Damien

Hey guys, I’m going to start by thanking all that have helped me become a window tinter. I started from scratch about a year ago learning off of youtube and this forum mainly from @DanoI hope he sees this. I have had steady business for the past few months. Bussiness is steady but not enough of it. I’m getting around 3-4 cars a week. I use a carbon film and I’m only charging around 160$ for full installs. And half of those jobs are factory match jobs that I charge around 80$ This is what I’m needing help with… I really need to raise my prices because I’m not making enough money to continue doing this. I live in a small town and I’m the only tinter in the county. But Iv tried raising my prices to 200$ but it drastically hurt my numbers so I had to lower my prices back to what they was. I do good work and have great reviews. I either need to find a way to raise my prices or get more cars during the week. The only advertising I do is on my Facebook page. Do signs really make a difference? I am a penny pincher so I only spend money on what’s necessary. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you all, this has made me feel a little better knowing it wasn’t totally my fault lol I will not be removing any more Ford rear view mirrors. Not worth the risk

Iv been tinting windows for about 7 months now. Iv worked on over 40 different vehicles with no accidents. I was tinting a 2015 Ford F350 super duty Black ops edition. Went to remove the rear view mirror and a huge chunk of the windshield came with it. Now I’m having to pay to get the windshield replaced. I’ll only be out about 400$. It’s not much but it definitely hurt my profits. I was just wondering if anybody else has had this happen before? The whole metal bracket came off the windshield. Iv never seen or heard of this happening before? Here’s a picture of it

All of that made perfect sense. Iv never actually gave the sharpie method a try yet. I feel like it wouldn’t be as precise as cutting on the window. But I will for sure give it a try. The advice is much appreciated.

Hey all, so I’m still new to the game but when I’m hand cutting side windows, I seem to always have a little gouge when I’m making the side cuts. It’s either where I’m starting my cut or ending it. Or maybe I’m hitting a finger when I’m making the cut. Iv tried to fix all of that but it’s still happening. Sometimes it’s big and very hard to hide.

So you always try to fix the damage yourself if it’s doable? Do you still charge them for the tint job or discount it? And I know unfortunately it’s going to happen. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet honestly.

Hey guys, I’m about 4 months in on being a self taught tinter. I started out bottom loading meaning removing door panels and all that fun stuff. I try two staging but it just does not work good for me. What is yours all process when it comes to damaging customers vehicle? I don’t not have business insurance yet. How do you all go about informing the customer of the damage?

Hey Dano, I have a question. I had a customer come in and wanted 20% over the 35% they originally had. I glanced over the old tint and didn’t see too many if any contaminations. So I installed 20% on top of that. Pulled the vehicle out side and noticed there was soooo much contamination. Hard like sand in the film. So I scratched my head and pulled it back off and realize the sand seemed to be under the old tint. Does darker tint show more contaminants than lighter tint? So I went ahead and re tinted the window and the window came out awful. Like streaks and tons of micro air pockets. I am still stressing over it.

Well that makes me feel a lot better about my self lol i spent nine hours on a full install for a Pacifica mini van today. Everything was going smooth until I got to the back window. Didn’t shrink it enough the first time and ended up creasing. 2nd attempt came out much better. Back windows still scare me and I’m struggling with quarter windows. I either leave too much excess film or have gaps. It’s frustrating but I enjoy the struggle once the struggle is over with lol I’m just going to keep on working. Surely I’ll get good at it eventually. You pros make it look so dang easy.

Thank you soo much!! Iv raised my prices to 200$ and people are still coming in. I’m afraid I have over booked myself these next couple of weeks. I’m still not a fast tinter. How long does it take to be able to install a good window almost every time. Right now I’m about a 50/50 chance that’s it’s an acceptable window. It’s so frustrating having to redo everything on a window because of simple mistakes. And today I had my first “bad” job. The customer decided to have his old window tint removed the day he brought it to me. I had to remove everything and do a complete install and was under a small time frame. The work did not come out acceptable. I gave him a discount and put him back on the schedule to redo the whole job for no extra cost. I feel like this was the best way to hand those situations. Thank you in advance!!

Hey all, I have my first paid job coming up next week and have 4 more scheduled after that one. Iv been practicing non stop for the past month or so. Iv went thru 3 different 100 ft rolls on my vehicles and other friends and family vehicles. Just seeing if anybody has any tips or suggestions for the start of my business journey? I’m starting my prices supper cheap. I’m doing a complete 4 door car install for 80$ using a decent carbon film. I know that’s super cheap but I’m trying to build a good customer base before I raise the prices. Thank you all in advance for any tips and suggestions you all give me.

Wow thank you Richmondautotint! That will help us so much. I will definitely be using that in the future. I have my first job coming up next week. I’m a little nervous but excited at the same time. Wish me luck 😬😬

Thank you Dynamic! I didn’t even think of door vinyl advertisement.

So I’m in the process of starting my own tint shop. Very small and local shop. Is there a website or company you all would recommend for making signs and business cards? I don’t really want to spend much money but I want the best bang for the buck. Thank you all in advance!

Greatly appreciated Dano!

Thank you Dano! I originally thought that preventing contamination would be the easier part of tinting but boy was I wrong. One more question… does the quality of the microfiber towels I’m using matter? I took the cheap rout on those. I think some of the fibers may be sticking to my seals then finding their way under my film.

So Iv decided to teach myself how to tint vehicles. Iv been doing it for almost 2 weeks for at least 4 hours a day. I can cut and trim fine but I have so much contamination. Iv tinted around 15 windows and cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong. I spend a solid 10 minutes just trying to prep the window best as possible but it doesn’t help. Thanks in advance!

That’s awesome. There’s only a few mustangs that I am a fan of and the Shelby’s qualify for one of those lol