a vac or two and see if not showing time makes any difference. I am at 3 minutes for $1 and planning on increasing to $1.25 July 1st and $1.50 on January 1st.

Cost/time definitely makes a difference in the amount/type of mess. Last November I went from 4 minutes per $1 to 3 minutes per $1.
Noticeable difference in mess and income. The best deterrent to people making a mess that I have found is to provide a great service and trespass people who make a mess. I trespassed one high school kid who cleaned a muddy jeep in a bay and then messed up a vac. His buddies got the message and the mud has decreased significantly.

BTW - I caught a guy from the electric company vacuuming out water from a cherry picker bucket. Amazing what people will do. I couldn't do something like that for fear of my dad leaping out of his wheel chair and beating my A$$.
 
loewem said:
I've thought about the idea of not showing a timer. My most used vacs show time and people seem to race the clock. Lesser used vacs don't show the time and people seem to take their time. Location is the difference in usage for me, but have thought about switching around a vac or two and see if not showing time makes any difference. I am at 3 minutes for $1 and planning on increasing to $1.25 July 1st and $1.50 on January 1st.

Cost/time definitely makes a difference in the amount/type of mess. Last November I went from 4 minutes per $1 to 3 minutes per $1.
Noticeable difference in mess and income. The best deterrent to people making a mess that I have found is to provide a great service and trespass people who make a mess. I trespassed one high school kid who cleaned a muddy jeep in a bay and then messed up a vac. His buddies got the message and the mud has decreased significantly.

BTW - I caught a guy from the electric company vacuuming out water from a cherry picker bucket. Amazing what people will do. I couldn't do something like that for fear of my dad leaping out of his wheel chair and beating my A$$.
Click to expand...


Why wait. Make the January price increase ASAP. That way more money in your pocket now and no need to retrain customers twice in 6 months. When I found the concrete in my vac, I was so annoyed, I raised prices that day and made temporary price stickers with my dymo. I briefly though about waiting a few days for new decals from the sign guy so it wouldn't look too obvious that I made a change. I also added sunburst decals "Now More Time"
 
Randy said:
That’s all BS that you keep the vac prices low to draw in customers. In the small town my car wash is in the only other car wash in town is .50 for 5 minutes on 2 of his vac’s and .75 for 5 minutes on the 2 new vac’s. My vac’s are $1.25, soon to be $1.50 for 3.5 minutes. They are always busy. I clean them out 3 times a week, keep the bags clean, and the do very well. You guy that only charge .50 or .75 are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Click to expand...

I am not keeping the price low to draw in customers at the one location. It was my first wash and I simply choose to, plus I don't give a lot of time for that .50. I have vacs that are $1 and $1.25 for 3 minutes and fragrance/shampoo for $3 at other locations.
 
It's my belief that no matter what your time vs coin is, one is better off with a higher start and more time. In other words I THINK a 50cent start for 3 minutes is less profitable than say $1 for 6 minutes. I find 6 minutes is plenty of time to vac the average vehicle, 3 minutes results in a beat the clock approach, and then one can only hope for the additional activation.

Since I started this post, I have become aware of two 50cent vacs in my area. One I'm told at a gas station with a wash, has vacs at 50cents four minutes. I have yet to test these, not that it matters I'm quite happy at $2 for 6minutes, even with the occasional drive off
 
Well Randy I will challenge you on your small town,just kidding. I upgraded to new combos last year and went to $2.00 for 4 minutes from $1.25.Other washes are $ 1.00 for 4 minutes on vacs.Their bigger problem is that they are so run down looking few customers use them.Gets back to running and maintaining a clean looking business.
 
I may be the cheapest at $.75 for 5 minutes. In my town there are many gas stations built recently that offer free vacs. I was hesitant to raise prices for fear of driving them to the free vacs. The longer they've been there, I notice the free vacs are getting abused and repair is less prompt. I plan to go to $1 for 3 minutes, which is a drastic price increase, but one that I think is fair (we'll see). I hope it will run off the slobs and generate additional revenue. We will see.
 
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