Debate: why are nails so underpriced?

[noreenoconnor]

We'll agree to disagree. I don't know many/if any people who's salary goes up by £3/4 an hour every year

If you can do nails in a hour and are super quick and are happy with your profit, thats great, and i mean that genuinely xx Tell me your secrets to speed haha

But I guess i am both thinking in euros , and taking into account you haven't raised your prices in 4 years, i am also taking into account that it normally takes on average 1 hour 30 to 2 hours for nail extensions (general assumption here) , so in my mind it was a 50c per year per hour pay rise which doesn't seem like much. Of course as you've said everywhere is different And not all markets are able to take a pay rise, something to think of for the future maybe

On a side note to everyone reading, i think we should also consider that our clients shouldn't just come to us based on the price of our service. IF you offer a fantastic service that is attentive to the needs of the clients i often think price becomes irrelevant, its more about the VALUE you offer that client. I would rather pay more for my clothes for example to go into a shop where i could get good honest advice , and good quality clothes than face a cheaper clothes shop where everything is messy and there is no help and the clothes don't last

I also think the clients that we attract are a reflection of ourself, we unconsciously project our own thoughts about what is "too expensive" for a client because we deem it too expensive for ourselves, I often see this with retail sales, you convince yourself the client couldn't possible afford a hand cream at £15-20 because they only get their nails done once in a blue moon which must mean they can't afford it…. Maybe that client would love a hand cream as a treat to herself, you can't close her purse strings for her

 

[noreenoconnor]

I know of a few people who do it just as a hobby and just for something too do along side they're job

They don't live off the money it's just a bit of fun for them and can have a chat to a friend whilst doing their nails for £10 with their bits and bobs off eBay which they have won for 99pence that's filled with God knows what from God knows where

I've had people say 'oh you should get so and so too do your nails she only charges £10'
No thank you, I don't want cheap rubbish on my nails which I will then put in my mouth (sort of) whilst eating and touching my face whilst putting my makeup on etc

This cheap rubbish off eBay and these rubbish day courses have really cheapened this industry and it only takes 1 person to charge a silly amount and it has a knock on effect and soon enough your surrounded by everyone who only charges £10

I'm not saying all people who do it along side they're day to day jobs are like this, I'm sure there are plenty of people who use shellac etc and charge a decent amount

And what's more annoying is people who don't train or learn properly and who arnt prepared to shell out around £3,000 to train and they just win some things off eBay for a couple of pounds and off they go

The industry needs to be more regulated to help stop all of this, your using tools on people's hands, your touching them, your applying products etc!
There should be something in place to make people learn properly and get qualifications

Plus the industry is over saturated, there are so many shops opened and I see advertisements everywhere for mobile and home salons, they even have a beauty section in my local post office

Another thing I have noticed regarding the hair and nails conversations - I NEVER see any local salons advertise offers, where as all the beauty salons do and I've got a few local salons who do both hair and beauty on my Facebook page that I have liked and they are forever posting beauty and nail offers but there's never any hairdressing offers, is that because they are busy and don't need too?

Some fantastic points here!

I absolutely believe that the industry should be regulated , there are far too many cowboys out there that ruin the reputations of great nail techs. Thats why i believe the way future for the nail industry is to rise above these cowboys and produce nails that are so obviously head and shoulders above what they can produce that it becomes a no brainer to go to a reputable nail professional.

I think the general public need to realize what a good set of nails should like , and as mentioned before that pain should not be apart of getting your nails done. Crazy that even has to be said, but a lot don't know!

I too think the offers, between salon offers and the like of groupon have a lot to blame for the way our industry is at the moment too. A client see s a shellac deal for £7 on a site, they don't realize that not only do groupon take a cut , but that the salon can't possibly be making a profit and think other salons are ripping them off . It makes my blood boil.

