Practising spray tans and price

[mary1981]

Hi geeks, if anyone read my blog they would see i have had my fab spray tan training today, woo!
My question is regarding practising and how much to charge, and i've had, shall we say, a difference of opinions with my partner about it tonight. He think i should do it for free . I think i should charge £5 to cover costs, especially if i have to travel there etc. What are your opinions on this? I charged £15 when practising nails so i dont see how this is any different! Am i being greedy here cos i dont think i am. One of my friends said she would get a few girls at hers and i could practise on them, so i though £5 each and hers for free. I think its dangerous territory doing things for free, the only person who i charge nothing is my sister in law who is a hairdresser so we basically swap treatments, and because she has nails more often than i have my hair done she pays £10 every so often, anyway im going off on a tangent here, but my point is surely i should be covering my costs here? What can i say to convince anyone who thinks it should be free?
Thanks xxx

 

[lisa82]

I told my mates that I'd do their 1st 2 tans free, that way it's practice for me and they are able to advertise it, they have been telling everyone about me tanning now so I see it as free advertising also.
I make them come to me though, I wouldn't drive to them for a freebie! x

 

[weezie]

I practiced on family and friends for free I only needed to do 3 until I felt confident and then went on to charge full price to clients. :hug: I would practice on friends and family as if it goes wrong they will forgive you! I would not tan people I would be looking to charge full price to later down the line at a massively discounted rate as it devalues the service, but if these people can be used as guinea pigs and will be happy to pay something then by all means charge them half price and make them come to you, half price is a great offer. They can then take it or leave it. Tell them you are doing a promotion to get started. It's not greed it's business. If you do it for free they will not necessarily follow instructions on how to prepare for the tan or maintain it!

 

[champagne]

I didnt do any practice, I just charged them the full price straight away, I think once youve done one tan its pretty easy ..... I would just charge the full price x

 

[allyballybee]

I would do only close friends for free until you are doing it perfect (which I don't think will take too long) then charge full price.
xx

 

[spraytangeek]

I did it for free and wish that i hadnt. your using your solution. i would charge £5-£10 for practising x

 

[mary1981]

thanks everyone for your advice! I think i shall see what friends/family i can rope in for a couple of tans and take it from there. I agree that i dont want to devalue my service to those who will pay full price! xx

 

[collin]

The thing is Mary that no one person is the same..we all take in information at different rates and some pick things up quiet easily so its very much an individual thing.

Most certainly keep practicing on non paying clients until such times as you have mastered the technique and also feel confident in yourself and your technique...spray tanning a friend is a whole different ball game to spray tanning a paying customer

Stage two would be to introduce a discounted cost (you can promote this as an intro deal so no need to explain to your customers that your just still learning) but make sure you make it clear that this reduced price is for a period of xxx only and that the rate will rise to xxx in xxx time

Hope that helps and that you enjoy spreading the :Love:

 

[Bonkers]

I dont think you can really go wrong with tanning i charged from the beginning as i know what people are like with once a freebie they expect it all the time.

What I did was have a tanning evening at my house that way not travelling and setting up and putting down equipment and no petrol cost and i invited all my friends and friends of friends knowing they wouldnt all turn up, in the end there were 10 tans and i charge £10 per person after that it went straight to £20

good luck although im sure your fab! x

 

[champagne]

Once you qualify you should be charging a qualified rate.....You could do a special offer but I really dont see the point in (practising) charges....

Any other business....once qualified you would surely work to your worth, so why not tanning???

You will always get better with experience as with any job but if you qualify in somethng then surely you are competent to carry out the service correctly therefore charge the going rate.....

 

[Jenx]

I didn't do training rates, but then I did over 10 spray tans at my training, so was really confident and raring to go lol. Although I did do a quick practice on my MIL and hubby before taking paying customers (I didn't charge them obviously). From the start I have charged everyone the full price.
The good thing about doing so many friends in my training was that they were walking adverts for me, and so word of mouth began.
If I was going to do training rates, then like already mentioned above, I would, instead, have a party at your house so they all come to you and charge them £5 - £10 to at least cover any costs.
They will bring you loads of business, but at least this way you can say it is your launch party or something similar, so they won't get these prices again.
Good luck with it all xxx

 

[Beau-T]

definately charge something!! Otherwise you'll quickly need supplies, and you'll have earnt nothing to pay for them. So at LEAST cover your costs.

I personally did 1/2 price tans for friends for 2 weeks only, then straight up to £20. Which is what i now charge.

Am i right in thinking it was Sienna you trained with?

 

[Leanne P]

Once you qualify you should be charging a qualified rate.....You could do a special offer but I really dont see the point in (practising) charges....

Any other business....once qualified you would surely work to your worth, so why not tanning???

You will always get better with experience as with any job but if you qualify in somethng then surely you are competent to carry out the service correctly therefore charge the going rate.....

I have to disagree here, just because your qualified in tanning it doesnt mean your experienced. Its about practise, like everything else.

I used a litre to practise then i felt happy enough. I didnt charge when i was doing it but i wish i had have because now the people i practised on think they can still get freebies and its embarrassing asking friends and family for money, if i'd said it from the start then it'd be grand now!

 

[loubylou]

You didn't get your training, equipment or products for free did you,
hell yes charge them,
i like the idea of calling it a launch party and charging half price,
you go for it and charge them :hug:

(ask your hubby if he would like to pay for the solution he expects you to use for free lol)

 

[champagne]

Yep agreed, we have to gain experience......but we are also business people, the solution or your time doesnt come any cheaper because you are gaining experience.....

Start as you mean to go on....Charge the given rate for your sevices & your products....

Intro offers are a great way to start but you must cover your training costs, time & products xx

 

[bronzebrunette]

yeah, definately wouldnt do it for free because clients will have it in their head that they are doing you a favour, rather then you doing them a service, if that makes sense? plus you do need to cover costs and eventually make a profit!

 

[mary1981]

(ask your hubby if he would like to pay for the solution he expects you to use for free lol)

Ha ha! i wish i was quick enough to think of a response like that!

Thanks everyone for all the replies, everyone has such differing views on this! I do like the idea of a calling it a launch party and having intro offers is a great idea too. I'll have a think about everyones ideas and make my mind up xxx

 

[mary1981]

Am i right in thinking it was Sienna you trained with?

yeah hun it was Sienna, it was great!!

 

[Beau-T]

I thought so, i remember you posting on one of my threads a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad you enjoyed the training, i loved it too.

Good luck with the new venture, I soooooo love tanning!! haha