Wash Packages/Wash Bundles for the Holidays

[Big Chris]

I am curious as to what others have done that's been successful. I'd like to offer wash packages with Hamilton Token Notes. (at this time I do not have the ability to do wash packages with my pay stations & memberships)

My current IBA pricing structure is:
Wash 1 $6: undercarriage flush, high Ph presoak, rinse
Wash 2 $8: undercarriage flush, low ph presoak, high ph presoak, rinse
Wash 3 $10 undercarriage flush, low ph, high ph, rinse, foaming polish, rinse, low pressure spot free
Wash 4 $12 undercarriage flush, low ph, high ph, rinse, foaming polish, rinse, sealer wax/drying agent, rinse, low pressure spot free, blowers.

Chemical costs: Wash 1 $0.40, Wash 2 $0.60, Wash 3 $0.70, Wash 4 $0.85

I was thinking of selling packages for washes 3 & 4. I was thinking of discounting qtys of 5 washes. For example, I will sell you a wash bundle of 5 wash #4s (normally $60) for $50. I would sell you a bundle of 5 wash #4s for $45.

What's everyone's thoughts for this? Historically we've done gift cards, but it becomes a PITA on a busy day to "check someone's balance".

The wash is in an area where it can snow pretty much anytime btwn Thanksgiving and Easter. So this aligns nicely with salt season.

Thanks in advance
Chris

 

[Waxman]

I sold Token Notes for years and I was so glad when they were finally phased out. It's just my opinion but your prices are already way too low. They are 15 years outdated at least. To offer more of a discount would be a poor business decision in my mind.

 

[Car Wash Man]

I agree with Waxman your prices are really low. I feel your standard prices are already at a discount. Offer a good wash at a justifiable price and don't get to in to offering discounts. Just curious what is the reason you want to offer a discount? Just my two cents, I would get rid of your $8 wash completely, especially if you live in salt belt region, your customers should be okay paying 10 dollars to get the undercarriage during salt months, that is one thing from experience that the customers wont skimp on in the winter.

 

[Big Chris]

So a little background, I've only been in the business for 18 months (April 27th, 2023 was closing).

Before I took over, the place was neglected, and run by a literal drunk. He's an ex-cop who was in the middle of a divorce and a lawsuit with his previous employer. This joker was an absentee owner who lived about an hour and a half away. He'd show up once a month, maybe.

When I started, I couldn't stack cars in queue for the IBAs, one IBA would continuously fault out and stop the wash mid cycle. 3 functions on the Self Serves didn't work, one self serve wouldn't take quarters. Building looked dated. Marquee sign didn't work. Road side sign was half lit. Most bays had at least one of the lights burnt out. Parking lot had pot holes. I had one employee stealing about $200 per week. (the previous owner had this gem make weekly deposits)

Since I took over, I have fixed everything that needed fixed. I've made countless upgrades and improvements. And when I say "I fixed" I literally mean I performed the work. I've made a 180° turnaround.

My google business review has climbed from a 2.4 stars to 4 stars. My IBAs put out clean cars, my self serves are the best in town.

Matter of fact, we are the September wash in the 2025 Kleen Rite calendar.

It's been a long, slow road but business is finally improving. I had a 3yr stretch of a bad customer experiences and a bad reputation I had to overcome and turn around. I work a 40hr 9-5, and my office is about 1 mile from the wash. I'm onsite daily after work and I have employees who are there for a few hours in the morning. Passive income? Pffft, it's a second full time job. But it's a short term sacrifice for a longer term gain.

When I took over, pricing was $5, $7, $9 & $11. I raised prices on March 20th by $1 across the board, which has us to my current pricing. I know I'm the low priced guy in town, and now that my reputation is improving, I can justify another price increase.

Historically we've offered gift cards. And we've sold them for $20 for a $24 gift card. But they've become a PITA to manage on a busy day. I'd like to get into the membership game, but at this time it's cost prohibitive. To replace one on my goldlines is about 20-30K depending on who I go with.

So my stop gap solution is to sell wash bundles via the Token Note. This requires no equipment investment from me, but gets me the ability to to Christmas gifts, fund raisers etc.


That's my story.