Groupon are obviously loosing beauty salons , either because the salons they promote have closed down because they are not making enough money , or that the salons have stopped using them because there is no money and no repeat clients with it. I have numerous calls, mainly from Groupon and other sites like it, offering to promote my salon for me like they are doing me a favor haha I'm a relatively new salon and think they are preying on the lack of experience of new businesses to help boost theres, which is just deplorable in my opinion

But Beauty Salons do it to themselves too, I think a greater education is needed, and perhaps a business aspect should be added to the beauty therapy syllabus as all to many techs don't know how to charge for their services. I think what has happened to is that a new student will come along and undercut her competitors in an attempt to gain clients … but a new student will undercut her…. and so forth until they are working for nothing but don't realize it. These type of people don't last long but do undermine the hard work and quality the rest of us try to achieve.

 

[Miss Dolly]

Most days we see a thread started by someone who views this industry as an easy option, a way in their eyes to make big £££’s for little effort, whilst expecting the ones that have really invested heavily in this industry, who actually have a passion, to help guide them! I agree with so many on this thread that I think this industry is so undervalued. It really upsets me when people think that they can do the cheapest course, buy the cheapest products and then work doing nails as a ‘sideline’! It’s as if it’s easy money and anyone can do it, in fact it seems like everyone does it, that’s why the market is so saturated. A lot of these people have no real interest but think its a quick way to make money. Well it’s not an easy way to make a living, it’s really tough out there, anyone might be able to pick up a brush and paint, but I do feel that education, hygiene and using good quality products are what set you apart, but not all clients seem bothered by that.

It’s just sad that wanting to be the best and using the best products doesn’t always guarantee you a client base, unless you undervalue yourself or work at a loss it seems. I will admit that I struggle with a client base for just nails and I would class my work to be of a very good standard, I have been doing nails for years and I am very much a perfectionist and I pride myself on that. I use Bio Sculpture and maybe I'm a fool to myself as the cost of their products are extortionate, but to me I’d rather use what I believe to be the best for my clients, even though this means eating into a bigger chunk of any profit I might make. I worked out that the cost per service was way off the mark compared to what the company provide, but still I choose to use them even though it’s not the profit you're led to believe. Not to ruffle any feathers or offend anyone, but I believe with regards to product use, then cost per service for me, outweighs that of hair, but that’s not what we’re debating here.

It’s tough out there, I can’t see it ever getting any better, in fact it worries me that it will only get worse, which it will, unless of course the industry becomes regulated, then maybe that would help.

Thank you Noreen for a good thread. It does seem that many threads these days are repetitive or ask exactly the same as a thread right above it and that completely baffles me.

 

[blossom]

If you can do nails in a hour and are super quick and are happy with your profit, thats great, and i mean that genuinely xx Tell me your secrets to speed haha

But I guess i am both thinking in euros , and taking into account you haven't raised your prices in 4 years, i am also taking into account that it normally takes on average 1 hour 30 to 2 hours for nail extensions (general assumption here) , so in my mind it was a 50c per year per hour pay rise which doesn't seem like much. Of course as you've said everywhere is different And not all markets are able to take a pay rise, something to think of for the future maybe

On a side note to everyone reading, i think we should also consider that our clients shouldn't just come to us based on the price of our service. IF you offer a fantastic service that is attentive to the needs of the clients i often think price becomes irrelevant, its more about the VALUE you offer that client. I would rather pay more for my clothes for example to go into a shop where i could get good honest advice , and good quality clothes than face a cheaper clothes shop where everything is messy and there is no help and the clothes don't last

I also think the clients that we attract are a reflection of ourself, we unconsciously project our own thoughts about what is "too expensive" for a client because we deem it too expensive for ourselves, I often see this with retail sales, you convince yourself the client couldn't possible afford a hand cream at £15-20 because they only get their nails done once in a blue moon which must mean they can't afford it…. Maybe that client would love a hand cream as a treat to herself, you can't close her purse strings for her

A lot of that is true.

