Charging accordingly

[Emily Case]

Good morning, geeks

I'm having a bit of a problem at the moment with my price lists. I've recently been doing a lot of hand painted nail art - it's what people know me for now! My problem is, I'm not charging enough for the time it takes me.

I do my designs using CND Shellac with my normal Shellac price at £22. I've been charging an extra £10 for my patchwork nails (pictured below) but have recently been asked for more elaborate designs that are sure to take me much longer than the 1hr50 it takes for the patchwork nails.

The tatty teddy nails are mine but what would you charge for a full set of them?

I was just wondering what you all charge for freehand nail art on all nails using CND Shellac? I've been speaking to the lovely Annalise (Darling Digits) who has advised I charge £15-£20 on top of the Shellac price for elaborate nail art. I just don't want to put customers off!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Xxx

 

[nicole333]

I was thinking about this myself when I finally did some CK nails. If you can judge roughly how long they will take then charge for your time. I think people will expect to pay more for bespoke nail art if that's what they like. I think DD has it right in her suggestion as if it was too cheap then it kind of removes how special it is, if that makes sense.

Your nails are always exceptional and I don't think you would be putting anybody off by charging what they are worth.

 

[Danni007]

Can you work it out at an hourly price? So, say the nail art took you a half hour you charge an extra £10, 45 mins £15, etc. As has already been said people expect to pay for the best. If they don't want to pay they can choose a design that's less intricate and therefore less time consuming x

 

[linzi]

I charge £3-3.50 per nail for intricate art like yours, or 3d work, etc.

If it were a full set, then I'd probably reduce it a bit (we still seem to be stuck on the ill have a stand out ring finger and no more, thank you very much) but your designs are worth so much more than £10

How long do they take you to do? What's your hourly rate? An hourly rate of £20 at 1 1/2 hours is £3/nail, without taking other costs into the equation.

 

[tjmadmum]

Just had to comment on your nails! They look amazing! How on earth do you do those? God I wish I could be that creative! I would happily pay extra for that kind of work. Definitely decide on a pro-rata price as others have said. They are stand alone nails and should be priced bearing that in mind.
Sarah xx

 

[mini4mum]

Swarovski pedis are approx 2hours & the charges for those are anything between £50-£70, so why not the same for your amazing nail art Emily? Your work is exceptional & therefore you should charge your worth 😉 I think your teddy nails are fantastic & I'm sure they will go viral on FB shortly (if they haven't already!!) x

 

[lores]

I agree with the above comments, your nails are awesome.....each set you create are a one off piece of art of a VERY high standard.

You need to charge for this and I think you should work out and hourly rate structure and it should be at least £20.00 per hour on top of your standard service charge.
This way people can purchase your time to work your magic with their nails.

Remember a lot of health spas and resorts charge around £38 for a single colour standard set of Gelish!!

Good luck and look forward to you posting more of your work, it is stunning

XX

 

[Emily Case]

Well I feel very flattered! You're all so kind and I really appreciate the lovely compliments :hug:

I think I'm going to to with the 15 mins/£5 idea for all nails or £3 for an accent nail... You're right, if people want special nails then they pay for it! Now how to word it on my price list...?!

I've been asked to do these nails (full set of enhancements plus the nail art) and I'm thinking of quoting £57... she wants it done in Shellac so it's £27 for L&P plus £10 Shellac colour and then £20 for the artwork?

Xxx

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Your nails are stunning! You must have a very steady hand.

How long does it take for you to do a plain shellac at £22?

Could you then use this to decide how much extra for bespoke nail art?

I would not be surprised to pay out £35-£40 for these nails.

You could always have a book of sample nails with each of their price brackets. These pages +£5, these pages +£10 and so on xx

Sent from my HTC One X+ using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[sallyyummymummy]

Your nails are amazing! I'd love to be as talented as you. I only do basic nail art and charge 50p per nail extra for glitter, £1 per nail for basic nail art with varnishes & £1.50 per nail for nail art with gel eg colour fade or what I call dragging so it looks like the top of a cherry bakewell lol. But you should charge a lot more for that work as its AMAZING!!!!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Dizzy nails]

Nails are fab! As suggested above break it down. I roughly work on £24 an hour (although my shellac is £25) and therefore that is £6 every 15 mins £2 every 5. It will help to do this but also that is expertise there and that is often worth more. £32 I don't think is enough for such beautiful nails.

 

[SugarMama]

Oh my. I would be charging serious money if I could do nails like that! I agree with what everyone has already said. I'm replying just to ask you to start a YouTube channel. I would love to watch you create those teddy nails. Absolutely adorable!

 

[anonaw]

I charge by the hour so most of the nailart I can do I can do it in half an hour so it's a£5 add on to any service. But obviously if something were to take me more time I would tell the client the right price. So maybe do the same? If your patchwork nails are taking you an hour to do on top of your shellac service then charge an hourly rate.

 

[Emily Case]

Thanks again everyone I've decided to work on a 15 minute scale, so £5 every 15 minutes the design takes. I've summed it up into 4 categories which I will make pages for on my website:

£5 Classic: additives, rockstars, animal print, polka dots etc
£10 Detail: stripes, chevrons, hearts, Aztec etc
£15 Bespoke: patchwork, mix & match (like the grey nails on my teddy design), detailing etc
£20 Elaborate: intricate detailing (like the teddies)

I will be putting examples of the work into each page so people know where they stand with regards to pricing... I will make it clear the cost per accent nail for each of the categories too (£4 elaborate, £3 bespoke, £2 detail and £1 classic).

What do you think?

Xxx

 

[StephR]

Thanks again everyone I've decided to work on a 15 minute scale, so £5 every 15 minutes the design takes. I've summed it up into 4 categories which I will make pages for on my website:

£5 Classic: additives, rockstars, animal print, polka dots etc
£10 Detail: stripes, chevrons, hearts, Aztec etc
£15 Bespoke: patchwork, mix & match (like the grey nails on my teddy design), detailing etc
£20 Elaborate: intricate detailing (like the teddies)

I will be putting examples of the work into each page so people know where they stand with regards to pricing... I will make it clear the cost per accent nail for each of the categories too (£4 elaborate, £3 bespoke, £2 detail and £1 classic).

What do you think?

Xxx

That sounds like a fab idea Emily. The clients know where they stand then with it being in different categories. Prices look good too xx

 

[StephR]

Oh just another idea how will you advertise in actually in your salon though? Do you have a digital photo frame that you could have it all on scrolling through as your clients are sat enjoying their treatments x

 

[Danni007]

Perfect, it's clear and easy to understand for your client. X

 

[Danni007]

Or, could you put the designs on nail pops and then group accordingly? I.e. have all your £5 nails on one set grouped together and so on? X

 

[wendywoo]

Oh just another idea how will you advertise in actually in your salon though? Do you have a digital photo frame that you could have it all on scrolling through as your clients are sat enjoying their treatments x

Digital photo frame, genius!!! I'd never even thought of that.
Emily your nails are just stunning. Advertising them like that with the pricing on the picture would work a treat. X

 

[souz]

Emily, you have got to enter some competitions with your skill! and glad you sorted your prices, clients should be paying more not just for your time but extra product/electric etc

keep up the fab work and keep posting, ive been loving following your pics x