Topload Vend prices So Cal Please

[anonymous]

I am considering adjusting my vend price on the toploaders and would like to get an idea of the average vend price being charged in the Southern California area.

[Glenn]

Why no 1.75 & 2.00 on the poll?

[anonymous]

Good point, must be because I never seen a $1.75 or $2.00 vend in a laundry in Southern California. But I will see if I can change the poll.

[Lar Hylobates]

I spent 3 months in Santa Barbara two years ago. The tops were $2.25 per wash!!

I believe the slides took 3 quarters, 3 pushes?? It was the only time I have seen the multiple push thing. The first time I dropped the laundry, went to dinner and returned to find that the $.75 had not started the machine..LOL

[Glenn]

I've been at 1.75 for 2 years in central FL. There's going to be a 26% water and sewer increase in January and I'm planning on taking it to 2.00. My parents had a mat in NE Ohio in the early 70's and they got .50 back then. What's wrong in SoCal?

[anonymous]

Think our topload prices are bad, you should see our dryer times.
I'm giving out 15 minutes per quarter, mat across the street is 20 minutes and another is free dry.

[Lar Hylobates]

Be a leader like me drop em down to 10 minutes!!! You'll be glad you did...


If you survive that is.

[anonymous]

Westlake

How do you guys make money? I am at 6 mins. per quarter.

Gary

[Lar Hylobates]

That's the craziest thing. I am the highest priced of four laundries in 4 blocks. My prices are much steeper than the competition and MUCH steeper than the general area. My store is rocking, I can't keep them out, my profit margin is always around 45% on 100% self serve business. I can't bring myself to raise prices any higher as I worry that even my conscience could be affected.

Can you imagine the pain that I would be put through attempting to bring Southern California back into the United States single handedly??

If this low pricing continues I will retire by 35!!! And you thought you knew!

[anonymous]

Where is your store?

[anonymous]

Westlake ,
You didn't mentioned what you're charging now? Competiton is a killer. 3 or 4 of us laundryowners in my neighborhood had a gentleman agreement to charge at least $1.00 during a earlier energy crisis. We have since rised the price to $1.25*. However, 1/4 mile away, vend price as low as $0.75 are still available.

* I charge an additional $.50 or $1.75 for those customer who wants an extra rinse - SuperCycle in computerized Maytag washers.

[TJB]

Thanks to the distributors our area is massively over built.I have two laundry mats within a quarter mile of mine, one is charging 50 cents per load every day on all tops. The other one is a newer store and is charging 49 cents for double loaders. The distributors are killing our industry. I'm charging 1.25 per load on tops. I'm in southern Ca.

[anonymous]

I have 7 stores in cal. and 20+ stores in florida, it's not the distibutors that are killing the market, it's the owners in cal. that are doing it to them selfs. if they would get together an unify themselfs on pricing then they could raise prices. the way it is right now in cal. is no owner knows one another, they don't comunicate. they start price wars and the only person who wins is the customer. in florida, i know 60% of the operators and we get along, we talk and discuss utilites, etc.
California has a long way to go when it comes to making any sizable profit in the laundry industry.

Suds King

[TJB]

Sounds good to me, but isn't that price fixing? The reason I'm down on the distributors is because if you overbuild the area your cutting the pie in to many pieces than nobody wins. There is a large laundry in my area that was closed down for about 6 months, I guess they went belly up, I assume the dist. took it back. Some poor sucker bought it, now he has a sign that says FREE WASH. He's packed every day but what about the other laundry's in the area. The 2 year old store by me was sold on projected gross. This poor guy paid $750,000 for the store with a $4500 per month lease. He is the one with $.49 double load wash. He was sold a bunch of bull by a fast talking dist. I bet he will go belly up than somebody else will come in and run a big special. It goes on and on. You're right we need to get together and all raise prices.

[Bioll]

You're right we need to get together and all raise prices.


I tried to meet other owners in my area, none of them really want to discuss business, they think I am out to steal their customers away.

I am at $1.00 for top loads and $0.25 for 10 min dry. There are 2 brand new laundries (less than a year old) from mine, one is pennies more than me and the other is offering $0.50 wash and free dry ( I assume for their first month). and another older store near by is offering $0.50 wash on Tuesdays. I dont see how they do it!! I barly pay bills and myself.

[TJB]

It's good you're at 10 min. for a quarter, I'm still at 13 min. I'm about 2 miles from you. I still blame the distributors for over building. One of the stores you mentioned was opened by the same dist. that opened a store 1/2 mile from me. He is $.49 on double loads and the guy across the street from him is $.50 on tops. They both will go belly up and another sucker will come in and it starts all over again. I've been at this location for 22 years, every year my gross has steadily gone up except for the last 2 years.Good luck!

[mellofelow]

This poll probably needs to be restarted. It's been almost 8 yrs.

I'm about to replace all my tops and will be vending at $1.50 versus $1.25 currently. Geez, the price here in so cal is ridiculously low.

