Charging family members

[Minx]

Hi there,

I do my mum and sisters nails and they have what ever they need at half price, they seem happy with that!

Minx

 

[blossom]

Unless they want them on a regular basis, I wouldn't charge my mum in law or sister in laws.

My mum has l&p overlays all the time and I don't charge her but she's my mum! I can't get my head round making money out of the family. Anyway she always has been a willing model for me and a good advert.

 

[sadie123]

have to agree charge them,but make sure you are INSURED if your charging for your time etc be very careful you never know x

 

[SAMARA_J]

I am still in training, but i have told everyone i will be charing $5 for enhancements (to cover product) then of course im qualified the price will go up. Mani/pedi for family will be at a reduced rate (if not free for my mum!)

 

[Swedish Beauty]

I have the opposite problem! My inlaws wants to pay me! I try to tell them that they take care of my dog, babysit and all sorts of things and this is the only thing I can do for them, but no! They want to pay!
The other thing is that I have my salon in our town building and I don´t pay any rent so...
I always feel really stupid when they both have pedicures once a month.
My sister in law does her nails, waxes, do eyelash extensions etc, and I give her 5 e discount, as she does for me when she gives me a massage.

 

[sj1973]

Hello!

Was wondering what you opinon is about charging family member, my mother in law asked me to do my sister in law's feet and she said to me if I was going to charge then she would do them herself!!! :irked:

I thought well have you got a certificate in pedicures? So do you guys charge your family members? If so at a discount? Am I mean for wanting to charge the in laws?

Thanks for reading

Lily x x

i have experience in this....done my sis-in-law nails twice...first time she picked them....second time she said her nails slid of her fingers and picked the rest off...i WILL NOT do them again...she paid nothing...knowing her...she has told people they slid off(giving me ...FAMILY a bad name)she has not called me since and good ridens to her ....charge her hun....if she will not pay let her try and do them herself (they will look horriable as she has no experience)then she will learn to go to the profe in the future xxx

 

[Kim@Talontastic]

The only person I don't cherge is my mum. She is the only one who has believed in my from the off. She has been my guinea pig on all of my courses, had dodgy nails on, bad waxing etc...now that I am getting half decent I feel she deserves nice nails again.

She helps my fund my equiptment if i'm short and also spends time with me helping me learn the theory. She is an amazing lady and does so much for me and there is no way I could repay her for all that she has ever done so she has free treatments as my way of thanking her.

Everyone else gets discounted rates, including my best friend unless I want to practise something new on her. I have been known to give her a birthday bikini wax.

I'd say charge, they don't do anything for you hun!!!:hug:

 

[KattyB]

I used to get really annoyed when after I had qualified people were still telling me I could practice on them for free!!! No I don't need to thank-you and even when I did we still used to charge them at college to cover the cost of the product - it was never free.

I don't charge my mum because she is my mum and thats a good enough reason. With friends its usually nails or waxing so say I did a set of ext I may discount them from £35 to £25 or throw in an eyebrow shape for free. Depends who they are and how friendly I am with them.

My mother in law lives in france so if she came over I would treat her to the works for free because she doesn't get anything like it back home and I don't see her often. If she lived here I wouldn't mind free treatments for special occasions but if she wanted something doing all the time then I would charge at a discount.

In general I don't mind if my friends don't pay full price as long as they offer to pay something...sometimes I don't even take that because the fact that they offered it is enough to know that they appreciate it and are not taking me and my position for granted. I think the best way if you are very close is to trade with them...ie babysitting, holiday airport runs, bottle of wine etc. Just shows they appreciate you.

 

[blossom]

i have experience in this....done my sis-in-law nails twice...first time she picked them....second time she said her nails slid of her fingers and picked the rest off

You were very kind to give her a second chance, how dare she pick off what you'd given her!! :smack:

 

[sj1973]

You were very kind to give her a second chance, how dare she pick off what you'd given her!! :smack:

thank you hun....beleive me...i have learnt from my mistakes xxxxx:green:

 

[NAIL FRENZY]

I don't charge my Mom or my sisters but you know what they insist on paying and full price too. They all said that they love having me do their nails and really appreciate how nice they look so they want to pay. So as far as I'm concerned if they are prepared to pay for my time and products then so should everyone else!

 

[amirose]

My family have a flat rate of £10 whatever the treatment the cost is £10. They are all fine with this. The only person who pays less is my Nan but if it was up to me she wouldnt pay at all after all shes my nan and a pensioner!
I think, like a few people have said here, the gesture of some form of payment and not being EXPECTED to do it is the whole point here.
The only time I dont charge is when I ask people if i can practice on them because you are asking for a favour and they are giving up thier time - its not like they asked or sometimes even paticularly wanted o) the treatment so that fine by me!

