Should hair and beauty freelancers publish their prices online? Abby’s honest view

Abby's take

What this means for the industry — and for independents

Industry impact. Beauty services are becoming easier to discover and compare online, while many service menus remain either completely hidden or so simplified that the final quote feels disconnected from what the client first saw. The tension is real: clients want clarity, but technical professionals need room to price for time, product, history, density, complexity and the result being requested.

For freelancers. For a self-employed hairdresser, barber, makeup artist or beauty professional, price information affects more than conversion. It filters enquiries, sets expectations, protects consultation time and shapes how confidently a client approaches the booking. Too little information creates friction; false precision can create disputes, underquoting and pressure to deliver work that was never included.

What I'd do next

• Sort every service into exact-price, genuine-from-price, useful-range or consultation-only so the pricing method matches how predictable the work really is.
• Rewrite each variable service description to name the factors that can change the quote, such as time, product, hair history, density or the amount of correction required.
• Test the service menu on a phone and check whether a first-time client can understand the likely investment, inclusions and next step without sending a vague direct message.
• Review the displayed total, GST treatment and any unavoidable fees against current ACCC guidance, and get professional advice where your pricing or booking terms are unclear.

Watch-out. This is Abby’s business opinion and general information, not legal or financial advice. Australian price-display and consumer-law obligations depend on what is advertised and sold, so check current ACCC guidance and obtain advice for your circumstances.

My position: hiding every price creates unnecessary friction

I understand why independent professionals are cautious about publishing prices. Hair and beauty work is not a box on a supermarket shelf. Two people can ask for the same result while needing completely different time, product, preparation and technical decisions. A single fixed number can be inaccurate before you have even seen the starting point.

But that does not justify making every potential client send ‘how much?’ and wait for a private reply. If someone cannot tell whether a service is roughly $100, $300 or $700, they cannot make a sensible first decision. The result is often low-quality DMs, awkward quoting conversations and wasted time on both sides.

My preference is useful transparency: give the client the clearest honest price information you can at that stage, then explain what still needs to be assessed. Transparency is not promising that every head of hair costs the same. It is showing people how your pricing works.

• Use an exact price when the scope and inclusions are genuinely consistent.
• Use a genuine ‘from’ price only when a client can realistically buy the stated entry-level version.
• Use a meaningful range when most suitable clients will fall within it.
• Use a consultation when the condition, history or desired outcome materially changes the plan.

Build the number first with the beauty service pricing guide · Test a realistic income scenario before changing your menu

Why reasonable professionals disagree with me

The strongest counterargument is not ‘clients should stop asking’. It is that complex services cannot be quoted safely from a short description, an old photo or a few messages. Colour correction, major transformations and some extension work can change once the professional sees the hair, understands its history and agrees on a realistic result. Publishing a neat price can anchor the client to a number that never matched the actual job.

There is also a commercial concern. Some professionals worry that visible prices invite competitors to copy them, encourage clients to compare only on cost, or make a premium service look interchangeable with a cheaper one. Those risks are not imaginary. A bare price list with no explanation of inclusions, expertise, time or maintenance can flatten the value of the work.

I still do not think complete secrecy is the best answer. The better response is a pricing structure that shows what can be known now and what must be assessed later. A client can respect complexity when the explanation is clear; what damages trust is discovering important costs only after they have emotionally committed to the booking.

What Australian price-display guidance adds to the debate

This discussion is partly about client experience, but price claims also need to be accurate. Current ACCC guidance says businesses must communicate clear and accurate prices before consumers book, order or purchase, and must not create a false impression about price. When a price is displayed, the minimum total cost must be shown as a single figure and include taxes and unavoidable or pre-selected fees.

That does not mean every variable beauty service must be advertised as one fixed number before a consultation. It does mean that a displayed ‘from’ price should be real, the inclusions should not be misleading, and unavoidable charges should not appear as a surprise at the end. Once the business knows what the client is buying, the client should understand the total before proceeding.

