How To Price Hair Extensions As A Hairstylist [Tips On Cost And How To Schedule For Profit]

What'S up and welcome back to my youtube channel today, i'm gon na be breaking down the cost of hair extensions, everything from the hair itself, all the way down to the service. So that way, it can help bring some clarity on what you should be charging. As a stylist working behind the chair, so if you're new to hair extensions - or maybe you just started dabbling in hair extensions and you're, still a little confused on exactly what you should be charging you're gon na love. This video, because i'm gon na be breaking down a whole bunch of ish, but before we get started, make sure you hit that subscribe button and turn on all notifications. So you don't miss a tutorial. Now, let's go ahead and get started. I first want to start out by saying that i'm excited to make this video, because when i first started doing hair extensions, i was completely lost on exactly how much i should be charging there's tons of information out there. So many people tell you double the price of the hair extensions triple the price of the hair extensions charge, an hourly rate and there's so much different opinions out there that i wanted to make this video to make it simple for you now. I knew exactly how much hair extensions cost to order. I was kind of lost in the service price breakdown. However, after i've had some more experience doing hair extensions, i learned that i was actually losing money so basically not making a profit. When i was ordering the hair, so i'm going to start off with everything you need to do in the order of ordering hair extensions, all the way down to the finished service and rebooking the appointment, so that way they can maintenance them, and hopefully this helps you And inspires you to adjust your pricing so that we can make a profit, because that's what we're all about right! We want to make sure we're making enough money behind the chair. Now. Everything that i'm going to share in this video is just what i personally do for myself and for my salon: business rebel femme in mission viejo, california. So with that being said, let's go ahead and get started with the very first thing that you're going to do, which is schedule the consultation. Now there are lots of variables with a consultation, some stylists will charge a consultation fee. However, at my salon, we do it complementary. We schedule about a 15 to 30 minute consultation, because, generally, when people are coming in for hair extensions, they're, usually pretty serious already to actually order the hair. However, if you did want to include a fee, usually that fee would then be applied to the hair extension order. So, however, you want to do. That part is completely up to you now. The consultation is probably the most important part of the service, because you're going to need clarification on exactly what type of hair extensions your client is wanting everything from the length, the color, as well as the type of maintenance that they're looking for once. You'Ve decided on the type of extensions. This is also a great time to pull out a hair contract to make sure that everybody is on the same page. This is going to help protect you and your business now, once you've determined what type of extensions your client is wanting and you've also determined that she's a great fit for hair extensions. This is going to bring you to the second step, which is color matching. Now. My salon carries everything donna bella and they do have a hair swatch ring, which you can purchase on their website now. What'S really important about swatching. Is that you're going to want to make sure that you're always swatching on the bottom of the hair as colorist? We tend to use hair swatches towards the roots and towards that mid zone, but for hair extensions, we're always going to look at the ends of the hair, because that's exactly where it's going to blend and that's what we're going to see. For example, i just pulled color 33 from the swatch and i'm not really going to put it right up here, because it's not going to blend as nicely here. However, if i put it more towards the ends, i feel like it's a much better match and i can always throw a glaze on it afterwards again. These are things that you're going to discuss in the consultation appointment, so be sure that you're bringing clarity on everything you're going to need to do whether that is a color service, a gloss and as well shaping trimming and what exactly your service is going to include. All of this should be written out in the contract. Just remember the more that you have written in this contract, the better for you so once you've determined the color the length and the type of extension, and you have the contract signed now it's time to make a deposit. Now, what exactly does the deposit include? The deposit is going to include several things now what i like to do as a general rule of thumb in order to make a hair extensions affordable for my clients, as well as to stay competitive in my market, is i do a 50 markup on the hair? Now there are lots of styles that will tell you to double the price of the hair extensions or just charge your client for the hair extension price. But i like to do a 50 markup and let me tell you why, with that 50 markup, it's going to allow me to have hair insurance, that you can also purchase through the donna bella hair website. And if you want more information on the hair. Insurance. Be sure to check out the link in the description down below, but overall, this hair extension insurance is going to cover the hair for 30 days. In case something happens when you're doing coloring, or maybe your client did something wild to their hair within that first 30 days of having their hair, the hair insurance will replace the hair for you for free. It is an extra charge, but it's a charge that i actually add on to the client to pay. So again, that's what that 50 markup of the hair extension is going to include. It not only includes the hair itself and the insurance, but it also covers the cost of beads threads or any other types of tools that i may need to do. The hair extension service itself. I also add in this boar bristle brush that you can buy on the donabella website, and this is just gon na ensure that my client is gon na maintain their hair properly at home. To me, there's nothing more important than brushing your hair at least two to three times a day, and if that means, i have to give you the physical brush to maintain your hair, then i'm going to include that in the price and last but not least, this 50 markup is also going to include the credit card fees that come with placing the order and the shipping so again that 50 markup isn't to make a profit at all. It'S simply to cover the cost of ordering the hair extensions and what i like to call a non-refundable deposit. That means, once the client pays you for the hair extension order and you place the order for the hair and they don't show up to their appointment. You get to keep the hair and the money again. This needs to be placed in the contract, so that way, there's a clear communication between you and the client. Once you collect the deposit, you place the order and you book their next appointment service. Typically, i like to book it out at least five days or more because generally by the time i place my hair order, it's going to take me about two to three business days to receive my hair or, depending on the type