By Elena Mercer
A car detailing package passes when a customer can compare the result, work, limits, time, and approval rule before booking. Build no more than 3 headline packages. Give each package one clear job. Keep condition surcharges and optional add-ons separate from the base scope.
Download the complete package builder CSV or plain-text worksheet. Use one row or section for each package. Replace every hypothetical input with your own inspected scope and recorded time.
Start with the customer result
Name the result in plain words. A customer should know what changes after the service. Use a result such as clean interior, washed exterior, or interior and exterior maintenance. Avoid promises about permanent stain removal, paint correction, or a perfect finish unless the scope and inspection support that promise.
The Federal Trade Commission says advertising claims must be truthful and supported. Price and service features are material claims. Put a condition beside the claim when the condition changes what the customer receives. Read the FTC small-business advertising guidance before you publish a menu.
Build three separate scopes
Each package needs an included task list and an excluded task list. State the vehicle or condition limit. State the booked time. State the starting-price rule. State when you inspect the car and how the customer approves changed scope. A package with a name and a price alone is an incomplete offer.
| Package field | What to write | Pass condition |
|---|---|---|
| Customer result | The visible or agreed outcome | One result is easy to understand |
| Included tasks | The work performed every time | A new worker can follow the list |
| Excluded tasks | Work that needs a separate quote | The exclusions cover likely scope changes |
| Vehicle or condition limit | Size, soil, damage, or access limit | The limit can be checked before booking |
| Booked time | The time reserved for the package | The time fits your actual job records |
| Starting-price rule | The condition for the displayed starting price | The price applies to a real stated case |
| Inspection point | When you confirm condition and access | The inspection happens before extra work |
| Approval rule | How a scope or price change is accepted | Written approval exists before changed work |
Keep the package names parallel. For example, use Maintenance, Interior Reset, and Full Detail. Do not make one name describe a result, another describe a product, and a third describe a discount. Parallel names make the choice easier to check.
Check how a customer makes the choice
Show all three packages with the same fields. A customer should see the result, included work, main exclusion, starting case, and quote step in the same order. If one package has no condition limit, it is harder to compare and may imply more work than you intended.
Ask someone unfamiliar with the menu to choose for a light-soil exterior, a basic interior, and a combined job. Have them explain why they chose each package. If the names send them to the wrong scope, revise the names or the first sentence of each offer.
Keep the combined package tied to its component scopes. It may save a setup step, but do not assume that the time saved equals a discount. Log the actual time and direct cost for combined jobs before changing its price.
An add-on should name a separate result. If a customer needs stain treatment, first inspect the material and condition. Quote the added work only when you can perform it safely. A line that says “all stains removed” cannot be supported by a generic add-on price.
Separate base work, add-ons, and surcharges
A base package is the work every customer receives at the displayed starting price. An optional add-on is a separate task the customer can request. A condition surcharge is a separate charge triggered by a stated condition that increases the base work. Use one term for each meaning.
- Base package: wash, dry, outside glass, and wheel faces for the stated vehicle and condition.
- Optional add-on: an approved spray protection step that the customer can choose for an added charge.
- Condition surcharge: an added charge for heavy pet hair or excess soil after inspection confirms the condition.
- Excluded work: paint correction, bodily-fluid cleanup, mold remediation, or repair work that needs another process or specialist.
Put a changed scope on the quote before work starts. The first paid detail checklist gives the inspection order. Pause when the car needs work outside the agreed package. Describe the added task, price, and time. Record the customer's approval.
Use a real starting-price rule
A starting price needs a real starting case. Write the vehicle type, condition, included work, booked time, and service area that the price covers. Use your own cost and pay check to set the floor. The displayed amount must be a price you will honor for the stated case.
Use the services and pricing page for the fixed launch sequence. Run a booked-time check: package time plus travel, setup, and cleanup must fit the hours you can schedule. If it does not fit, reduce the scope or change the booked time before publishing.
The FTC bait-advertising guide describes an insincere offer. It also covers services the business does not intend to sell under the stated terms. Keep the starting case available. Read the eCFR advertising guide for the rule text.
Use the price-sheet guide when you need a document with vehicle-size columns, terms, and price entries. This package method defines the service scope that belongs behind each menu choice.
