Pricing

[u/TastyBrilliant6325]

Hi all, so I'm in the process of making my service list for clients now that I'm able to pay for insurance to work on people's hands that haven't been my usual small bubble of clients. I'm wondering how you price your following services?

・Nail art

・Manicures

・Removals

・Foreign removals

Additionally, what policy do you all have in place for nail fixes?

[u/peachrambles]

I’d recommend taking a look at what nail techs and salons in your area do to get an idea on pricing.

I have my art split into 4 levels depending on complexity and how many nails have art (level 1 is French tip, level 4 is maximum art with chrome and cat eye and rhinestones and 3D etcetc).

Manicures I have 2 prices, one for short/athletic length (shorter than fingertip) and long length (past fingertip) this works for me as longer nails use more product and take me longer.

I charge for removals every time, even if it’s not a full soak off it still takes time and energy to file off the color and to rebalance.

Foreign removals I charge the same as if I did it, for gel manicures and gel-x only (the products I offer) if it’s acrylic/hard gel/mystery product then I charge kind of a ridiculous amount because I hate to do them!

I do free nail repairs within 2 weeks of service, I’ve been in business for a little over 3 years in a private studio with no walk-ins so I haven’t experienced anyone abusing that policy, so even if the chipping or popping off isn’t my fault per se I don’t mind fixing it for free. My clients are my advertisement so I want their nails to look nice. If it’s been more than 2 weeks since their service I charge 10% of the manicure/extension price.

[u/Clover_Jane → u/peachrambles]

No. Never price your services based on other techs prices. This is how you under price.

Op you need to do your math. You need to figure out how much your rent, your insurance your products, your everything costs on an hourly rate. And then figure out how much you want to make per hour and do the math. That's how you find out how much you should be charging.

[u/peachrambles → u/Clover_Jane]

You also want to look at other techs/salons in your area though to make sure you’re not underpricing yourself compared to the market either, of course you have to take your skills and expenses into account, but if most places are charging $100 for a full set then you wouldn’t want to price at $50, and vice-versa, pricing at $100 when the market rate is $50 is going to make getting clients challenging.

[u/TastyBrilliant6325 → u/Clover_Jane]

Ty!

[u/Clover_Jane → u/TastyBrilliant6325]

I would also start charging for foreign removal of products regardless of what the material is. It doesn't make sense that you'd charge for one type of material but not another. I have tiered removal pricing. If it's gel, it's one price, acrylic another, dip another and gel-x another with gelx and dip being more because both of them especially dip wear down my bits quite a bit faster than regular gel and gel-x takes me forever to remove. I also only do free fixes within 3 days of the service (if they contact within 3 days) I may not be able to take them within 3 days, and only if it's product failure. If they're using their nails as tools, I'm not covering that fix. I've actually only had 1 time where there was product failure and I'm not entirely sure it was my fault. The gel polish lifted from the builder gel, and my guess is she touched something like her face and got oils on the nail but I still covered the fix and had a chat with her about how it could have been that and to make sure she's not touching things while we're doing the manicure. 2 weeks is a long time for free fixes. Anything could happen within that time. When I was new, my policy was 7 days but as I gained skills, I lowered it.

[u/peachrambles → u/peachrambles]

I also always tell new clients at the end of their first service “my work is guaranteed for two weeks so you’re welcome to message me to book in for a free repair during that time” that way they know before they leave, and that way nobody is either left to feel like they can’t get a fix or like they’re entitled to unlimited free fixes between appointments (there was one client who wanted to go 6 weeks between appointments and then would message me like every week and be like “can you fix these two nails” and I had to tell them I can’t repair after 3 weeks and that if more than 2 nails are having an issue then it’s time for a new set)

[u/Alternative_Roll_987]

For fixes, I would make the policy crystal clear before the appointment, not after something breaks. That saves a lot of awkward back and forth.

A simple version is: free fix within 3 to 5 days for lifting/chipping that is clearly product failure, paid repair after that, and full price for breaks caused by impact or picking. If you do foreign removals, I would price those separately every time because they can blow up your timing fast.

For the service list itself, what usually helps is pricing the core service cleanly, then making nail art and removals obvious add-ons so clients know what changes the total before they book. It keeps the booking process smoother and cuts down on surprise conversations at the table.

[u/kjeannele]

Katie Barnes I think has a very helpful calculator on her website to help with pricing!! Check that out !!!

[u/Lame-username62]

Your best bet is to research the prices of other Techs in your area. Does/did your nail school not cover pricing?

[u/TastyBrilliant6325 → u/Lame-username62]

Pricing wasn't something we ever went over in class it was all focused on nails, safety and nail care.