How much should I expect to pay...?

[bimbogeri]

Sometimes I'm finding it hard to differentiate between wholesale/suppliers sites and retail sites due to pricing. I'm a natural cheapskate, which doesn't help, and I know in this game you get what you pay for, so I'm not adverse to paying out to get quality, but sometimes I don't know if sites are quoting salon prices.
As I said, it's probably my cheapskate self kicking in, but often I'm seeing suppliers selling at what I assumer are salon/technician prices, and the costs are more than I would pay retail.
If anyone has a quick bench mark they could give, what should I expect to pay for:
Nail polish.... especially polish that I might want to also retail? I know The Edge sells at around £3-4 a bottle, with an RRP for clients of about £8. Nail Order say the same for Moodies, and their own polishes are something like 99p each. As yet though I can't find a stockist with a full range of Nubar or Toma polishes at salon price, and although Nail Order sell Itzy Bitzy (I think they'd be good in retail packs, say in packs of 3 coordinating colours) they don't have a colour chart. Can anyone recommend any suppliers for these brands? Also for Attitude polish as I can't seem to find one. Have a local Sally's but it's pretty ickle.
Cuticle oil... again, £3.95 for 1/2 oz sounds like retail to me, but as it's Nail Order I assume it's not. Am I being cheap again? And, if I'm not, what price should I then realistically expect to retail it for?
The same for hand cream and lotion, soap and polish remover.
Thanks guys, I promise I'll stop asking stoopid questions soon!
Lol x

 

[Carole Lindsay]

Sometimes I'm finding it hard to differentiate between wholesale/suppliers sites and retail sites due to pricing. I'm a natural cheapskate, which doesn't help, and I know in this game you get what you pay for, so I'm not adverse to paying out to get quality, but sometimes I don't know if sites are quoting salon prices.
As I said, it's probably my cheapskate self kicking in, but often I'm seeing suppliers selling at what I assumer are salon/technician prices, and the costs are more than I would pay retail.
If anyone has a quick bench mark they could give, what should I expect to pay for:
Nail polish.... especially polish that I might want to also retail? I know The Edge sells at around £3-4 a bottle, with an RRP for clients of about £8. Nail Order say the same for Moodies, and their own polishes are something like 99p each. As yet though I can't find a stockist with a full range of Nubar or Toma polishes at salon price, and although Nail Order sell Itzy Bitzy (I think they'd be good in retail packs, say in packs of 3 coordinating colours) they don't have a colour chart. Can anyone recommend any suppliers for these brands? Also for Attitude polish as I can't seem to find one. Have a local Sally's but it's pretty ickle.
Cuticle oil... again, £3.95 for 1/2 oz sounds like retail to me, but as it's Nail Order I assume it's not. Am I being cheap again? And, if I'm not, what price should I then realistically expect to retail it for?
The same for hand cream and lotion, soap and polish remover.
Thanks guys, I promise I'll stop asking stoopid questions soon!
Lol x

Attitude polishes can be bought at wholesaler for £1.60 + VAT. Their 100ml non-acetone remover (which is a good size to stock to sell to clients) is £1.15 + VAT each - hope this helps. Dont have much else price-wise to hand, i'm afraid although i do buy other product ranges myself.

 

[naturalnails]

It all depends on which brands you are looking at. Most of the companies you have mentioned - the Edge, Nailorder etc are selling stuff to "professionals" rather than the general public. £3.95 does not necessarily mean retail price for cuticle oil - it depends on the brand.

I personally have a figure in my mind that I want to make as profit on retail sales and that is what I add on. Some charge 100% mark up plus where others will charge less. It does depend a little bit on where you are and what your market will bear.

 

[Jo Jo]

I personally have never been able to retail anything over £5! Yet some techs can easily retail polishes at £8/9! It's very much down to your client base and their disposable income, so I tend to buy the cheaper ranges to sell and have some of the more expensive stuff in just in case!! The tiny bottles of Solar Oil are good to retail, I think they cost about £2 and I charge £4 and people seem happy to pay that, also Star Nails have a good cuticle oil which is cheaper and a bigger bottle so you make more from the retail. I was given some good advice by a very experienced nail tech, she said she would prefer her clients to buy the products they needed to keep their nails in good shape and to do that she had to sell at the right price and for her it was the less expensive stuff. I'd expect to pay £3/4 for a higher range cuticle oil and £3/4 for a good polish to retail. Jeez did ANY of that make any sense???
J xx

 

[Little Angel]

Hi

I only retail what i use so if i dont use it i dont sell it. That way people ask me as i am using it on them and its sold! I stock Creative and Biosculpture. My biggest sellers are solar oil, non acetone polish rem and solar butter. I stock the oils in all 4 sizes so clients can purchase the size they can afford.
The prices you have mentioned seem ok to me.
The best thing you can do is go to a trade show. I always consider the postage to so if i want a lot of creative and other beauty stuff i order it from ellisons but if its just cnd then i get it direct.

 

[Mrs Gadget]

My retail stock is as follows, although I do run a salon with 3 technicians:

CND 1/8 oz Solar Oil £2.50
CND ¼ oz Solar Oil £5.50
CND 4 oz Solar Oil £29.95
CND Scentsations Hand & Body Lotion £3.50
CND Solar Silk £13.95
Out the Door 1/8 oz £2.50
Out the Door ½ oz £6.75
CND Nail Enamel £8.95
CND Stickey – base coat £8.95
CND Super Shiney – top coat £8.95
CND Speedey – quick drying top coat £7.95
CND Toughen Up – nail strengthener £10.95
Small Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel £1.50
Large Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel £4.50
Hologram Nail File £2.00
Yankee File £2.50
Small 3 way Buffer £1.00
Large 3 way Buffer £3.00
Nail Glue £1.50
Star Nails Non-Acetone Nail Varnish Remover £1.75

My retail stock sells very well, as I use all of the above except the glue in my treatments albeit acrylics or manicure/pedicures, although my biggest sellers are obviously Solar Oil, Solar Silk, Anti-bacterial hand gels, Out the Door and 3 way buffers.

Jue xxx