Salon price list: how to set it out and price your services

Your price list does two jobs. It tells clients what you do and what it costs, and it decides whether the salon makes money. It is tempting to copy the salon down the road. Here is a better way to set your prices, and what the law now says about showing them.

Working out a price

The NHBF's advice is to work out an hourly rate that covers your wages, stock and overheads with some profit, then add the products each service uses.

• Add up a normal month's fixed costs, such as rent, rates, power, insurance, accountancy and your booking system.
• Add what you need to pay yourself, and any staff.
• Divide by the hours you can really sell in a month, not the hours you're open. That's what an hour has to earn.
• Price each service at its time at that rate, plus the products it uses.
• Then look at what salons near you charge, and decide where you sit. Being the cheapest isn't a plan.

For example, 1,500 GBP of costs and 2,000 GBP of pay is 3,500 GBP a month. Over 100 hours you can sell, an hour has to earn 35 GBP. A 45 minute cut is then 26.25 GBP of time, and with 2 GBP of products it's about 28 GBP.

If you have stylists at different levels, a price for each level is common, so a senior stylist's time is charged at more.

Setting out the list

• Group it the way clients think, such as cuts, colour, treatments and finishing.
• Name each service plainly and say what's in it. A cut and finish with a consultation and blow dry tells clients more than a signature cut.
• Say how long it takes, so clients book the right slot and know when they'll be done.
• Give one price where you can. Clients trust a list they can read without asking.
• Price the work, not the person. Charging a woman more than a man for the same service is sex discrimination. Price by hair length, type, time and products instead.

"From" prices and consultations

A "from" price is allowed, as long as it's a price clients can really get. The CMA says a price is likely to mislead if it isn't one most people could buy at. A colour from 60 GBP that only a pixie cut ever pays isn't fair.

• Use a "from" price when it really varies, and say what changes it, such as length or thickness.
• Better still, give short, medium and long their own prices.
• For work you can't price until you've seen the hair, like a colour correction, offer a consultation and agree a firm price before you start.

Show the full price

Since 6 April 2025, the price you show has to include every charge a client can't avoid. The CMA's guidance gives a salon example. A 50 GBP haircut on the price list, then a 25 GBP long hair fee added at the till, is drip pricing, and it's banned.

• Put any long or thick hair charge on the list as its own price, not as a surprise at the end.
• A booking fee every client pays goes in the price.
• You can't add a fee for paying by card.
• If you're VAT registered, every price you show the public includes VAT. You must register once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months passes 90,000 GBP, or you expect it to in the next 30 days alone.
• Genuine extras, like a treatment added to a blow dry, can be priced on their own.
• A deposit that comes off the bill is part payment, not an extra fee.

The CMA can now fine a business up to 300,000 GBP or 10% of its turnover, whichever is more, so this isn't a rule to leave until later.

Putting it online

The law already says clients must be able to find the price of a set service before you do it. A list in the salon, on your website or on your booking page all count.

• Put the same list on your booking page, your website and your social profiles, and keep them matching.
• Change every copy on the same day when your prices go up, and tell your regulars first.
• Show the length beside each price, so clients book the right time.

Your price list, with FullDiary

• Services and prices on every plan, each with its length and price, grouped under your categories on your booking page.
• Price options give one service several prices, like short, medium and long hair, and your page shows it as from the cheapest.
• A price for each stylist. With a team on Pro, each person can have their own price, and clients see it when they choose who they'd like.
• Price on the day. A price of 0 shows as Price on the day, for work you price after a consultation.
• A long list folds away. Switch on Fold services into their categories and clients open only the group they want.
• Deposits on every plan, paid by card through your own Stripe account and taken off the bill. FullDiary takes no commission.

Set up your services and prices.

Help: how do I set up my booking page?

Sources

The CMA's guidance on showing the total price, from prices and drip pricing, with the haircut example.

CMA: price transparency (CMA209)

The CMA's short summary, with the fines.

CMA: providing clear and accurate information about prices

The law on drip pricing, in force from 6 April 2025.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 230

Misleading prices more generally.

CMA: unfair commercial practices (CMA207)

No fees for paying by card.

Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, regulation 6A

Making the price of a service available.

Provision of Services Regulations 2009, regulation 8

Giving a price or an estimate when it isn't set.

Provision of Services Regulations 2009, regulation 9

When you must register for VAT, over the last 12 months or the next 30 days.

gov.uk: register for VAT

Treating customers equally on the terms of a service.

Equality Act 2010, section 29

Pricing on the work, not gender.

NHBF: the importance of inclusivity in barbershops and salons

Working out an hourly rate that covers your costs.

NHBF: five ways to improve profit with strategic pricing

The costs to count, and prices by stylist level.

NHBF: prices, retail and profits in your salon or barbershop

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Written by

Matt Suckling

Director, FullDiary

Matt is a software engineer with over 15 years of experience. He started FullDiary to build a fairer booking system, and he still builds it himself.

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