wax and wash

ahsmatt7

ahsmatt7

Well-Known Member
I washed a mooney inside and outside for $125. I waxed a 182RG for $150. Both prices were negotiated by the owners. What would you guys charge for Washing the inside and outside along with waxing the same aircraft?

I wanna say $250 but it seems high. However washing and waxing isn't something easy.
 
Your price seems "ball park" right, but it has been a while since I saw prices for that service.

Just as a suggestion, find out what the local FBOs charge for the same service and go a bit lower.

Advertise.

Use the earnings from the first couple jobs to buy a power tool to ease the work.

Consider making a Karate movie where you keep repeating "Wax on, wax off". (Sorry, I just got carried away.)
 
Guy said:
Your price seems "ball park" right, but it has been a while since I saw prices for that service.

Just as a suggestion, find out what the local FBOs charge for the same service and go a bit lower.

Advertise.

Use the earnings from the first couple jobs to buy a power tool to ease the work.

Consider making a Karate movie where you keep repeating "Wax on, wax off". (Sorry, I just got carried away.)
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Speaking of advertising, my instructor is going to help me make fliers to hand out at all the local FBOs. Hopefully it will work out. I figure I can go lower but I won't go lower than $200. I just got turned down today because the guy said he would do it himself after I told him the price.
 
Beating the competition on price alone is not the answer. Before you print up a bunch of advertisments, consider what differentiates you from your competition and try to incorporate that into your advertisments. EX: as a pilot you know how to wash/wax an aircraft as opposed to the typical FBO lineman.

Word of mouth can be your best or worst form of advertisment, the decision is yours, is yours, is yours.

The last wash I paid for the FBO charged $135 for a PA-28 and the lineman hit only the topside and didn't close the door before washing. I was mostly happy with the results of what he did get but that he knocked out my ELT antenna made me unhappy. It is the type of service which really sets the price.

For a C-172 I would pay $130-150 for a complete wash and an additional $50-75 for wax. Who provides the products?

As outlandish as it sounds, using the garden variety of Simple Green out of the mx hanger is strictly verboten. Not all FBOs understand this.
 
RICHARD5 said:
For a C-172 I would pay $130-150 for a complete wash and an additional $50-75 for wax. Who provides the products?
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I think those prices are backwards, and low. A wash should start at $150 (for a C150), and a wax at $175. The amount of work involved in getting all the wax off the rivets is incredible.
 
Don't wax the back of the airplane before the front. If you run out of wax, the back of the airplane will go faster than the front, and it'll flip end over end and crash.
 
RICHARD5 said:
Beating the competition on price alone is not the answer.
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Well, I've been to a lot of FBOs where the girls were scantily dressed in an effort to attract business and a friend who drives a truck told me of truck stops where topless ladies clean the windshield, but this might not work for ashmatt7.
 
mshunter said:
I think those prices are backwards, and low. A wash should start at $150 (for a C150), and a wax at $175. The amount of work involved in getting all the wax off the rivets is incredible.
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Thats what my price range was going to be. I will also be providing the equip. Its pretty much by hand right now. No fancy machines. Anywho, I found a package deal for 60 bucks that has carbon X, Fleet wash and something called Pro Glide or something like that. They are all gallon size jugs.

All in all, I felt like my price was to high because an owner of a bonanza wanted an inside/outside wash along with a wax for just 150 bucks and I have learned from a lot of you guys that work should not and does not come free. I do a stand up job and I am starting to get a little client base going....I just don't want people to keep turning away.
 
Guy said:
Well, I've been to a lot of FBOs where the girls were scantily dressed in an effort to attract business and a friend who drives a truck told me of truck stops where topless ladies clean the windshield, but this might not work for ashmatt7.
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I can take my shirt off believe you me:D:D:cool:
 
mshunter said:
I think those prices are backwards, and low. A wash should start at $150 (for a C150), and a wax at $175. The amount of work involved in getting all the wax off the rivets is incredible.
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I can't count how many times I've washed and waxed aircraft. I know how much work it involves. Try a polished (bare metal) C-140 to really know....

My reasoning was the dude is already involved in the washing so the waxing is basically a value-added service. Now, if you divide the wash and the wax into two separate events I would agree with you.

