Prices at self service cw around the USA.

[Damoni88]

Sick of these disgusting trashy people tearing up my wash. I am raising prices this week. $2.00 for 3.45 min and vacs $2.00 for 5mins. Im just fed up with all the trash these people just throw on the ground right after i clean up. Hoses, shampoo brushes, fragrance gun, all just thrown to the ground and ran over. Hopefully this will chase some of these non caring POS away and if they do vaccum and make a mess i will feel better making more money while still being PO.

 

[chaz]

Yep...a bit less mess......but either way...at least you will be earning more.

 

[Damoni88]

Yep your right thanks to everyone for the replys.

 

[Damoni88]

O and btw i own 3 of the 5 self serves left in our town so they have to go somewhere.

 

[CarWashBoy]

We are in Western Oregon.. our prices are $5 -5 minutes bays CC count up or cash.. Vacs $3 - 4 minutes Cash or CC count up.. Got rid of a lot of flakes.. People love it.. No Coins either.. Simple
DG..

 

[washnvac]

$6 for 30 minutes on bays, $2 for 6 minutes on vacs. Eastern shore of Delaware/Maryland.

 

[Damoni88]

Holy cow!!!!! 30 mins????

 

[Damoni88]

Best decision ever wish i would have changed along time ago.

 

[Rfreeman]

$6 for 30 minutes on bays, $2 for 6 minutes on vacs. Eastern shore of Delaware/Maryland.

WashnVac, how long have you done this for? I have seen something like this before and I always wondered if it was profitable??? I wouldn't ask you to post your profit by any means that's why I'm curious to see how long you have been at $6 for 30 mins....if it's been a while then I can imagine that your happy with the money your making on it. I had a competitor about 2.5 miles down the road that switched to $5 for 30 mins. after I re-opened my ss + IBA back up. I think between me, a rehabbed tunnel next door to him, and another forum member down the road in the other direction....we put him out of business....his property is up for sale but its just a shell now all equipment removed. I know on this forum the gated entry model has been bounced around...that's an interesting concept as well but just curious how profitable it is???

 

[washnvac]

Went to the "wash as long as you want; up to 30 minutes" in 2000. I was $4 then. Raised to $5 around 2005. Then raised to $6 in 2015 (wish I had gone to $7). At 5 locations, volumes are above the average reflected in the magazine surveys. As a percentage of sales my chemicals and water/sewer run a tad higher, but not significant.

My goal was to keep folks from racing around their vehicle, doing a half a$$ job. Before, I was $2 for 4 minutes, like most operators. In my opinion, it is not a good customer experience racing the timer then leaving with a partially done car. Once my customers got over the shock of the start up price, it has been a good fit for my locations. Folks will wash even when rain is foretasted because they perceive it as such a good deal. They wash in the rain in some cases. I feel it has built a really loyal customer base.

I have double traffic loops in the floors to keep more than one vehicle from washing on the same time. If a second car pulls up; bay shuts off. When car pulls out, bay resets. If 2 cars are in to begin with; coin accepter is disabled.

I do average time tests occasionally. The last time I did that, the average washer used 15 minutes. In the winter it was 22 minutes.

 

[Waxman]

Went to the "wash as long as you want; up to 30 minutes" in 2000. I was $4 then. Raised to $5 around 2005. Then raised to $6 in 2015 (wish I had gone to $7). At 5 locations, volumes are above the average reflected in the magazine surveys. As a percentage of sales my chemicals and water/sewer run a tad higher, but not significant.

My goal was to keep folks from racing around their vehicle, doing a half a$$ job. Before, I was $2 for 4 minutes, like most operators. In my opinion, it is not a good customer experience racing the timer then leaving with a partially done car. Once my customers got over the shock of the start up price, it has been a good fit for my locations. Folks will wash even when rain is foretasted because they perceive it as such a good deal. They wash in the rain in some cases. I feel it has built a really loyal customer base.

I have double traffic loops in the floors to keep more than one vehicle from washing on the same time. If a second car pulls up; bay shuts off. When car pulls out, bay resets. If 2 cars are in to begin with; coin accepter is disabled.

I do average time tests occasionally. The last time I did that, the average washer used 15 minutes. In the winter it was 22 minutes.

I think that price is way too low. If a car wash can charge close to $1/minute, why give 30 min for $6?

 

[Rfreeman]

I think that price is way too low. If a car wash can charge close to $1/minute, why give 30 min for $6?

Why not if he's getting the financial return or making the income he wants or desires??? At first sight it sounds crazy but he's happy with it so kuddos. Personally, I wondered how viable it is but based off of the info he shared it sounds doable. Would I do it....probably not but the idea is interesting.

