Offering tint to shops/dealership

SETCJ · February 11, 2022

Hello I hope everybody is having a great day so far.

this probably got asked a lot of times already but I can't see any discussion about it. I wanted to offer my tinting services to other shops or maybe even to dealerships.

but I don't know where to start from . pricing , how to approach them . and other stuff. if there's anybody who can guide me along please let me know, thank you for your help

pbalentine · February 12, 2022

Dealers arent offering anymore since COVID. This is good because dealers need you and you dont need them.

Tintguy1980 · February 12, 2022

I did what you are planning back in the earlier 90's in Naples FL. I did not own a shop there when I arrived and eventually bought a shop I freelanced for before leaving Naples. I have also owned shops, had installers for those and freelanced myself to install residential at a competitor's shop in the same town.

Without owning my own place I did the following:

I introduce myself as a Freelance Installer of tint, had my phone number, (biz) name and card with a facing that appeared like any other card. The card was larger than the standard and had a fold. When anyone flipped the card open, they would see a mini resume of my skills and experience level.

I went around to different shops and dealerships and explained who I was, why I am there, and what my background was in brief. I would always point out the fact that every tint shop ( if that's where I was at at the time) has overflow or turn away or two they simply do not have the resources to handle at the time job. I encouraged them to call me and I'd check my schedule to see if I could be of service to them. I did this same approach for car dealerships.

If I were to supply the film, they would get a reduced cost so they had room to mark up and make a buck on the deal as well. If they supplied the film I would ask for 35-40% of customer's cost (in this scenario I'm simply a contract installer).

This is the trick, you have to do this without the appearance of building your own clients from the clients of other businesses; remaining neutral and available as freelance contract hire only.

Good luck!

SETCJ · February 12, 2022

3 hours ago, Tintguy1980 said:

I did what you are planning back in the earlier 90's in Naples FL. I did not own a shop there when I arrived and eventually bought a shop I freelanced for before leaving Naples. I have also owned shops, had installers for those and freelanced myself to install residential at a competitor's shop in the same town.

Without owning my own place I did the following:

I introduce myself as a Freelance Installer of tint, had my phone number, (biz) name and card with a facing that appeared like any other card. The card was larger than the standard and had a fold. When anyone flipped the card open, they would see a mini resume of my skills and experience level.

I went around to different shops and dealerships and explained who I was, why I am there, and what my background was in brief. I would always point out the fact that every tint shop ( if that's where I was at at the time) has overflow or turn away or two they simply do not have the resources to handle at the time job. I encouraged them to call me and I'd check my schedule to see if I could be of service to them. I did this same approach for car dealerships.

If I were to supply the film, they would get a reduced cost so they had room to mark up and make a buck on the deal as well. If they supplied the film I would ask for 35-40% of customer's cost (in this scenario I'm simply a contract installer).

This is the trick, you have to do this without the appearance of building your own clients from the clients of other businesses; remaining neutral and available as freelance contract hire only.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the response, I charged about $220.00 -$250 with dyed tint and ceramic will be more expensive of course, how do you price this if you offer the film and install to a shop. should I take 60% -70% of the price and give them the 30-40% ?

Tintguy1980 · February 12, 2022

1 hour ago, SETCJ said:

Thank you so much for the response, I charged about $220.00 -$250 with dyed tint and ceramic will be more expensive of course, how do you price this if you offer the film and install to a shop. should I take 60% -70% of the price and give them the 30-40% ?

Sounds fair to me ... just be open to dickering $$ with who you work with.

Tint Slayer · February 21, 2022

I've never done dealer work. I don't understand the benefit of cutting your prices so deep so the Dealer can make more money for nothing and at your expense.

I'm also in construction as a sub-contractor and if i hired someone outside to do a job for me i get their full bill, pay them and i forward my bill of that work to my customer with a markup of 10 to 15%. Pretty standard.

Why give dealers 30%-70% when they do no work?

My opinion is do it for your full price, your film, your service with your name and they can mark it up 10% to 70% after you get yours. Why go so cheap? What makes dealers appealing that i'm missing?