Hair salon pricing strategy: a price structure you can explain
What if you did not base your prices on what the salon around the corner charges? A strong pricing strategy starts with your own costs, your treatment time and the choices in your menu. Doubting the price of a cut or a colour is understandable: you want to cover your costs without surprising regular clients. In this article you build a price structure you can explain to every client and every colleague. You will read what a price rests on, how to group treatments logically, how to test your prices against your own figures and how to roll out a price change without confusion at the front desk.
What should your prices be based on?
A pricing strategy connects three things: what a treatment costs you, the value the client experiences and how you want to position your salon. Do you mainly want to be accessible, or do you stand out with specialist knowledge, extra time or extensive treatments? Your prices make that choice visible. So a pricing strategy is more than a list of amounts: it is a well-founded choice for your whole menu.
Other salons' prices give context, but they are not a foundation. Their rent, staffing, treatment time and menu can be very different. If you copy their prices without looking at your own situation, you do not know whether your treatments cover your costs. Use market prices only as a point of comparison. An overview of common pricing strategies, such as cost-plus, value-based and competition-based pricing, helps you name your own choice more precisely.
Raising a price is not the same as designing a price structure. A price increase changes one amount. A price structure decides how your prices relate to each other: between treatment types, hair lengths and options that take more time. That way you build a logical whole instead of adjusting separate amounts.
What a price has to carry: time, materials and fixed costs
For each treatment, start with the effort. Write down the planned time, including preparation and checkout, the materials and the staff involved. Then allocate a share of your fixed costs, such as rent, energy, insurance and software.
A simple method: divide your monthly fixed costs by the number of hours you actually spend treating clients. Worked example: say your fixed costs are €4,800 a month and you treat clients for 120 hours a month. Then every treatment hour has to carry €40 of fixed costs, before materials and your own income. A treatment of an hour and a half therefore carries €60 of fixed costs. These amounts are an example; use your own figures.
This shows straight away which treatments take a lot of time compared with their price. If you want to work this out per treatment and per minute, read how to calculate the profit margin per treatment. It also explains how to compare the margin per treatment hour.
From separate amounts to a price structure
A price list that adds up feels logical to the client. Three choices make the difference.
Group similar treatments. Put cutting, colouring, care and styling together and keep the differences within a group small and explainable. Two treatments that are almost the same but differ a lot in price raise questions.
Let variants follow from time and work. A price difference based on hair length, hair thickness or an extra step is easy to explain, because it is about the work. A difference based on gender is not: work with treatments that describe the work, with one price for everyone who gets the same treatment.
Make the content visible. Describe briefly what each treatment includes. That way a client can choose the right option in advance and your team needs to explain less at the front desk.
In Salonnare you set a name, duration, price and category for each treatment, with a short description that appears as an explanation next to the treatment on your online booking page. If you mark a treatment as an inclusive service, your booking page shows a badge saying it has one price regardless of gender. If your team works at different levels, such as junior and senior, create separate treatments with a recognisable name, so the client can see what they are choosing.
How to set your pricing strategy step by step
Turn pricing into a fixed process. Then you can assess changes in a targeted way later.
Step 1: map your costs. Collect your material and business costs and set them against the treatment time and staff involved for each service.
Step 2: organise your menu. List all treatments and what they include. Mark services that are very similar and options that clearly involve more work or a different result.
Step 3: describe the client value. Name what the client gets: a specific technique, extra attention or a more extensive result.
Step 4: review your current prices. Compare the amounts within your own price list. Do the differences match the time, materials and content?
Step 5: create groups and record your choices. Bundle similar treatments, only name variants when they make a real difference for the client, and write down why you chose this structure. You will need that note at the next review.
Test your prices against your own figures
Choose a fixed period and look at how often each treatment is booked and what it brings in. Set that against the treatment time and material use. A treatment that takes a lot of time but is rarely booked is a reason to look further, not immediately a reason to change the price. Seasons, changes to your menu and the way clients can book also play a role.
Figures give context, but they do not decide on their own which price suits your salon. Always combine them with what you know about the work and your clients. In Salonnare the reports (from the Starter plan) show revenue per treatment and per staff member, plus how busy each day and hour is. That tells you whether a treatment mainly falls in your busiest hours, which also says something about its value.
Plan a fixed moment, for example every six months, to review your price structure. Do the descriptions still match what you do? Has your menu changed? You will find more ideas for improving your margin in five steps to make your hair salon more profitable.
Rolling out a price change without confusion
A new price only works when clients and staff get the same information. Choose a start date and update all client-facing price information at the same time: the price list in the salon, your online booking page, your website and your Google profile.
Brief your team. Explain which treatments change, from when and why. A reason can be higher costs or a treatment that takes more time than it used to. Agree how your team answers questions, so every client gets the same explanation.
Think about appointments already booked. Clients who have already booked expect the amount they saw when booking. In Salonnare an appointment keeps the price from the moment it was booked, also when the treatment is later checked out in your point-of-sale system. A new price therefore applies automatically to new bookings. If you want it to apply to appointments already made, change that appointment deliberately and tell the client in advance.
Follow the reactions. After a suitable period, look at how bookings per treatment change and note recurring questions. Take other influences into account, such as a change of season. That shows whether your explanation or price list needs to be clearer, without treating every reaction as a reason for another change.
What your software costs belongs in your price calculation too
Software is part of your fixed costs, but it can also have a variable part. With Salonnare you pay a fixed monthly price: Free €0, Starter €29 or Pro €59. On top of that, a transaction fee of 0.5% applies to every online or card payment, with a minimum of €0.30. Salonnare does not charge a marketplace commission on new clients: that is €0. Include that transaction fee when you calculate your fixed and variable costs per treatment.
Online payments via iDEAL and Mollie (from Starter) go straight to your own account. Your bookings, till with VAT split, client records and reports sit in one system, so you have all the data together at your next pricing review. Start free with Salonnare and set out your treatments with duration, price and description clearly on your own booking page.
Make your prices a deliberate next step
A pricing strategy is not a one-off decision. Plan fixed moments to assess whether your prices still fit the direction of your salon, and adjust when your menu, costs or way of working change.
Keep your next step small and concrete. Pick one treatment, check whether the description and the price are clear, work out what share of your fixed costs it carries and note what you want to review in six months. That way pricing decisions become a habit instead of a leap in the dark.
Put a clear price list on your own booking page
Treatments with duration, price and description, a till with VAT split and reports per treatment in one app. Start free and choose the plan that suits your salon later.
Start freeFrequently asked questions about hair salon prices
How often should a hair salon change its prices?
Review your prices at a fixed moment, for example every six months, and also when important costs or treatments change. A review does not have to lead to a price change. Record what you looked at and why your prices did or did not change, so your decisions are based on your own salon.
Is it a good idea to charge different prices per stylist?
It can be, if there is a clear difference in experience, specialisation or the content of the treatment. Make that difference visible before booking, for example with separate junior and senior treatments with a recognisable name. If your stylists deliver comparable work, one price is usually the better choice.
Are discounts a good pricing strategy for a hair salon?
Discounts can support a specific goal, such as drawing attention to a new treatment. Decide in advance who the offer is for, which service it covers and for how long. Do not use discounts as the default answer to quiet periods: clients start waiting for offers and the normal price feels less natural.
What do you do when clients object to a price increase?
Listen first and respond calmly. Briefly explain what is changing and give a concrete reason, such as a longer treatment time or higher costs. Check whether the client could see the new price in advance. Stick to your structure, but use recurring questions as a signal to make your explanation or price list clearer.