For salons and spas
Price each service by the products, the time and the room
A haircut or a facial costs products, towels, a stylist's time and a share of the room. Add them and set a price that pays for all of it.
Quick answer: how should salons and spas price a product?
Add every cost, then the fees that take a share of the price, then choose your margin. For colour and cut that works out at $48.46, leaving $19.38 profit. Skip a cost and the profit shrinks without you noticing.
Check your best seller in two minutes
Take the product you sell most. If its price was set by adding a mark-up to the products used per service and you have never counted staff commission or booking app fee, card fees and monthly costs, it may earn less than you think. Some items may even lose money. You will not see it in your till, only in the end-of-month result.
The mark-up trap, worked through
Marking up only the products used per service by 40% gives a price of $10.50. After the other costs and the fees taken from that price, the sale loses $16.71, not the $19.38 you planned. The same costs priced properly give $48.46.
Illustration with the example costs below. Your numbers will differ.
Where salons and spas usually lose money
Time is the biggest cost
Enter staff time per service so it is never forgotten.
Commission and booking fees
Add staff commission and booking app fees as percentages of the price.
Chair rent and equipment
Monthly costs spread over your normal number of services per month.
Example: Colour and cut
These costs go in. The price comes out of the same engine the app uses.
- Products used per service$7.50
- Staff time per service$18.00
- Towels and laundry$1.20
- Card terminal fee2.9% of price
- Booking app fee2% of price
- Profit you want40% margin
Sell it for
$48.46
Profit per sale $19.38 on a total cost of $29.07.
What salons and spas see in the app
Real screens. Your own costs and products go in, the same kind of answers come out.
A ready cost list
Pick salons and spas and the usual cost lines appear. You fill in the amounts.
The exact price
Fees that depend on the price are solved exactly, so the profit you ask for is the profit you get.
Products that lose money
Check a whole price list at once and see which items run thin or below cost.
Already set up for salons and spas
Choose this business type in the calculator and these cost lines appear. You only fill in the amounts.
- Products used per service
- Staff time per service
- Towels and laundry
- Disposables (gloves, foils, capes)
- Product wastage
- Card terminal fee
- Staff commission
- Booking app fee
- No-show and late-cancel allowance
- Rent (monthly)
- Chair or room hire (monthly)
- Insurance (monthly)
- Equipment (monthly)
- Licences and training (monthly)
- Tool and chair replacement (monthly)
What salons and spas get with CostCal Pro
The pricing maths is free. Paid plans add bulk tools and store connections.
Exact selling price
FreeEnter the products used per service, other costs and fees, choose a margin, and get the price that keeps it.
Catalog check
FreeUpload a product export and see which products lose money or run on a thin margin.
Discount simulator
FreeSee the largest discount that still leaves a profit before you run a sale.
Break-even
FreeAdd monthly costs and see how many sales cover them.
Branded PDF report
FreeSend a clear cost and price breakdown to a customer or partner.
CSV import and typical costs
StarterBring in many products at once and start from ready cost templates.
Store connection
StarterLink calculations to products in your online store by SKU.
Weekly below-cost email
PremiumGet an email when a store product is selling below cost.
Apply prices to your store
PremiumPush approved prices to a connected WooCommerce store.
See plans and prices, all features or a sample report.
Questions salons and spas ask about pricing
How do I price colour and cut?
Add every cost (products used per service, staff time per service, towels and laundry, card terminal fee, booking app fee), then choose the profit margin you want. With these example costs and a 40% margin, colour and cut should sell for $48.46, which leaves $19.38 profit on a total cost of $29.07. Your own costs will differ, so enter yours in the calculator.
What is the formula for a selling price that keeps your margin?
Price = fixed costs divided by (1 minus the percentage fees minus your margin). Here the fixed costs are $26.70, the percentage fees are 4.9% of the price and the margin is 40%. Percentage fees must be taken from the selling price, not from the cost, which is why a simple mark-up on cost usually leaves less profit than planned.
What costs do salons and spas often forget?
The easiest to miss are staff commission, booking app fee, no-show and late-cancel allowance, your own time, and monthly costs such as rent, chair or room hire, insurance. Each one is a row in the Salon / beauty / spa preset, so you only fill in the amounts.
How do I know if a product is losing money?
Compare the selling price with the total cost, including the share of the price taken by fees. If the price is lower than that total, the product loses money. Catalog check does this for a whole product export and marks every item that loses money or has a thin margin.
Can I price packages?
Set the quantity in the order and the bulk table shows the price for different package sizes.
Does it include tax?
Set your VAT or sales tax rate in Settings and the customer price shows it.
Is the CostCal Pro calculator free for salons and spas?
Yes. The Free plan never expires and needs no card. It includes the exact price calculation, 5 saved calculations, 5 PDF reports and a catalog check of up to 50 products. Paid plans start at $49 a year and add more saved calculations, CSV import, store connection and API keys.
Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Example figures are illustrations, not advice.
More in beauty, health and pets: