Wash Bay pricing

[OurTown]

Yup. We have Dixmor at our other washes. The display on the Dixmor is easier to read.

LED 6 is even easier to read.

 

[MEP001]

LED 6 is even easier to read.

Until the LEDs start to fail. Hopefully the newer timers are better, but I put LED6 timers in several washes in 2018/2019 and a LOT of them started failing after just a few months. I'm replacing mine with LED7s while I still can. I set them to retro so it just displays the start amount, no scrolling so they're plenty easy to read.

 

[MEP001]

One thing I want to also mention. We had a lot of cash customers complain when we had a 3.6 minute start up because only two and a half minutes in they heard the one minute beep. In their mind that meant almost out of time and would constantly add quarters and it didn't help much with the beeping. Now with an extra minute they can actually get some washing in before the beeping starts. I could not imagine having a 3 minute start time. It also encourages bucket washers IMHO.

I'm still at $1.50 for 3 minutes. I tried to go down on the time only, and customers would hear the beep, work their way around to add a couple coins, then it would beep again almost immediately and they felt like they were getting ripped off. I got LOTS of complaints. I may go up to $2 soon, but there's no way I can go down with the time per coin without making some serious changes to show for it.

 

[OurTown]

Until the LEDs start to fail. Hopefully the newer timers are better, but I put LED6 timers in several washes in 2018/2019 and a LOT of them started failing after just a few months. I'm replacing mine with LED7s while I still can. I set them to retro so it just displays the start amount, no scrolling so they're plenty easy to read.

You can have the modules replaced by Dixmor for $50 and according to them they had a bad batch of modules and are much better now. We bought a bunch of new LED6s in 2018 and had about half of them repaired since. They look different too. I doubt they will last longer than the LED7 modules but to me they are worth the look.

 

[MEP001]

I doubt they will last longer than the LED7 modules but to me they are worth the look.

FWIW I don't care about the marketing scroll, and I don't think customers ever read it either. I'm concerned that the LED6 in retro mode will burn out those dots very quickly. I've had my LED7s displaying the startup price for four years and there's no obvious degradation of those segments. I do agree that the dot matrix looks better, especially the scroll.

 

[OurTown]

I'm concerned that the LED6 in retro mode will burn out those dots very quickly.

I could see that for sure. We have customers that ask what the price to start is because they did not look at the display long enough to see it.

 

[Kimberly Berg]

I'm located in Northern California. Three years ago, we raised our wash price price from $2 for 4.5 minutes to $3 for 5 minutes I posted a sign 2 months in advance, letting customers know we were raising our prices 5% and why. I received NO complaints and customers actually thanked me for increasing the time! :O. It's a psychology thing. When they're not racing the timer, they think they're getting a better value. For us, 5 minutes is the sweet spot and I would NEVER reduce my time again. This year, we plan to increase our price to $4 for 5 minutes.

 

[MudMoney]

I'm at $ 4.00 for 4 minutes , i would never lower time.Customers have paced themselves to wash in that time frame. As I'm in a rural setting with lots of pick ups and muddy roads seldom do customers use one cycle. I do not accept credit cards,customers use $ 1.00 coins the most followed by in bay bill accepters.

 

[Waxman]

I switched my 2 SS bays to $5 start, $1/minute last weekend.

No notice, no new signs except new decals saying $5 to start.

Slight pushback here and there in the form of " do I have to pay another $5 ( once time runs out)??" ....Yes, unless you deposit more coins when last coin alarm beeper sounds". I call this a 'playing dumb' price objection, but I get it; Customers are paying more all over the place today, not just at the car wash.
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For comparison, our Christmas Eve gathering last weekend featured an 8" plastic tray of 'Cannoli dip'. It was a bunch of cannoli wrapper 'chips' surrounding a 3" tub of cannoli filling. Price at Big Y market?????? $16.99!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Roz]

Your customer leads to this question. Has anyone used the Restart ON function of the Dixmor timers? I may experiment with that feature enabled. We already use the bonus time at $20 level which seems to help drive larger bills in the box and more $20 max cc use. If someone has used the restart feature how does it work with cc usage, same as with cash?

 

[MEP001]

The restart is a cash ability with the timer. I can't say for all CC equipment, but neither Hamilton's D.A.N. nor Cryptopay offer a restart. Cryptopay in count-down won't work unless you intentionally mismatch the time per coin across the two units, and that can lead to other problems. One of my customers had his Cryptopay reader smashed off because they had set the time per coin wrong and the button was still enabled to add coin pulses after the timer ran out. The guy was pissed because he thought the person in line behind him would get to wash on his card.

 

[Roz]

good point. I will make a small decal for the box annd include that restart is for cash only.

 

[AZcarwashman]

We ALL pay the same amount for chemicals. Tx has super high taxes, but other costs of living is cheap.
I use KR super concentrates in SS bays, for hp soap (JBS Fonic) Bubble Up for FB, JBS for PS & TC, & Deep Blue for CC/Wax. They all work great (TC is avg) & are super cheap!
I still make about 65% profit on SS & 55% profit on IBAs (I do use Quest & Warsaw on IBAs).
So I am doing quite well, even w/ super low pricing.
Guy i bought from, 4 yrs ago, still has the other SS/1IBA 9 miles in next town, (that's super close in rural areas) He is STILL $1/4:00!!! That's the main reason i haven't gone to $2/3:00.
Heck, i do dbl mortgage for past 4 yrs, & will be debt free in 5 more yrs. That's adding 2 new new IBAs also.
I also am going to finally add Cryptopay this yr, & do count up w/ my LED6's.

Smart move on adding Cryptopay, even smarter going with count up. Get ready to see higher bay averages.

 

[AZcarwashman]

I'm located in Northern California. Three years ago, we raised our wash price price from $2 for 4.5 minutes to $3 for 5 minutes I posted a sign 2 months in advance, letting customers know we were raising our prices 5% and why. I received NO complaints and customers actually thanked me for increasing the time! :O. It's a psychology thing. When they're not racing the timer, they think they're getting a better value. For us, 5 minutes is the sweet spot and I would NEVER reduce my time again. This year, we plan to increase our price to $4 for 5 minutes.

I also considered $4 for 5. Pretty sure in the market I am in, it will support that. Most operators now (in the nicer areas) are $3 for 3.5. I do like the idea of $4 to start as that will cost bucket washes at least $8 when all is said and done.

 

[soonermajic]

On KR's site, it claims LED7 can't be used for Count up. FAQ's says it can only be used in "Count Down" mode. Surely that's not true..

 

[Kimberly Berg]

On KR's site, it claims LED7 can't be used for Count up. FAQ's says it can only be used in "Count Down" mode. Surely that's not true..

I know my LED6 timers work in "count up" but dont know about LED7. Might be an error on KR site. Call Dixmor directly at 1-303-794-0597 to find out.

 

[JLanman]

From the LED7 manual:

 

[JLanman]

Here is the whole manual