Updated October 28, 2026 · 5 min read
How to raise your priceswithout losing your regulars
Raising prices feels personal in a business built on relationships. But costs go up every year, and a price you set three years ago quietly pays you less each month. This guide covers the signs that it is time, how to work out the new price, how and when to tell clients — with a message you can adapt — and what to say when someone pushes back.
Short answer
Raise prices when your costs have gone up, your book is full weeks ahead or you have not changed prices in over a year. Base the new price on your cost per bookable hour, not on a round number. Tell regular clients in person or by message a few weeks before the change, give the date and a short reason, update every place your prices appear, and don’t apologize.
Signs it is time
The clearest sign is a full calendar. If new clients have to wait weeks for a first appointment, demand is higher than your supply at the current price. Other signs are quieter: your product, rent or insurance bills went up, you added training or skills that clients now ask for, or you realize you have not touched your prices since you opened.
A less obvious sign is fatigue. If you are working more hours to take home the same amount as last year, your prices have fallen behind your costs — even if nothing on the menu changed.
- Booked out weeks ahead
- Higher costs than when you set prices
- No change in more than a year
- New skills or certifications
Work out the new price
Go back to the basics: what one bookable hour has to earn to cover your costs and your pay. If a service no longer reaches that number for the time it takes, it needs to move. Services that take longer than you priced them for are usually the first candidates.
Small, regular increases are easier for clients to accept than a large jump every few years. Many owners review prices once a year at a fixed time, so clients learn to expect it. You don’t have to raise everything: sometimes only the longest or most in-demand services need to change.
Decide who pays the new price when
New clients can pay the new price from the day you publish it — they never knew the old one. For regulars, many owners give a notice period of a few weeks, so appointments already booked keep the old price and nobody feels surprised at checkout.
Some salons keep long-time clients on the old price for a few extra months. That is generous, but set an end date and say it out loud; an open-ended “old price for you” turns into a second price list you have to remember for years.
Tell clients clearly — a message you can adapt
Say it in person for your closest regulars, and send the same short message to everyone else by email or social media. Keep it to the facts: what changes, from when, and one sentence of why. A long justification sounds like an apology and invites negotiation.
“Hi [name], a quick note: from [date], my prices for [services] are changing to keep up with product and studio costs and the training I keep investing in. Appointments already booked before [date] stay at the current price. The new menu is on my booking page. Thank you for being a client — I look forward to seeing you soon.”
Handle pushback without discounting
Most clients say nothing, and a few say something kind. The few who object usually want to hear that they are valued, not that the price is negotiable. Thank them, repeat the date, and if it fits, suggest a shorter or less frequent service that fits their budget.
Expect to lose a small number of clients, and remember why that can be fine: if the new price is right, fewer appointments can bring in the same income, which frees time for new clients who book at the current price.
- Thank them and keep it short
- Offer a different service, not a different price
- Don’t make exceptions you cannot keep up
Update every place your price appears
Before the date, change the price in your booking menu, on your website, on your Google Business Profile, in your Instagram highlights and on any printed menu in the studio. A client who books online at the old price and is charged the new one at the end of the visit has a fair complaint.
What not to do
Don’t raise prices quietly and let clients find out at checkout. Even a small surprise feels like a trick, and it is the fastest way to turn a loyal regular into a one-star review. Don’t apologize at length or blame “the economy” either; a short, confident message tells clients the price is a professional decision.
Don’t raise prices and cut the service at the same time. If you shorten appointments or use cheaper products along with a price increase, clients notice both. And don’t make secret exceptions: once two clients compare notes and find they pay different prices for the same service, both feel treated unfairly.
Finally, don’t wait for the perfect moment. There isn’t one. The weeks before a holiday rush are busy, the weeks after are slow, and every month in between has its own reason to postpone. Pick a date, announce it, and keep it.
After the increase
Watch your calendar for the first two or three months. A few cancellations in the first weeks are normal; a steady drop in new bookings is a signal to look again. Compare total income, not just the number of appointments — a slightly emptier week at the new price can still earn more than a full week at the old one.
Use the time you gain. Fewer, better-paid appointments leave room for longer consultations, training, or simply a schedule that lets you take a lunch break. That is the real point of a price increase: a business you can keep running.
Example: fewer appointments, same income (made-up numbers)
- Appointments per week before
- 25
- Price before
- $60
- Weekly service income before
- $1,500
- Price after the increase
- $65
- Appointments needed for the same income
- 23.1
In this example, about two clients a week could leave without any loss of income — and those two hours become time for new clients at the new price.
Example only. The numbers are invented, and the calculation ignores product costs per service, which make the effect of a price increase larger.
Where Luvira fits
In Luvira you change a price once in your service menu, and both your online booking and your Luvira website show the new one — no second list to keep in sync. The announcement itself is best written by you, in your own words, and sent the way you usually talk to your clients.
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Common questions
How to raise your prices
A few weeks is common, so regulars hear it before their next booking. Appointments already booked can keep the old price, which avoids awkward moments at checkout.
One sentence is enough — rising costs, new training, more demand. A long explanation sounds like an apology and invites a discussion about the price.
Yes, as a first step. Over time, though, two price levels for the same service become hard to manage, so plan when regulars move to the new price.
Thank her for telling you and suggest an option that fits — a shorter service or a longer gap between visits — rather than a personal discount.
Many owners review prices once a year. Small regular steps are easier for clients than a big jump after several years without a change.
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