Are you planning to offer a new service or change the current prices of lash offerings in your lash salon? How do you decide on the matter of price tags? Hmm… that involves planning and certain things to keep an eye with!
"It's perhaps one of the most challenging things to really have to do," says Charles Toftoy, a George Washington University associate professor of management science. "It's a combination of art and science," as he comments on product pricing.
Product pricing is the process of converting a product's value into a numerical number. Although most pricing decisions are determined prior to an eyelash extension service's initial release to the market, lash salons or independent lash artists can adjust the eyelash extension service price at any time for a variety of reasons.
I am a newbie lash artist, what are the things that I should consider in lash services pricing?
If you just hailed fresh from eyelash extension training, labeling your service with a staggering price tag must be thought of first. To be successful, there are some baby steps to follow in building your most sought-after lash empire. Here are five key steps to achieve it
1. Practice and offer it for free
In every business, the initial steps are a gamble of money, time, and effort. If one is thinking about cash, it’s hard to offer a free service since there is a capital involved, but in this stage, a newbie lash artist is still in the process of mastering every procedure of lash extnesion application. Mastery is achieved through deliberate practice. It is a discipline of constantly clarifying and deepening a personal vision of focusing energies, of developing patience, and seeing the reality objectively on a micro level.
To practice this phase, ask your four to five close friends and/or family members to lay down on your lash table to avail the lash extension application. They’ll be honest to critique your craftsmanship. Remember; a master was once a beginner so practice is very important.
2. Minimal fee for the cost of the lash essentials
Once done with the practice phase, list down the products that you have used and compute how much average cost you’ve spent on the materials per person. The materials cost is the amount of expenditure on the materials used needed to make a service. Once you have computed the expenses on the materials per person, you may offer this price per person to another set of four to five clients.
Identify a common price in the mass lash extension market and offer it half to your clients but remember, you are now going to earn higher than the second step so the quality of lash extension works must be at par. Your clients would love to avail your service at 50% discount. Ask for positive reviews and make some noise on the social media.
3. Full price
Full price means the actual regular price that you will adopt in the lash extension market. Check out your possible competitors and how they put on a price on their services.
What are other things to consider in pricing the lash services?
1. Where is the location of the lash salon or studio?
Every beauty session has a price…depending on the location. There are price point differences between the eyelash extension salons and home-based lash studios as lash salons offer premium lash services, while home-based lash studios offer their services to accommodate the mass market. Most of the time, lash extension salons located in the prime spot charge more.
It’s quite pricey to avail eyelash extensions in lash salons because they pay rent, maintenance, and employees, and most of their establishments are located in prime areas while home-based lash studios are economical on some expenses
Prices may vary depending on the location and market position of each lash salon; in certain states in the US, all eyelash extension services are expensive, while in other lash extension studios, they are inexpensive. Some eyelash extension salons cater to high-end paying clients, while independent lash artists with home based studios wish to be accessible to those of average means. An average lash studio owner considers how much money their lash extension clients have on hand. Some clients, for example, maybe more cost-conscious while availing lash extension services, while others are willing to spend a higher price for specific service choices.
2.How much do the lash competitors charge?
Think of a business as a good game with minimal rules but with lots of competition, You keep score with money. Are the eyelash extension services available in the market comparable to your lash salon or studio? If so, you may utilize their price as a starting point. Check out nearby lash extensions salons' prices near you. Examine the kind of services and products they use for you to gain an idea on the price points.
3. Quality lash works vs the price, what’s the difference?
It is noteworthy that services must be known for their high quality rather than for their low price. If this is the case, decide to increase the price of the product to reflect the improved quality. There are other business goals during a downturn, such as simply surviving on a daily basis and long term goals, therefore keep in mind to price the eyelash extensions services to recuperate enough to keep the company afloat and are all significant variables to consider whenever pricing the services.
Offering eyelash extension services isn't a cheap pleasure - and for good reason: each successful eyelash extension process is a work of art, performed by a skilled, passionate, and professional lash artist. Add some high-quality lash essentials products and tools to the stash of the lash artist.
What are other strategies in pricing the eyelash extension service?
Aside from competitive pricing or setting a price based on what the lash extension ecompetitor charges, the following strategies are typical of pricing strategies:
Cost-plus Pricing - Simply calculate the costs and apply a mark-up to arrive at a certain price.
Value-based Pricing - Setting a price based on how much the client believes the eyelash extension services should be worth
Price Skimming - Setting a high price and then decreasing it as the lash extension market changes
Penetration Pricing - Setting a low price to join a competitive eyelash extension market and then boosting it later on
Have you decided on the exact figures on your offers? Here’s more!
Now, let’s compare your existing prices to what is happening in the market in various states in the US.
Let’s ask the lash artists and salon owners! Here’s what we have done so far.
The Methodology
In order to gather the data, there is a must to identify the respondents which are the lash artists and lash salon owners. These beauty enthusiasts are always busy so the questions must be answered without a fuss. We reached out to the lash artists and lash salon owners online in order for them to answer an online survey form.
Data Collection
With the objective to gather data on the price offers of lash artists working on lash salons and home based studios in the US, we formulated a survey tool to gather data on the following;
There were thirty respondents composed of twelve home based lash artists, eight lash salon owners, and ten lash artists working in a lash salon coming from the states of Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Missouri, and Idaho in the United States.
