How much do you charge for acrylic? Newbie!

[TheNailBarista]

Just finished my acrylic course, and am introducing it to my services, and was wondering what everyone charges for acrylic with regular nail polish, and acrylic with gel nail polish.
There are thousands of nail salons around, including the mall that I have my spa. Most nail salons around here charge $35CND (18£) full set and $28CND (14£) refill and $45CND (20£) with gel polish. Which im finding insanely cheap for the work I put into in. I know I am definitely not as quick as they are (takes me over 2h or more!) being that I only just trained in acrylic a few weeks ago. I know that those cheap nail salons are word wide, so i want to know how you guys deal with their small competitive rates.......

Also, what did you charge when you first started out vs. now that you have more experience?

 

[pure]

That is cheap! How do I deal with low price salons.......I ignore them and don't factor them in to my pricing or services at all I base my charges on my experience, the top end products I use, the quality of my services, what they cost me to perform and what I want to earn per hour.

If you want to set yourself apart from cheaper places you have to offer something different. So instead of conveyor belt, in and out quick, cheap nails, offer a high end service with high end products and a bit of luxury thrown in, hand massage, hand cream etc and personal time.

 

[Allana_mami]

Im a newbie too! & while im making my portfolio of work .. I charge £10 to cover the cost of materials used. Once iv gained as much experience as i can i will charge £15-£20 But thats on simple fact of where i live etc maybe as time goes on on depending on what the client wanted i would charge more.. But for now i want pictures to be able to build buisness that way xx

 

[Jen889]

I just did my course in acrylic as well and I will be charging $45 full set, $38 refill and $60 with gel polish. Around here,in Montreal, people charge $45-$65 for a full set.

Honestly, I don't even bother looking at the cheaper salons. I charge what I'm worth and that's it. The type of clients that go there usually won't come to us and our clients usually won't go there.

 

[TheNailBarista]

I just did my course in acrylic as well and I will be charging $45 full set, $38 refill and $60 with gel polish. Around here,in Montreal, people charge $45-$65 for a full set.

Honestly, I don't even bother looking at the cheaper salons. I charge what I'm worth and that's it. The type of clients that go there usually won't come to us and our clients usually won't go there.

awesome! I'm in Ottawa, I've been actively in the aesthetics industry for 6 years and charge high prices for the services I've been doing for 6 years, and feel very comfortable/no competition pressure doing so. This is the first time I've been NEW at something in the industry again! Very weird feeling. Thanks for the advice! I shouldn't be comparing myself to the lower priced salons, you are right!! That's what I've always done, why change my tune now!

 

[Jen889]

awesome! I'm in Ottawa, I've been actively in the aesthetics industry for 6 years and charge high prices for the services I've been doing for 6 years, and feel very comfortable/no competition pressure doing so. This is the first time I've been NEW at something in the industry again! Very weird feeling. Thanks for the advice! I shouldn't be comparing myself to the lower priced salons, you are right!! That's what I've always done, why change my tune now!

Never lower yourself!! If you class your self as "high end" why change it now? Ive been in the industry 7years and i do the same with my prices as you. I would never lower them past $45. Once I feel more confident I'll raise them to $55 a full set.

 

[krum]

I think it's important to emphasise that you care for the natural nail. The cheap places usually use dodgy products, cut corners like doing no cuticle work and file the natural nail with an e file. Peoples nails get destroyed when they go to those places. Emphasise that you look after the nails and hands and people will come. Also specialising is good. Very few places sculpt around here so that's a USP. What would stand out where you live? Once you have these things in place and do proper advertising that explains what you do exactly and why then there are people willing to pay more.

 

[kirstie1980]

Dont base your prices on what others are charging. Base your prices on your skills. As youve just finished your course would i be right in saying that your work isnt 100% yet? (I dont mean that in a bad way) Be honest with yourself and look at your work and ask yourself how much you would pay someone for it. Do you have any issues with lifting? Nails coming off? How good/not so good are your smile lines? How even is the structure of the nails? Think of every aspect and base your prices on that until youve mastered it. Work on getting everything right before you worry about your timing. 2 hours+ is a long time but with practice youll quickly cut your timing down. Maybe put some pics of your work up and ask people how much they would happily pay

 

[squidgernetball]

That is cheap! How do I deal with low price salons.......I ignore them and don't factor them in to my pricing or services at all I base my charges on my experience, the top end products I use, the quality of my services, what they cost me to perform and what I want to earn per hour.

