Today’s spa and massage practice clients know more about the different types of massage and skin treatments than ever before. They also are results oriented and cost conscious, which means they want services that accommodate their unique needs and preference. To meet these needs, you want to offer customized treatments that personalize the experience. For example, a client might want aromatherapy massage to relieve stress along with a skin hydrating wrap.
As personalization plays a greater role in your spa or massage practice, pricing customized treatments becomes more challenging. Product costs are a fundamental consideration in determining price; but there are other costs to factor into your pricing structure to meet profitability objectives.
Factor the basics into pricing
Since customized treatments are a specialty, start by setting a price for basic services, such as a massage. The competitive market environment, labor costs and overhead will factor into your baseline.
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Competitive Environment
Find out as much as you can about the charge for similar services in your areas. Bear in mind that a full service day spa with elegant décor and extra support staff is able to charge more for the same service than a small massage practice. -
Labor
Salary and benefits are a big part of pricing for each service you offer. If a massage takes one hour, estimate how much it costs you in terms of a staff member’s time – or your time - and benefits. Since staff may need time to learn new skills or how to operate specialty equipment to provide certain treatments, factor in time for training. Labor cost considerations also should include the time and expense it takes for prep/clean up, room turnover and laundry. -
Overhead
Add up your entire overhead. This includes all of the costs other than labor required to operate your spa or massage practice – including your lease or rent, utilities, and even credit card fees. According to industry estimates, overhead is generally between 40 to 50 percent of the cost of labor and materials.
Choose from industry average pricing models
One good industry rule of thumb is to charge customized spa treatments at $25 to $40 above a basic service. Another often used formula - though more often used for high-end pricing – is to charge spa treatments at 1.5 times for basic services.
You also may want to talk to associates in the industry or start a discussion on social media channels, such as LinkedIn, to find out formulas others set pricing for customized treatments.
Above all, don’t forget profit. Some industry experts say you should aim for a net profit of 11 to 15 percent with all costs factored in. Depending on your need, you can adjust this figure higher or lower.