PPF pricing is where shops either make great money or leave it on the table. The wrong approach is competitor-matching ("we're $200 less than the shop down the street"). The right approach is cost-up pricing with margin built in. This is the line-by-line walkthrough for how to price a 4-bay PPF shop's services correctly.
Why cost-up beats competitor-matching
Competitor pricing tells you what the market tolerates. It does not tell you whether you can run a profitable business at that price. A shop that competitor-matches into a thin gross margin can find itself short on cash a year or two in.
Cost-up pricing starts with your actual costs and a target margin, then sets price from there. You discover whether your market supports your math, or whether you have a fundamental cost-structure problem.
The cost stack for a 4-bay PPF shop
For a 4-bay shop with 3 installers, 1 service writer/manager, average ticket $4,800:
Direct material cost per install (full front, premium film):
- Film (XPEL Ultimate Plus full-front kit): $380-$450
- Consumables (slip solution, tack film, masking, blade refills): $35-$55
- Pattern subscription amortization: $8-$15 per install
Total direct material: ~$425-$520/install.
Direct labor cost per install:
- Installer time: 8-10 hours
- Installer rate (fully loaded, including taxes and benefits): $32-$45/hour
- Direct labor: $256-$450/install
Indirect cost allocation per install (rent, utilities, software, insurance, marketing):
- Monthly indirect: ~$11,000 (for typical 4-bay setup)
- Installs per month: ~80 (4 bays × ~20 installs/month)
- Allocated indirect: ~$137/install
Total fully-loaded cost per install: $818-$1,107.
For a $4,800 ticket, that's a gross margin of 77-83%. Healthy. The question is what happens at different price points.
Pricing tiers for a 4-bay PPF shop
Based on the cost stack, here are the recommended pricing tiers (adjust 15-25% for your market):
Full-front (hood + bumper + fenders) — XPEL Ultimate Plus or equivalent:
- Sedan: $2,400-$3,200
- SUV/Truck: $2,800-$3,800
- Premium/exotic: $3,400-$5,500
Full-front + headlights + mirrors + A-pillars:
- Sedan: $2,800-$3,800
- SUV/Truck: $3,200-$4,400
- Premium/exotic: $4,200-$6,800
Full vehicle (every panel covered):
- Sedan: $5,800-$8,500
- SUV/Truck: $6,500-$9,200
- Premium/exotic: $8,500-$15,000
Partial wraps and accents:
- Hood-only: $650-$950
- Bumper-only: $550-$850
- Mirror-and-handle accents: $250-$450
Modifiers that justify a premium
- Premium film tier (Ultimate Plus vs Stealth Ultimate): +15-25%
- Vehicle complexity (Tesla, Porsche, exotic): +10-20%
- Color-matched edges: +$150-$400
- Self-healing top coat: built into premium tiers
- Rush turnaround (next-day): +25-40%
The math on a single install
A 2024 Tesla Model 3 full-front + headlights + mirrors:
- Quote price: $3,400
- Direct material: $480 (Ultimate Plus kit)
- Direct labor: 9 hours × $38/hour = $342
- Indirect allocation: $137
- Total cost: $959
- Gross margin: $2,441 (72% margin)
That's a healthy install. Your shop is solvent at this price point.
Same install at $2,400 (the "competitor-match" trap):
- Quote price: $2,400
- Same costs: $959
- Gross margin: $1,441 (60% margin)
Still healthy on this single install, but if you do 80 of these a month at $2,400 instead of $3,400, you've left $80,000/month on the table.
Smart Pricing as the safety net
Smart Pricing flags services to reprice based on your own close rate for each one (RAISE, REDUCE, HOLD or REPOSITION).
What to do next
If you're a PPF shop, audit your top 3 services and run them through the cost-up math. If your margin per install is under 65% on your most common service, you're under-priced.
Related
- PPF shop software - PPF shop margin trap - Tier-based pricing setup - PPF warranty wars 2026