How do you compete?

[LB’s]

ive started mobile spray tanning and looking at local competition, most are charging £10!! How on earth do they make anything? & how do I compete? I don’t want to offer prices so low especially when it leaves no room for offer days. Any veterans with advice?

 

[EllenHyuga]

Don’t undersell yourself! That’s what they’re doing! I doubt their tans would be as good as yours I don’t currently offer it so I can’t help on that front xx

 

[LB’s]

Don’t undersell yourself! That’s what they’re doing! I doubt their tans would be as good as yours I don’t currently offer it so I can’t help on that front xx

Thanks so much for your reply. I want people
To afford me but at the same time it has to be worth my time. It’s really disheartening when I see these prices being offered and
Wonder how I will compete x

 

[EllenHyuga]

It’s a huge problem and is discussed here a lot. Have you looked at what salons are offering? X

 

[LB’s]

It’s a huge problem and is discussed here a lot. Have you looked at what salons are offering? X

I can imagine! I haven’t looked at salon price tbh as I didn’t think they’d be much competition with me offering mobile. But I suppose analysing all angles is beneficial. I will have a gander xx

 

[Beautiful-you]

It certainly is a topic that has been discussed here before (and can be a bit of a touchy subject!). It seems though that the general consensus is that it is hard to make a decent living from spray Tanning alone all year round. There also appears to be discrepancies over what clients are prepared to pay depending on the area you live in (that is my own observation from previous threads). I offer spray tans from my home based treatment room and I charge £20. I occasionally do offers, but usually as part of a package deal and never charge less than £15.

I have noticed on SG that it seems to be the mobile tanners that seem to struggle more with the competitive pricing for some reason? Do they have a different clientele perhaps? I honestly don't know, But you are completely right, you really mustn't undersell yourself! Start as you mean to go on. Look at how you advertise your business, make yours look classy and professional so your clients know you are going to give them the best treatment. See if you can come up with a USP so you stand out from the others.

 

[Angel Tanning]

This is a massive problem in my area too and something that I’ve just come to the conclusion that aslong as I know I’m offering a good service and clients are coming back to me, then I must be doing ok! Going rate for tans in my area is £10-15. It’s very competitive and I’ve often wanted to throw the towel in because of this, but stick at it. Another thing I’ve noticed is, that there’s not much loyalty (not in my area anyway) if someone sees a cheap tan on offer, they’ll go for it. Might be different in your area though hopefully xx

 

[Cindy2021]

I think if there’s an offer on then clients will take it. It’s an easy treatment to do so there’s unlikely to be any problems with it. And there are so many great self tanning products available plus sun bed offers I doubt it is a sole treatment that’s profitable.

 

[BeBronzed Mobile Tanning]

I was thinking the exact same thing with the prices being so low in my area.
I’ve just made a post about offering my normal £20 SiennaX then having say Nouvatan for £15 to possibly increase my client base not sure whether to try this or not...

 

[LB’s]

I was thinking the exact same thing with the prices being so low in my area.
I’ve just made a post about offering my normal £20 SiennaX then having say Nouvatan for £15 to possibly increase my client base not sure whether to try this or not...

I was thinking of nouvatan for £20 mobile.. and hoping to attract the clientele to pay it... I will also be offering mobile massage and perhaps personal training so hoping that will pick up the slack, it’s just so annoying seeing people charge so little making it harder for us who actually want to make some sort of living I say perhaps personal training as I’ve tried this for a while and attracting the “right” clientele is very hard in that industry.

 

[BeBronzed Mobile Tanning]

Yeah spot on about the low prices [emoji50] Mobile massage sounds good though. I’d imagine a lot of people would prefer to have a massage at home as it means they have the option to chill at home straight afterwards instead of walking straight out of a salon - nothing wrong with this, I just prefer mobile treatments for this reason [emoji4]

 

[Minkeybox]

The lasses banging out the £10 a pop tans probably aren't running a bussiness. They may think they are, but all they really have is an expensive hobby.