But you're presuming everyone who charges less is rubbish and from a clients point of view, if they can go into a nice modern spotlessly clean salon, have a good choice of shellac (or good extensions applied) by a friendly tech who makes you a cup of tea, helps you on with your coat after giving some aftercare advice, and those nails are admired and stay put til the next re-do, what more can you offer to justify charging a third to half as much again?

Admittedly some cheapies round here ARE rubbish lol, but whilst there are some goodies charging tuppence, it does make it difficult

 

[noreenoconnor]

A lot of that is true.

But you're presuming everyone who charges less is rubbish and from a clients point of view, if they can go into a nice modern spotlessly clean salon, have a good choice of shellac (or good extensions applied) by a friendly tech who makes you a cup of tea, helps you on with your coat after giving some aftercare advice, and those nails are admired and stay put til the next re-do, what more can you offer to justify charging a third to half as much again?

Admittedly some cheapies round here ARE rubbish lol, but whilst there are some goodies charging tuppence, it does make it difficult

This is true, there are some great nail tech undercharging for their services and this makes me sad Obviously everyone is free to charge what they want and if they are happy with that then great. I just think when so much effort and money is put into training every year to update skills and having the best products on the market that we should be rewarded with a wage that is more than the average minimum wage, in some case some of these techs aren't even making that. I don't get the logic behind it. I guess what i'm trying to say is in any other industry the more training that you have and the more experience that you have the higher your wage, in nails it seems to be the case that wither your fresh out of college or have 10 years experience and train every 6 months to update your skills you are paid the same, so why would you bother training? This then leads to the standard of nails dropping, which is damaging to our industry.

I just had a client in there for a set of acrylics who was so happy with her nails not only because they looked natural but because i didn't make her bleed! She thought it was normal to bleed getting your nails done, this is a prime example of what i'm talking about, It makes me so angry!!!

 

[Emily S]

If you can do nails in a hour and are super quick and are happy with your profit, thats great, and i mean that genuinely xx Tell me your secrets to speed haha

I do genuinely book out 1hr and 5 minutes per client, during Xmas/extremely busy weeks I do knock some of these down to an hour... I love to work under pressure... I can work comfortably in my hour and 5 minute slots but you can guarantee, my last appointment of the day (unless I'm doing the school run) ALWAYS takes me longer just because I don't have the 'pressure' on me!! so my advice to speed up is don't allow yourself the time...?!

I have always liked it, even when I worked in admin but it didn't quite cut it, their idea of pressure was my idea of boredom lol nothing has ever given me that buzz like working for myself doing a job I absolutely love!!

 

[Emily S]

I just had a client in there for a set of acrylics who was so happy with her nails not only because they looked natural but because i didn't make her bleed! She thought it was normal to bleed getting your nails done, this is a prime example of what i'm talking about, It makes me so angry!!!

Gosh, talking about bleeding I had a lady comment completely out of the blue on a picture I'd tagged a client in today...

She wrote to my client (her cousin) saying 'ohh be careful, all of those look bad and so sore on the cuticles'!!! :o

I was absolutely mortified... It kinda backfired as all my clients wrote saying how happy they were... As you can see by the pictures any kind of soreness is clearly from before the client came.. If you can see any at all!! She ended up inboxing me saying she'd been drinking and how sorry she was... how rude!!

 

[noreenoconnor]

Gosh, talking about bleeding I had a lady comment completely out of the blue on a picture I'd tagged a client in today...

She wrote to my client (her cousin) saying 'ohh be careful, all of those look bad and so sore on the cuticles'!!!

I was absolutely mortified... It kinda backfired as all my clients wrote saying how happy they were... As you can see by the pictures any kind of soreness is clearly from before the client came.. If you can see any at all!! She ended up inboxing me saying she'd been drinking and how sorry she was... how rude!!

How odd, I see no marks at all around the cuticle area. At least your clients had your back

 

[Emily S]

How odd, I see no marks at all around the cuticle area. At least your clients had your back

I know, I didn't know how to respond I was that shocked.. Even started doubting myself which is ridiculous when it was clear to see there's nothing there!