6 hours to wash and wax a typical spam can = over $30/hour @ $200 (150 to wash; 50 to wax). With experience that 6 hours drops to less than 4 hours for a complete spit and polish supremo job. Three planes per day is not an unreasonable expectation for a serious person. Yes, your bones will hate you at the end of the day but at those rates you can afford to hire 1-2 persons to work as a 2-3 man crew. And you're still making a healthy profit to reinvest into the biz.

Making it work on paper is one thing, making it work in the field is the proof. And I can say it can and does work in the field. A 9% profit is pretty damn good for a service.

If a Bo owner walked at $200 I would gladly help him out the door. And I'm one of the cheapskate pilots.
 
ahsmatt7 said:
I just don't want people to keep turning away.
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I would stick with the price you think is fair based on the amount of work, difficulty, and cost of supplies. If you maintain your small clientel word of mouth can probably increase that by a good percentage. Once others see the quality of work and hear good things about you you could have a nice lucrative little buisness.
 
Guy said:
Well, I've been to a lot of FBOs where the girls were scantily dressed in an effort to attract business and a friend who drives a truck told me of truck stops where topless ladies clean the windshield, but this might not work for ashmatt7.
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So if she 'accidently' left a lacy perfumed glove in the cockpit I might overlook the holidays in the waxing? And if there were a few of her curlies on the seats, I would puposely land in mud for a repeat performance?
 
ahsmatt7 said:
I washed a mooney inside and outside for $125. I waxed a 182RG for $150. Both prices were negotiated by the owners. What would you guys charge for Washing the inside and outside along with waxing the same aircraft?

I wanna say $250 but it seems high. However washing and waxing isn't something easy.
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That is EXTREMELY low..

Mooney? 350-400
182 RG? 350-400

It is not to high, it is the rate you charge for the service you offer and the labor you put into the job. There are also plenty of people who will gladly pay that amount to have their airplane washed and waxed for that amount to. And to add that is just the outside to.
 
Wow really? Would you pay someone the amount you are proposing? If you were me, what would your sales pitch be and would you be willing to negotiate?
 
When I was a kid (1983-1984) and started riding my bike to the airport after school I would wash airplanes, do odd jobs, etc. for cash or flying time. This is the worlds oldest aviation profession. I quickly tired of the hit-or-miss free-lancing opportunities and basically came up with a "subscription" service for clients. For a set monthly fee it included caretaking services for their airplanes, making sure they got to the maintenance shop if needed and were spotless upon return and a host of other services. I liked the more consistent nature of the cash-flow and by having a core client list and defined services it actually took less time so that I could free-lance on top of that. This system worked well for me. It certainly wasn't "Aircraft management" but I was 13-14 when I started that. It was "Aircraft cosmetics and small-stuff management" or like being a concierge for their little airplane. I enjoyed it, had more predictable cash flow, and had the experience of running my first business. May be worth a try if you are a flight instructor with lots of dead periods between students or a young kid starting out. Don't short-change yourself...but keep in mind that you can attract clients, build a reputation, and increase prices as demand grows. Price this to gain the client, then ratchet up the cost as you can.
 
The guy who first won The Apprentice, Bill Ransic (I believe) started a boat washing service as his first summer job. They made quite a bit of money and got to rub elbows with successful people.

I just powered washed my house for the first time, cleaning is such a PITA. You deserve every penny you can get!
 
Try offering a discount to your current clients for referrals. You'll probably get more and better customers than you would from making up flyers.

I like the idea of an airplane concierge service. Many people who can afford an airplane do not have the time to take care of all the little things. I remember seeing a time-share deal using Cirrus (I think) where they were big on taking care of the small stuff. The "owner" just booked a time and the airplane was sitting on the ramp waiting for them. When they got done flying, someone was there to meet them and service it. No muss, no fuss. That appeals to a certain market. You don't have to go to that extreme, but you could probably find people who would be interested in "airplane-assisted living" if you offered quality service at a fair price.
 
WacoFan, that is what I'm talking about...that kind of value added service dreamt up by an entrepenurial spirit.
 
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