Salon price increase notice: template and generator

Write the notice, the short message and the one line your team gives when a client asks why — with your date, your percentage and your reason.

Business name

Left empty, the notice says “our salon”.

Signed by

Optional — the name your clients know.

New prices start on

Three to six weeks from today is the usual notice.

What is changing

Increase

5–10 % is the usual step when costs have moved.

Weeks of notice

Used while you have no fixed date.

Reason to give

Tone

Where it goes

This changes the length and the greeting.

Email or message to clients

The subject line is for email — delete it if you send this as a message.

Subject: A change to our prices Hello, In 4 weeks, prices at our salon are going up by 8%. Product, energy and rent costs have all risen this year, and this keeps the quality of everything we use exactly as it is. Appointments you have already booked keep their current price. If anything is unclear, reply to this message and we will explain. Thank you for your trust — we look forward to seeing you.

Short version for SMS or WhatsApp

Under 300 characters, so it arrives as one message.

In 4 weeks, prices at our salon are going up by 8%. Product, energy and rent costs have all risen this year, and this keeps the quality of everything we use exactly as it is. Appointments you have already booked keep their current price.

If a client asks why

One answer, so the whole team says the same thing.

In 4 weeks, prices at our salon are going up by 8%. Product, energy and rent costs have all risen this year, and this keeps the quality of everything we use exactly as it is. We kept the step as small as we could, and the time and products you get stay the same.

How much to raise, and how often

Small and regular beats rare and large. A step of 5–10 % every year or two is easier for a client to absorb than a 25 % jump after five years, and it keeps your prices moving with your costs instead of a long way behind them. The generator starts at 8 % because that is a common step when product and energy costs have risen — change it to whatever your own figures say.

Work from your costs, not from the salon down the road. Add up what has actually gone up since your last change — colour and product prices, rent, wages, energy — and raise enough to cover it with something left over. An increase that only catches up with last year leaves you doing this again in six months.

Round to prices that read well. 28 to 30, not 28 to 30.24. Round numbers are easier to quote at the desk and easier to remember, and the rounding usually earns you a little more than the percentage on its own.

Announce it three to six weeks ahead. That is long enough for regulars to hear it from you before they see it on a sign, and short enough that it does not turn into two months of conversation. Anything already booked stays at the price the client was quoted.

How to announce it

Tell your regulars in person first. In the weeks before the date, say it at the chair while they are with you. Hearing it from you is a courtesy; reading it on a sign first feels like a surprise.
Put the sign up where people wait. Reception, the mirror, the price list — from the day you start telling people, not on the morning the prices change.
Send the message before the date. Email, the app or a short SMS reaches the clients who come every few months and would otherwise meet the new price at the till.
Explain briefly, once, and do not apologise. One sentence on why is enough. A price that covers your costs is a normal part of running a business, and apologising invites a negotiation.
End on the thank you. The last line people read should be about them coming back, not about the money.

What to expect afterwards

Most clients stay. A single-digit increase, announced in advance, moves very few people who come for a particular pair of hands. Expect a handful of questions in the first weeks and very few cancellations.

A few will ask, and one or two may go. That is the normal cost of keeping the salon solvent, and the clients who leave over a small increase are usually the ones who were choosing on price in the first place.

Agree the team’s answer before the notice goes up. The one-line reply above exists so that everyone at the desk says the same calm thing. A confident answer ends the conversation; an unsure one starts a longer one.

Watch rebooking for two months. The number that tells you how the increase landed is how many clients book their next appointment before they leave. If that holds steady, the price was not the problem.

Frequently asked questions

How much notice should I give clients?

Three to six weeks is the usual window. Tell regulars in person as soon as you have decided, put the sign up at the same time, and send the message to everyone else at least two weeks before the new prices start.

Should I explain why prices are going up?

One sentence is enough — rising product, energy and rent costs, or new training and services. Clients accept a short reason readily; a long explanation sounds defensive, and an apology invites a negotiation.

What if a client complains about the new price?

Answer once, calmly, with the same line the rest of the team uses, thank them for saying it, and move on. Do not offer a private discount to keep someone: the clients who hear about it will expect the same, and the increase stops working.

Should I raise all my prices at once, or a few at a time?

If costs have risen across the board, raise everything on one date — it is simpler to announce and simpler to explain. Raise selected services only when some of them are genuinely underpriced, such as long colour appointments where your time is undercharged.

Do I honour the old price for appointments already booked?

Yes. Anything booked before the effective date should be charged at the price the client was quoted when they booked. It costs very little, it removes the one complaint that is genuinely fair, and every notice this tool writes says so.

Fewer no-shows, no phone tag

Lime Booking gives your salon online booking, automatic reminders and a calendar your whole team shares — and lists you in the app customers already use.

See Lime for businesses