 

[Waxman]

these are all great points and I understand all the work that you put into making this place great again. However it doesn't change my opinion that you should forget about token notes and discounts and holiday sales etc. I think you should raise your prices again. Maybe you could justify it with some extra chemical or some thing on the automatic wash. There's no great sense of pride that comes from being the lowest priced game in town. You're in business to make money. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you need to discount your services in order to build your customer base. You build your customer base by offering a consistent high-quality product or service. If you discounted yourself into a bad financial position and had to close the wash the customers would simply move onto the next place where they could get the car washed. You are not going to get any loyalty out of bargain basement pricing. You're only going to make less money for yourself. Charge a good high price so that you can put more money back into the business and make it even better.

 

[Car Wash Man]

What do you think of pricing at $7, 10, 13? The winter is when you will make most of your money on the wash for the year. I highly suggest not discounting washes. In the winter we usually have a line to get in, so when you are discounting washes you are literally saying goodbye to money that a full price customer would be paying anyways.

 

[Big Chris]

I think two things:
1) I'd like to keep 4 menu items, as I'm not sure what to do with the vacant spot that 3 washes would create on my goldlines. Unless someone's got an idea of what to do with it.
2) I'm not opposed to raising prices. But I'm wondering about the $13 dollar price point, should it be $14. (I'm not really superstitious, I'm just a little stitious)

 

[Car Wash Man]

We run 8-basic wash, 10-undercarriage and wheel blast with tri foam, 12-hot Wax, 14-Ceramic. We barely have anyone take our $8 wash. Our prices are comparable with other IBA in our area. We would like to go higher but that is the most our market will currently pay.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I think two things:
1) I'd like to keep 4 menu items, as I'm not sure what to do with the vacant spot that 3 washes would create on my goldlines. Unless someone's got an idea of what to do with it.

When I went from four choices to three, I just programmed that bottom selection exactly the same as the one above it. I labeled it "Thank You". It didn't give any reason to press it, but if they did, they got the cheapest wash, which was most likely the one they wanted. I felt this was better than disabling it, since they may think the wash didn't work if they pushed it by mistake.

 

[chip@laurel]

Lots of great advice here Chris from some of the real experienced operators. I'm just now connecting you now to the Chris & Christine who came by the Kleen-Rite booth at NRCC show to talk vending, and lots more. Nice looking wash for sure.

 

[Waxman]

I think two things:
1) I'd like to keep 4 menu items, as I'm not sure what to do with the vacant spot that 3 washes would create on my goldlines. Unless someone's got an idea of what to do with it.
2) I'm not opposed to raising prices. But I'm wondering about the $13 dollar price point, should it be $14. (I'm not really superstitious, I'm just a little stitious)

you've really got to try to get inside the mind of the customer and not be stuck in your own mode of thinking on this. To the customer is $13 really much different from $15? No. They're taking a 10 and a five out of their wallet anyway. If they pay with a credit card there's even less of a connection between the price and the service. That's been proven by the credit card companies now for a long time. The pain centers in the brain aren't activated by a credit card the same way they are by spending cold hard cash. With more and more credit card usage becoming popular, the price sensitivity of The customer goes down. I really went for it and priced my wash super high when I reloaded my automatic. I've been very happy with the results with over 50% of the customers getting the top package. So much so that I've gotten advice from a good car wash buddy to drop my lowest price wash and instead add a crazy high top wash with many extra passes somewhere in the $26 range.

 

[washnshine]

I agree that your prices are very low, but you are also behind on your product offerings. No Rain X, Hot Wax, Ceramic or Graphene. I’m not saying you need all of them, but if your current top “protection “ chemical is a drying agent, your chemistry can be updated quite a bit. I’m not criticizing what you offer - just suggesting that a price increase may need to be incorporated with a product/chemical update.

 

[Overachiever]

I had a hard time justifying raising prices when I had the old superwash oval tracks (do you? seems like you might).

I personally don't think your prices are that low but I guess it really depends on cost of living where you are. Seems like most of my customers don't have jobs, lol. If you are doing a decent car count right now with your current equipment I'd put in a WW Razor and hike the prices up. It'll make it a lot easier to add upsell type things like Ceramics as well.

 

[Big Chris]

Thanks everyone for their input