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Need opinions on pricing

Whale of a Wash said:
Which boxes did you purchase to install the cryptopay on.
I need 5 new boxes, and can't decide?
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I bought 6 boxes from Jim at Etowah Valley. They are the add on bill acceptor boxes. That way I had room to add the credit card swiper while also adding bill acceptance. They seem like great boxes, but so far a pain to unlock. Hopefully they will get easier once they are up and have been used for a while.
 
I keep my wash clean. The equipment works and our soaps never run dry. If there's ever an issue we take care of the problem and satisfy the customer. I am not a cheap wash, at 2.00 for the first 4 minutes I am at the higher end in my area, and I am thinking about a price increase. No one asked, but my touchless is priced at 6,8,10, and 12. I am ok washing fewer cars at a higher ticket.
 
slash007 said:
I have a six by ss wash with no automatics and no nearby ss competition. Currently my pricing is $1.50 for 3:36 which is 36 seconds a quarter. When I purchased the wash a little over 5 years ago it was at $1/50 to start but gave 39 seconds a quarter, so I have just barely decreased the time over the years. This week I am adding bill acceptors and credit card acceptance and was thinking about increasing my prices and was looking for opinions. I am considering making the start up cost $2 and then lowering the time per quarter to maybe 33 seconds or maybe even 30, or another option would be to keep it at $1.50 and lowering the time to 30 seconds. I figured that with bill acceptors, $2 to start might make it easier and more people would just put in 2 bills. Another thing I need to decide is if I want to make the credit card start up price the same, or make it a minimum of $3.

Thoughts?
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The problem I see with the self serve car wash industry is everyone is afraid to charge what they really should charge to make a decent return on there investment. Charge what you feel is fair for the the product you are providing. We charge $2 to start for 3:30 minutes and we are going lower that in August to 3 minutes. Credit cards we charge $4 for 7 minutes, that's going down to 6 minutes.
 
I set my start price at $2 for 4 minutes. This is for both cash, coins or credit cards. I am happy with the setup except I am no debating whether I should raise the cc start price to $3. I wanted to monitor the cc usage and figured that if most people used $3 or more, than I would leave it as is. If too many people used less than $3, than maybe I should make the minimum cc charge $3. Here is my data for the first 4 days:

06/07/2013, 6:31 PM $4.00
06/07/2013, 5:22 PM $2.00
06/07/2013, 5:02 PM $5.00
06/07/2013, 3:32 PM $2.00
06/07/2013, 3:11 PM $12.00
06/07/2013, 2:34 PM $2.00
06/07/2013, 2:22 PM $12.00
06/07/2013, 11:36 AM $2.00
06/06/2013, 11:13 PM $2.50
06/06/2013, 4:45 PM $4.25
06/06/2013, 2:23 PM $2.00
06/05/2013, 9:02 PM $4.75
06/05/2013, 5:24 PM $2.75
06/05/2013, 2:56 PM $11.50
06/05/2013, 1:59 PM $6.00
06/05/2013, 1:00 PM $3.25
06/05/2013, 12:48 PM $4.00
06/05/2013, 9:42 AM $6.50
06/04/2013, 7:30 PM $2.00
06/04/2013, 6:29 PM $12.00
06/04/2013, 3:11 PM $3.00
06/04/2013, 11:59 AM $2.50
06/03/2013, 6:01 PM $2.00

So far 11 out of the 24 people have used less than $3. The sample size is only 4 days and most people don't even know it's there, so it could definitaly change, but so far I am really leaning towards the $3 minimum start. What do you guys think?
 
slash007 said:
So far 11 out of the 24 people have used less than $3.
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I'm sure you'll see that change over time. How is it set up now - does the customer need to press the button to add time, or does it count up until they press it to stop?
 
