How To Choose A Tanning Salon

What the brand actually publishes

Everything below was published by a source listed at the foot of this page. Grouping matters: 6 of these 14 lines are actual services and the rest are add-ons, plans or policy charges that should never be averaged together.

A price documented for one location does not establish a national rate. Verify locally before booking.

U.S. market ranges for comparison

These are U.S. market ranges compiled from published industry pricing data, not figures published by any single brand. They show where a given quote lands nationally.

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

Location is typically the largest single variable. The national median for women's haircut is $69; the same appointment can land near $48 in a small market and $121 in a top-tier metro. That is a 2.5× spread on an identical service name.

Bands scale the $69 national median by published metro cost multipliers. Planning ranges, not quotes.

Six things that decide what you pay

Ranking these matters. Most of us compare the headline price of two salons and ignore the next few lines below it that end up setting the bill.

• Service complexity+$20–$60

  Advanced colour may be restricted to senior students.

• Product charge+$10–$30

  Some schools bill product separately from labour.

• Student versus instructor+$15–$50

  Instructor-led work costs more than a student appointment.

• Appointment lengthaffects time, not the menu price

  Student services are supervised and run longer.

Related cost breakdowns: UV Tanning Price Components Guide, Tanning Membership First-Year Cost Guide and Salon Add-On Price Guide.

What people get wrong here

These recur constantly in pricing disputes. Every one is avoided by asking once before the service starts.

1. 1Booking a student appointment on a tight schedule

   Supervised services run considerably longer.

2. 2Assuming every service is available

   Advanced colour is frequently restricted to senior students.

If you want the policy detail behind these: UV Tanning Risk Guide and Best Tanning Memberships.

Seven questions that prevent a surprise bill

Ask these when you book rather than on arrival. Once you are gowned and in the chair, declining an add-on becomes socially much harder — which is precisely why they are offered there.

1. "Are taxes added at checkout, and do you have a card-payment surcharge?"
2. "What is your cancellation window, and what is the charge if I miss it?"
3. "What is the precise price for women's haircut at my hair length and density?"
4. "If this runs longer than booked, does the price change?"
5. "Do you take a deposit, and does it come off the final balance?"
6. "What add-ons do you normally recommend for this service, and what does each cost?"
7. "Is there a first-visit offer or a package rate I should know about?"

One more at the desk: ask for the itemised total before you tap the card. Every line should match something you were told about on the phone.

From menu price to what you actually hand over

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

An illustration built from the ranges on this page. Your tax rate and add-on choices will differ.

Takeaway: budget $128 when the board says $86. The difference is $42.

Swap in your own base price and work this out for your exact service.

Annual cost of ownership

Most budgets break at the cadence, not the price. Women's haircut maintained every 10 weeks works out to roughly $414 a year once gratuity is included.

Assumes 5 visits a year. Change that number and every figure in this table moves with it.

The lever most of us reach for - switching salons - is usually the weakest one. Moving from the $69 median to the $28 budget end saves $246 a year, but so does simply stretching the interval by a quarter.

What to tip, in actual dollars

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

• A tip is for the work performed, not for the price you were charged. Do not penalise a provider for a menu they did not set.
• On a $69 service, the gap between an 18% and a 20% tip is $1.38. It matters less than whether you tip at all.
• On a package or prepaid series, tip per visit on the value of that visit rather than once on the whole package.
• 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.

Worth comparing before you commit

The helpful comparison is like-for-like: same service scope, same provider tier, same market. These pages set the comparisons up that way.

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 pricing and rewards
2. Official FAQ
3. Official pricing and specials
4. Official membership store
5. Official UV service
6. Official pricing
7. Official homepage
8. Risks of tanning
9. Sunless tanners and bronzers
10. Official Premier One page
11. Official membership freeze information
12. Official VIP membership terms

Found an error? Report it here - corrections are logged and dated.