That helps immensely thank you Jeanne! That's where I was going with it - an hourly rate and really, it is more of a deterrent than anything. I really don't want to sit and do someone's nails for 3 hours, especially when I already know the end result is going to be crap. But hey - if that's what they want, then they need to be paying more for it. I charged her more than $50 by the way, but I still didn't feel it was enough for my aggravation. Oh and I forgot to mention I drove to 2 different stores to find the lace before the appointment. I had to be in charge of getting the lace otherwise who knows what she would have shown up with!
Laura _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of JEANNE HARRIS Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: NailTech:: Need help with pricing custom nail art, and a vent too :) Hi Laura! These are the clients I love to hate...! I have some standard pricing for most common nail art requests: Glitter/colored acrylic sculpts (aka Rock Star) - full set $40 single color - add $5 per addt'l color - individual $5 single color add $1 per addt'l color Handpainted nail art - full set $8 - individual $1 (add to full set/fill in price) Inlays - full set $10 - individual $2 (add to full set/fill in price) And custom jobs (for parties, hair shows and crazy stuff we do here): $30 an hour Any combination of these is priced accordingly. So, for what your client asked for, I would have charged: Color acrylic sculpt full set: $40 Inlays (lace) full set: $10 Total: $50 If the customer asked me for something I knew wouldn't work or look right, I'd tell her that flat out and offer her alternatives. When she walks out that door, my name is all over her hands. The last thing I want for a client to tell everyone I did her nails and they look like crap! But if the customer insists on some way-out design that I've never done and will take me longer than 2 hours start to finish for her appt, she's definitely getting charged hourly. For that, I'll do whatever she wants for however long it takes! Hope this helps! Jeanne Parks New You Nail Gallery Detroit, MI _____ From: Laura Merzetti <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, December 10, 2009 9:26:49 AM Subject: NailTech:: Need help with pricing custom nail art, and a vent too :) Hey tech friends, I need help with pricing my custom work. I have only one client who this really applies to but she is becoming increasingly demanding. This week it took me 3 hours to do her nails and I was really annoyed by the time we were done (started at 5:30 pm and evenings are not my most creative or generous time - I am a morning person!!). She wanted black lace embedded over white tips, or so I thought. I hunted for black lace and ended up using black lace seam binding. I did up a sample tip and I didn't really like the look of it so I did up a couple of other ones with the black lace embedded over a red and a gold gel polish background and I thought those looked stunning. She didn't want those, she wanted the white tips because she had it in her head she wanted them to look like lace stockings. She didn't want the lace to cover the white tip she wanted the lace to cover the nail bed but keep the white tip exposed, so that meant cutting parts of the lace off so that nothing touched the white tip. Then she wanted the same mix I'd used on my nails that I had on several weeks ago, on the nail bed. It was a custom coverage blend. I tried to explain that you would never see it under the lace but she insisted. The lace didn't go on right, it was too thick, too bulky, and by this time I was ready to toss her out the door. I did the best I could but I wasn't happy with them - they were thick and bulky looking and I couldn't even get a decent picture of them to go in my book. She loved them but I absolutely hated the end result. And you couldn't notice the custom blend on the nail bed under the lace at all. My dilemma is this; I didn't charge her nearly enough for the work involved. I charged her the cost of a new set and that's it. I am toying with the idea of starting to charge by the hour for this kind of thing - that way they will soon realize that the longer it takes me the more it's going to cost them, and she may have a whole new attitude about it then. Like I said it is just this one client who is this way. I have let her do this to me for the past year and now I need to change this because I am starting to resent her appointments. Yet - I get to do something fun and different with her, so I need her for that. But I also need her to listen to me when I tell her something will not work the way she thinks it will. I think if she knew she was being charged by the minute for these nails she might think twice about that. I've told her several times 'you need to make a decision' as she sits there staring at her nails, then looking at me.then we just sort of play this game where nobody says anything and eventually I say 'OK, let's try it.' and usually it does not look like the way she pictured it so we end up taking it off and starting over. Those of you who do this kind of customized work - when THEY come to you with an idea that they want to do..how do you end up charging for it? Laura Merzetti Scratch My Back Nail Studio Ajax Ontario Canada Scratch My Back Nail Studio Laura Merzetti 5 Turriff Crescent Ajax, Ontario L1T 3N4 www.scratchmyback.ca <http://www.scratchmyback.ca/> 905-443-6482 Contessa 2010 Finalist T.E.N. Tuff Enuff Nails Certified Educator www.tuffenuffnails.com <http://www.tuffenuffnails.com/> Minx Manicurist www.minxnails.com <http://www.minxnails.com/> Minx extends fashion to your fingertips -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
