Variable pricing.  It's something I see time and time again suggested by well-meaning hairstylists or makeup artists in post comments in online forums.  Someone asks for information about how to price their hairstyles or makeup, and for better or for worse there's always a few comments that break it down with variable pricing.  In fact, such a post may be exactly what brought you to this blog in the first place.

Here's what I mean when I say variable pricing:

An updo costs $100.  Half up is $75.  All down is $60.  A blowout is $50.  Long hair costs extra.  Etc, etc.  

There are no flat fees for styling the hair.  Rather, the price is determined by the TYPE of style the client requests.

Same thing for makeup.  Some artists will offer Airbrush for $100.  Traditional foundation for $85.  Eyes only for $50. 

Now, let's break down exactly why this doesn't work and why you should be avoiding it in your bridal beauty business.

First, it's impossible for your bride to know exactly how much it's going to cost her in the end.  Yes, it may be that you allow the bridal party to pay for their services individually (which is entirely a different issue for a different blog post), but the fact of the matter is, the bride is the one on the contract.  She is the one who is going to be liable for the total amount due, and if a bridesmaid asks for something more expensive on the wedding day than she originally said she wanted, well guess who is the one who has to legally pony up the cash if the bridesmaid doesn't have enough on her?

Your bride is going to be price shopping.  Even if she is your Dream Bride and you fit within her budget, she still needs to know how much everything is going to cost in the long run.  If some of your style costs are $10-20 different, that could be hundreds of dollars in difference for a large bridal party.

Second, what does this mean for you?  If you book yourself for the same amount of time regardless and then everyone chooses the cheapest option, you've now cheated yourself out of hundreds of extra dollars for the same number of hours.  If you had charged it as $100 for each person for a group of 6 bridesmaids and worked 5 hours, that's $600 you're making.  Take that same group, but the bride wants everyone in either all down curls or a half updo.  Say you do half all down and the rest as a half-up.  You've still booked 5 hours to style everyone's hair, but you've now made a total of $405.  You just lost out on $195.  

Back to the bride-  If you collect payment in advance (which you absolutely should be doing!), how will the bride know how much her total is so she can pay a deposit?  How will she know how much the balance will be if she doesn't even know her total?  It's impossible for you to put prices on your contract if they will vary based on final outcome.  If a bridesmaid changes her mind on the wedding day and wants a more expensive look, but your contract only had the cheaper price listed, you have no legal recourse to ask for additional fees should they neglect to pay the difference after the work is completed.

Now, that's only taking into account half the reason why variable pricing is bad business.  Not only does it not protect your income properly and value your time appropriately, it prices based on a consumer's viewpoint of your skills as an artist.

When you do an all down hairstyle, does it not take just as long as doing an updo?  You're not just "throwing some curls" in the hair.  It takes more product to properly prep the hair as well as longer to heat the curl evenly and more time to cool fully and then the time to arrange or brush out the curls into the final style.  Unless you want them looking like a stringy version of their earlier style by the time pictures come around, that hair needs to LAST.  And it takes way more product and way more time than an updo does.  Updo's don't even require heat, and you can hold that style together with eight hundred bobby pins and a couple of elastics if you need to.  The more hair that's down, the harder it is for the style to stay looking perfect and polished, and they need to pay for that extra time and product, too!

When it comes to makeup, I understand that thought process behind wanting to charge more for airbrush makeup.  Every class you take will tell you that it's a "special skillset" that requires more training and equipment and therefore equals a higher price tag.  Well after spending over a decade as an airbrush artist, I'm here to tell you that's all whooey.  Yes, it's an investment in the equipment and training- but only at the outset.  Once you've made your money back for it, it's actually way more cost effective to be an airbrush artist than one who applies foundation traditionally.  Each bottle of airbrush foundation will last you much longer than a bottle of traditional foundation, making the cost per application lower.

Also, not all skins should have their makeup airbrushed.  Yeah, I said it.  It's not the perfect method for everybody.  You should be skilled enough as an artist to know when to use it and when NOT to.  You should have multiple finishes for the foundations in your kit.  Not everyone wants a full coverage matte as the Sahara finish! Some want or need a sheerer coverage, a dewy finish, or something in between.  A real professional is going to have several different formulas of foundation in their kit to accommodate, and not all of it can be done with airbrush.  Thus, when applying foundation traditionally, you'll need more varieties of formulas and more product overall- equalling a much higher investment when restocking.

If you have a client who should not have airbrush or wants a finish that you cannot accommodate with airbrush but they've paid for airbrush, are you going to offer them a refund?  How are you going to explain to them that they aren't getting airbrushed like the rest of the bridal party?  How do you think that will make them feel?  Probably pretty confused and left out or like there's something "wrong" with their skin.  

Lastly, don't shortchange yourself by allowing people to be cheap when getting their makeup done by asking for "eyes only".  That's a sure sign of a problem client.  They understand that they aren't as good as you when applying their makeup, but they also don't value you what you do to pay your rate for you to do everything.  That's like someone asking you to style their hair but wanting a discount if they curl it first.  No thank you ma'am.  It's all or nothing.  Your time is your time, and if you're there you need to be getting paid the same amount whether they want something intricate done to their hair or face or something "simple".  Just like with a haircut, they aren't charged for the amount of hair you cut off.  We don't scoop it up and weigh it like the Chinese buffet.  Your time is your time is one set price.  Repeat after me "My time is my time is one set price."

Stop thinking like a consumer and start thinking like a business owner.  Value your skills and your time and then charge for them!  You will make more money and waste less time having pricing conversations or trying to justify your prices to someone.

If you're looking for more information on how to price your bridal hair or makeup services, check out my Ultimate Pricing Guide For Bridal Artists -->> GET IT HERE<<-- for just $27 and learn all the strategies to increase your income AND profitability so you can build a successful bridal business without the burnout and the stress.  With my secret formulas I share, you'll be charging your worth in no time and booking better quality brides!