Prices go up....on everything.

[solarmeter®]

New Solarmeter price now $399! Been the same $159 since back when gas was $1.59/gal. So $3.99/gal gas must mean $399 meters!

[Kathe]

Originally Posted by Brian Oshman

It's not the equipment or the clientel or the area, it's the person opening the salon with the complete lack of business sense or salesmanship.

All areas will support HP and other high end equipment. It just needs to be sold on the true value of it.

Too many clowns in this industry anymore. It shows in those salons that run the low, low prices. They think they can run a profitable business on five dollar tans these days. They have skimped on everything like the equipment, A/C, electric, got lamps in the beds that are two years old and thousands of hours, front door is open and lights are off. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

After reading this, I'm raising my prices again too.

Yes I agree with you. After reading what you wrote it isn't the equipment, it's the salon owner who devalues the equipment.

[BIG AL]

I would have to disagree that it is just the new salon owners that are causing the low tanning prices. It is veteran owners and chains that are just as at fault as the newbies. Let me give you an example and this goes back to a prior thread. The free month of tanning that some salons are using is killing this industry.

I have 3 chains around 1 of my salons that are offering this and they are 2 of the biggest in the business. I know we have had some owners that have said this is just marketing. It is marketing if you are the only one doing it. If everyone is doing it, there is no marketing advantage.

I think everyone will agree that the average tanner, tans 3 months or less. So the tanner goes to each salon for their free month and when that is over they go to the next salon and then the next. If you are able to sell them a lotion, you may have made some money but this type of tanner more than likely, bought lotion off the internet, so 3 salons made exactly nothing. In fact they all lost money. In the customers mind, what do they think that tanning is worth. Exactly nothing, because that is what it cost them.

So you have lost any income from these tanners until next year and guess what, if anyone offers it next year, where do you think they are going. So to blame it all on the newbies is incorrect. We are our own worst enemy.

[solman]

My observation is that prices for many products such as food, fuel, utilities have gone up. At the same time I've noticed prices for a lot of services have gotten more competitive (read cheaper) such as spa/massages, hair/nail salons, cosmetic type skin treatments, and even dental. Of course tanning falls in the service category so it can be tough to raise prices. If you can, you should.

[Tanning Queen]

The trend is getting bigger. It started out with first session free, then moved to a free week, now a free month!

Or a slight twist, 3 tans for $3 or 7 for $7. all beds all access. Seen them all. And seen all the offer grow bigger for no money.

I am kinda glad I am out of it all now...

[solman]

I agree with Big Al on the whole "free tanning" as a marketing concept. Best practices marketing would/should grow the industry. Offering free tanning for the purpose of shutting down competitors to gain customers, and justifying it as good marketing, is a sign that this industry needs an enema. Disagree if you will, but it doesn't change the fact that it cheapens us and does nothing to grow the industry. I'm sure you all agree, right?

[enuf]

Well the reason why the chains have come in here was to put the mom and pops out of business. They will not be happy until all the little salons are out. The little salons run scared so what do they do they lower the prices to beat the chains. I have not lowered my prices through all this.

Jones how do you raise prices correctly. When you decide on an increase you increase. There is no incorrect way of doing it.

I see salons charging $35 for a month of unlimited tanning and that is not eft's. Mine is $65 for level 1.

It does drive you crazy when you see the tanning industry lowering their standards. You think by lowering your prices that will bring people in. We want loyal customers not customers that are going to run to place to place getting the lowest prices.

[Island Cove]

It's not the equipment or the clientel or the area, it's the person opening the salon with the complete lack of business sense or salesmanship.

All areas will support HP and other high end equipment. It just needs to be sold on the true value of it.

Bingo. Took the words right out of my mouth. Truely Brian, you and I think more alike than either of us care to admit. We should put our heads together some time. lol

100% agree, lack of business sence, lack of research. its not about putting the wrong equipment in, its not knowing how to market that equipment, and also not realizing that its a rare salon indead that starts out the gate running full tilt. So when reality hits and they realize they have to struggle for the first few years, they think the McDonalds or Walmart philosopy, of traffic. High Volume of clients makes it possible to have cheap prices. But thats just not a given in the tanning industry. We don't have 100% of the population needing to tan, as the food industry having 100% of the population needing to eat, with no goverment limitations as to how much, how often, how old.

It would be easy for the cheap salons to raise their prices, and it sure would be nice if they did. Its salons like me, and Uv2021 and so on that are already considered expensive, who are actualy just charging what we need to in order to survive, that will have a hard time raising prices.

If Salon owners would put aside their bickering and pure hatred for their competition and get together as a group all looking out for their industry, then they could also put a pricing standard on different levels of bed, which would be a win for ALL salons.

