Franchise opportunities compared
Buff City Soap vs Dealer Specialties
Reviewed figures from each brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), side by side. Each figure carries its FDD year and page. This is not a ranking or recommendation, and the two FDDs may cover different years and location groups.
Before you compare
- Buff City Soap figures come from its 2026 FDD and Dealer Specialties figures from its 2025 FDD, so the years differ.
- Buff City Soap discloses more than one business format, so the investment range spans formats; the full report breaks them out.
- Only Buff City Soap has reviewed Item 19 figures here.
| Disclosure | BCBuff City Soap | DSDealer Specialties |
|---|---|---|
| Financial commitment | ||
| Estimated initial investment (Item 7) | $80,800 – $981,024 2026 FDD · Item 7 | $17,400 – $44,900 Total initial investment (range 17400–44900) 2025 FDD · Item 7 · PDF p. 12 |
| Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) | $50,000 2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 15 | $10,000 2025 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 9 |
| Royalty (Item 6) | $6.00 Royalty Fee — 6% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 16 | $100 Royalty and continuing service minimum per dealer lot 2025 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 9 |
| Brand / advertising fund (Item 6) | $2.00 Brand Fund Contribution — 2% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 16 | $0.03 Advertising fee per unique VIN 2025 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 9 |
| System scale & health | ||
| Total outlets (Item 20) | 460 Outlets at end of 2025 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 64 | 21 Outlets at end of 2024 2025 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 31 |
| Net outlet change (Item 20) | −82 Calculated: 542 at end of 2023 → 460 at end of 2025 | −63 Calculated: 84 at end of 2022 → 21 at end of 2024 |
| Outlet exits (Item 20) | Not available No complete exit records for a year | Not available No complete exit records for a year |
| Franchising since (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Franchisor founded (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Performance (Item 19) | ||
| Financial performance (Item 19), by location group | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Topthird $881,657 other Maturefranchise topthird average netsales · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 61 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Middlethird $617,896 other Maturefranchise middlethird median netsales · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 61 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — Bottomthird $534,871 other Maturefranchise bottomthird high netsales · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 61 +6 more groups in the full report | Not disclosed — no Item 19 financial performance representation |
Item 19 groups are shown separately and never combined. Revenue or sales figures are not profit. Net outlet change and turnover are Franopolis calculations from the disclosed counts; turnover is a count-based rate, not a measure of owner earnings.