How to use the ceramic coating cost and price estimator
- Set up vehicle size tiers and multipliers that reflect how much longer and how much more product larger vehicles take in your shop.
- Enter the base job: coating product and consumables, prep and paint correction hours, and coating hours.
- Enter your labour cost per hour, overhead per job and target gross margin.
- Optionally round prices up to a neat figure.
- Compare the suggested price, cost and profit across every tier and download the table.
Worked example
Mid-size tier (1.2×), $100 product, 8 + 4 hours at $50, $60 overhead, 40% margin
Product $100 × 1.2 = $120. Hours (8 + 4) × 1.2 = 14.4 × $50 = $720. Overhead $60. Cost $900. Price = $900 ÷ (1 − 0.40) = $1,500, profit $600. All inputs are example values.
How it works
Product = base product cost × size multiplier. Hours = (prep + coating hours) × multiplier. Labour = hours × labour rate. Cost = product + labour + overhead per job (not scaled). Price = cost ÷ (1 − target margin), optionally rounded up to your chosen step. Margin shown = (price − cost) ÷ price.
Assumptions
- Tier names and multipliers are examples; set them from your own job records.
- Product cost, hours, labour rate, overhead and target margin are your own figures.
- The size multiplier scales both product use and labour hours equally.
- Overhead per job is fixed across sizes.
Frequently asked questions
Is the suggested price what I should charge?
It is a cost-based floor that hits your target margin. Your market, reputation, warranty and the coating brand also affect what customers will pay.
Margin or markup?
This tool uses margin: profit as a share of price. A 40% margin is the same as a 66.7% markup on cost.
Should paint correction be priced separately?
Many detailers do, because correction time varies widely with paint condition. You can set prep hours to the minimum and quote correction separately.
Limitations
- Does not model warranty claims, maintenance plans or product shelf life.
- Assumes one technician; multiple technicians working in parallel still use the same total labour hours.