Q: I am in a new market area where people have never even heard of the stuff and although I am completely confident in the product and feel like I market it pretty well, I will admit that my pricing is a dilemna right now. I have a pretty good feel for what you guys are charging and I personally think that it is worth it if the customer is getting a quality install (prep, install, &aftercare), but I do run into the problem of getting someone excited about the product and then dropping a price of $700-$1100 for an install (full install of course) when they have no experience with it. For those cases where someone has already heard about it (e.g. - a guy from Texas with a Lexus RX330 that just moved here), the price isn't an issue.

I have been doing some friends' and aquaintance's cars at discounts (enough to cover materials and a reasonable labor rate) but letting them know what the "normal" retail install would be so that they can tell their friends, etc. I hope to just to get the product out there so Joe blow says...oh yeah...I will do it for that price...I have already seen it on a few cars.

Likewise I haven't hit the dealers yet since I know a couple F & I guys who have already told me that consumer awareness is so low that they would have a hard time selling it for the prices it is worth.

I know it will be a little slow here in the beginning but it can only grow. I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot by going too high and losing potential customers or going to low and never being able to come back up.

Any thoughts from you guys that may have already been in these shoes?

A: Even though I can be cranky on pricing, I do sympathize. Given the destructive nature of the AK roads I am a bit surprised that it is not more popular. As to cost, everything is pretty pricey in AK, and from what I can tell the overall cost of living is much higher than most. Thus the 'educated' market 'should' support a higher price than most.

One problem will be longevity, as Schmo said in an earlier post, the PPF is a wear item. The need to replace every year or two if you want it to look good will be a hurdle I would guess.

Overall, pricing is very local market driven soooo it is hard to say how much you should charge in your market...

Good luck though

A: Try starting out with a lower quote for just the hood, no fenders or mirrors. Tell them you can do it for say....$175, but most people will add the the fenders or the mirrors for another $60 a set. Now you're at almost $300 but the customer is still thinking subconsciously they can have this product for less than $200, so they're still listening.

Bumpers can range between $175 to $500 in some cases but don't tell them until they ask, let the price go up as they option out the kit, just like the dealership does with base model cars. They quote you a cheapy when you are on the phone knowing you will want the features found on the more expensive one once you see it.

An important thing to consider is that by starting out with less coverage at a low price, you will be able to keep the customer's interest longer. This will give you time to gradually build value in your services and protection the film provides to other areas of the car such as the bumper. Everything is extra at this point: rocker panels, wheel wells, door cups, door edge guards, lights, whatever.

If you start out with a $700 quote and they flinch, you are backpedalling from there to retain the sale. At that point, they may not care how wonderful the product is.

As you said, most don't know and are apprehensive about dropping that much cash for something they have little if any experience with. I have found that most of these customers, once they see how nice the film looks on part of the car, feel better about spending more money for the rest of the protection.

A: I kind of had the same problem here mostly just because people had not really heard of it and thought it was snake oil. I did the "friend" deals too and that does work. I do agree with what Speed is saying though, kinda ease them into it, It is a sub-concious thing, like setting pricing at 19.99 versus the $20.00 who cares about the stupid penny.....but it works. If they piecce it together themselves then it makes them feel better about the price they are paying.

A: Two things have really been bothering me on the pricing front. Well, more than two...

First if you get retail referrals from a web site (vendor) their kit pricing can be very problematic. Some kits are WAY TOO CHEAP! Granted this is much more of a problem with the older and un-updated designs... Here are a couple of examples.

Lexus IS300 $90 (and it is too small) Almost all hoods patterned on 12" stock (cars in particular) with prices at or near $100

What is the goal with such a low price point? People will pay more if they get more! What you wind up with is a low combined price on one vehicle while the consumer may have a friend with a similar sized and priced car yet the cost for their's is double or more...

Second irritation is the cost of the bulk material on designers web sites. From a consumers point of view, having the bulk film priced low confuses the issue. Some vendors sell the film to the public at unrealistic low prices.

Think about it this way. I am joe consumer, I look at brand ABCD"s site and find my car - this kits are $550. I call an installer and the installed price is $900 (film and install) . I sit there and think hmm a lot of money, I get curious and find the uncut material is 4-6 per sq ft. I make a guess at how much material is used on my car and think wow. If I assume both the hood and bumper are cut using 24" stock there is maybe $120-180 worth of material in that $550 kit I was just looking at????

So what do I as an installer want?

1) More uniform coverage and kit pricing 2) Either higher priced (or not listed at all - I know of at least one that no longer lists prices) bulk material.

Both of these would make my pricing easier. I know, easy isn't always better.... But if the goal is to say all full installs on 2005 cars run 750-1150 it is pretty hard when the consumer finds the kit on the designers/distributors site for $200 for a yet to be updated vehicle, or cheap bulk film prices... What makes it worse is the fact that the designer/distributor sets the high end of the price spectrum. Sure you will always be able to find it cheaper somewhere else, but never from the originator...

A: I agree with you here as I am seeing prices fall on some company websites for the pre-cut kits. Secondly, adding to the latter part of your comment, some say they test fit from year to year. Funny how they test fit yet the design on the year of one bumper they test fit seems to have a different amount of coverage on the bumper for the next year. No consistency it seems. Not a perfect world...I take that back, I step out of my world (perfect) and then realize how bad it must be for everyone else!! (that was only a joke people).

A: I had a guy call me the other day, A shop not in the PPF business, asked me the price of a roll of 24' 3M, I told him the price, he said this is for a shop, i want wholesale, I told him he would have to fill out the forms for wholesale account and the terms of bulk pricing, he got pissed. Siad he only wanted one roll, i said ok, then the price I quoted was the price. Said he could get it elsewhere cheaper. I said ok and best of luck.

Sad part about that is many people think that because they see it so low that it should be that. One thing they fail to realize is, that flat piece of film is just film, it doesnt become the 1150 protection job until it is properly applied.