Setting Beauty Salon Prices

How To Set Lash Extension Prices Or Nail Salon Prices

“Your lashes are too expensive — I can’t afford these prices!” “Look how cheap these nails are! Are they even good?” Beauty professionals have heard it all from their clients when it comes to their prices. 

One of the hardest parts of starting out as a beauty professional is knowing how much to charge for your work. Charging either too little or too much can be a detriment to your new business. With so many other things to worry about, you don’t want your prices to be a hindrance as well. 

In this post, we’ll share our best tips for setting prices that will attract clients but also reflect your skills, education, and overall experience.

Research Your Competition 

Before determining your own prices, it’s important to do some research into other nail or lash artists that you’ll be competing with. 

This research will help you see what nearby artists are charging their clients and how they set up their menus. Once you have a feel for the average cost in your neck of the woods, you’ll feel more confident in how to price lashes or how to make a nail price list.

It’s a good rule of thumb to not have your prices at either end of the spectrum. This means that while you don’t want to be the most expensive option, you also don’t want to be the cheapest. We suggest looking at the top 5 competitors in your area and using the average of those prices, at least to start.

Where Are You Working?

This refers to both where your workspace is in your country, state, and city, and also what kind of environment it is. 

This is where your research will come into play. Some areas of your country (and no doubt your state/city) are more expensive, so you can get away with charging a little more. In other places, you’ll have to be more conservative with your prices, as you don’t want to scare away potential clients.

Another factor to consider is if you are renting a studio or working from home. It can be more difficult to pay a studio rent along with your own personal rent or mortgage. If you are juggling multiple payments like this, you might want to think about charging a little more to cover them.

Where Do You Purchase Supplies?

Lash and nail supplies can definitely be a big upfront cost. However, they are an investment into your business, so it’s usually best not to go with your cheapest option available. You want to be sure you are purchasing products from reputable suppliers that are open and honest about their manufacturing process and ingredients. How to price lash extensions or how to price nail art could be contingent on the quality of supplies you’re using – if you’re using higher quality supplies, you need to cover that cost as well as your time! 

Take advantage of discounts or special programs if you can. Check to see if your supplier has a wholesale discount available! Here at PLA, we offer multiple different wholesale options that help artists cover the costs of buying supplies in bulk. We also have a few different programs that provide extra discounts to educators, retailers, and more!

Consider Your Education and Experience

As a beauty professional, you provide a luxury service. This means that your prices should reflect your training and expertise. The more you have, the more you can charge!

Continuing education is not only great for your professional development, but clients will be willing to pay more when they know you have amazing skills and up-to-date knowledge. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering your professional background.

• Do you have any extra, specific certifications? For example, the PLA Online Classic & Volume Course is a great way for lash artists to practice their skills, gain more experience, and learn something new!
• Have you taken any in-person classes?
• Are you trained in just one type of service or can you provide a larger variety?

Specialty or Trendy Sets 

We all know that the beauty industry is always changing. Since part of your job is staying current with today’s trends, your prices should reflect that!

Trendy nail or lash sets that are more involved or time-consuming than standard services can be priced a little higher. Whether it’s a manicure on extra long nails or a layered wispy set, clients can pay a bit more for a special service. Don’t be afraid to set your nail prices or lash extensions price higher if there’s a demand for it!

Marketing or Advertising 

This category to consider also varies per artist.

• Are you paying to run ads, such as promoted posts on Instagram or Facebook ads?
• Business cards, price menus, loyalty cards, car decals, apparel, the list goes on.
• If you’re at a studio, does the company run the advertising and help generate clientele for you?
• Are you paying for a website?
• Are you paying for a booking app, editing apps, etc?
• Are you paying for logo creation, GMB, and other tools?

Personal Pay or Salary 

We also have to keep in mind our own personal needs. We have lives: spouses, kids, everyday bills to pay. You have to determine what your time is worth!

• Do you want to factor in $25 per hour for yourself, or $50? $75?
• What needs do you and your family have and what will it take to meet those needs?
• Are you lashing part time hours or full time hours?
• Are you considering paid time off for potential sick days, vacation, holidays?
• Do you need to factor in mileage and gas driving to work for your personal vehicle?
• Are you providing yourself insurance, such as life policy, medical benefits?

Lash Business Tips From PLA

To sum up, pricing can definitely be a tricky part of running your own business. There are a lot of factors to consider, and money itself is a stressful topic. Just be sure that your prices reflect your professional knowledge and skills without being too low or high for your area.

Remember to take it day by day and adjust your prices as necessary. With more experience and education, you’ll be able to raise your prices while keeping your clients – and learning how to price nail services, lash sets or any other beauty service will get easier with time! 

So, the best of luck to all our beauty business pros out there!

If you're interested in taking any of our online lash courses, visit our classes page here.