Frustrating pamper party prices - am I right in standing my ground?

[Tommo]

Hi geeks,

I've just received a phone call from a lady who is organising a huge pamper party for around 35 ladies. She has been calling people like myself to see if we can help.

I of course agreed, and told her what I offer (Manicures, Pedicures, Gel Polish, Spray Tans) I also suggested getting quite a few nail technicians in if people were wanting Shellac/gel polish. I also said it won't work if we are all charging different prices, so this needs thinking about and organising properly.

She said she has spoken to one lady who is doing Shellac for £10 and is willing to do this at the party. Another lady wil do file and polish for £4.

Now I have not even been qualified a year but have worked very hard, have ALWAYS bought high quality products and value my training. I do not want to lower my prices to £10 for gel polish! But now I am going to miss out on a huge pamper party with fab advertising, networking etc etc.

I live in a huge army community so attending this party would be great for me to meet a lot of the wives and do their treatments but how can I possibly attend if they want gel polish manicures for £10?

I know I've answered my own question really but just wondered if anyone else had been in a similar position and if so, did you lower your prices? I'm willing to lower them slightly of course but not by half!

 

[EllieJoy]

With this business you sometimes have to give a little to get back. You could what 15 manicure that evening and earn £150' or you could do 3 people by not doing the event and only earn x amount. The advertising would be fab for your business!

 

[chillysquibbles]

Before maternity leave i frequently did pamper parties - and always discounted my prices heavily purely because i would be getting a full days / afternoons work and making more money in one day - my indian head massage which was normally 20 pound was 10 pound. I found that i would make alot of money this way and the pamper parties formed a staple part of my income. I know its not the same as you have to factor in the cost of products - but in my experience it would be worth doing because of the income and potential income you would be generating.

WRT it being a army do. i can only say DO IT!!!! i also live near a huge army community and the majority of my regular clients for massage and for readings are army wives - word spreads and as long as you are doing a quality job which it seems you are you will see return custom from the ladies time and time again and not just for parties. The ladies all love a pick me up.

 

[pure]

Look at it as a loss leader, reduce your prices for the event to get the clients, and in return you'll get many returning for either removal or re-application, word of mouth advertising, and become a known presence in that particular community.

I personally would do it because the long term pro's outweigh the cons in my opinion.

 

[enlivenbylouise]

I would do it but be clear that it's a special price purely because there r so many ladies there. Bring your standard price list and give everyone a copy.
On this occasion it sounds like you've got to speculate to accumulate x

 

[beautybemine15]

Hi geeks,

I've just received a phone call from a lady who is organising a huge pamper party for around 35 ladies. She has been calling people like myself to see if we can help.

I of course agreed, and told her what I offer (Manicures, Pedicures, Gel Polish, Spray Tans) I also suggested getting quite a few nail technicians in if people were wanting Shellac/gel polish. I also said it won't work if we are all charging different prices, so this needs thinking about and organising properly.

She said she has spoken to one lady who is doing Shellac for £10 and is willing to do this at the party. Another lady wil do file and polish for £4.

Now I have not even been qualified a year but have worked very hard, have ALWAYS bought high quality products and value my training. I do not want to lower my prices to £10 for gel polish! But now I am going to miss out on a huge pamper party with fab advertising, networking etc etc.

I live in a huge army community so attending this party would be great for me to meet a lot of the wives and do their treatments but how can I possibly attend if they want gel polish manicures for £10?

I know I've answered my own question really but just wondered if anyone else had been in a similar position and if so, did you lower your prices? I'm willing to lower them slightly of course but not by half!

I would give it ago .But i would try to work out a loyalty where you get the money back or do what tesco oftern do .Offers where you not really getting the offer you still paying fulling price

 

[Eyelash Addict]

Change how you look at this.... Advertising is never a bad way to spend money, so instead of thinking of this as a loss, think of it as an opportunity to get your name out in the community.

 

[Planky1]

I agree with the others, you need to look at the bigger picture. It's worth a go just to see if you get any clients out of it. I was doing pamper parties and doing just file and polish as I could fit more in, in the space of time I was there and I charged just £5. It got me a few new clients and now an opportunity to have a stall at an event one of the ladies is holding in November. I'll be able to set up all my info etc on Shellac and should get me some new people through the door (fingers crossed)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using SalonGeek

 

[Tommo]

Thank you everyone for your quick replies. I may just do it then if I am guaranteed there are a lot of ladies etc etc. purely because it is advertising though.
I'm just sometimes frightened of offering cheap services and people not appreciating what I do.

But you have all made me look at it in a totally different light so thank you x

 

[pure]

Just to add, I recently did a charity night for a Cystic Fibrosis charity, tickets sold for £10 a go with 70% going to the charity. I did 15 sets of Shellac that evening, made no profit at all, but have gained some good clients who were there on the evening and several more that were recommended from that one event.

Well worth doing!

 

[cazjp69]

Im sorry but I couldnt drop to £10 for Shellac I charge £25 for it now and drop to £20 for parties and if its a big booking will drop further to £15 but £10 is just not worth it as they will expect it being around the same price for further applications.

 

[melissab]

I think it's a good opportunity to get more clients. You may get people that have heard about it but never tried it due to the price and not believing the hype. When they realise how fantastic it is I bet they would be willing to pay full price for the treatment and possibly become a regular client.

