- Jobber Blueprint /
- Articles /
- Auto Detailing /
- How Much to Charge for Car Detailing
Originally published on October 12, 2023. Last updated on November 14, 2024.
Setting the right prices for car detailing can be the difference between running a profitable business or struggling to make ends meet.
Pricing will vary based on factors like your location, the size and condition of the vehicle, and what competitors are charging. However, creating a price list alone isn’t enough if you’re unsure how to calculate prices based on profit.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to price auto detailing services and explore strategies to help you land bigger, more profitable detail jobs.
How to price your car detailing services
Before you set your price lists, you need to know how to calculate profitability. Here’s the formula you’ll use to calculate your service prices:
(Labor hours x Hourly labor rate) + Material costs + Overhead costs + Markup
Let’s imagine an easy scenario—a full interior car detail job that you’re doing yourself.
- Three hours of work at $25 per hour equals $75.
- Add $15 for materials and $10 for overhead, bringing the subtotal to $100.
- Finally, apply a 20% markup, which is $20, for a total price of $120.
In this example, you’d need to charge your customer $120 for a profitable full interior detail.
To break it down even further, follow these steps:
1. Choose how to price your services
There are three different ways you can charge customers for your auto detailing services: per hour, per car size, and per detailing service.
- Per hour – Charge your customers an hourly rate based on the number of hours you expect it will take to complete the service.
- Per car size – The bigger the car, the more time and materials it will take to detail it. Set prices based on whether you’ll be working on a small car (coupes or sedans), medium-sized car (crossovers or station wagons), or large vehicle (SUVs, trucks, or minivans).
- Per detailing service – Charge customers based on the types of services they want, like interior or engine detailing, and the time or skill it will take to complete that service. This is based on a “flat rate” fee per service.
2. Determine your labor costs
If you’re planning to outsource any car detailing work, remember to factor in labor. Your labor costs include the amount you’ll pay your employees (or yourself) to complete the job.
To calculate labor costs, know your hourly rate and the approximate number of hours each service will take.
Use this formula to determine your labor costs for a job:
Hourly rate x # of hours
If you plan on having more than one detailer working on the job, try this formula instead:
Hourly rate x # of workers x # of hours
Pro Tip: The average hourly rate for an auto detailer in the U.S. is $29. (This does not include any tips or gratuity a worker might earn for a job well done.)
3. Add your material costs
Material costs include any supplies you’ll need to complete the job, like all-purpose cleaner, leather conditioner, and waxes or sealants.
To make sure the materials you use aren’t cutting into the job’s profitability, factor in the exact cost for each item (including taxes) to your car detailing prices.
If you use ¼ of an $80 bottle of cleaner on a job, divide the price of the cleaner by 4 to get your material cost. In this example, you’d factor in $20 of cleaner for one completed job. Then, add your total material costs to your labor costs and continue to the next step.
4. Calculate your overhead rate
Your overhead refers to any indirect costs that are needed to run your business—like car detailing marketing costs, insurance payments, utilities, or property rent and taxes.
To calculate your overhead rate, add up your monthly overhead amount and divide it by your monthly sales. Then multiply it by 100 to get a percentage.
Here’s what that formula looks like:
(Total monthly overhead costs ÷ total monthly sales) x 100
Once you know your overhead rate, you can use it to set more accurate pricing or identify areas to cut costs and improve profitability.
For example, if your overhead rate is 30%, you’ll know that 30 cents of every dollar you earn goes toward covering indirect costs, helping you decide if your pricing leaves enough room for profit.
Types of overhead costs
When adding up your overhead, there are two different types of overhead costs you’ll want to consider:
- Fixed overhead includes any costs that aren’t expected to change from one month to another, like insurance payments or rent.
- Variable overhead includes any costs that change month-to-month based on your business activity, like marketing expenses.
5. Apply your markup
Markup is the additional amount you add to the cost of the job to ensure you’re making a profit on your services. Think about it like a “buffer” that protects you if a job takes longer than expected, or you use more materials than you bargained for.
Your profit margin is the percentage of revenue that you take home after applying your markup. Auto detailing has an average profit margin of 15-35%. If your ideal profit margin is 30%, the cost of your job should make up 70% of the total price.
Here’s the formula you would use to calculate your markup:
Total price = cost ÷ (1 – profit margin)
For example, if your overhead, labor, and material costs add up to $175, to get a profit margin of 30% you’ll use the following formula:
Total price = $175 ÷ 0.70 = $250
Examples of auto detailing prices:
- Beyond Limits Detailing of Palm Beach is a mobile auto detailer. They charge between $150 for a premium hand wash based on the type of vehicle (car, SUV, truck). The cost for a full detail (4 hours of work) is $350.
- ReVibe Auto in the San Francisco Bay Area charges between $255 to $325 for a Superior Full detail, which includes both interior and exterior services. A basic wash (exterior only) starts at $85 for small sedans, and goes up to $125.
How much to charge for mobile detailing
The main difference between pricing for auto detailing and pricing for mobile detailing are the additional operating costs. That’s because, in a mobile business, you’re traveling to your clients—at their homes, workplaces, or public spaces.
Along with the fixed and variable overhead costs mentioned above, for mobile auto detailing you’ll have to consider:
- Cost of fuel for travel
- Routine maintenance on your work vehicle
- Commercial auto insurance
You can use the same formula as above to calculate your mobile auto detailing prices. The only difference is that you need to factor in these additional costs.
