Clients bringing own "gel" in

[rippersroo]

Hi ladies just a quickie-I've just had a message from a client wanting a certain shade of shellac I don't offer.
I said i can remove your previous gel but I don't have that colour.
She said how much if I bring my own colour in.
I said is it shellac then or vinylux.
She said shellac.
Would you do this? How can a client have a real shellac???
If you would say do it do I charge my normal price?
I'm not sure about this only qualified people can get hold of shellac so how has she got her hands on it?
Thanks ladies

 

[blossom]

No I wouldn't

I would say I am not covered by my insurance to use anything except my own pro products

There are crappy knock offs on eBay or Amazon

Even if she insists it's genuine I would politely decline. Plus you get into the realms of "how much will you knock off if I bring my own xxxx" , and then who knows where it will lead

In fact some hairdressers charge MORE if you bring your own shampoo/conditioner etc so why not tell her it's an extra £5 lol

 

[AcidPerm]

Either tell her the price is the same regardless or that you're not insured if you don't use your own stock.

Personally, I wouldn't agree to it as:
1. you can't be certain it's not a fake and
2. what if other clients want to get their nails done cheaply?

Hairdresser's get this occasionally from clients wanting to use box dyes etc. to save money but if you don't offer any discount, they usually either accept it or try somewhere else.

 

[AcidPerm]

Just realised I cross posted with Blossom.

Great minds....

 

[cheeka]

It's highly unlikely the client has real Shellac - you do see it on sites like ebay and amazon, but there's no way of knowing if it's a genuine product or not. There are also a lot of non-pro brands (I'm looking at you in particular, Bluesky!), whose gel polishes are still listed as 'Shellac' by sellers on third party sites. It's things like this that can lead to consumers thinking that Bluesky, and similar brands are actually the same as Shellac - there's no way of knowing if that's the case in this situation, but there is a chance of her showing up with a different brand to CND Shellac altogether

I personally wouldn't do it, unless she can show you it's been purchased from S2 or Ellisons - you don't know what she's turning up with, and if there's any doubt, there would be questions from your insurers if there was an issue...

Edit: I've seen I've also crossed posts with Blossom and AcidPerm. Can i join the 'great minds' group?

 

[rippersroo]

Thanks ladies. I know it can't be genuine really. She only comes to me when cant get in at her usual and last time I saw her was more than a year ago.. x

 

[rippersroo]

And blossom yes she already said she'll bring her own how much will it be [emoji23]

 

[jacquelineanna]

It makes no difference if they bring their own polish or ... shellac
She is paying for your time and experience.
And you don't even need to mention your insurance ... just say no.

 

[CFBS]

No, no , no
No way can they bring their own gel. Polish yes, with reservations but gel no!
Genuine? No
Will cure in your light? No
Insured therefore? No
[emoji16]

 

[nailpod]

I don't like clients to bring their own foundation or polishes due to the fact that if it doesn't last or chip or wherever issue , they will forget that it was their product and blame you!
So no I don't allow, I have one client who insists of her own foundation but I also insisted she has a trial make up using her foundation she pays for. Simple.

 

[CocoAllure]

Wow imagine that.. yea why not bring the rest of the products with you too why don't you.. Or better still do them yourself lol

 

[NancySyd]

Absolutely not! And absolutely no discussion of a discount. But why not just offer to buy the color she wants?

 

[rippersroo]

Absolutely not! And absolutely no discussion of a discount. But why not just offer to buy the color she wants?

As I said she hasn't been to me for a long time(only when she can't get in at her usual place), I've made the mistake before of buying colours for the odd client and they get to be shelf sitters!
Also I'm whittling down my shellac range and gradually moving to another brand.
Thank you all for advice. Can't believe the cheek of some people, though it has made me wonder why and how she has got her own 'shellac' why would you buy a gel polish being a client? Maybe she's found somewhere that will do that for her before now....