 

[RED STAR]

Had someone in to talk about my nail tech vacancy..........(at last)
Fresh from college, so I was prepared for a bit of 'brushing up' so to speak.

Oh my.....
The applicant had gained her level 2, and was in the process of completing level 3.
It became obvious early on in our conversation that she was nowhere near ready to work on the public.
Mainly due to a lack of practice, resulting in her having zero confidence.

There was no understanding of the 'business' of nails.
I had to explain the difference between a nail varnish, Shellac, and a gel.....but the most worrying aspect of our conversation was when the applicant said she did not feel able to work on a PAYING client in a salon.....

To conclude, even though I offered to support her in salon, and provide extra training, she decided she would probably prefer to just go mobile, as she wouldn't need to charge much!!! or perhaps she'd look into TEACHING nails instead.

 

[smallandcute]

Ok here is my 2 pence worth with regards to this issue.

Firstly back to basics with education, as already stated students are not taught business within either the nail or beauty courses yet the likes of the nvq or vrq as its now called is aimed at those who wish to start a business at some point in the future.

Another part of the uk education system now is that all under 18's have to be in full time education. So this doesnt give much scope for those that dont really want to study, and i have heard it time and time again, chose a course that they consider 'easy' and the best that can be mustered for taking said courses is 'i like beauty/nails'. I personally think that the courses need over haulling in terms of who is on the course and the reasons why they want to be on the course, the course structure and how skilled the students are at the end. Sadly it would appear that colleges are signing off every student so that they get their money and are rated good by ofsted!

As for one day courses I think these should be offered to those that have already done the foundations first such as the Nvq/Vrq. It should also be made illegal to give insurance to anyone that is a practising therapist/hairdresser or nail tech that doe not hold the foundation training. This in turn can mean that the local authority rejects anyone trying to practise unless they have insurance. Can still have owners only but the staff hired must be insured so they can work.

Next issue again as mentioned is the nss salons. Sadly far too many (not all i might add) have people working in them that may not be here legally let alone trained properly. Laws need to be bought in with regards to products that are harmful and proceedures that should not be carried. Never mind the laws these places are already breaking. Sadly i think the majority of the public think that they are getting a great treatment for a great price and dont see the truth with these places that goes on behind closed doors. I think if the public were really made aware they would boycott at all costs.

I think alot of people think of pricing as how cheap can we get it. They dont see that pricing is part of the marketing plan and just one element. Its great that you have a beautiful salon and good promotional tools with what appears to be legitamite product but why is your price so cheap? If i see a salon like this then i tend to avoid as i think your hiding something, be it your not qualified or insured or using a fake product. Keep your prices to a good standard and market your business. If you have marketed your business well then price should be last thing to be questioned.

Sadly I also see very regularly on here 'I'm a newbie so my prices are lower'. My answer is are you qualified or not? If you are then your not new so get your prices to where you think they should be. Yes I understand that new businesses may want to run an introductory offer but it needs to be kept limited only and not still be the same prices two years down the line.

We also have to remember that different areas attract different clientele. Take where i used to live. One part of the city could be classed as affluent with ladies who lunch. Five minutes later your in another part of the city that at best can be described as a ghetto. Yes the salons would have different price points and definitely different styles of nails but the salons took on board who it was they were attracting as the target market. Are your market more demanding then most, if yes then charge them slightly more for the privilege. A little side note with this one- my sister owns her own business in said city. She has what is known as t taxes and c charges. I will leave the t and c up to your imagination. Each time one of her clients is rude they are either taxed, charged or on rare occasions given both. Clients and sister know where they stand with each other and if it's needed they are charged more, simples! The moral of this story, if your clients are demanding then raises your prices, they will either up and leave or will begin to realise your not to be messed with. Also by increasing your prices you could be attracting a new market that gives you a better and more reliable income and could work the other way too let's not forget.

