Should I drop my spray tan price?

[*sarah*]

Hi guys, Having a bit of a dilemma just now, I am using Xen tan which is excellant but as its still quite new to the public they don't know just how good it is and stick to other well known brands. As It is a premum tan I think £20 is a fair price, I do get a few clients but no where near what I should have 2-4 on average a week!
So I'm thinking of printing up some flyers all about the tan and doing it for £15 for May, June & July Do you think this is a good idea or should I just drop the price to £15 altogether?
Tan's in my area range from £10-£25, most about £15. There is a lady who lives in my street who is always busy but she is doing tan's at £10 really dont want to drop to this but just thought I'd see what you geeks think?
thanks xx

 

[Nat-Nat]

I charge £15, it seems to attract more business. I did do half price tanning for a month and this brought in a lot of new customers who have stuck with me. I planned to use Xen but due to probs and bad customer service I ended up using LA Tan which is also not as well known. My customers didnt mind during the half price period and then when they saw how good it was they carried on comming back for LA Tan at full price.

HTH

 

[Beautyw]

Doing it as an offer sounds good to see how it goes and if they like the tan then they won't mind paying that extra £5, but i wouldn't drop to £10, maybe as an offer but not permanent! hth xxx

 

[*sarah*]

Maybe I should do tans in May for £10 then £15 thereafter? once they have seen how good it is providing I actually get clients in lol xx

 

[bombini]

I don't offer spray tans as I don't have the room but I was considering having them myself regularly now that the summer is here. As a client im not sure how often they should be done (7-10 days??) Most salons here start at £20 up to £35 this is what puts me off. If I was just having a one off tan it wouldn't be a problem but a weekly tan at £20 is not something I personally could justify. Maybe if you targeted the type of client that is having a tan at least once a fortnight you could offer a loyalty card or some sort of incentive to tempt them into your salon.

£10 is very cheap, which brand is she using and does she have lots of repeat business ?

 

[*sarah*]

Shes using sienna, pretty sure she gets alot of repeat business but at £10 not surprised! I personally dont like sienna as Im so pale it turns me orange and did'nt seem to wear off very well but I know plenty people like it. xx

 

[Beautyw]

well for the likes of clients that come back for regular tans you could offer them a package eg book 5 tans for so much and they get so much off, that way they're saving more for booking in advance! i would do this to a few loyal clients

 

[angelina221]

I charge £12.50 for a tan. I am salon based though so don't have travelling costs to take into account. My spray booth is also self cleaning so don't have to spend time cleaning too much-bonus!
I do a lot of tans. At the moment i am doing 25-30 tans a week.
My clients always say it's nice to be able to have regular tans as they find that price affordable.
Nearly all of my clients are from word of mouth. A lot of my clients have told me that my spray tans are the best they have ever had so i probably could put the price up but i don't want to.
We are trying to steer people away from sun beds and i have a lot of clients that have converted. Also clients that use a self tan at home spend that amount on their product. These clients now have a spray tan as well as it's about the same price without the hassle of having to do it themselves.
I make a very nice profit charging £12.50 so i'm happy and the clients are happy. I'm also very pleased that i've managed to stop a lot of clients using sunbeds

 

[*sarah*]

I do block bookings already, I think I'm going to have to drop the price, what do you all think of all tans in May for £10, then £15 there after? xx

 

[kimi1101]

I think £10 is too cheap hun. I know what it costs me per tan to do, and I'm sure Xen will be more per litre than what we use.

Also, be careful around holiday time. This will be when you pick up for the summer hols etc so why don't you do £15 tan in May, then offer a £5 off voucher to be used in Jun/July? Encouraging people to come back then.

 

[collin]

The thing about dropping your prices is that it doesn't always follow that you get busier so you could end up simply by doing the same amount of tans but for a lot less...so your working as hard but earning even less....your other problem is that if this plan doesn't work its much harder to put your prices up again.
Look at around £18...it is important to put a realistic value on your time...especially if your a mobile therapist where you have to take into consideration travel/setting up time...one thing a salon banging out cheap tans but a whole different ball game if driving across town in the rush hr to spray tan someone.