 

[Baggybear]

I think you could say you will do x, y and z services for reduced prices.

I would no way offer a service worth £25 for £10. I would not want to spend all that time on one treatment (so only getting to do a few clients) for such a knocked down price. I would be happy to do file and polish or a mini massage or a ring finger of Shellac but I would rather not offer Shellac/gel polish at all, than to lower the price to a level you would never do at any other time.

It will be a great thing to go and advertise yourself but all the other techs who go will be trying to advertise themselves too so be aware of that and try not to lower yourself into playing games (price wars etc..) there will be lots of ladies there and you can hand out your price lists so people know what you offer and what you charge and hope that there will be clientele who know you get what you pay for in this industry and so do not just want to go to the cheapest tech that shows up on the night.

 

[Nailz73]

Hi

i would do it .. for the plain and simple reason of networking, advertising and getting your name out there..

you could a one night only Shellac Taster.. a mini manicure and polish with the ring fingers shellac.for £10. or perhaps make up your own mini tasters.. and then you pass over your card, your pricelist and pop in a 10% off voucher on a full shellac first treatment.. or off any other treatment that you have given a mini taster for..

you have to think about your time issue here... too..

you could do the same for feet maybe .. you may lose a little but then you may gain alot of new custom.. maybe do a shellac rockstar also on ring fingers only.. just gives that little edge without a whole treatment..
take your diary, business cards pricelists.. anything that promotes you..

and keep your confidence..

Sarah x

 

[lissy00]

If you put a huge advert in a magazine, may cost you £100 plus, and you may get 0 clients from it.

Think of this as giving your time for free at the event and the price just covers your material costs. It is all about networking.

However, 35 people when there is already a girl doing shellac and one doing file and polishes. Not sure if that would be worth it to me. I've done these events when we get a minimum of 100 through the door.

If you do decide to go, I always make a little pamper bag up for everyone. Put in a price list, personalised chocloate with my details on, a business card and leaflet about pamper parties which I offer. Try and get your details into as many peoples hands as poss.

 

[Redduck]

I wouldn't do shellac for £10. I'd discount a treatment that cost me less to do. I've learnt the hard way that when I gave large discounts in the past those clients never became full price clients. Saying that, if you're still trying to get a large client base you may think it's worth it to you. Good luck with whatever you decide to do x

 

[Tommo]

Thank you so much geeks, some extremely sound advice and I appreciate all of it.

You've helped me put it into perspective. I'm still debating on what to do but you've all definitely helped x

 

[happyfeet]

Hi Hun

I think sitting down and working out figures here is a must. I wouldn't charge £10 at a pamper party, I charge £25 normally for Shellac. I always um and ahh over these sorts of opportunities, simply because I have had some dire events I've attended and when at the end of the night I work out how much I've made against the amount of time I've spent there, often it works out I would have earned the same for two appointments that took me say maximum two hours to do- the old saying work smarter not harder.

That said I have gained a few clients this way, but they have been more one off holiday clients.

If you were looking at say file and polishes then that would be great to discount, as has been said, it's a quick turn around treatment, costs little to you and enables you to have a face time with these ladies and you can talk all you want about shellac.

I just think something like shellac is a premium service (same for any gel polishes) and I'm going to be as bold as to say, charging £10 pamper party or not, cheapens it. Also sometimes i find these ladies that attend such events are really after cut price treatments and don't always have the intention of using your service at full price. I know thats a sweeping generalising statement, and certainly isn't the case for everyone, but I would bear it in mind, work out your figures and see what you can do.

Love n hugs xxx

 

[Pinkbunny28]

I wouldn't do it. Only because I have never gained any clients from previous ones. Maybe they weren't the right type of setups for me. I made money on the nights but it was a bit of a waste of time to be honest! Totally up to you though, good luck x

 

[Jigglyb4ll]

Hi geeks,

I've just received a phone call from a lady who is organising a huge pamper party for around 35 ladies. She has been calling people like myself to see if we can help.

I of course agreed, and told her what I offer (Manicures, Pedicures, Gel Polish, Spray Tans) I also suggested getting quite a few nail technicians in if people were wanting Shellac/gel polish. I also said it won't work if we are all charging different prices, so this needs thinking about and organising properly.

She said she has spoken to one lady who is doing Shellac for £10 and is willing to do this at the party. Another lady wil do file and polish for £4.

Now I have not even been qualified a year but have worked very hard, have ALWAYS bought high quality products and value my training. I do not want to lower my prices to £10 for gel polish! But now I am going to miss out on a huge pamper party with fab advertising, networking etc etc.

I live in a huge army community so attending this party would be great for me to meet a lot of the wives and do their treatments but how can I possibly attend if they want gel polish manicures for £10?

I know I've answered my own question really but just wondered if anyone else had been in a similar position and if so, did you lower your prices? I'm willing to lower them slightly of course but not by half!

From a different angle here, but if you suggested getting other technicians in wouldn't it be better in future to say you will organise getting them?
Why give the party holder a chance to find someone cheaper than u who could in effect "steal your place"?

In future it might be wise to do this as you can find other technicians that you like and be able to agree on price/product before speaking to the client then everyone is happy?

Personally I would take the price drop and use it for advertising.

Xx