How much do i charge??

[Beckih84]

Hi,

I am a newly qualified nail tech, i am charging £10 to cover my costs at the min for a full set and £5 for an infill to cover my costs, do you think that this is an acceptable price to charge? any info gratefully recieved.

thank you all for your help and advice!

becki

xx

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

I did exactly the same Hun,
And to be honest I found it really hard to increase my prices as time went by...
You have the obvious "OK I am qualified now" moment,
But other than that, it can be really hard as you know your skill level is increasing to "up" your prices to reflect that...

Then there is the case where you may feel guilty on all those people who you charged so little as they "let you practice"
I personally only see 2 of the clients Now that I performed nail enhancements on when I was charging £10....

That is out of maybe 30/40 different other people I saw during the time increasing from £6.50 in the first couple of weeks...to £10....to £15....to £18...to £20....then I jumped to £28.50 (when I launched as a business) clients had ebbed away at this point...basicly I had none

I then lowered back to £25 and every now and then sent out "special offers" for £20 French t&o sets....

Like I say I only have 2 clients stay with me to watch me grow as a nail technician...
The price increases put everyone else off I presume....

I know I have waffled on, I just wanted to share with you how NOT to do it hun....

If you think that £10 is a fair price at the moment as an incentive to get your practice in, then maybe make sure you set a price range for the different services you will offer when you have qualified NOW
Make people aware of it NOW....that way there are no surprises for your clients...They know where they stand, and so do you..

(possibly have a date set in your mind to, when you will enforce these "new" prices...then it saves you thinking "am I good enough yet...am I better than that now" )

It will all be there ready for you xxx
Have a look round local business's see their price ranges, and work around that for starters...:hug:



OK I am editing as I read too quick ~~smack Emm's~~
and realise you have already qualified,
Can I ask hunny, how long was your course ?
Have you had much practice while training ?

It seems your prices are too low IMO if you are a qualified tech...:hug:
People will probably not take you too seriously charging so low,
You may find you only get the "bargain hunters" instead of the regular loyal clients, who's enhancements mean EVERYTHING to them...
These people will be your business's best friends hun xx

 

[Beckih84]

i have just qualified but i have done a couple of sets and dont feel confident to charge much more at the min, i was thinking i need to get the experience, people though the door and perfect on them so that when i launch myself in a few weeks 'officially' i will be better for it! im just consious that i dont want to rip people off and i really want to perfect what i am doing, i want my new people to go away and say hey becki is really good and im really happy with my nails, but the ones i have done this week havent been as good as they can so i kinda thought take the time to get it right.
xx

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

awwww babe you sound exactly the same as I did :hug:
And I think you have exactly the right way of thinking though...
You want repeat business....

I was the same, I wanted (and still do) to be known as "Emma is really good go to her" not " Emma is cheap "

Well If you truly want to hammer the practice now is a better time than ever really with the Xmas season approaching....

How about (if you are happy with it, and really don't want to charge anymore at the moment)
doing an "action plan" say for January being your target month....

You will probably have done plenty of sets by then to feel more confident and tackled a few issues....
Launch yourself then with the new prices...

Warn clients now that thats what is happening, they will be fully aware...

I think looking back now, you have to plan ahead for things like this...
Especially if confidence is an issue...
I have been qualified for 2 and a half years now, and still think sometimes "god that set of nails was rubbish" client/friend walks out beaming from ear to ear chuffed with what I have done, but it isn't good enough for me...

I have gone from thick chunky nails....to lifting issues...to rubbish smiles...to this and that...
Now the perfect line of light is the main thing I get annoyed with if I don't get it right..

Hope I haven't gone on too much, and someone else may be able to offer more advice...
I just wouldn't want you to do what I did, it makes you undervalue yourself I think...
:hug:

 

[TWINKLE TIPS]

I'm exactly the same! I'm no where near confident enough yet to charge a great deal. I've done a few sets for friends and charged £6. I have no one family wise to practice on as my mum has her own nails and won't let me practice lol. My aim was to be more confident and do better sets by mid november but that's not happening as lack of practice.
Hope your able to feel more confident soon and reach your target.

 

[karentriff]

I didn't charge much when practicing, only to cover costs. I had a fairly big client base then. When I told my clients I was starting in a salon and the prices would be going up, I lost all but two. This was a big blow because I had hoped they were coming because they loved the nails I did and not because I was cheap.
Looking back I probably should have charged somewhere in between salon prices and what I did charge so that it wasn't such a big step for them.
It doesn't matter what you do you will have the clients who pour in the door just because you are cheap. Especially as in my case there is no NSS here.
I was the same as you and didn't have enough confidence in the nails I was doing to charge more at the start.
Its a tough call. I had no one much to practice on either.
Now I am opening my own salon and have set my prices as basically similar to all the other salons in town. I want clients to come because they love my nails not my prices.
I would do as Emmsybabes says and make it quite clear that you have a date where you will be raising your prices. Get in as many practice sets as you can in the meantime. I would even have on display a service menu with what your prices are going to be for your clients to see.
Cheers
Karen

 

[suzie49]

Hi hun, I know how hard it can be trying to find the 'right' price to charge when you have just qualified, I remember it well, but dont sell yourself short, its harder to start charging normal prices as you get better if you do.
I have just started using Freeforms, so I advertised on my website for models while I was perfecting my techniqe at £15 a set also giving them the normal price, I have 4 models 3 of which are staying with me at full price. I'm about to do the same for acrylic sculpts as I just passed my course with that.
If you advertise for models stating model prices and normal prices I am sure you will get a few clients, I think your prices are 2 low tho I would charge at least half price hun...x

 

