Pricing - staying within the competition, a couple of questions.

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Teena_B

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
316
Reaction score
3
Location
Norwich
Yo people!:confused:

As I am about to embark on the wonderful career of Mobile Nail Tech, I would like your advice on pricing. You see, in the area where I live, there are lots of nail bars and mobile techs. Therefore the prices are low. I beleive the average to be around £25 for a full set of nails, the most expensive I've seen is £35, the cheapest is someone who does it in her home for £15 (apparently she's quite good, too). How do I compete with this? I am planning on charging £25, the average, but would like your opinions on this. Just because I'm mobile doesn't mean I'm a lesser capable tech, though I know people who seem to beleive that I have to be cheap if I'm mobile.

I am planning on doing model prices until the end of August. I'm trained in UV Gel & fibreglass, and am planning on charging £10 as I am rather slow at the moment. What do you think?

Also, should I charge model prices for rebalancing until I get the speed of this up?

I think I'm quite good at the nails, but as I say I'm rather slow at the mo, and with not many friends & family who can/will model for me, I am not building my speed up much.

All advice is greatly received!

Luv you all!
Teena B
 
Hiya Teena,
Its always hard to come up with a price that clients will happly pay. If you are too cheap that can raise suspicions that you may not be has good or using cheap products. I would never go to cheap, its better to charge full price and then perhaps for the first few weeks offer a free manicure voucher.
Being Mobile is hard work and it can be very hard to build up a good client base, Its not like working in a salon where you have clients in all day. When i first started i could have weeks where i had 4 clients in a week.
 
lesley1965 said:
Hiya Teena,
Its always hard to come up with a price that clients will happly pay. If you are too cheap that can raise suspicions that you may not be has good or using cheap products. I would never go to cheap, its better to charge full price and then perhaps for the first few weeks offer a free manicure voucher.
Being Mobile is hard work and it can be very hard to build up a good client base, Its not like working in a salon where you have clients in all day. When i first started i could have weeks where i had 4 clients in a week.
I love this idea! I'd never have thought of that! I shall make some up at the weekend. Thanks for your help.

Luv Teena B
 
Hi, Teena

I have recently gone mobile and what I have noticed is that maintenance can take almost as long as a complete set, so bear this in mind and don't charge too cheap on maintenance which is the mistake i've made!


Tanya
 
look at sum of the geeks website's (most people have the links on their signature) most people have price lists on them. I agree with lesley if ure too cheep people won't use u. also if u start cheep sum people will go else where when u raise ure prices. defo do a special offer, also with clients u already have offer them a one off 10% discounts when sum1 they recommend has a full set. u'll widen ure clientelle quickly that way.
don't under value ure self, look at a set of nails u do and think to your self, how much would i pay for them? ( and be realistic, i told a friend to do this when she started out, she looked at the set she did, and said well they've gotta be million$, so i'd say £50--- LOL--- she's mad!:lol: )

Ne way gud luck with ure new business!:)
 
Unfortunately, most people think mobile prices should be dirt cheap as you don't have the overheads of a shop. Don't be fooled. Your running costs for your car will be more than they think, plus the aggro of setting everything up and packing away at each appointment. You will need to advertise heavily as you don't have a visible shopfront. Your biggest overhead is time getting between appointments and you need to add this into your pricing strategy. Remember mobile appointments are extra special, you are going into their home offering a personal one to one service at their convvenience so don't sell your service short. Make sure you advise your clients that you will need to work free of interruptions ie no children, pets running around, no smoking whilst you perform treatments due to the flamability of products ( and the anti socail aspect), have 2 dining chairs ready and anything else you can think of - ensure you do this at the point of booking to avoid embarassment when you get there and find an army of brats rifling through your stuff. As to pricing, set your prices at the higher end, you can always offer special discounts and come down in price - everyone loves to think they are getting a bargain - it's much harder to suddenly put your prices up because you haven't budgeted correctly. Finally on a safety note if you are going to a stranger's house always advise someone (eg your partner) of your movements ( ie expected start and finish times and address) and let them know when you have finished an appointment. Good luck.
 
Hi there

Go with your gut feeling, and you will have some sort of idea what you want to charge. The idea of offering a free manicure voucher is a good idea, any offers to start with would get the punters in, but don't look like you are desparate, be confident.

I'm doing model rates at the mo, charging £15 for full set and £10 for maintenance, if they come back with a tip lost or crack because they have knocked them then £2.50 per nail at the mo. I've also typed up a model form explaining why they are paying these fees and not to expect 100% perfect nails, and I will inform them when I decide to charge full amount. They must sign to agree to come back every 2-3 weeks. Make them book up again before you go.

There could be a danger if someone keeps knocking a tip off because they are heavy handed that you may keep going back and forth, get them to come to you sometimes if you can.

Do not charge any less because you are mobile as mentioned earlier you have your fuel, wear and tear on your car, more effort to keep loading up you gear, still have your insurance to cover and cost of goods. Sometimes it's more hassle to be mobile. Make sure you don't forget to take things. Good idea to ring client before to check they have remembered you are coming if you have to travel a fair way.

If you are starting off charging model rates at the mo, take your time in working out what you will eventually charge, I've changed mine 2-3 times now, no one knows but me as I haven't put anything in concrete. I did give an indication on how much I might charge to my models, but I may decide to let them have a discounted price anyway for being so patient.

Deb379
 
Sound advice from you both! I didn't think about the 'brats' rifling around in my stuff, maybe I'll get my resin out & stick them to a chair the other side of the room! Seriously though, I apreciate the advice, and am gonna print it out so that I don't lose it!

Luv ya guys!
Teena
 
Hi I'm mobile but also offer that they can come to me as well. Reason being i have a client who has three kids and one is only 3. They do love to go through your stuff, but if you makeit clearthat they need to be out of the way then its not usually a problem.


Make sure though that some times you are prepared to work with children about, not everyone can get rid of their children or they would probably go to a salon. I have a client who has four kids and as long as they aren't pestering us too much then its not a problem.

Don't price yourself too cheap as someone previously said as people will think cheap and nasty. I also wouldn't actually put a model price on your list, i would just say "Models needed, Sets done at reduced prices. Enquire at this number...." This way you can gradually up your price without having to keep re-doing your price list, just a thought.
 
talented talons said:
I also wouldn't actually put a model price on your list, i would just say "Models needed, Sets done at reduced prices. Enquire at this number...." This way you can gradually up your price without having to keep re-doing your price list, just a thought.
Another good one!:cool:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top