[Island Cove]

Big Al, is that just it, one month free? or is there a catch? like they have to pay a co pay? or get one month free when they sign up for a year? I know i have advertised some crazy sounding deals, with (see instore for detaild) and its never crazy at all, but unless the client comes in to see , they would never know. It is also in my experience, that the more something is FREE, the less response, and i believe that is because in the customers mind, there has got to be a catch. So how well does it realy work? I don't know, I don't have a chain next to me doing that, so i'm just asking here, not debating.

I do know that its an ignorant newbie that thinks a franchise is the way to go and WILL undoughtably be the ticket to putting the mom and pop out of business for sure. I just had this conversation with a guy looking to get into a franchise salon here in canada, flab u tans. He said in the area he was looking to open, demo's much like mine, there was only one salon, and it was a mom and pop shop, and he felt with the name of this franchise, he could stomp all over mom and pop. I laughed at him and told him more than likely mom and pop would stomp all over that franchise, and explained to him why, but until I talked with him, he thought it was just all in the name of the franchise that would meen success.

[JeffK]

Originally Posted by Island Cove

If Salon owners would put aside their bickering and pure hatred for their competition and get together as a group all looking out for their industry, then they could also put a pricing standard on different levels of bed, which would be a win for ALL salons.

Hm.

Count me out. I don't like jail.

[solman]

Originally Posted by JeffK

Hm.

Count me out. I don't like jail.

Yeah, government here in the good ol' USA kind of frowns on price-fixing.

[JeffK]

Originally Posted by solman

Yeah, government here in the good ol' USA kind of frowns on price-fixing.

Yea.. great plan.

[EliteMike]

Price floors have been set by the GOVERNMENT

[BIG AL]

IC, one month free, no strings attatched.

[yamahaguy]

In my area it is not the new salon owners but the veterans that are offering ridiculous pricing. I have yet to figure out how they stay in business. They sell $2 tans and have junk beds but are busy. I get $6 for a 20 minute entry level and they complain.

[rflick]

The main problem starts with the manf/disty. A.... let me back step, The first problem is our industry looks soo easy. Then potenail owners hook up with a Manf/disty who promises the world/make millions. So they spend millions on eqiupment, Open up and the real world slaps them in the face. And they have to lower prices because they have nothing left to survive.

Then you have older operators who just dont care they have made their money and now just operate to operate.

Then you have chain owners who want to gobble up the entire market. And they get the support of the manf/disty because its easier to sell 100 beds to 1 company rather than a dozen little people.

In my area, The guy that keeps lowering prices just runs the store for a habit. gotta be what he's doing, No one else has ever sold the Matrix at $10 a pop.

So who do you defend against first ?

[Brian Oshman]

Originally Posted by yamahaguy

In my area it is not the new salon owners but the veterans that are offering ridiculous pricing. I have yet to figure out how they stay in business. They sell $2 tans and have junk beds but are busy. I get $6 for a 20 minute entry level and they complain.

The vets can do this because most likely their equipment has been paid off for some time now and also probably have cheaper rent then the new guy coming in with high rent and financed equipment.

When I said before that there was a lot of clowns in this industry I was talking in general, not just new salons. There are a lot of old dumps that need to be burned down that are devaluing the market with old beds and old buildouts and old mentality.

There are a lot of new players that have entered the market lately the have stepped up the bar a few notches and this is pissing off the vets. Keep in mind that you continued to stay stagnant and not continue to evolve in your business and the new guy comes along with quality and value and quite frankly the old tired deserve to be swallowed up and shut down because they have become complacent.

Bye bye old 24 lamp base bed dumps with your tiki hut front desk and your plastic palm trees.

[rflick]

On the bright side, just about all the hair salons with 2 or 3 beds are gone.....

[benzobaby]

For the last three years, I was the only game in town....and then comes 3 new tanning salons in a matter for a 2 mile radius in a matter of 2 months. I am struggling now to get by. Each one of these new salons offers tanning for $6 and $7. I didn't want to do it (get into a price war) but I had to. I never, ever had to lower my prices and I fear some failure in the horizon and it scares the crap out of me. I know what most people are going to say on here....don't get into a price war, but when I called some of my clients that I haven't seen since this guy opened in March they told me that it was because he was cheaper (doesn't matter that this guy was sued because he was posting pics of naked woman on the internet, which is a huge story in itself) I nearly freaked out. But when I sat down and thought about it I used to shop at this local health food store until I found all of the same products at the grocery store for cheaper I never went back. I know that by lowering my prices I'm cheapening the industry but I have to survive. I never thought I would say this, but I'm considering either re-locating or selling. It just sucks because I just bought 3 new beds and renewed my lease for another 3 years.

[EliteMike]

Sell