Sun Tan City vs At The Beach

Published prices from official sources

7 documented amounts, split into services, add-ons, plans and policy charges. Each keeps the precise label it was published under so you can match it against the menu you are shown when you book.

A price documented for one location does not establish a national rate. Check with the location you intend to book.

U.S. market ranges for comparison

None of these figures belongs to a brand on this page. They describe the wider market, which is what you need in order to judge a quote rather than just accept it.

National planning ranges. A quote outside these bands is not automatically wrong - check what is included before judging it.

Where you live changes the price more than anything else

Rent and wages flow straight into the menu. Applying published metro cost bands to the $11 national median for uv bed - level 1 gives the following planning ranges.

Bands scale the $11 national median by published metro cost multipliers. Planning ranges, not quotes.

The variables that move the number

All of these can be declined in the sense that you can decline it — but only if you know it is coming before you are in the chair.

• Bed level+$8–$40

  Level 1 through level 5 is the primary price ladder.

• Contract term and freeze ruleschanges the contract, not the price

  Minimum terms and freeze policies change the true cost.

• Membership tier+$15–$70

  Each tier unlocks a different set of beds and spray inclusions.

• Enrolment or annual fee+$15–$60

  Charged on top of the monthly rate at many chains.

• Lotion purchase+$25–$90

  The largest and least-expected line on a first visit.

Related cost breakdowns: Airbrush Tan Cost, Spray Tan Cost and Spray Tan Price Components Guide.

What people get wrong here

Every one of these is common, avoidable, and has a dollar figure attached. None of them require haggling — only a well-timed question.

1. 1Forgetting tax and gratuitycosts $20–$30

   Together they add roughly a quarter to the menu price.

2. 2Comparing headline prices across different scopescosts $20–$70

   Two "haircut" prices can include entirely different work.

3. 3Not asking what is required versus optionalcosts $20–$70

   Some finishes are effectively mandatory but quoted on a separate line.

If you want the policy detail behind these: How To Compare Salon Prices and What Is An Airbrush Tan.

Seven questions that prevent a surprise bill

Read these out. It takes under two minutes and they are the gap between a quote and a surprise. The final question matters most — a written quote settles any dispute at checkout.

1. "Is removal of my existing product included, or is it a separate charge?"
2. "If I join the membership today, is there an enrolment or annual fee on top?"
3. "Are taxes added at checkout, and do you have a card-payment surcharge?"
4. "Is there a first-visit offer or a package rate I should know about?"
5. "Is a shampoo, blow-dry or finish included in that price, or billed on a separate line?"
6. "Can you email or text me the quote before my appointment?"
7. "Which provider tier is that quote for, and what does the next tier up cost?"

Then do one thing at checkout: ask for an itemised receipt. If a line appears that you were not told about, that is the moment to raise it — not after you have left.

The realistic total, worked through

Every line below is normal and expected. None of it is a scam — but almost none of it appears on the menu board either.

Worked at a $56 base with one add-on. Swap in your own quote and the proportions hold.

The rule of thumb: add around 50% to any menu price for uv bed - level 1 to get your realistic out-the-door number.

Prefer not to do the arithmetic? You can work this out for your precise service.

What uv bed - level 1 costs you over a year

Most budgets break at the cadence, not the price. UV bed - level 1 maintained twice weekly in season works out to approximately $528 annually once gratuity is included.

Assumes 40 visits a year. Change that number and every figure in this table moves with it.

Before hunting a reduction, check the cadence. Going from 40 to 32 visits annually keeps roughly $106 in your pocket at the same quality of work.

Break-even points for monthly plans

A membership is worthwhile above one number: monthly fee ÷ per-visit price. Below that visit count you are subsidising the salon. At a $11 per-visit rate, here is where each plan level breaks even.

Uses a $11 market per-visit rate. Substitute the rate you were actually quoted.

Use the quoted rate rather than the market one and calculate your own break-even.

Tipping: the numbers rather than the etiquette

Tip on the pre-tax service amount. If a discount or promotion applied, the norm is to tip on the original value of the work, not the discounted price.

• Assistants who shampoo or rinse are regularly tipped on a separate line, normally a few dollars.
• On a package or prepaid series, tip each visit on the value of that visit rather than once on the whole package.
• At a resort or hotel spa, check for an automatic service charge before adding a further gratuity.
• If more than one person worked on you, ask reception how tips are split before assuming the lead provider receives all of it.

Worth comparing before you commit

Price alone seldom settles it. Start with what is included — what is actually included — before you look at the figure.

Straight answers to the usual questions

Sources and how we checked them

Every published figure above traces to one of these. Where a source describes a single location or a time-limited offer, that scope stays attached to the number rather than being generalised.

1. Official specials page
2. Official shared VIP membership
3. Louisville Highlands official salon page
4. Official VIP membership terms
5. Official U.S. brand website
6. Official spray-tan preparation and aftercare
7. Official spray-tan preparation
8. Official spray-tan preparation
9. Official offers page
10. Brick NJ official services
11. Brick NJ Mystic Tan service
12. Official brand and services page

Spotted something out of date? Send a correction and we will re-check the source.