A detailer doing careful retail work is approached by a dealer who needs eight cars prepared a week, every week, at a rate considerably below what a retail customer pays.
It is either the foundation of a stable business or the thing that destroys the standard the business was built on. The decision deserves more thought than it usually gets.
Decision 1: decide whether volume suits you
Trade work rewards speed and consistency. Retail detailing rewards care and time. Some businesses do both by separating them entirely, with different staff and different days. Trying to do both with the same approach usually fails.
Decision 2: price per unit honestly
Work out how long each preparation level actually takes, including moving vehicles, waiting and rework, then price accordingly. Trade rates that ignore the unproductive time are the most common reason valeting businesses fail quietly.
Decision 3: define preparation levels
A quick wash and vac for a forecourt, a full sales preparation, a handover detail for a customer collecting a car and a return inspection clean. Defining and pricing each prevents a dealer expecting the highest standard at the lowest rate.
Decision 4: agree turnaround, not availability
Dealers need cars ready for photography and collection, often the same day. Agreeing how many vehicles per day and what notice is needed protects your schedule far better than promising to be flexible.
Decision 5: decide where the work happens
On the dealer's site, at your unit, or a mix. On-site work needs water, power and space, and those arrangements should be agreed in writing rather than assumed, in the same way described in mobile detailing requests and what to capture.
Decision 6: capture what a trade quote needs
Business name and sites, vehicle types and sizes, expected weekly volume, preparation levels required, where work would happen, turnaround expectations and how invoicing works.
Dealer: We need around ten cars prepared each week. Assistant: The trade page explains the preparation levels available with per-vehicle rates by volume, along with turnaround commitments and whether work is done on site or at the unit. Could you tell me your location, the vehicle mix and whether you need same-day preparation? The team can then put together a trade rate.
Staffing the contract
A dealer contract only works if someone can reliably be there. Deciding whether you take it on yourself, employ someone or use a second team changes the economics entirely, and agreeing the volume you can genuinely sustain is better than accepting more than you can deliver and losing the account in month three.
Rework and standards
Disagreements about standards are the main source of friction in trade work. Agreeing what each level includes, ideally with photographs, prevents the argument about whether a car was finished properly.
Payment terms
Trade customers pay on invoice, often monthly. Agreeing terms before starting, and being willing to stop work for non-payment, protects a business that would otherwise carry a dealer's cash flow.
Retail work alongside
Retail customers pay more per vehicle and need a different conversation, covered in detailing package questions before booking a valet. Commercial contracts across cleaning behave similarly, as in commercial carpet cleaning for offices and hotels and how cleaning companies quote and book jobs with a chatbot.
How SpideyChat handles it
SpideyChat for automotive businesses separates trade enquiries from retail bookings and captures volumes and locations for a proper quote. You can see handover on the demo, and plans are on the pricing page.