Sun Tan City vs Desert Sun Tanning Salons

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 at booking.

Franchise and independently-owned locations set menus inside a corporate band. Use them as documented examples only.

Market ranges: what everyone else charges

A quote well above these bands is not automatically bad value - it usually means a different scope, a senior provider, or an expensive metro. This table tells you which question to ask.

Compiled national figures for context only. No brand on this page has published these numbers, and none of them is a bookable rate.

Where you live changes the price more than anything else

Location is usually the largest single variable. The national median for uv bed - level 1 is $11; the same appointment can land near $8 in a small market and $19 in a top-tier metro. That is a 2.5× spread on an identical service name.

Your own market may sit between tiers. The point is the 2.5x spread, not the exact figure in any one row.

The variables that move the number

Every one of these is optional in the sense that you can refuse it — but only if you know it is coming before the appointment starts.

• Lotion purchase+$25–$90

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

• 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 in addition to the monthly rate at many chains.

• Bed level+$8–$40

  Level 1 through level 5 is the primary price ladder.

Related cost breakdowns: Airbrush Tan Cost, Spray Tan Cost and Automated Spray Tan Cost.

What the bill looks like at checkout

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

Illustrative. The 7.6% tax figure varies by state - several states do not tax personal services at all.

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

You can do this with your own quote rather than doing this by hand.

The real annual cost of keeping this up

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.

Gratuity is included at 20% because it is effectively compulsory. Remove it if you prefer to budget separately.

The cheapest lever is almost always stretching the cadence, not finding a lower-priced provider. Moving from 40 visits annually to 30 saves about $132 annually — typically more than switching salons would.

Is the monthly plan worth it?

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.

Break-even = monthly fee / per-visit price. At $11 a visit the maths is simple enough to do at the counter.

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

Gratuity, converted from percentages into money

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

• If the salon owner performed the service, tipping is optional by norm - though seldom refused.
• On a package or prepaid series, tip per visit on the value of that visit rather than once on the whole package.
• Assistants who shampoo or rinse are regularly tipped on a separate line, usually a few dollars.
• Tip the same on a redo as on the original if the redo was not the provider's fault - and speak to management rather than the provider if it was.

Mistakes that cost real money

These are the errors that show up repeatedly in pricing complaints. All of them are fixed by a single question in advance rather than at checkout.

1. 1Comparing headline prices across different scopescosts $20–$70

   Two "haircut" prices can include entirely different work.

2. 2Forgetting tax and gratuitycosts $20–$30

   Together they add roughly a quarter to the menu price.

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 Prepare For UV Tanning.

The booking script, word for word

Ask these at booking rather than on arrival. Once you are gowned and in the chair, declining an add-on becomes socially much harder — which is the reason they come up at that moment.

1. "Are taxes added at checkout, and do you have a card-payment surcharge?"
2. "Is removal of my existing product included, or is it a separate charge?"
3. "What is the precise price for uv bed - level 1 at my hair length and density?"
4. "Which provider tier is that quote for, and what does the next tier up cost?"
5. "Is a shampoo, blow-dry or finish included in that price, or billed separately?"
6. "Is there a first-visit offer or a package rate I should know about?"
7. "Can you email or text me the quote before my appointment?"

Finally: get the quote on paper. A text or email costs the salon nothing and removes any argument at checkout.

Your other options, and when each wins

Before deciding, it is worth seeing where this lands against the nearest alternatives on both price and what you get for it.

Questions people actually ask

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.