Car Wash Forum
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Sam’s Club….
- Thread starter sjb
- Start date
traveler17
Well-known member
Looks like a razor
washnshine
Well-known member
I see they have Sam’s Club pricing too - maybe you have to buy 10 washes! 
sjb
Active member
It was $7, and the wash had all the bells and whistles….!
The one time code was good for 30 days, and the gas was $2.65, 40 cents cheaper than the QT….
“Membership” required…..
The one time code was good for 30 days, and the gas was $2.65, 40 cents cheaper than the QT….
“Membership” required…..
soonermajic
Well-known member
Dear mother of Carwashes, please do not let this become a thing.. Sam's is, obviously, owned by Wal-Mart. WalMart destroyed small town "Mom & Pop" stores, now....
There's a Sam's Club in San Antonio, that is giving out FREE washes on their new Razor, with fill up ($25.00 minimum) & I know the guy who services it.
He claims it is washing OVER 120 CPD!!!
There's a Sam's Club in San Antonio, that is giving out FREE washes on their new Razor, with fill up ($25.00 minimum) & I know the guy who services it.
He claims it is washing OVER 120 CPD!!!
washnshine
Well-known member
That’s rough. It’s just a loss leader to them. They will grind that machine into the ground and make no money off of it. People will not care about quality because who complains about anything free ( people do, but there is not an argument to be made). Plus, there is no incentive to offer the highest quality. People who truly care will still pay for a good wash. Those who only want it free are probably not regular, quality demanding customers anyway.
The Costco washes boggle my mind. 150' tunnels with the entire Macneil equipment catalog inside. No vacuums on site at all. They give the "kitchen sink" wash for $7.99 which is the only wash available. And they are lined up open to close. Most do 30k cars per month.
Strangely, Costco stopped building washes at their new stores. At least in CA. Not sure why.
Waxman
Super Moderator
maybe because at the low prices they charge they are hemorrhaging a ton of money. A loss leader is something like selling a newspaper at a drugstore in the old days. A large car wash operation is a totally different story. Just think of the overhead. I can't imagine that they build a whole lot of extra loyalty or customer base by having a car wash at a big box retailer. seems like a fantasy that some recent business school graduate came up with with no practical real world experience.
washnshine
Well-known member
Maybe the big tunnel chains actually can discourage the Costco Model. Premier wash for $8. Purchase 5 of them in a month and you are at $40. Around me, $45 is a monthly subscription for a top wash and you can get 31 of them a month if you want.
They're probably netting close to $5 per wash 150K/month and it sounds great on the surface but when you're Costco I'm not sure it's worth the relative hassle. Average store sales for costco is around $690,000.00 per day
In either case, it's probably more of a convenience for their members, and to keep them as members. Same as gas, Costco rotisserie chicken, and hot dog at the Cafe. They are making their $ off private label stuff, and need to give shoppers more reason to come in to buy their brands in bulk that they most likely don't need.
washnshine
Well-known member
If my car wash sales were $690,000 per day, I wouldn’t be interested in trying to sell groceries or anything else!
Earl Weiss
Well-known member
Tick Tock guy must have failed his business class. Costco release said they gave up margin - not lost money. (Meaning they could have had a bigger profit margin. ) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/costco-rotisserie-chicken-cheap/
I was more focused on gross sales, car wash is a drop in the bucket for them was my main takeaway.
