Reviewing your salon prices doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Learn the key costs, common mistakes, and confidence‑boosting strategies that help nail techs set sustainable, profitable prices tailored to their business.
When was the last time you reviewed yours? We asked one of our TGB Academy Educators to cover their key pricing strategies and tips — all the essential things you need to cover when reviewing your salon prices.
Pricing has always been a big conversation within the nail industry. Whether I’m teaching self-employed nail techs or working within salon teams, it’s one of the most common questions I get asked.
Many nail techs worry about pricing themselves too low or pushing themselves out of their local market by charging too much. However, the most important thing to remember is that pricing isn’t about competing with others, it’s about making sure your business is sustainable, covering your costs, and allowing you to make a profit.
One of the biggest concerns I hear is the fear of losing or upsetting clients. It’s completely understandable, building client relationships takes time, and nobody wants to feel like they’re letting their clients down.
However, pricing should never leave you working below minimum wage. At the very least, your prices should reflect your time, skill, and business expenses.
In reality, when nail techs increase their prices, they often find that most clients stay because they value the service and relationship. Even if a client chooses not to continue, the adjusted pricing usually balances out across your remaining appointments.
Early in my career, I was taught to look at the prices of nearby salons and average them out to create my own price list. While this might seem like a logical approach, it doesn’t always work in practice.
Every business has different overheads, experience levels, and operating costs. The salon or freelance tech down the road may have completely different expenses or working hours to you. Pricing purely based on other local techs or salons doesn’t guarantee that your own costs are being covered.
Pricing should be personal to your business. Some key factors to review include:
- Product costs
- Time taken per service (including preparation and finishing time)
- Your hourly wage
- Salon rent or table rental
- Electricity and general overheads
- Holiday pay and sick pay
- Training and education investment
- Tools and equipment maintenance
These are just some of the elements that contribute to the real cost of delivering a professional nail service.
From my experience training nail techs, confidence is often the biggest barrier when it comes to pricing. Many nail professionals experience imposter syndrome and I’ll be honest, I’ve felt it myself more times than I’d like to admit.
This mindset can stop us from pricing our services fairly. But it’s important to remember the time, dedication, and investment that goes into building your skill set. You’ve spent hours learning, practising, and developing your knowledge. Your pricing should reflect that commitment.
The most important thing to remember? Your pricing is individual to you, your time, and your resources. No two businesses are the same, so your pricing strategy shouldn’t be either.
If reviewing your pricing feels overwhelming,
The GelBottle Pricing Calculator is designed to help you create a personalised price structure tailored to your business.
The calculator costs £11.99 + VAT and allows you to build pricing based on your individual expenses and service times. There are no subscriptions or ongoing fees — once purchased, it’s yours to keep and revisit whenever your business evolves.
Alternatively, join our
Pricing Masterclass with free pricing calculator that will take you through exactly how to use the calculator and prepare for the new financial year ahead!
