The Ultimate Guide to Setting Prices for Mobile Hair Salon Owners

If you’re just starting a mobile hair salon, or are diversifying into home appointments, here are the four steps you need to take to set prices for mobile salon appointments and the factors to consider. 

‍

How to set prices for mobile salon appointments 

#1. Research market rates 

The first step to setting prices for mobile salon appointments is researching what other salons in your area are charging. If other salons don’t offer in-home and mobile appointments, look at their on-location pricing. 

To attract clients, you will need to charge a comparable rate. You may want to add a small fee to mobile salon appointments to cover the cost of travel, but this will depend on the value you’re offering and whether clients are willing to pay for the added convenience. 

‍

#2. Determine your costs

Once you have an idea of what other salons in your area are charging, you need to work out your costs to determine whether those prices would generate enough profit for your mobile hair salon. 

Calculate the costs of the following

• Travel costs, including fuel, vehicle maintenance, wear and tear on the vehicle 
• Business insurance 
• Equipment and supplies — remember your stylists cannot share equipment as they might in a salon, so you will need multiples of everything 
• Hair products, e.g., shampoo, etc
• Hourly rate of each hairdresser 

When determining your costs, don’t forget that 100% mobile hair salons don’t have building costs to pay for, e.g., rent and utilities. This lowers your overheads and presents an opportunity to pass these savings onto clients and price your services even more competitively. 

‍

#3. Choose a pricing model

After you have determined your costs, you should have an idea of how much you need to make to cover them. Now it’s time to choose a pricing model. 

First, you must decide if you will charge a flat rate for each service (e.g., $80 for a haircut) or vary your pricing depending on how intensive the appointment is (e.g., a haircut that just involves a trim is cheaper than taking someone from waist-length hair to a bob). You could also consider charging by the hour, but this is less common. 

Traditionally, clients pay more to see a more experienced stylist. So, after determining how you will price services, you must decide what to charge for each “level” of stylist your mobile hair salon employees. 

Finally, you’ll need to consider if you will offer packages of appointments and whether these will be priced differently than booking them individually. Options for packages include 

• Cut & color combination appointments
• Multiple haircuts, e.g., buy a package of 5 haircuts upfront at a discounted rate
• Hair trials & event styling, e.g., bridal or prom packages 

‍

#4. Communicate your pricing 

The final step to setting prices for your mobile hair salon is communicating your pricing to clients. It’s important to be transparent about your pricing and any additional costs, such as last-minute cancellation fees or travel costs. 

Display your pricing structure on your website, social media pages, and Google Business Pages. If you’re using a conditional pricing structure, give customers an approximate range with the option to call for a personal quote based on what they want to do during the appointment. 

If you’re using an online booking system to enable clients to self-book their appointments (which is their preferred booking method), look for one that lets you set individual pricing for different service types and control additional service fees for an easy way to display and collect payments.

‍

Factors to consider when setting prices for mobile salon appointments 

‍

1. The type of services you will offer 
2. The time each service requires 
3. The products/equipment required for each service
4. Travel time and cost (plus wear and tear on vehicles) 
5. The inability to work on multiple clients at the same time, e.g., while client A’s dye sets, you could work on client B in a traditional salon environment 

‍

How to schedule mobile hair salon appointments the easy way

If you’re starting a mobile hair salon, choosing the right appointment-scheduling software is essential. With appointment scheduling software, you can put your bookings, employee scheduling, and payments on autopilot so you can focus on your clients. 

MarketBox is the first all-in-one appointment scheduling software specifically designed for businesses offering in-home and mobile services. The software makes it easy for customers to self-book and pay for appointments online and for businesses to simplify employee logistics, process payments, and automate administrative tasks. Book a personalized platform walkthrough with one of our experts to learn more and see the product in action.

‍