Ami

 

['chelle]

I dont think you are in any way being unreasonable by expecting at least some payment for your services. After all, its your job, would they work for free? Stock is expensive, and it soon disappears if you work for free on various family members.
Like a lot of others, I do my mums nails for free, and I tell other family members that I would appreciate a contribution towards the products (oh and I always somehow just manage to mention in passing how much retention costs when I do family nails in exchange for a contribution!) My mother in law paid me £20 for her last set which was nice, I would have been happy to accept £10 or £15, but I stop the line somewhere. eg, I only offer family discounts to a close auntie, my mother in law, and one cousin I am close to. I have no sisters, so all other family pay the going rate, if I'm feeling generous I might throw in a free nail enamel.

Stick to your guns now on payment while you're still starting out, you will be glad you established your postion re payment later on. Good luck! :green:

 

[JudithW]

People don´t appreciate what they get for free - make them pay! I charge my relatives full price or I give them the "family discount" if I´m in a good mood. But they all have good jobs and can afford to pay full price so I generally charge them (I´m cheaper than goingto a salon anyway!). My mum gets a good discount and I do eyelash tints for free on a friend as a bribe for getting her to model for my face painting experiments.

When I was training, the college told me it was perfectly acceptable to charge half price for practising on friends and family etc.

So, definitely charge them - as they will expect it for free every time. And if they decide to do it themselves, you haven´t lost any money anyway!

 

[butterflys]

Hi Peeps

My mum has always been my model and at that appointment it is free. But she has always paid for her treatments, In the beginning she gave me money (which was far to much) but she wouldn't have it if I said its a freebee, so I have started to charge her half price.

I charge all my family half price now, just as long as they are family. I am very lucky that my family are very close.

I have started to charge full price for my friends, if they are friends then they will not mind. I haven't had a problem yet.

 

[psychoalley]

I always work on the fiver theory (it's my theory, but I will explain...!) I hate charging family members, as I am just recently out of training and of course they are the people you practice on, but, if you charge just a fiver for anything really, you cover your costs (so-so for a full set of acrylics and plenty for a manicure), you tend to at least break even. It's just not a good ideato do loads of family members in one week!
What does everyone else think to my fiver theory?

Best Regards

Alison

 

[Mandy829]

Hey there, i just wanted to give my two cents about family paying. I just finished a nail technician course and the only people i have to practive on are family. I told them before i got certified that it would just be practice and i wouldn't charge them but they still gave me at least a tip for doing it. Now that i am certified i feel as though i have a right to charge becasue like everyone else says its your products that you buy and your time. I do manicures for my father-in-law and his girlfriend and they give me $27 when i initially told them i was only going to charge them $6 each for the manicure. i mean that is pretty good. Most places charge at least $10. But they are always good to me. I don't charge what a normal salon would charge because i do it out of my house with my kids running around and the dogs being pests so you don't get that quiet ambiance you would at a salon. But it think its fair. I do acrylic on my sister and i get 25 with tip for the full set and 15 with tip for the fill. i am happy with that seen as though i just started and am not all that great i get to practice and she doesn't have to go broke paying for them you know. I would put my foot down, you went through the training so you could do this professionally and there is no reason why you shouldn't be treated as such even by your family. My mother in law got one maicure from me, didn't pay me and now talks to me about the place she goes to get her nails done at. I don't really care to hear it but if she doesn't want me to do them becasue she doesn't think i do a good enough job thats fine with me. but when she does call for a manicure becasue she doesn't have time or money to go to where she usually does and calls me most likely i have something going on that day.

 

[Nathalie]

I'm really lucky as my mum is a fully qualified beautician and nail tech as well so we do each others for free always using the proudcts in the salon (admitidly her products as she owns the salon) and my sister although she very rarely has anything done as she isn't fussed about waxing etc - and moans that doing nails takes to long (plus she is a picker so it just annoys me when I see them 2 days later lol)

For the rest of the family/close friends we just do it at a discount. If it was just to polish her toe nails then I'd say do it for free and use her polish but if she wants a whole pedicure you should def charge and turn up looking v professional etc just to reiterate the point that it is a business and is costing you money & time!

N xx

 

[Upsy Daisy]

I don't charge my mum as she looks after my children for free whilst I am working and has done for the last 7 years so I owe her more than a few free manicures and pedicures. I didn't charge during my training as I asked friends etc to let me do theirs for the practice but hinted to them that once I had qualified I would be charging (which they are happy to do). For the first 6 months after I qualified I offered a discounted rate giving a specific date it would end so that they knew where they stood. When I did my Aunties I had already given her a price list and when she came to pay me she gave me more as she said she would have paid more in the salon she normally went to. In-laws I havent done yet but will charge a discounted rate (1/2 price maybe).

 

[Coppertop]

Hello!

Was wondering what you opinon is about charging family member, my mother in law asked me to do my sister in law's feet and she said to me if I was going to charge then she would do them herself!!! :irked:


Lily x x

What a cheek.
I always charge EVERYONE apart from my mum.
Tell her to do them then cos you have a living to earn.