I would treat compliance as the floor, not the whole strategy. A menu can technically contain numbers and still be unhelpful. The commercial question is whether the right client can understand the likely investment, what is included, what could change it and how a firm quote will be agreed.

• Do not publish an attractive entry price for a version of the service that almost nobody can actually buy.
• Make inclusions visible, especially where toner, styling, extra product or additional time materially changes the total.
• If a quote follows consultation, say what the consultation assesses and when the client will receive the total.
• Check that the figure shown on social media, your website and the booking system still agrees.

Use a pricing ladder instead of one false number

A useful service menu does not have to choose between total secrecy and false certainty. Build a ladder. Predictable services can have exact prices. Variable but bounded services can use a genuine range. Services with a clear minimum can use a truthful ‘from’ price with the main cost drivers beside it. Highly technical or corrective work can require consultation.

For example, a straightforward styling service may have a clear price and duration. A colour service might show a realistic starting point or range, state whether the finish is included, and explain that length, density, product use and existing colour history can change the quote. A correction can be consultation-only because the plan cannot responsibly be known from a label.

The language matters. ‘Price varies’ tells the client almost nothing. ‘Most appointments fall within this range; the final quote depends on these three factors and is confirmed before we start’ gives them a decision framework. It also makes your consultation feel like professional planning, not price avoidance.

Read how Perth freelancers can set rates and protect profit · Get a softer personalised business roadmap

Transparent pricing is not the same as competing on price

Publishing useful numbers does not require being the cheapest. It requires being able to explain the offer. If your price reflects longer appointments, specialised work, a more considered consultation, premium product use or a particular service experience, make those inclusions understandable without attacking cheaper professionals.

The people who leave immediately because the starting price is outside their budget were unlikely to become suitable clients through a hidden-price DM. In many cases, transparent information saves the professional time and lets the right client arrive better prepared. The goal is not to attract every enquiry; it is to reduce avoidable uncertainty for the enquiries you want.

Price transparency also forces a healthy internal question: can you explain why the service is priced this way? If the answer is only that nearby businesses charge something similar, go back to your time, costs, capacity, positioning and income target. The menu should come from the business model, not the other way around.

A 30-minute transparency audit for your service menu

Open your website, booking page and social profile as if you had never met yourself. Choose the three services you most want to book. Can a suitable client understand the likely cost, the main inclusions, the variables and the next step? If not, fix those services first instead of rewriting the entire menu in one sitting.

Then compare every public version. Old Instagram highlights and saved posts are easy to forget, but clients can still find them. Remove outdated prices, update broken booking links and make sure consultation-only does not lead to a dead end. Give the client a specific action: book the consultation, complete an enquiry with the information you need, or choose the accurately described service.

Finally, watch the quality of enquiries for four weeks. Useful measures are fewer basic price DMs, fewer unsuitable bookings, more completed consultations, less quote surprise and a better match between booked time and actual service time. Likes on a new price graphic are not the success measure.

• Choose three priority services and assign the right pricing method to each.
• State what is included and what can legitimately change the quote.
• Remove or update old public prices across the main client journey.
• Track enquiry quality and booking accuracy for four weeks before judging the change.

The question I want Perth professionals to debate

My position is that useful transparency builds more trust than making every client ask privately, provided the information respects the real complexity of the work. I would rather see an honest range and a clear consultation process than either a suspiciously low fixed price or no guidance at all.

The fair disagreement is about where transparency stops being helpful and starts creating a false promise. Different service mixes will draw that line differently, and a solo professional may structure it differently from a larger salon.

So here is the discussion question: should every hair and beauty professional publish at least a genuine starting price or typical range online, or are some services better kept entirely consultation-only? Share your view with Abby on Instagram — especially what has improved or damaged trust in your own client conversations.

Continue the discussion with Abby on Instagram · Check the health of the business behind your pricing

Common questions