If you want to set yourself apart from cheaper places you have to offer something different. So instead of conveyor belt, in and out quick, cheap nails, offer a high end service with high end products and a bit of luxury thrown in, hand massage, hand cream etc and personal time.

I totally agree with @pure. We offer a lovely location, excellent service, great coffee and intelligent (sometimes) conversation. We charge £25 for gel polish or shellac. We are not in a town, we are in the middle of nowhere but clients come to us from all over, many passing the cheap salons on the way. We couldn't fit a lady in the other day so she went to a cheap salon. She came in yesterday saying "never again". If you go to a salon charging £10 for nails you get £10 worth of nails. Know your market and stick to it. My market is not cheap churned out nails.

Good luck

Vic x

 

[jolie69]

hi - Ive just seen your thread and as no one has replied yet thought this may help - this was my post BTW.
Charge a fair price for what you do - I took ages when I first started so charged less as I felt this was not the best I could do - set your price according to the service charge it costs you in products and disposables plus your hourly charge that it should take you. You can always put your prices up once your speed is quicker. Set your initial prices at Introductory for a limited time too .

Hi Ladies,
My friend has just had a set of acrylic nails done at a "nice" salon. She asked for pink and white acrylic, 1/2 cm longer than they were at the time, almond shaped.

I asked about the service as I used to do Extensions - CND trained. For £35 this is what she had done:
No removal of existing polish, cuticles were pushed back with pusher - no cuticle remover
Regular polish was then filed off as nail plate was buffed.
White tip applied - no tailoring and blending, no white acrylic.
Clear acrylic applied over whole nail, shaped shorter than asked and more squoval than almond.
UV top coat applied - no buffing to a high shine.

They were done in an hour - amazing - but I am staggered at the price for what was done.

I would have expected to pay £25 for that level of service not £35 - is this the norm please?
Where has the expertise and professionalism gone?

 

[TheNailBarista]

Dont base your prices on what others are charging. Base your prices on your skills. As youve just finished your course would i be right in saying that your work isnt 100% yet? (I dont mean that in a bad way) Be honest with yourself and look at your work and ask yourself how much you would pay someone for it. Do you have any issues with lifting? Nails coming off? How good/not so good are your smile lines? How even is the structure of the nails? Think of every aspect and base your prices on that until youve mastered it. Work on getting everything right before you worry about your timing. 2 hours+ is a long time but with practice youll quickly cut your timing down. Maybe put some pics of your work up and ask people how much they would happily pay

Here is an example I recently did on a friend. She let me play a bit, took me 2hrs and a bit. I did a white tip to practice my smile line, and then a topped it with Gelish Tiger Blossom which is what she initially wanted. This is the third set I've ever did. Working on getting a little closer to the cuticle

 

[pure]

These look lovely...for your 3rd ever set! You're going to be one to watch I reckon

 

[pure]

Oh and charging...providing you don't get breaking/lifting issues I would charge top prices with maybe an introductory offer just to get yourself started so then when your confidence is high you can charge full price.

 

[TheNailBarista]

Oh and charging...providing you don't get breaking/lifting issues I would charge top prices with maybe an introductory offer just to get yourself started so then when your confidence is high you can charge full price.

I'm not sure I feel comfortable charging full price because it takes me so long to do a set... Also my first couple of sets have had chipping and lifting.... the last few haven't so far, but that only means they're a week old..... so it's still hard to judge...

 

[pure]

That's why I said set your top price but until you are fully confident have an offer in place. For example say you wanted to eventually charge $40, your prices would show this but then have a time limited offer for say $30. This way you're making people aware that they have a temporary lower price but they're also aware of what they will eventually pay. It can be difficult if you start with low prices to then put them up to your true worth. It's far easier to start high and offer a reduction. Does that make sense? You need to think long term in business not just the present.

 

[kirstie1980]

View attachment 188621
Here is an example I recently did on a friend. She let me play a bit, took me 2hrs and a bit. I did a white tip to practice my smile line, and then a topped it with Gelish Tiger Blossom which is what she initially wanted. This is the third set I've ever did. Working on getting a little closer to the cuticle

Your 3rd set! Really??? They looks absolutely fantastic for your 3rd set. If you're not getting any service breakdown, you could easily charge full price for your work.