CaliTINT

Following: Have had a rep stop by as well and dropped of samples months ago. Although we have not tried the sample as of yet. They are know for their wraps and other products and I did see their tint displays at SEMA. I think there are a few on here that use it.

I have 30% on the front windows of both of my personal vehicles. I wouldn't say it's not worth it but you don't get whole lot of privacy from it.

To answer your question: yes, window tinting is a difficult skill to learn, master and become a 'professional'. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself as you will probably waste your money, time, and stress. I don't have a huge issue with most of these but I do a bit of extra prep work on them now based on a few past experiences/issues with the defroster lines. They do take a bit longer than other cars for me to do. Personally I do not charge more for them but I have found that a few give me problems and few don't. Its a coin toss really. But I can see why some would charge extra. $150 extra doesn't seem reasonable to me but if they are going to charge you that, they better give you a great install in return.

There are so many factors that would determine that. I (we) have had a few different shop start up locations throughout the years. The cost of start up is going to greatly vary. I think that one of the most costly things will be the shop itself depending on how much work it may or may not need. For instance, if you rent a place with trashed floors then you would probably have to get and pay for it to be redone. If you need to build out an office, a waiting room, even a roll-up door on the property then those projects will eat up most of your start-up costs. What you need to do is make a list of everything you will need to start your business minus things you may have on hand already like tools and equipment that your father gave you or if you have a personal computer that you will use for your business or are you going to buy dedicated one? Those are things to consider. We have spent as little as 20k and sometimes 30-40k+ on everything. It really depends. Start a list and I would be happy to assist and add to that.

Try Express Window Films

He also mentioned "water build up" in addition to bubbles which is why asked about the squeegee. I certainly think it would matter in that case as it could be a combination of the squeegee, technique, pressure, etc. But a Blue Max although not my go to squeegee, is good for removing water.

Pulling it outside in the sun (if available) is best

Looks like something I would have loved to have when I was mobile.

What squeegee are you using to get the water out?

For us it took about 2 years before becoming really consistent and little to no dead days. But we did zero paid advertising and only did the free platforms, word-of-mouth, referrals, etc. I hope you have a plan in place to pay for your shop/bills and yourself when starting out. Me, I kept a part time job. Some people save a good chunk of money to survive. Make sure you have a plan.

Johnson had too many failures for me. I saw the light and made the switch.

We use Global QDP, HP and QDPC and are all great films. I used SG maybe 15-19 years ago so I can't really compare what SG is now but from what I read on here, not too many fans of SG. Global feels much thicker than most other films that I have dealt with so there was a short learning curve for me to get used to it. But overall great film with no complaints and great distributors.

You cannot buy 3M, Llumar, Sungard and many other major brands unless you become an authorized dealer/installer but to do that you need to become a legit business entity. Even then you need to be vetted and approved depending on the brand/manufacturer as their criteria will vary. People who are selling those name brands on ebay for the most part aren't really supposed to be doing that and sometimes you're not even getting the actual brand. It's happened to me before.

Do you have a business? You can find distributors of film directly from the manufacturers website. I did an internet search for "window tint distributor Philippines" and several name brand companies came up like 3M, Llumar, Huper Optik, etc.

I use a Mactac to shrink. While installing I constantly wipe down my squeegee in case it pics up a piece of dirt so it doesn't scratch the tint.