When asked how many years they have been working in the lash extension industry, out of thirty respondents, there are eight lash artists who are working for five to ten years, twelve lash artists who were practicing for one to five years, and ten lash artists practicing for less than a year.
What are the respondent’s lash service offerings?
Given the question, what eyelash extension services do you offer? The following are the answer of the majority of the respondents:
- Nature of work of a lash artist (either lash salon or home-based studio)
- Name of Lash Salon or Home Lash Studio
- State in the US
- Years of Experience in the Lash Industry
- Type of Offered Lash Extension Services
- Classic Set Eyelash Extension Set Service Price
- Classic Eyelash Extension Refill Price
- Hybrid Eyelash Extension Set Service Price
- Hybrid Eyelash Extension Refill Price
- Volume Eyelash Extension Set Service Price
- Volume Eyelash Extension Refill Price
- Mega Volume Eyelash Extension Set Service Price
- Mega Volume Eyelash Extension Refill Price
- Colored Eyelash Extension Set Service Price
- Colored Eyelash Extension Refill Price
The said survey form is distributed to the lash artists and lash salon owners based on various states in the US in March 2022 through social media platforms.
So what have we found out?
The Results
Who are the respondents in this study?
- Classic Eyelash Extension Set
- Hybrid Eyelash Extension Set
- Volume Eyelash Extension Set
- Mega Volume Eyelash Extension Volume
- Colored Eyelash Extension Set
- Eyelash Extensions with Highlights
- Eyelash Extensions with Decals
- Eyelash Extensions Removals
- Eyelash Extension Refills/Infills
- Henna Brows/Lash Lift
Pandemic pricing, is there such?
When asked if there were increase on the prices of lash extension supplies in the market and their lash services during the pandemic, here are the answers of the respondents:
On lash supplies price increase, how much did it climb during the pandemic?
- 0 Percent Increase- 14.3% of the total respondents have answered that there were no increase on the prices on their purchase of lash extension supplies during the pandemic
- 1 to10 Percent Increase- 42.9% which is the majority of the respondents have agreed that they have experienced the said increase of percentage on the eyelash extension supplies purchase.
- 10 to 20 Percent Increase- 21.4% have answered that they have experienced the said increase of percent on prices during their purchase of lash extension supplies.
- 20 to 30 Percent Increase- Another set of respondents composed of 21.4% have also said that a staggering increase from twenty to thirty percent has been added to the actual price of their eyelash extension essentials.
Price Increase on Lash Services: How much did the lash artists and lash salon owners increase their prices?
Given that majority of the respondents have experienced an increase in the lash extension supplies, when asked if they have increased their eyelash extension services pricing during the pandemic between the year 2021-2022, 85.75% ,which is the majority, have said yes which means they have increased their prices while 14.3% have answered no which means they did not changed their lash extension services pricing.
How much percentage did the lash artists increased in their pricing during the pandemic? 14.3% of the respondents have remarked that they did not increased from 2021-2022 while 42.9% have admitted that they have increased their price from 10 to 20% while 21.4% three have said that they have increased from 20 to 30 percent.
Individual Price per Type of Lash Service: The Real Deal
At this point, if you are still wondering on price points, the following questions and the respondents’ top two answers on how much do they charge on various lash extension types of services will be realistically noteworthy for you.
Here are the respondents’ pricing points:
Q: How much do you charge for Classic Eyelash Extension?
A: $50-$100
$100-$150
Q: How much do you charge for Classic Eyelash Extension Refill Service?
A: All of the respondents has agreed to $50 to $100 price.
Q: How much do you charge for Hybrid Eyelash Extension Service?
A: $50-$100
$100-$150
Q: How much do you charge for Hybrid Eyelash Extension Refill Service?
A: All of the respondents has agreed to $50 to $100 price.
Q: How much do you charge for Volume Eyelash Extension Service?
A: $50-$100
$100-$150
Q: How much do you charge for Volume Eyelash Extension Refill Service?
A: $50-$100
$100-%150
Q: How much do you charge for Colored Eyelash Extension Service?
A: $50-$100
$100-%150
Q: How much do you charge for Colored Eyelash Extension Refill Service?
A: $50-$100
$25
Final Thoughts
There's no disputing that eyelash extensions comes with a cost. Because it's a genuinely personalized experience, the overall expenditure of a client's eyelash extensions is determined by a number of factors including the increase on the price of lash extension supplies and add-on markups.
The price varies depending on the type of eyelash extensions that the client’s want, whether it's a natural or dramatic look, colored or glitzy, the cost have differences but the when the client will see her total look, both client and lash artist will therefore agree that it makes a significant change on the clients overall appearance. The experience of having beautiful eyelashes is rewarding.
In general, the more precise the look the client desires, the higher the bill will be.
When it comes to the business side, as a lash artist or business owner, one must not think of too much competition. One must positively focus on how to bloom like a flower without any hindrances and hesitations. With such a mindset, the quality of services and the business will grow freely and smoothly.
As John Burroughs said, for anything worth having, one must pay the price; and for businesses, price will always work, but with patience, love, and perseverance will be the key to achieve the gold standard which the clients will always seek.