Cheaper pricing for student clients?

[asteropi]

Hi ladies,
Yesterday I lost a client because she's a university student and my prices seemed expensive to her
So I'm thinking of dropping my prices to attract them too.
However, I can't do it using my current brand because there is really no profit margin for me.

So my question is, which brand can I use that is not so expensive as Cnd but I won't drop my quality?

 

[Sara-Jane]

Ink London!!

 

[cheeka]

I was going to heartily recommend Ink London too, I've recently bought the iLac trial kit and, hand on heart, it is amazing (especially considering the price) and I will be adding more of this range in the very near future... however, delivery costs to Greece are pretty steep (£20/24 euros), with free delivery on orders over £90/105 euros...

 

[krum]

Why don't you do a student discount instead of dropping all your prices? Ask to see their student card and do a percentage off.
Do you mean for gel polish or extensions or both?

 

[user 111574]

I wouldn't drop my prices at all.
Run occasional promotion days for students - say one a month if you want to capture this new audience.
University students should be on good wages once they graduate so worth looking after long term though.

 

[Minkeybox]

Ive been pondering getting my product costs down for a while (gel polish) & sat down & worked out how much I would save changing brands from Shellac. the most I could save was £2 a treatment! 2 quid! And that was using £2.99 a bottle Ebay stuff lol! (I worked this out purely out of curiosity, I wouldnt use it *shudders*)


My consumables will still be the same, my rents still the same & my wage for the time taken to do it are all exactly the same, so I cant see how using cheaper products helps? Just reprinting my pricelists would cost more than the saving in products!

Ink is a great product (I used it a bit a few years ago) & the price of the bottles mean you can buy a couple for the same price as a Shellac, ( gaining a good collection of colours quicker) but I honestly cant see how it saves enough money per service? Would you get more clients for such a small price difference (not sure what it would equate to in your currency Asteropi xx)

Genuine questions ladies, love to know what you think <3

 

[noreenoconnor]

Great point Minkeybox!

Don't undersell yourself , using cheaper products and drastically reducing your prices will not make you more money unfortunately.

 

[squidgernetball]

This is an eternal debate @Minkeybox. I read the same posts over and over again about doing cut price treatments - some offering blue sky shellac for £10 and genuine shellac for £15 whilst not realising the profit margins that you have to take into consideration for both and that the cost per service isn't that different!

I would personally offer a student time or day.

At completely the other end of the scale, I'm looking at offering a really cut price facial treatment to under 20's suffering from acne because I want to treat them. I would never do it using low end products.

I would also add that most students can't afford to get their nails done as a rule so I don't know how big your market is and even if you want students as your ideal clientele. Don't drop your standards and definitely don't drop your prices unless it's a one off student day.

Vic x

 

[Cindy2021]

I wouldn't drop your prices.

I have lots of clients that are students and they are happy to pay my prices and I've had lots of other clients referred by them.

If that particular student couldn't afford your prices there will be plenty others who can.

 

[Minkeybox]

The cheapy stuff will get you a good selection of colours cheaply & quickly, so I can see how it appeals to newbies starting out but really cant see how it would help someone already established with premium products!

The Ebay brand I did my compartison with was actually cheaper than our old friend Bluesky, so even Bluesky wouldn't save you 2 quid lol! Plus if you add on longer time for removal that 2 quids then going on an extra 15 minutes wages....

I really dont think its worth it just for one client, you would be buying s full system &/or lamp just for one person! (Assuming this hasnt been a problem before as you have been in business a while) xx

 

[asteropi]

Thanks for all your replies.
I work from home or mobile and I have a few students interested since the university is literally 5 mins or less from where I live.
I have only started investing in this a few months ago, so I can't really say I have a great collection of stuff, certainly not as much as I'd wish. Here shellac and gel polish are the hot topic so I started with that and I also offer gel enhancements. So getting a slightly cheaper but good quality product would build up my collection fast and correspond to that particular group.

But there are so many "nail techs" out there using bluesky and similar lines and offer very cheap nails that my prices seem high. Even one of the local nail suppliers has young nails and oulac, which he offers as a cheaper option at 5€ (2-3 quid?) a bottle. And that's supposed to be professional! That girl told me she usually pays 20€ (that should be around 16-17 quid) for a full set of gel overlays with gel polish and extensive nail art on all nails!!!! Not to mention the standard price of no-cuticle shellac at 9€(6-7 quid) and yes, no-cuticle: that's a thing here, even in nail salons! I'm ranting I know, I'll stop!

I don't want to try ebay. I do want to get a cheaper line, but not a bad one. And I have a uv light that I got from a beauty event (not sure how you call them) so I wouldn't have to get a lamp directly. That and no rent should help a bit. I'll look into Ink London and try to calculate everything with the % discount option. Thanks

 

[noreenoconnor]

What do you charge at the moment for Shellac?

What are you looking to charge for student gel polish?

Using the above example the most you can save is roughly €2 per service , all other costs stay the same , I don't think €2 is going to sway your students so the only cost left to cut is what you pay yourself. Add on the extra soak off time inferior gel polishes take to soak off and that's further reducing your hourly pay.

So you will have to pay out for new products so that you can work for less.

Take Vicki's advice and go for a student discount day , that way you won't have loads of stock sitting on your shelf! Don't worry if you don't have loads of colours just layer them to create new shades, or add glitter [emoji6]

 

[asteropi]

I was thinking about doing better prices only on gel enhancements and overlays, not gel polish
Should have mentioned that.

 

[AcidPerm]

At completely the other end of the scale, I'm looking at offering a really cut price facial treatment to under 20's suffering from acne because I want to treat them. I would never do it using low end products.

I would also add that most students can't afford to get their nails done as a rule so I don't know how big your market is and even if you want students as your ideal clientele. Don't drop your standards and definitely don't drop your prices unless it's a one off student day.
Vic x

Vic, that sounds a fab idea to treat teens. I hope it goes well.


Re: students. Not all students are broke!
There are plenty that can afford to pay standard rates for hair & beauty services. I've worked in several top UK Universities prior to having a career change and there's always a percentage of well funded students who drive expensive cars and live in flats & houses purchased by mummy & daddy. They're a good market to target. Just offer an intro discount to staff and students on their first service and advertise on University notice boards. Plenty of staff like to look well groomed too!

 

[Minkeybox]

Ooh, can I just clarify that I wasnt promoting or suggesting using Ebay bought products- it was purely for price comparisons, to show that even usung the cheapest of cheap you still dont save much! I am a CND gurl through & through!

What price are they willing to pay? Even with reputable 'lower priced' (im gonna say this as 'cheap' does not do the pro products like Ink justice) could you get the service to cover products, consumables, costs & a decent wage & still be what they want to pay? I really doubt it

Appealing to more affulent students & staff would be my plan xx