£10 for gel nails?

[pure]

Have a read of this blog by Fee Wallace
https://feewallace.com/tag/nail-blog/

She brilliantly explains the different price brackets within the nail industry and why we shouldn't aim to be the cheapest.

 

[Misstoniilou]

I feel your pain. I had an offer on for toes for £13 if you booked gel polish or acrylics and i got laughed at. Literally.

Its really getting me down now and im thinking of just jacking it in completely and just doing my own.

 

[contouraclinic]

There's a salon - well established and been there for YEARS - around the corner from me advertising 'Shellac' for £5 [emoji15] clearly not genuine, but they were doing an offer for teens during Easter which was 'Shellac' fingers and toes and hair wash, dry and style all for £15. Factor in that they need (as an estimate) 1 1/2 hours AT LEAST for this...god knows how they make any money!!

 

[MrsBB2013]

More fool them! Who doesn't need to get paid!

 

[Stook]

Take absolutely no notice. A lady 2 roads away from me started offering 'shellac' for £10 a few months ago.

Not one of my customers went to her and a couple of hers came to me afterwards telling tales of her having just 3/4 genuine looking shellac bottles - the rest were Bluesky - and her nails peeling very soon after application, no doubt due to poor prep.

I've not seen her advertise for ages so no idea if she's still going. I'm double the price and am still in business. Make of that what you will. X

 

[Sara-Jane]

I feel your pain. I had an offer on for toes for £13 if you booked gel polish or acrylics and i got laughed at. Literally.

Its really getting me down now and im thinking of just jacking it in completely and just doing my own.

Don't let it get you down, I've only got 3 clients at the moment, I've had quite a few enquiring, then tell me I'm to expensive, normal rate here is £20 for acrylics, and that's to get your nails drilled to pieces, cuts and burns, crappy products (I know from experience) I charge £23, one asked if I'd do her a deal, but I said no, told her it's not worth my time and effort, I've got my prices and that's what I'm sticking to, I've read a lot that it can take a good year to build a good client base, so 3 in just over a month I consider to be ok

I think coming into the nail business you have to be fully aware of all the people doing dirt cheap treatments with crap non genuine products, that can afford to under cut you by far, and that it's not a easy market to crack, but are these the sort of people you want coming to you? They probably want all added frills and flare on nails too for £2 extra which I can't compete with when I'm using Swarovski crystals, and the NSS are using the £1 diamond wheels where you get 500 pieces from eBay, and to be honest they can carry on going to a NSS, I don't want to deal with them and their moaning about how expensive I am, and how my nails don't last as long as a NSS salon due to the fact it contains MMA - it just makes me angry now when I think about it and I could bang on forever till I'm blue in the face about it

Sorry that was supposed to be a supportive post that started to turn into a rant! xx

 

[user 111574]

Well, fellow geeks, you will love this little story from a client i have just seen!

This is a client I lost to the salon (who rents out beauty rooms) near me who has been doing really cheap gel and other treatments. The lady has been to many salons over the years across the country so she knows what to expect in her beauty treatments.

When the client went to the other salon firstly, they burnt her top lip with wax (which has taken weeks to heal) and when she had gel (gelish?) the girl kept forgetting to do bits such as not put on a base coat and forgetting to put her hand in the light to cure. Hence when it came to wiping off, all the colour came off. Appointments were also running an hour late. Needless to say my client was not happy and wanted her to re-do her nails as it was for a special weekend away. The girl said she was too tired to do them (she works nights at a care home) but she did. The final gels were 'bubbled' and 'cracked'. Most fell off the next day.

So take heart fellow geeks, your clients will be back and a bad reputation always spreads rapidly!

P.S Feeling very smug now...

 

[EssentialU]

I'm not a nail technician I'm a holistic therapist - massage, reflexology, etc - but I come across the same problem and my impression is it's one of two things usually. New starters in the business and the couldn't care less about the client as long as they make some quick money brigade. The second I don't give time or thought to, they are not worth it. The first think if they charge properly they won't get a start with clients or they don't feel confident in their abilities (which we all remember I'm sure!) straight away, however good they may actually be, so they feel unworthy of charging correctly. My approach with any therapists that I come across is to try to guide them and explain industry standards, insurance, etc, and stress how important it is for their own protection in the long run if anything should go wrong, God forbid. My approach with current or potential clients who tell me there's someone cheaper is to tell them to go try by all means, it's their choice who they see. However, I also tell them they only have one body and it's costly (if even possible) to get mistakes put right so I advise them:
"Before you ask what appointments are available, ask the person who is going to provide your treatment what regulatory body they are registered with and what insurance they have to do that type of work."
"Look around their workspace. Doesn't matter if they are doing it in a kitchen or a cupboard or a rented therapy room, is it clean? Do their tools, hands, etc, look clean and well maintained? If they were going to serve you food, would you eat it after they had handled it?"
That's usually enough to make clients think twice, but if they go ahead and I manage to get feedback:
"Did you get the treatment and experience they promised you they would?"
"Did they question you generally on health issues, current illnesses and any contraindications to the treatment?"
"Did they advise you on aftercare and how to contact them if there is a problem?"
"Were you satisfied?"

At the end of the day, clients will choose their own therapist, for good or bad.