Try doing some kind of block booking deal or even get a top up for £xx kind of thing....or if your traveling to someone's house tell the host next time get a friend here...they pay £18 and you only pay £10....you've suddenly generated £28 income for what 10 mins more work...and gained another customer?

HTH :hug:

 

[kylieb]

NO!!!! Dont drop your prices. Put on some offers. You can always change your offers but you will find it very hard putting your prices up! xxx

 

[WaxGirl]

Hi there, dropping your price to £10 seems a bit low and doesn't leave you with a good profit what about going to £15 and doing it as special for May/June?

I have mine on offer at £15 - I use A-Tan and I'm the only one in my area using it and must say I do really really well with it.

I think the main thing is to promote your offer!

I make my own promo leaflets and get the local shop to put them next to till - this works brilliantly.

I text exisiting clients offers - always get a couple of bookings out of this.

I put it in the comment sectin of the salon facebook page.

At the start I had to work hard to spread the word but now find its word of mouth, as soon as people see a lovely tan on someone else they always start asking where they got it.

Good luck, I'm sure once word starts spreading you will do well!!

Clare

 

[*sarah*]

Thanks guys really good ideas here not sure if this is a fifer thing or not lol but if people can get there tan done for £10 they will go their instead tight as nats bums lol
Think I may try the May-june £15 then if they return in July-August £5 off loyalty offer thanks Clare & kimi
The last thing I want to do is drop my price but this lady is very popular and tans lots of people even a friend or 2 of mine (they say their to skint to pay me to do it :sad
And your right kimi Xen Tan only come in half gallon @ £79.99 or gallon @ 139.99 so quite a big outlay to start, plus they only sell you retail products at retail price if you buy so much, which I can't afford to do and what if I could'nt shift it
My tans are getting excellant feedback just trying to think up a genius plan....nothing coming to mind yet lol xx

 

[kimi1101]

do you know anyone who is well known in the area, or well respected....

im thinking like the owner of the local hair salon or something...you could do a few free tans on people like this, in the hope they say to their clients/friends/collegues "sarah did my tan and its great"

like someone who owns/works in the local pub or bar in the town...hmmm brainstorming now!!!

i would text your existing clients with offers, and also make sure to put in the text, feel free to forward this to your friends, in case they think its exclusive to clients. x

 

[*sarah*]

I have just posted it on my facebook group and messaged all members asking them to pass it on to their fake tan friends lol I know someone who has not long opened a hair dressers, and she said I could leave some price lists in the shop so I suppose I could do a tan for her and perhaps do a deal with girls that work in shop perhaps give them their first tan at the dreaded £10 lol Thanks kimi its great to have someone to "brainstorm" with lol xx

 

[WaxGirl]

Just wait untill it hits summer and you're doing tans back to back wohoo! The Summer is brilliant as weddings are in full swing and everyone wants a tan for them. The brilliant thing is that you have a good couple of months now to spread the word.

Make sure and keep yourself well tanned and try and show it off as much as possible!

One of my customers said to me "everything happens at the school gates" lol, yes it's where the mummies are talking soo perhaps you could use this as an opportunity to promote your tan? Maybe go out with your leaflets?

At the start I used every opportunity to go out to businesses and promote my salon.

Just thinking, have you got your leaflets in the local gyms/pools?

What about doing a car drop at your local Asda/Tesco?

oooo the possibilities are endless lol

Clare

 

[*sarah*]

I rent space at a leisure centre which is actually attached to a primary school also tesco if just over the road from there wow I'm so glad I posted this, have been feeling so frustrated and down in the dumps, I love all my fellow geeks lol xx

 

[WaxGirl]

Wow You have the perfect location!! I'm sure will be brill, just get out there and start promoting yourself.

Best of Luck

Clare

 

[Verve Designs]

Call it a special offer...you're killing two birds with one stone then.

Creates a bit of a marketing buzz/excuse to contact people..and tests if the new price will do anything for you- and its always easier to put prices down than up.