MEP001 said:
I'm sure you'll see that change over time. How is it set up now - does the customer need to press the button to add time, or does it count up until they press it to stop?
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I have it setup to count up then push the button to stop charges. That was the main reason I put them in as I figured/hoped that most people would wash to their hearts content when they are not bothered with having to put more money in. So far that has been true for some people. Another thing I had to decide on was the end price. I set it at $12, but I saw a couple of people that reached the $12 mark and were not done, so last night I upped it to $14. So far this is what I have today:


06/08/2013, 9:42 AM $11.75
06/08/2013, 9:38 AM $13.00
06/08/2013, 9:07 AM $4.25
06/08/2013, 8:15 AM $2.00
 
slash007 said:
I have it setup to count up then push the button to stop charges. That was the main reason I put them in as I figured/hoped that most people would wash to their hearts content when they are not bothered with having to put more money in. So far that has been true for some people. Another thing I had to decide on was the end price. I set it at $12, but I saw a couple of people that reached the $12 mark and were not done, so last night I upped it to $14. So far this is what I have today:


06/08/2013, 9:42 AM $11.75
06/08/2013, 9:38 AM $13.00
06/08/2013, 9:07 AM $4.25
06/08/2013, 8:15 AM $2.00
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Mine max at $15. Minimum of $3. Been that way for 2-1/2 years now.
 
I originally set the CC max to $10, then as I changed them over to eliminate the stop button I increased them to $15. I do occasionally see tickets of $12-13, but almost never $15.
 
I too am leaning towards a 3.00 min charge. But I will likely have cash ( countdown) and credit (count up) with the same min to avoid confusion. You will also likely find out that many of your c/c purchases that hit the max are from customers not hitting the stop button, at least during the learning curve.
 
chaz said:
I too am leaning towards a 3.00 min charge. But I will likely have cash ( countdown) and credit (count up) with the same min to avoid confusion. You will also likely find out that many of your c/c purchases that hit the max are from customers not hitting the stop button, at least during the learning curve.
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My cash is count down, just my credit cards are count up. I think that way makes the most sense. I will watch it for a few more days then likely go to a $3 minimum. I think I'll have new signs made that are very clear then make the change when they are up.
 
robert roman said:
Contestibility of market is the notion that just the “possibility” of future competition would be enough to prevent an existing business from commanding monopoly prices.

However, if there is very little threat of future competition, not charging monopoly prices would not be consistent with profit maximization – the reason you are in business.

For example, in this case, I might charge $2.50 for five minutes and this should provide, on average, $5.00 a wash.

Another reason for this is the economic distance for motorists is a much greater consideration today.

Fellowship can be address through public relations (i.e. charity) whereas price is a distinctly different part of the profit engine of the business.

It is generally considered not wise to compromise one for the other.
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WE have quarters per minute - then we have profit per quarter--next customer base times start price--ok--can you expand on pricing geared towards getting 2 cycles more often? Their are only so many ways to cut this pie---I think us owners are afraid to upset the cart by raising prices. We lack a corporate mentality or some gene that makes us stop and think into inaction-
 
“WE have quarters per minute - then we have profit per quarter--next customer base times start price--ok--can you expand on pricing geared towards getting 2 cycles more often?”

Getting existing customers to buy more cycles per visit and/or visit more often is goal and objective of customer loyalty model.

In conveyor segment, loyalty program take forms as unlimited washing, discounted wash books or VIP club giving members certain free-bees and special discounts. Plus, smart phone apps now make mobile promotions more possible.

One self-service loyalty program would be gated, pay-one-price format.

“I think us owners are afraid to upset the cart by raising prices. We lack a corporate mentality or some gene that makes us stop and think into inaction-“

I have to agree. Benchmarks show wands lag significantly behind conveyor and in-bay in terms of annual gains in average price.

Quite frankly, retail trends suggest self-service operators have more to gain by prospecting DIFM.

By DIFM, I am not referring to dropping wands altogether or labor intensive assisted-services like full-service, express detail or flex-service.
 
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