 

[Roz]

The corner coffee stand has lower overhead so they sell a cup for $1.50, Starbucks with their higher overhead is able to price their coffee up to $5. Guess it comes down to location, demographics, and add-value service to the customer. Making it up on volume on a low cost is fine until water consumption becomes an issue.

This is an interesting business school pricing question. If someone sells a product at a clear, large, discount does it generate enough volume to generate more gross revenue than at a significantly higher price? Would be interested to hear how much time someone's bay is busy at $6/30min. At $12/hour if you are busy just 10 hours per day you can generate $3000-$4000 per month for one bay which is twice the national averages per bay - a good strategy if it generates significantly more customers.

Anyone selling bay time at a large bulk price willing to share the usage data? Would make for a more compelling presentation at ICA than many of the ones this past week...

 

[Waxman]

Hey, I don't mind seeing customers walk briskly while they wash the car. For some of them, that's the most physical activity they get all week! Raising their heart rate for 4-10 minutes is a GOOD THING! I'm offering FREE mini workouts! Besides, haven't people been 'racing the clock' since coin-op car washes were invented? Who am I to try and change that?!?

IMHO, the place to relax and meditate with a good wash and detail session is at home in your driveway. Get your bucket out, your hose, all your supplies. Plug in the boom box, cue up some Joe Diffie, crack a soda. Have a smoke. Then the phone rings and your wife calls out:" Honey...My sister's dog ran away. I've got to go help her look for it. Can you finish the dishes and get dinner ready?"

Now, all of a sudden, the solitude you can find at the self serve car wash starts looking pretty appealing.

 

[Greg Pack]

I recently took over management of a gated SS. $10 entry fee. Unlimited washing, vacuuming, carpet shampoo and spray fragrance. It's a different business model but I can see its usefulness. However, I can't hang around and watch customers. Last week, I watched one guy go over his car with a foam brush at least five times for about thirty minutes. I watched one guy start his wash process by spraying foaming wax on his car, rinsing it off, then applying tire clean, rinsing it off with spot free rinse, then more tire clean, then scrubbing with a foam brush, then more foaming wax, etc. It drives me nuts. I feel like the owner of a Chinese buffet giving the people in line the stinkeye when I see them getting more food then they will eat. I really feel like I have to be thrifty with the products as opposed to my 3.00 SS bays. Having said that, I don't get as much trash as a traditional format

 

[Rfreeman]

I recently took over management of a gated SS. $10 entry fee. Unlimited washing, vacuuming, carpet shampoo and spray fragrance. It's a different business model but I can see its usefulness. However, I can't hang around and watch customers. Last week, I watched one guy go over his car with a foam brush at least five times for about thirty minutes. I watched one guy start his wash process by spraying foaming wax on his car, rinsing it off, then applying tire clean, rinsing it off with spot free rinse, then more tire clean, then scrubbing with a foam brush, then more foaming wax, etc. It drives me nuts. I feel like the owner of a Chinese buffet giving the people in line the stinkeye when I see them getting more food then they will eat. I really feel like I have to be thrifty with the products as opposed to my 3.00 SS bays. Having said that, I don't get as much trash as a traditional format

Hahaha I like the Chinese buffet example when I read it I thought I would feel the same way because that would drive me nuts! Nonetheless its an interesting business model. I wonder if anyone would be willing to at least share their expenses as a % of gross revenue? Historically, I believe industry standard is 35-45% but I could be wrong because it was about 12-14 years ago that I saw that. The less trash because them having to pay the $10 to step on (prbly should say drive on) to the property interest me as well. Anyone willing to post expense %???

 

[Greg Pack]

I would provide but this site is lower volume site than we thought and it skews the numbers badly. I might have some stability and can report back in a few months if I'm still running it. I like the concept. It would be an easy site to run if it was SS only, would be a great semi-retirement income producer.

 

[Alpine Dreams]

After reading all of the replies in this thread, and replacing a $3000 water well pump, I decided to raise prices. Went from $1.50 for 3 minutes to $2.00 for 3 minutes and 23 seconds.

Startup: from 150 cents to 200 cents
Time per quarter from 30 seconds to 25 seconds
33% increase in startup
17% decrease in seconds per quarter

I was planning to make the time a little more generous, like 4 minutes instead of 3:23, but a few days before the signs arrived I had some disgusting messes and complete lack of respect towards my equipment. Now, I'm the most expensive car wash in town and, d@mn, it feels good!

I like the buffet example too. You know what you do when your buffet is full and customers leave because of that? You raise prices... Less cleanup and more money.

 

[soapy]

For a good laugh about chinese buffet you tube John Pinette and chinese buffet.

 

[OurTown]

For a good laugh about chinese buffet you tube John Pinette and chinese buffet.

Yep. That's a classic.