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to bulk or not to bulk...?

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By Guest signandtint
in Paint Protection Film, Clear Bra Forum

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Guest XPEL Costas

Guest XPEL Costas

Posted
Posted

HAHAHAHahhaa :lol2

Don't worry, we get that a LOT.

Just pull up a chair as this is going to get long.

I installed my first PPF in 1996 and have seen this industry move a TON forward in that time. Being in sales for XPEL I get a lot of phone calls and I talk to a lot of folks and here is what I've gleaned. Take it with a grain of salt and remember it is worth exactly what you paid for it :spit

Handcutters = They will ALWAYS exist, however it seems to me the poor ones are being forced out (that is good) due to the growing paranoia of the general popluation. Talking to dealerships and reading forum boards there is always a story of a guy who hacked the heck out of a car and it had to go in for a repaint. The folks close to the story always vow to 'always use a precut kit' from that point forward (which, of course, works for me!). Still, there will always be handcutters, let's just hope it is all good ones!

Additionally, the time needed to get a person REALLY GOOD at bulk installs is incredibly long and most business owners (dealership or shop) realize they can get a person trained and good at installing pre-cuts in a lower amount of time and start realizing a profit more quickly with pre-cuts.

Cost = it is generally accepted that a bulk installer uses more film to do an installation than a kit will use. I've heard as little as 5% and as much as 20% more. Film isn't cheap, but everyone passes the cost onto the paying customer so <shrug>.

We have a guy here who is an extremely good installer and can bulk or do kits. I've seen him do custom stuff (1-off race cars and such) and it is absolutely gorgeous and I would not hesitate to allow him to do a bulk for me. TIME = KILLER. He can do 3 bumpers by kit in the amount of time he can do 1 in bulk. Also, it seems like for every really good bulk installer out there, I think there are 20 who are not-so-good who do more harm in the industry than help.

Now...(here comes my standard advice)...if you want to stay (or get into) bulk and have good clientele and plenty of time (and cars) to learn on and are likely to stay more of a 'specialty shop' with PPF then I say go for it. If, however, you want to follow more of the mainstream XPEL dealer network and go for more volume stuff with your retail and dealership/fleet accounts and such, then pre-cuts (and remote manufacturing at your facitlity whenever you need it) are the way to go. The savings in time and film will both allow you to do more in a day, and therefore bill more in a day.

Most folks getting into the industry seem to follow the latter and end up wanting a 'complete' solution with training, advanced training, marketing, dealer support, dealer conferences, streaming videos, etc and XPEL is happy to provide that. :lol2

Any other thoughts here folks???

Cheers,

Paul Costas

XPEL Team

pcostas@xpel.com

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