Prices go up....on everything.

[Din]

I see it everywhere, other than the obvious, gas prices, you see it everywhere, electricity, housing, food, chemicals.....most have doubled if not tripled in price over the years.

So why are tans still $6-$8 why hasn't price of tanning gone up on the same equipment.

Why are we just accepting making less money.

it came to mind cuz i visited one of the tantoday members salon website that people put in their signature and i see their tanning prices at walkin single session, any bed $5.00, their biggest package for 12 tans was like $36.00 and all packettes of lotion are $3

How do you people expect to make money?

I think if everyone raised their prices to like $15 for a base bed, $30 for a VHR and $50 for an HP across the board......it would be a good thing. I mean, why are we working so hard to make $500 a day and other businesses make a killing, doing less.

[W8INLINE]

and you came up with that all by yourself????

[rflick]

Where have you been Din ?

Have you not noticed all the fools out there that THINK THEIR GODS when it comes to tanning.

The truth is, its all the newbee's over the last few years that have driven the prices down. I'm getting 50% less now than I did 15 years ago.

A new owner comes in, buys the wrong equipment for the market and just starts lowering the price until a customer comes in.

In my area the comp is paying over 6k in rent for a third of the space I have, Yet still sells a matrix visit a $10

[EliteMike]

because this is America. And people think that lower prices will get them a bigger chunk of the 10% pie. It's quite pathetic really. I wouldn't just blame the newbies, there are some vets on here that have some pretty STUPID theories on pricing and giving away the world.

[Din]

FAKEM....gonna sell it all and go a different route that isn't getting cheaper....since i've got the rooms, maybe a rub and tug.....or better yet, feed to the clietele where there is a demand but nobody has entered yet...so no competition. Rub and tug but for women, a "rub and plug®©™" if you will.

[uv2021]

Because salon owners are afraid.Years of being told we sell cancer.And then the franchises ,who have formulas that work in some mass volume markets but don't work in all markets.But they come to town and try anyway.Next thing you know this is the new price of tanning.Like one of my markets .Every franchise in Canada came to town.With all of their great membership plans.Wich might work well in some areas.

Then the perception of price on tanning becomes lower.What the tanning public does not know is that all of these salons and some of the private ones have all changed hands 2-3 times in the last 7 years.Because this is a formula for failure.So the new owner comes in and thinks because they are owner -operated now that the formula will work.Then they realize it does not.And all of the independants fowllow suit with the low prices .Thinking they have to in order to survive.

Thru all of this the public has now been conditioned to cheap tanning.So yeah ,low prices are here.Despite all of a salons expenses have gone up.I have a reputation of being expensive.I don't care .I sell value.You want cheap,go find cheap. I don't ever lower prices ,I just give you new equipment at the same as my old price.So if you are my client,you get the best.

[solarmeter®]

It must be time to raise meter prices lol.

[tam_marie]

When is the best time to raise prices?

When you bring in new equipment?
Change the lamps?

Or do you even offer an explanation to your customers?

[rflick]

When you have enough money to get by for a year.

[Tanning Queen]

I have been saying this for a long time now. Cheap prices in ANY market devalues the industry. There are some on here that will disagree and that is fine. But watching the trends as I have for years just makes me shake my head.

It costs more now than ever before to run a tanning salon. Beds are more, electric is higher, rent is higher, etc. Yet prices have gone DOWN.

Salon cost for lotion has gone up but so did the price points so you were able to make SOME money back that way. Well those days are gone since everyone and thier mother can buy from a disty or the internet.

Where do you go from here?

[solman]

Originally Posted by rflick

When you have enough money to get by for a year.

...and there in lies the rub.

[Alan @ TanToday]

Stating the obvious but the reason prices dont go up is no one wants to do it and lose customers to the lame salon down the street that doesnt have a clue to staying in business longterm.

[ekc123]

i have raised my prices by $5 every level for the last three years, but admit to lowering in the off seasion, but will not be doing it this year, just adding value with lotion discounts and upgrades. I will also be raising my prices at the first of the year by another $5 each level. I too believe raising the price of tanning is a must to prevent devaluing the industry. When people ask why, I ask them if their bills are higher at their house and they say yes and then I say so have mine.

[Tanning Queen]

Yep! Bills go up but then again, salaries go up too! So it all should equal out.

But then again, not in our world. We still keep low prices so in essence, the client is getting a better deal than ever before. Better beds for the same price as 10 years ago.

[Din]

salaries go up?

They do?

If salaries go up 4%, why does gas price go up 400%, electricity goes up 30%, food prices go up 20%-30%. Heck, even hair nets are going up 30% for spray tans to buy.

So why not raise prices up 20%-30% each year?

[Tanning Queen]

Not gonna hear an argurment from me! I think tanning prices should be higher. BUt then again, now that I dont own a salon anymore, I want it as cheap as possible. LOL!!!!

[Jones]

I have to add that consumers have now become numb to price increases and actually expect it. As stated in another thread, it's a great time to increase prices, if you do it correctly. Also, if you are not increasing your price you need to decrease your expenses as to not cut margins... There is always going to be competition that you must compete with on pricing, you just have to get better at dealing with it.

[Kathe]

I think the problem is that too many newbies get into this and buy equipment that is too much for their area to support so they charge $15/session for HP instead of $30 or $40. Then the salon down the street who has a great VHR that should be $18 or $20 can't charge that and has to sell it for $9 or $10. It's a very strange business.

[Brian Oshman]

Originally Posted by Kathe

I think the problem is that too many newbies get into this and buy equipment that is too much for their area to support so they charge $15/session for HP instead of $30 or $40. Then the salon down the street who has a great VHR that should be $18 or $20 can't charge that and has to sell it for $9 or $10. It's a very strange business.

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.

[dcjjp1]

I raise prices in small doses, not across the board so it's less noticible to the client and dependent on trends