Again it has been mentioned, beauty seems to have far more offers then hair. Could be that clients still see getting a haircut as an essential but beauty not so. Think we need to be educating clients on why they are important, just as much as educating clients on the fact that bleeding nails and using e files means bad nail health. This I think is key as to why clients keep expecting cheap prices for a poor service, they haven't been educated. As the government isn't pushing for this industry to be legislated any time soon then we have to educate our clients. Take your clients nails from sore and painful to healthy and pretty and along with good education and good business practise, pricing will be less of an issue and your client base may grow as well with good word of mouth and reviews on what you have done for this client. Just remember to never slate another business, only ever state facts.

I think nails may have become the disposable luxury of the hair and beauty world, can change your look as often as you want at a low cost and clients don't know the effects this is potentially having on their nails. Sadly there are so many elements into why nails is the cheap part of the industry. But I think as long as your doing everything above board, with a true business head on then a good bit of competition is healthy. It's not healthy however when it boils down to price wars and nothing else. Then other aspects of the business start to go as well like client care.

If someone says to you your too cheap/expensive, ask them why they think that, then educate them on product used and how you would do the treatment and how their nail health may be improved.

 

[KattyB]

I studied beauty at college for 2 years and have continued to train, re-visit aspects of my NVQ, qualified as an assessor and taken on new product ranges which all involve training etc.

Despite this it is still difficult to increase prices when people are able to train and become 'qualified' after a one day course. They charge less...clients 'try' them out. They receive a 'bad job' . Industry gets a bad name. Alternatively they 'try' them out...nails last 5 weeks!!! Amazing!! Two treatments later they come to me crying...my nails are ruined, sore and paper thin..what can I do??? I put in place a recovery programme, regular manicures..let the nails breathe etc etc. The nails look horrible for a few weeks whilst they wait for the damage to repair. so what do they do???? Go back and have the £15 acrylics reapplied!!!!! Arrggghhhhh!! Its a vicious circle.

I charge less for nails than the local salons but I don't have the same overheads as they do ( I work from home/mobile) rent/rates/ electricity etc. I have owned my own salon and make more profit from being mobile/home worker...and yet I know my nails and the products I use are superior to those that the local salons are using. I also have 16 years experience. I do undervalue my services because I don't have a shop. I don't feel worthy of charging those rates because I'm not in the prime high street location.

Interestingly my sister was talking about a friend of a friend who has started doing nails at home and she was saying she had seen the pictures on facebook and how 'amazing' they were...and how busy she seems straight away. I looked at the pictures. Fairly average for a newbe. I showed her pictures of a tech near me who does amazing nails and charges the same price...my sister was gobsmacked. I think alot boils down to what the customer sees as 'good' or acceptable, what they have to compare them to. I am always amazed at what clients put up with.

 

[blossom]

A few round my way "look amazing" on FB but what you don't get told (obv) is that they start breaking next day and you'd be lucky to have any left in 10 days. But the actual artistic skill used IS brilliant.

I think ATM with nail art being a big thing, a lot of techs are concentrating too early on creating gobsmackingly amazing designs instead of trying to properly get on top of the shape and structure of the nail to make it last.

 

[Emily S]

A few round my way "look amazing" on FB but what you don't get told (obv) is that they start breaking next day and you'd be lucky to have any left in 10 days. But the actual artistic skill used IS brilliant.

I think ATM with nail art being a big thing, a lot of techs are concentrating too early on creating gobsmackingly amazing designs instead of trying to properly get on top of the shape and structure of the nail to make it last.

I've said this for a long time. All the shoddy prep work is covered up by polish and fancy art. I'm so glad I trained at a time where everyone stuck to French or natural nails as it really pushed me to get them right - you could see the lifting straight away which helped too!

 

[beautyloz.xx]

We charge £35 for GELeration overlays, we don't suffer from other salons undercharging, we find people have thought we are "expensive" gone to try cheaper salons and come back as those other salons gels aren't lasting as long X