Worked example: three hypothetical packages
The inputs below are hypothetical. Replace each one with your own service records, scope, and price check. The names and tasks show the structure. They do not set a market price.
| Package | Result and included work | Limit and booked time | Starting-price rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Washed exterior, wheel faces, dry, and outside glass | Hypothetical standard sedan with light soil; 2 hours | Hypothetical starting price applies after photos confirm light soil |
| Interior Reset | Vacuum, hard surfaces, inside glass, and light spot treatment | Hypothetical sedan with ordinary use; 3 hours | Hypothetical starting price excludes heavy pet hair and bodily fluids |
| Full Detail | Maintenance and Interior Reset scopes together | Hypothetical sedan with light soil; 5 hours | Hypothetical starting price applies after inspection confirms both scopes fit |
The Maintenance package has one exterior result. The Interior Reset package has one interior result. The Full Detail package combines the two defined scopes. A large vehicle, heavy soil, or extra work triggers the inspection and approval rule.
Worked example: a condition changes the package
Use a hypothetical customer who asks for the Interior Reset package. The displayed starting case covers a sedan with ordinary dust and loose dirt. The customer reports pet hair throughout the rear carpet. That condition falls outside the starting case.
The operator records the condition before confirming a price. The base scope remains vacuuming, approved wipe-down, and inside glass. Pet-hair removal becomes a separate proposed line with its own time and price. The quote shows both lines and the new total.
If the customer declines the added line, check whether the base service can still be done as described. If it can, confirm that pet hair remains outside the result. If it cannot, offer a different scope or decline the job. Do not quietly do extra work and bill afterward.
The package passes when its printed condition limit leads to the same decision the quote makes. If the operator repeatedly has to explain an unwritten pet-hair rule, put that rule beside the starting price.
Check the menu against local alternatives
The Small Business Administration recommends comparing competitors by service, customer segment, and market. Review local menus for the same service area. Record the included tasks, condition limits, time claims, travel policy, and customer choice. Do not copy a name, scope, or price without checking whether it fits your work. Read the SBA market-research guidance for the comparison method.
A lower price can cover less work. A higher price can include a different result or more booked time. Compare like with like. Record the date of every local menu check because services and conditions change.
Run the pre-publish package check
- Write the customer result in one sentence.
- List every included task and every excluded task.
- State the vehicle, condition, access, and service-area limits.
- Record the booked time from a real job or label it hypothetical.
- Write the starting-price case and keep that case available.
- Name the inspection point before any extra work begins.
- Define each add-on and condition surcharge as a separate line.
- State how the customer gives written approval for changed scope.
- Compare the same scope with current local alternatives.
- Run the price and booked-time checks, then record the result.
The menu passes when every package answers the same decision questions. If one package hides its limits or time, revise it before publishing. Use the CSV or worksheet to keep the record.
Put the approved packages into a menu
The Detail Compass menu builder supports up to 3 packages with one price for each package. It does not replace the scope check. Calculate each package from its own time and cost inputs, save the check, then enter the approved scope and price.
Use completed jobs to revise the menu
After each job, compare booked time with logged production, travel, setup, and cleanup time. Record approved add-ons and returns separately. A long job can reveal a scope problem, a price problem, or an unusual vehicle; the record needs the reason.
If several ordinary-condition jobs exceed the booked slot, increase the time allowance or reduce included work. Recalculate the minimum price with owner hours and overhead. Do not leave the displayed starting price in place if the starting case no longer passes.
Date the revised menu and keep the old version with its effective period. A customer with an accepted quote uses that quote, not a later web price. Make the current menu and quote path agree for new requests.
Keep the package record with the customer's quote. After the job, log the actual time, changed work, add-ons, and return visits. Update the scope when the same condition causes repeated changes. A package is ready when the record survives a real inspection.
Sources
- Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business — U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Checked 2026-09-19. Truthful and non-deceptive service advertising, support for material claims such as price and features, and clear qualifying disclosures near the claim.
- Market research and competitive analysis — U.S. Small Business Administration. Checked 2026-09-19. Comparing competitors by service, customer segment, and market when assessing a business offer.
- 16 CFR Part 238: Guides Against Bait Advertising — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Trade Commission rule text. Checked 2026-09-19. The requirement that an advertised offer represent a genuine offer to sell the advertised service under the stated conditions.
About Elena Mercer
Elena brings nine years of detailing experience to guides on equipment, pricing, and starting a business.
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