of shipping you can do overnight. Shipping, if you'd like to and generally your client, can be a patient in waiting for their hair and usually don't have a next day appointment available when doing hair extensions, because it can take some time. So, hypothetically speaking, if your hair extension cost five hundred dollars to order on the website, i'm gon na do a fifty percent markup of two hundred and fifty dollars. So then the total that the client will be paying would be seven hundred and fifty dollars. This fifty percent markup fee includes everything from the beads the thread: the hair itself, the hair insurance, the take-home brush and credit card fees and voila non-refundable deposit. Now, let's go ahead and do a service breakdown. Now this is a little controversial because, like i mentioned in the beginning of this video, everybody has different of opinions on how you should charge. But the reason why i charge the way i'm going to share with you in just a minute is because i like to stay competitive, because hair extensions are new for my salon. We don't want to charge the cheapest and we don't want to charge the most because we haven't built up that clientele yet so the first thing that i did when creating pricing for hair extensions in my salon was, i called the top five hair salons in my Area that were known for doing hair extensions and got a little idea of what their pricing looked like. Once i collected that information, i was then able to create a price structure that was a little bit more competitive and i found a little hole in what a lot of salons do. I find that a lot of salons do an hourly rate and that's totally fine. If that's how you want to still operate your business, however, what i found was a lot of clients didn't know exactly what that meant. They weren't sure if a hybrid weft extension install or an i-link install, would take two hours or eight hours. So, at the end of the day, i wanted to create a pricing structure that was a little bit more clear. So that way we were able to book appointments so much easier. This created a selling point for me, so that way our clients felt confident in the type of service they were getting and it was a lot more transparent than this. What if so, we decided that we were going to come up with a flat rate pricing system, so our clients knew exactly what the starting price point was for the install and overall salon pricing is variable. It just really depends on exactly what you're getting done, as do hair extensions, but at least we know what the starting price is. So, for example, for highlights they could be starting at 125 or it can go all the way up to 300 for a very heavy baby light. But at least the client knows what that starting price level is and if it's even affordable for them. So, in my opinion, when a client sees clarity and pricing they're more likely to call that salon or book that free consultation online because they kind of know it's in their budget. So at my salon we do a flat rate of 175 dollars per row. Generally, most people will have two to three row install, and this does include the haircut and the styling. Now, this type of extension install is for weft installs only, and this is variable, depending on tape and hair extensions, as well as eye links or flat tips and care links. Generally, all of our hair extension installs are custom installed. So what that means is, we are sometimes adding in a pack of eyeliners or carry links around the face just to enhance the fullness around the face for the weft install so again, there's lots of variables, but these are all things that are going to be discussed In the consultation for all of our hair extension installs that require individual placement generally, we charge hundred dollars per pack of hair that's installed, so basically, every 20 pieces is a hundred dollars. Overall, if you're new to hair extensions, i would highly consider being very competitive with your pricing. It is definitely a technique that has worked in my salon and we've built up a solid hair extension clientele that we're actually ready to raise our prices. You'Ll know it's time to raise your prices when you can't fit any more clients on your schedule, and that means it's okay to lose some, because now we can do less clients and still make the same amount of money or more keep in mind that additional services, Like color or highlighting root, smudges color melting, all of that is extra, and generally all of the hair extensions that you do install will last about six months to a year, depending on how well your client takes care of their hair at home. The only exception is the care links, because those are fusion bonded and that's because, when they're removed, we really don't reuse that hair, so a whole new pack is ordered and installed once the hair extensions are installed, do not leave your client without booking their next appointment, Which brings me to the closing: the maintenance is where the money is at, because all of your clients are going to need to come back around six to eight weeks to move up their extensions. This includes tape, ins, eye links, hybrid wefts and yes, even the care links they can probably be removed and reinstalled every four to six months. My maintenance appointments are very similar to the initial install. So, let's just talk about hybrid wefts for just a second, because those are the most popular as of today, i still charge 175 dollars per row to move them up. However, i'm adding a lot of value in that maintenance appointment. So what that 175 includes is the move up appointment as well as a shampoo, a deep treatment and a color gloss. This is going to ensure that the client is leaving the salon with their hair. Extensions in pristine condition really looking like the very first time that they got their hair extensions installed in the first place again. This is a little controversial, because a lot of hairstyles will charge only fifty dollars to seventy five dollars per row to move them up, but then leave their clients to go home with dirty hair and it just doesn't look healthy and shiny. So i like to make sure that my clients are leaving the salon looking like they have brand new hair every single time now. I really hope you enjoyed this video and it brought some clarification on exactly what you should be charging behind the chair and hopefully got your wheels. Turning especially again, if you're new to hair extensions or you're already in the game and give you some inspo and some ideas on how to maybe even do a price increase or readjust your pricing in general make sure to comment down below with any questions. Or maybe your aha moment about this video and i'll be sure to respond and for more information on all of the tools and everything that i spoke about in this video be sure to head on over to donabellahair.com and to place your first order be sure to Use my coupon code marella to save 10 on your order, be sure to follow me on my other social channels like instagram, facebook and tick tock, all under mirella minelli. And if you want free education, sent right to your inbox, be sure to head on over to mariellaminelli.com and sign up for my newsletter and if you enjoy listening to podcasts, be sure to check out my podcast called airbnb. It'S a podcast where i help hairstylists. Just like you simplify color styling and their beauty, biz and finally be sure to check out my other hair tutorials right here on this channel, and i will see you next time.