Ive always been over £20 for my tans. I use all the extras like sticky feet, hair nets & barrier cream & i give away an aftercare pack with every tan that ppl appreciate. Bought in bulk these dont eat into my profit but Tanning is only a small part of what I do.

In January I didnt have one tan booked in! They started up again in Feb but were still only 2/3 a week. I dont think its possible to survive soley on tans alone, when its good (bridal parties & prom days) its very good- last year I had 18 in one day for our local school prom, but you need another treatment to take up the slack imo xx

 

[LB’s]

The lasses banging out the £10 a pop tans probably aren't running a bussiness. They may think they are, but all they really have is an expensive hobby.

Ive always been over £20 for my tans. I use all the extras like sticky feet, hair nets & barrier cream & i give away an aftercare pack with every tan that ppl appreciate. Bought in bulk these dont eat into my profit but Tanning is only a small part of what I do.

In January I didnt have one tan booked in! They started up again in Feb but were still only 2/3 a week. I dont think its possible to survive soley on tans alone, when its good (bridal parties & prom days) its very good- last year I had 18 in one day for our local school prom, but you need another treatment to take up the slack imo xx

Thanks for your experiences and I’m glad it’s not just me thinking that £10 spray tans come across as a joke... a very frustrating joke

 

[nailpod]

£10 is a joke that is almost my cost price In my country currency. I charge £25 if you convert it . And I’m still classified as cheap in my area. I don’t live in the city so it is possibly why.

There will always be cheap nails cheap facials cheap everything. It depends on how you see yourself as value yourself. You don’t want to do a treatment and feel unhappy.

I see a lot of rubbish tans being done with clients leaving looking like orange monsters or patchy tans in my area. Being a good tan technician takes a lot of skill so you need to charge for your talent!

 

[Louisaxo]

Hope these tips might help

Maybe try group deals, for example 3 tans for £40
Or if you offer mobile charge £20 or £15 from your own home. Worth a tryx

 

[Crazy elegance]

Definitely don’t undersell yourself ... I am mobile and have been charging £20 but from next month I am putting my pricing up to £22 ... remember you are going to their house so there is wear and tear on your car time and products. But it’s also a good service to have a mobile tanner.

£10 is just silly and I wouldn’t even use someone myself charging that. Would be interested to see the process they do before and after the tan !

 

[LB’s]

Definitely don’t undersell yourself ... I am mobile and have been charging £20 but from next month I am putting my pricing up to £22 ... remember you are going to their house so there is wear and tear on your car time and products. But it’s also a good service to have a mobile tanner.

£10 is just silly and I wouldn’t even use someone myself charging that. Would be interested to see the process they do before and after the tan !

Thanks I thought the same!... I did a limited introductory offer at half price which is up now and I had a lot of interest. Now it’s full price, I haven’t had a booking yet ‍... time will tell though as all of them were happy and even had a couple return to take advantage of the offer.

 

[EssexFreelance]

It’s who you attract that you need to think of.

Personally I would never use someone who charges £10.

To answer your question if people are happy to work for less than minimum wage that’s up to them.

I would like to think everyone pays for decent products, insurance to be in my house, insurance on their car for buiness, national insurance, tax, training costs, their admin time to book the appointment etc

 

[EssexFreelance]

I charge more than my competition, I want regular people who are looking at investing in me and what I do. I don’t have people looking for last minute appointments or bargains- it’s important to earn money but also to grow a business

 

[Beautiful-you]

The problem is, new clients that come for a half price Tan are probably not going to become regulars when the price doubles I'm afraid to say. There are lots of people out there that will only ever go for the bargains. On the other hand, the sort of clients you should be trying to attract could well be put off by really cheap offers as they might question the quality of the products being used. It's a quiet time of year for Tanning still. Give it a month or two and things should improve.