Detailing business guide
How to price a detailing job
Pricing is where it's easy to leave money on the table — either underquoting a filthy car you can't see clearly in photos, or scaring off a customer with a number pulled from thin air. Here's a repeatable way to price detailing jobs from your own hours and costs, with a worked example you can check line by line.
The five factors that set the price
- Vehicle size. A compact car, a full-size truck, and a three-row SUV are three different labor jobs. Tie your base prices to size tiers.
- Condition. The single biggest variable. A neglected interior with stains and pet hair takes hours a maintenance clean doesn't.
- Services requested. A wash-and-wax, a full interior, paint correction, and a ceramic coating sit at wildly different price points. Build a menu.
- Your labor rate and time. Estimate the hours honestly and multiply by the rate you need to run a profitable business — not what you wish you could charge.
- Your local market. Price to your area and your skill level. Undercutting to win jobs trains customers to expect cheap work.
A worked example: building one price
The method: labor hours times your hourly rate, plus supplies, travel and a share of your overhead, plus a markup (profit added on top of those costs). Here it is for a full detail (in & out) on a mid-size SUV in average condition. Every number below is an assumption for the example, in US dollars (October 2026), except the mileage rate, which is the IRS's. Swap in your own.
The assumptions
- • Hourly rate: $35.00. You want $52,500 a year from the work before tax, and you can bill about 1,500 hours a year (30 a week for 50 weeks): $52,500 ÷ 1,500 = $35.00 an hour.
- • Time on the car: 4 hours, your estimate from the photos.
- • Supplies: $18 of chemicals, towels, pads and water. Measure yours: what a bottle costs, divided by the jobs it lasts.
- • Travel: 20 miles there and back, and 0.5 hours of driving, paid at your hourly rate.
- • Mileage: 76¢ a mile, the IRS standard mileage rate for business use for July 1 to December 31, 2026 (IRS standard mileage rates, IR-2026-29). It's a tax figure that stands in for fuel, wear and insurance, not your exact cost per mile.
- • Overhead: $600 a month for insurance, phone, software, equipment wear and marketing, spread over 40 jobs a month.
- • Markup: 20% on top of costs, for slow weeks, repairs and growth.
The arithmetic, at 4 hours
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 4 hours × $35.00 an hour | $140.00 |
| Drive time | 0.5 hours × $35.00 an hour | $17.50 |
| Mileage | 20 miles × 76¢ (IRS rate) | $15.20 |
| Supplies | chemicals, towels, pads, water | $18.00 |
| Overhead share | $600 a month ÷ 40 jobs | $15.00 |
| Costs | the five lines above | $205.70 |
| Markup | 20% of costs | $41.14 |
| Price | $246.84, rounded up to the next $5 | $250.00 |
Turning it into a range
Photos hide how deep the pet hair goes. So work the same sum at the fewest hours the job could take and the most: at 3.5 hours it comes to $230.00, at 5 hours $290.00. Quote $230–$290, and confirm the final number on-site once you can see the car.
Illustrative starter ranges by service
These ranges are illustrative starting assumptions, not survey data. They're the starter menu a new Fourth Bucket account begins with before it's adjusted for the detailer's state: US prices, in US dollars, last reviewed October 2026. Nobody measured them against what detailers in your area charge, so use them as a placeholder until you've priced your own jobs with the method above. To see how size and condition scale them, plug them into the free detailing price calculator:
| Service | Starter range (assumption, USD) |
|---|---|
| Exterior wash & wax | $50 – $90 |
| Interior cleaning | $80 – $140 |
| Deep interior detail (shampoo, pet hair, stains) | $150 – $300 |
| Full detail (in & out) | $200 – $400 |
| Paint correction | $300 – $800 |
| Ceramic coating | $600 – $1,500 |
| Engine bay cleaning | $50 – $100 |
| Headlight restoration | $60 – $120 |
Why you should quote a range, not a flat number
The customer texts you three photos and asks "how much?" Photos hide swirl marks, contamination, odors, the depth of pet hair, and stains under the seats. If you commit to a flat price sight-unseen, you either eat the extra hours or have an awkward re-quote in the driveway. A range — say $180–$280 — sets expectations honestly: the low end assumes the car is as good as the photos suggest, the high end covers what photos usually hide. Then you confirm the final number on-site.
Common pricing mistakes
- • Quoting a flat price from photos, then losing money on a car that was worse in person.
- • Forgetting to charge for the extra time pet hair, biohazard cleanup or smoke odor takes.
- • Pricing by "what the last guy charged" instead of your own hours and rate.
- • Leaving out travel and overhead, so every mile and every insurance bill comes out of your pay.
- • Not itemizing — line items show the customer what each part of the price is for.
- • Rebuilding the same quote from scratch every time instead of standardizing the process.
Speed it up
If you're quoting from customer photos all day, Fourth Bucket drafts a condition report and a price range from the photos or a 20-second walk-around video, using your own service menu and prices. You review and approve every number — the AI never sets the final price — then send it as a link the customer can accept. Once they do, you turn it into an invoice with one tap, at the final amount you confirm. Set your menu prices with the method above, and every quote starts from them.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge a flat rate or a price range for detailing?
Quote a range for anything beyond a basic wash. Condition varies enormously and photos hide swirls, pet hair, and stains. A range (for example $180–$280) protects your profit while staying honest; confirm the final number on-site once you can inspect the vehicle.
How much should I charge for a full detail?
Work it out from your own hours, rate and costs rather than from a published average. In this guide's worked example, which uses stated assumptions and the IRS mileage rate, a full detail on a mid-size SUV in average condition comes to $250 at 4 hours, or $230–$290 as a range. The starter menu on this page lists a full detail at $200–$400; that is an illustrative starting assumption in US dollars, not survey data, so replace it with your own numbers.
How do I price a heavily soiled or pet-hair vehicle?
Price the extra time. If pet hair, heavy stains or smoke odor will add two hours, those two hours at your hourly rate, plus any extra supplies, are the surcharge. Show it as its own line item so the customer understands what they're paying for.
Keep reading: Detailing price calculator · Detailing invoice template · Best detailing estimate apps · How to quote a detail from photos