[realnet1]

I am at $2.00 For Top Load,, No one complains If they do I tell the to go down the street were they are at $1.50,,, "and they do not work and every thing is junk". They all say we know and stay.

[laundryboy]

I'm at 2.00 cold and warm; and 2.25 for Hot water. No real complaints.

[Chumley]

$2.00 for hot, warm and cold.

[TJB]

The pole is for so ca. it's a different ball game here. The area is still overbuilt and laundries are still hurting. I have 23 Maytag tops and I'm charging $1.25 for normal wash or $1.75 for super wash, I'm fully attended and run a very clean laundry, been here 24 years. I haven't checked lately but most of my competitors are at $1.00 or cheaper. About a year ago I went to a CLA meeting in Downey Ca. and the main speaker was was from the mid west talking about pricing, it did not pertain to us one bit.

[BobbiOh]

We're looking at three stores:

#1 is completely gutted. It didn't have tops in it before and we wouldn't be putting any in. The competition is priced at $1.00 at a filthy store and $1.75 at a clean store.

#2 tops are priced at $2.00, but the 18lb front loads are priced at $2.25. I'm sure it's an effort to drive business to the frontloaders.

#3 tops are priced at $1.00 and 18lb fronts are at $1.50. But this entire store is priced below the other stores in the area.

[mike]

We're looking at three stores:

#1 is completely gutted. It didn't have tops in it before and we wouldn't be putting any in. The competition is priced at $1.00 at a filthy store and $1.75 at a clean store.

#2 tops are priced at $2.00, but the 18lb front loads are priced at $2.25. I'm sure it's an effort to drive business to the frontloaders.

#3 tops are priced at $1.00 and 18lb fronts are at $1.50. But this entire store is priced below the other stores in the area.

I believe that people need to get the same price on a front load

as they do on a top load, to be "driven" to fronts.

So lower front prices,....... or raise top prices (my choice :-)

Good luck....and DON'T be afraid to say the emperor has no clothes !!!

Sorry, I was just venting,

I realise you are just deciding whether to buy or not

[BobbiOh]

The gutted store is actually our first choice, so we wouldn't have tops at all. We'd just have the 18lb fronts. I don't like tops they cost more to run, don't work as well and suck up more resources.

[DuboisLaundry]

we wouldn't have tops at all

DING DING DING
We have a winner!

I'm not in SoCal but my tops just went from $2 to $2.25

[Razer]

I've owned 3 mats in Kitchener/Waterloo for 42 years and I've known almost every laundry owner during those years. When a new owner buys a store, I stop by and
introduce myself and tell them my philosophy of all owners co-operating and being
friends even while we compete.

I tell them we should all compete furiously - on cleanliness, on service, on locations,
on parking, on hours, on good equipment, even on specials when necessary; but
NEVER on base prices. Then we will all have profitable businesses and our customers
will have good laundries to go to. And we will enjoy seeing each other at industry
trade shows, etc.

I then offer whatever I can to that owner. One guy was very leery of me; I asked him why his changer was out of service. He told me the problem and I fixed it in 2 minutes
for him. The next time I dropped in he was only a little friendlier....Sometimes I refer
a good mechanic, sometimes a place to get cheaper parts, soap, etc. I don't believe
that owner making more money will hurt me! (unless he uses it to keep prices low)

I also learned a valuable lesson from the largest drycleaner (30 stores at that time).
He always took responsibility as the largest cleaner to have the highest prices,
using specials when necessary. If he didn't raise prices, who would?????

So I also always had the highest prices for laundromats. I very seldom used specials
though. I usually tied increases to local news of water or gas or hydro increases.
And I often purchased new equipment with higher vend prices paying for that equipment. Having 3 stores helped a lot - I would just let everyone know that my
prices were going up on May 1st for example. Somebody has to be first. Pretty
soon everyone would fall into their normal pattern, some 25 cents behind me, some
making sure they were the last lowest price in town.

In 2001, I said goodbye to quarters forever having just moved to only dollar coins for
toploaders and converting my last dryers to 1 dollar for 15 min. Two potential
problems confronted me. Soap vending and the next price increase on toploaders.
(front loaders were easy-all 1 dollar up)

In 2006, with absolutely none of the (newer) owners interested in raising prices, and
the highest at 2 dollars and some 1.50 and 1.75, I bought 6 new maytag toploaders
with faster cycle times, put them at the very front of my 27 toploaders and vended
them for 3 dollar coins! I had to fight with the distributer to include loonie only slides
set at $3 capable of going to $5. Then every year I added 3 more of those machines.

Now, in Oct. 2010, many owners are at $3, maybe a third at 2.50. Incidentally, I
also installed 5 new stainless 30# dryers in 2003 vended at $1 for 10 minutes. (that's
2 and1/2 minutes per quarter equivalent !!) I'm almost ready to change all my dryers
to that price. THAT WILL BE FULL CIRCLE from 10 cents to 25 cents to 1 dollar for
the original 10 minute dryer settings. I still have 7 dryers from 1963 that went through all these changes with the SAME Greenwald rotary coin drops.

Yeah, so keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Razer