Mobile detailing pricing list
Here’s a quick glance at typical price points for different car or mobile detailing services. Keep in mind that these change based on your service region and even the type of car you’re cleaning.
Service | What’s included | Price range |
---|---|---|
Basic exterior wash | Wash, dry, and tire shine | $25-40 |
Interior vacuum & wipe down | Vacuum, dust, and wipe down interior surfaces | $50 – $70 |
Full exterior detail | Wash, clay bar, polish, wax, and wheel cleaning | $100 – $150 |
Full interior detail | Deep cleaning of carpets, seats, dashboard, etc. | $120 – $180 |
Full detail (interior & exterior) | Complete detail inside and out (package includes “the works”) | $180-$350 |
Engine bay cleaning | Degrease and clean engine compartment | $50-100 |
Headlight restoration (add-on service) | Polish and restore cloudy or faded headlights | $40-80 |
Once you have a good idea of your service list, you can move on to calculating how to charge for profitability.
Building a car detailing package
There are two types of car detailing packages that you can use for your auto detailing business—price bundling and tiered pricing.
What is price bundling?
Price or service bundling lets you combine multiple related services for one packaged price. You can use this pricing model to increase value for your customers and boost sales.
Here’s an example of three different price bundling packages you can use for auto detailing:
Exterior detailing package pricing
Exterior car detailing can cost anywhere from $175 to $250+. This service package typically includes:
- Exterior hand wash
- Wheel clean and tire shine
- Window cleaning and treating
- Waxing
- Contaminant and tar removal
Interior detailing package pricing
Interior car detailing prices range from $175 to $250+. These service packages often include:
- Deep clean of carpet, floor mats and upholstery
- Steam cleaning headliner, leather, vinyl, and plastic surfaces
- Door jambs cleaning
- Interior and exterior glass cleaning
- Leather, vinyl, and plastic protectant
Full car detailing package pricing
A complete car detailing will likely cost between $200 and $350+ depending on the size of the vehicle. This package includes both interior and exterior detailing.
Pro Tip: Consider offering a small discount (10-15%) on your full car details. This might help persuade customers that a complete package is worth it.
What is tiered pricing?
Also known as “good, better, best pricing”, tiered pricing lets you offer clients three different service packages alongside each other. Each package is priced at a marginally higher price point and offers additional services or options for your customer.
Tiered pricing helps your auto detailing business better meet your customer’s needs and budgets, and win higher-priced jobs.
Here’s an example of how you can make tiered pricing work for your auto detailing company:
Bronze package
Interior auto detailing includes:
- Carpets, mats, and upholstery vacuumed
- Dash, console, and all vinyl cleaned
- Interior glass cleaned
Silver package
Interior auto detailing includes bronze package plus:
- Carpet and upholstery stains are spot-treated
- Dash, console, and vinyl protected with a restoring UV protectant
- Leather is treated with special cleaner and conditioner
- Trunk is vacuumed
Gold package
Interior auto detailing includes silver package plus:
- All carpets, mats, and cloth upholstery are scrubbed and steamed
- Leather is gently scrubbed, steamed, and conditioned
- Steering wheel, dash armrest, center console, and door handles are steam-cleaned and sanitized
Car detail pricing best practices
Now that you know how to calculate pricing for auto detailing services, here are some tips to keep in mind along the way.
1. Don’t commit to pricing before seeing a car
Be prepared to increase your pricing based on the condition of the car. After all, a car with stains on the upholstery will be much harder and more time-consuming to detail than a car that’s been maintained well by the owner.
Here are a few other factors that may affect your pricing:
- Car size
- Vehicle condition
- Pet hair, mold growth, spills or stains
- Trim package of car
Whether you’re quoting a customer directly or posting prices on your website and social media pages, add “starting from” beside your prices. This gives you the flexibility to adjust your pricing as necessary. Be honest, and inform your customer right away if you expect a job to take longer or require more work.
2. Know your competition
Research your competition to see what they’re charging for auto detailing services. Look for what services they offer, what their packages include, and how much their auto detailing services cost.
Once you know what your competitors are offering you can fill in any service gaps and create a pricing strategy that aligns with the going market rate.
3. Consider your location
Each city or state will have differing auto detailing prices based on the cost of resources and labor—and what people are willing to pay for the service.
For example, auto detailers in Florida typically charge less than the national average, or $120-$160 for basic car detailing service. On the other hand, detailers in New York charge anywhere from $65-325.
4. Factor in your professional experience
The more experience you have as an auto detailer, the more value you’re bringing to your customer. Factor in the amount of experience you have working on luxury vehicles, detailing cars, and removing stains when pricing jobs.
Here’s the good news—as your company grows, your monthly revenue is likely to rise. Take it from three motivated entrepreneurs we spoke with—they started small but have grown their car detailing businesses to bring in over $18,000 per month.
If you’re just starting an auto detailing business, knowing how to price your services will help you estimate jobs faster, win more work, and grow.
Use the advice in this article to create a profitable auto detail price list, then try Jobber’s free invoice generator to send professional invoices in just a few clicks and get paid faster.
Join over 200k service professionals that trust Jobber
Get Started