[Beckih84]

yeah i was thinking just do maybe £10 for the first month then possibly up to £20, i know that is a steep climb but i dont feel like i want to turn down the chance to practise at the min and prob need it, i want to have confidence in what i am selling and i feel that the best way is to get people in the door. i work for a large company (my day job) and have the potential to get alot of high earning clients from there, so was thinking if i can let everyone know what im doing and try to get a good reputation with the £10 thing then people will know what i do and think of me or reccomend me when they have nails, i think reputation is so important, i always think of where i had mine done that girl i fantastic and i just wouldnt go anywhere else. i guess i want that but i need to practice first! i was finding from my reasearch that where i live there are 2 kinds of prices for nails, you get your skilled nail tech charging maybe £30-£40 for a set, then there is nail bars and some charge as lowas £18 for a set! so i never know which i should compete with. although i do know that i would kie to be talented and skilled at what i do, i have literrally just started this week and i did 3 sets charging £20, they all looked great then about a day or so later they were coming off and i just thought back to the drawing board, i need to get more people and more practice! i like the idea of letting them know that this wont be forever as i dont want it to be either and if they dont come back they dont come back but at least ill have the faith in what im doing! i need to make a price list, if anyone has any advice please let me know!

and thank you all for your help with this it has really helped!!!

xxxxxxx

 

[Sara Evans]

I am also a new nail tech, i started charging my friends who helped me at collage £5 for L&P pink and white, just after my qualification was gained i had a knock in confidence and started using white tips, within about two months i increased my price to £20 and i found people were really happy with what they were getting value for their money and coming back (when i say they i work full time and have three clients!!). I went to "the Event" with CND last week and grew so much in confidence and learnt so much i started with pink and white again. There were not good and went back and did the client white tips so she was happy with the £20 charge. I know what went wrong and how to rectify the problem and that needs me to do "perfect practice" (Gigi an CND) When i am ready to practice on clients i will do the same as before drop my charge to £5 until i can be sure that i am happy the client is getting a way good deal for that money.
I also think that it depends on who your clients are and what area you are from as i looked at alot of price lists before finally settling on charging £20 and in the new year i am thinking of upping the price again to about £22 (thanks to CND event that is). Hope that this helps

 

[xAnnaBannAx]

I am recently qualified too and I charge 20 for a set.....15 for a rebalance and 10 for a soak off. I havent gradually increased my prices...ive gone from doing all my family and friends nails free of charge to charging the above...I just explained I had to cover my costs but im still keeping the prices low for them and they seem happy x

 

[RedAdmiral]

I think the main thing is not to undercharge for your services, I dont like to tell students to just cover the costs as its too cheap. I was thinking back to when I began as I relied quite heavily on family n friends and their friends. I charged £10-15 and that was 7 yrs ago and no one really minded. A lot of the time its about confidence and not putting yourself down - Your clients know your just beginning and wont be too hard on you.

 

[suzie49]

A lot of the geeks on here have there websites linked in with there signitures hun including me, you can always take a peek at them to see the price lists to give you some ideas. HTH. xx

 

[fozzyo]

Whenever anyone asks about pricing I always say there is one reply - whatever people will pay!!

I'm a moderator on an independent Virgin Atlantic forum and every so often there is a debate about the price of Premium Economy and how it costs so much more then an Economy seat. Yes it does, two or even three times as much. So do you get three times as good a flying experience? Probably not, but you do get better food and a more comfortable seat. The key question here is, does it sell out? Yes it does, because people are willing to pay that price for it. And while people pay it why should Virgin lower their prices?

And the same applies to nails, waxing, facials, massage, hair etc. There are plenty of people who only want the cheapest option and will go to a NSS, don't waste time trying to market to or convince these people to pay your prices - they just want the cheapest and aren't bothered about quality. As a qualified tech you are offering a quality, safe, professional service so charge appropriately.

Mat

 

[lisa-marie]

while i was training at college i charged £5 per full set to cover costs and when i qualified in may this year i started charging £20 for a full set/£15 for rebalances & infill's and explained to my clients that i am doing a reduced rate because i am newly qualified & not experienced, i have been telling them that this is a special offer to get my skill levels up and my timings down.

i am going to do a new price list in time for Xmas with full prices on as i am feeling more confident in ability now (especially after attending the cnd event), i will give my clients the price list a few weeks in advance to warn them of increases.

you might find when you increase your prices that a few people won't be interested anymore but that just means they were not going to be loyal customers, i had loads of people wanting full sets when i started training as i was doing them free for practice and when i started charging £5 for materials a few of them didn't come back! now I'm charging £20 i don't see hardly any of my first customers, they were only interested in a free set of nails! but now I'm getting a more regular clientèle that really look after the nails i create for them because they have paid for them.

just remember you can't start a successful nail business doing things for cheap x

 

[doodles]

hi ive been in college for 8wks nw currently doin level 3 nails an have never done them previously in college its a open salon on a thurs and the college charges 15 for a full set an 10 for in fills and i charge the same out of college for ppl i knw it is all about confidence!!!!!

xx deb xx

 

[hannajadem]

Reading this with interest, I've only recently qualified and have only worked on four friends since. I ask for £5 but only one has given me £5, the others said they would give me what they thought the nails were worth. I've had 'donations' ranging from £10 to £20.
I still don't feel happy with any of the sets I've done, the main problem is my friends come to my home and I've got all the distractions of the phone, baby etc, and once I got so stressed it took me five hours to do a full set, when my first ever full set took me 2 1/2 hrs! And I'm never happy with the finished look.
I'm going to advertise soon for models for reduced fee sets. I just hope I can get their nails looking good because I don't want to get bad rep before I've even started!