Why have Hairstylists moved to Hourly Pricing?
The Hairdressing industry has changed so much throughout the past 5 years and it’s so incredible! We went from Hairdresser’s keeping all of their secrets to themselves to so much free education online and in person. However, Stylists have also gone from a la carte pricing to hourly… um what, why?? Let me explain this huge change for you!
Why the Hourly Pricing?
Hourly Pricing is becoming more and more common amongst Hairdressers and a la carte is going out the door. I too jumped on board with hourly pricing about a year and a half ago and it was probably the best decision I made for my personal business. I’ll go into those reasons in just a bit, but I promise you it was better for you as my guests in the long run!
Gone are the days when services used to be a one step simple process! Highlights just used to be highlights and lowlights, no root shading was involved. Balayage was never really a thing and now it’s the number one service asked for everyday. Although there is so much free education on all of our techniques now, Stylists are being encouraged continue their education on these techniques because they literally change every day. There are also soooooooo many new techniques that are being released every day, basically making our once simple techniques much more lengthy but oh so natural!
With all that being said, the simple price lists Stylists used to use are no longer cutting it. This old way of pricing does not cover costs of their booth rent, product costs, time, living costs and all the essential good stuff they need to pay for to run their own businesses behind the chair. This is why most have moved into hourly!
I know I know… it sounds like it’s much more expensive but let me explain further!
How does Hourly Pricing benefit you as a Guest?
As mentioned before, our techniques have gotten much more lengthy and extensive. This has caused some complications with our services. I personally came across situations that wouldn’t allow me to polish off a service perfectly because I had a guest who couldn’t afford all of the services needed to get the beautiful results we wanted. These little services were key to making their hair look the most natural! This was because I had to charge them for each step of the process, which included:
Full Head Highlight [Additional costs per bowl of bleach used after 2, most needed 3-4] - $150 + $10/per bowl
Root Shade - $65
Toner - $40
Olaplex Treatment or Deep Conditioner - $25 - $40
Haircut - $90
Curls - $15
Products - $25- $75 or more.
Pre-Booking Retainer - $50 - $100/per appointment booked
All of this was totaling up much higher, but most of the time it was cut down to just steps 1, 3 and 5. As a Stylist, this was killing me! I needed to find a way to make my services much more affordable for my guests so I could give them the best service I could and still make enough money to support myself in every aspect. So, instead of having this huge surprise discussion at the end of each service I decided to move into hourly pricing. This meant that I never had to skip steps and my guests always got the services and results they deserved! I personally took a little cut, BUT it benefitted you and I still covered all of my costs I needed for my business to survive. Win - Win if you ask me!
Now of course in some cases you can be paying more upfront for larger services that I offer, but because of the natural results I give I’m seeing my guests only a few times a year! Most of my Full Head Highlight guests are in every 8-12 weeks, where with Traditional Full Head Highlights they were in every 4-6 weeks. That’s only 5 appointments a year instead of 13! My Full Balayage guests also pay a higher price point on their first appointment but only receive this large service once a year, with smaller appointments in between every 3-4 months. That’s a total of 4 appointments a year, like how crazy is that?! Both methods are now saving my guests tons of money on their yearly services and that makes my heart happy!
Another factor I really liked when I first started charging this way is my guests who had super fine hair and my guests who had a ton of course hair were paying different prices. This was good because not all heads of hair are created equal! If you have fine hair that could take 1 hour to do verses someone who had super thick hair that takes 4-5 hours to do, why would I charge the same for both? The playing field was now even across the board, customized to each individual, and I never have to skimp on a beautiful service. Most loved this aspect and so did I!
In Conclusion…
Bottom line here… there are NO surprises at the end! You are only being charged for the services you are receiving individually and it’s saving you a ton of money every year. I truly believe in making my services affordable for my guests but also about giving them the best service I can. So having the ability of doing both of these makes me so happy!
I hope that this article has enlightened you a bit on why most Stylists have moved into this method of charging and all the benefits you are receiving too!
XOXO,
Shelby Alexandra
