What are people charging for massage

[x y]

I agree. I charge £50 for 60 minutes or £70 for 90 minutes in the clinic. But with home visits I don't do 60 minute appointments, I only do 90 minute appointments for which I charge £100. None of my clients have questioned my pricing because they understand that when I come to them I need to charge a premium.

Cheers

Henry

 

[sieujuneitgikpedo]

As a customer I realise that I am influenced by pricing. I would love to have a weekly or fortnightly massage but I find the the costs put me off regular booking and the lack of regular booking becomes a habit so much so that it must be at least six months - I think rather more since I have had a massage and as the time increases I slightly dread the process of reestablishing contact with my masseur.
So how does price work? My masseur, who is very good, in my opinion, has a shed load of certificates and seems really excited as well as knowledgeable. She works hard. Even when I asked for a relaxing massage she couldn't resist working on areas of tension - so i suspect that massages are always reasonably hard physical work. She has a reasonably large premises - and doesn't really want to share it with a beautician or whatever so she has to meet those costs. When she talks about money, she gives the impression that she is scraping a living. Her charges, I think around £35 for an hour. Now from one perspective, you could say that that is excellent value. When I first saw her I had painful sport related muscle tension and she did a good job. Now I suffer some aches and pains and I know for example that the movement in my neck is somewhat restricted - but I do a bit of yoga and get by and yes I would say that as part of a family, I do feel that spending say £70 a month essentially on myself gives me pause, and in that pause I end up not going.
There are cheaper masseurs in the neighbourhood but I worry that they will
either just be beauticians who've done a basic course
or be so booked up or otherwise unavailable that the whole process of getting a massage just seems too much like hard work.
Solutions?
My guess is that a lot of masseurs who charge a lot have quite a high turnover. Would it not make sense to offer serious reductions to customers who can provide a regular income, whose body becomes familiar territory and offer the prospect of completion in the sense that all the tight bits are worked on and maintained.
I think on that basis I would spend more money

 

[jupiter FIVE]

Hi Hum

£35 per hour is very good value. Your massage therapist actually charging less than the going rate and I think maybe there is a lack of understanding in what she is paying out of the money she charges.

Let's take a look at how it breaks down and then you decide whether or not she can afford to give you a discount:

Room rates are around £10 per hour which, if she doesn't lease her room permanently, she will have to pay whether or not she has a client. If she has a lease, she has to pay rent on it whether or not she is busy with clients.
She will have done at least one course to qualify and has to do Continuing Professional Development - say £1,000 per year (probably more).
Laundry - all those towels, with oils on them have to be specially cleaned after every client. 3 towels per client, say 3 clients per day = 8 towels - you do the math.
Oils, even if they are not aromatherapy oils, are also a cost - oils for massage cannot just be bought off the shelf at the supermarket and a massage therapist uses a *lot* of oil at premium prices to ensure they won't give clients a rash (or worse)
Uniforms have to be bought and laundered. Several have to be kept in order that a clean oil free uniform is available at all times.
If she has a lease, she will have to be paying for heating (which has to be a particular temperature in order to keep the client warm), lighting and the odd cup of tea
She may also be paying towards advertising with other therapists within a practice, which is not cheap
Massage table and massage chair - and maintenance
Marketing costs - how did you find your massage therapist? A small ad in Yellow Pages for a year is £300+, printing costs for flyers, brochures and business cards
Insurance
Subscription to professional organisation
Accountant - self employed persons need to submit accounts to the Inland Revenue
Tax

When all those costs are taken out of the £35 she charges, she is probably taking home between £5-£10, if she's lucky.

If she were to give a discount, it would come out of that £5-10 which she gets to live on, because the other costs are fixed.

I think, because you need the massage, you feel it should be free at the point of service, like the NHS. I agree with you - it should. However, the NHS doesn't supply therapies like massage and so they come at a price.

Fx

 

[Calzone]

It's interesting to see everyones pricing across the country, isn't it?

I qualified in 94 and I have to say that massage is really exhausting and so you need to be looking at making sure that you have a sustainable income.

£35 sounds about right to me. Remember there are combinations and permatations too, a back massage, a facial etc.

Make sure that on every opportunity you are making sure that you are giving the best value but you are not selling yourself short. It is very easy to keep thinking that you will cut the cost because friends etc don't want to pay.

This is your business, remember that. Right from the moment you get insured.

If you treat it as your hobbby so will they.

But there is something more important than that. If you keep cutting costs you will have to do more and more treatments to keep up. I cannot tell you how many therapists I know who are suffering burnout, chasing their tail and not looking after themselves because they are working too hard.

Look at making yourself a business plan, one of the posts earlier gave a good list of the expenses you should be aking into account and work back.
How many treatments would you have to give at £35 to make that happen?

Is that feasible.

I think it is vitally important that you sell home treatments alongside your massage etc. Creams, lotions and bath oils are a great way of keeping the essential oils trickling into your patient regulaly and consistently, improving their health exponentially.

When they use it everyday they remember you, encouraging customer loyalty.

But most important is you build sustainable, sturdy building blocks for your business. Ones that build a foundation that will stand firm if you become too ill to work or you have to take a few weeks off.

You don't want to get terrified of taking holidays , do you?

 

[minus 10]

Hmmm, sounds like we'd better! Good points otherwise, though.

 

[Pirates915]

Very interesting thread.
Like most of you, I hope to be charging £40/hour but operate from a Spa & Health Centre in the centre of Cardiff and any clients taking 60 minute treatments or longer may use all the facilities free of charge: sauna, steam room, gym and all the studio classes on the day of their session.

I am very tempted to offer 50% introductory discounts for the first two months. But we shall see...

 

[Come to RandS Chat]

thanks

 

[BabyGirl05]

I charge 60£ per hour for Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Nui Massage. When i have started practising it 7 years ago the price was 40 £.

The massage is not very common to do by massage therapists over here, surprisingly- it is such a wonderful and profound treatment.

When some years later on I've finished Teacher's training for Lomi Lomi Nui on Hawaii, I thought I should value my skills more and now the offer is 60. To my surprise all my customers agreed to pay for it saying it is worth it!!!

And I think so

So, for all of you who just started their massage therapy journeys- you're gonna be able to charge more as your qualifications rise and skills get better.

Fingers crossed xxx
Bea

 

[Corrine]

I work for a mental health charity, I charge a reduced rate of £15/hour with all costs and equipment covered by the charity.

There is an argument that high prices reflect expertise and experience, but high prices also put massage treatments out of the price range of most of the population. This is a great shame; many people who work in low paid jobs such as carers and manual workers are those who would benefit most from massage.

 

[<3SKYI<3]

Heretic; leave the Temple this minute!

Charging £15 an hour so that the treatment becomes within reach of those that need it!?

What about all those 'extra' training courses therapists go on, they cost money you know even if the client doesn't know the difference between their lomi and their holistic shmolistic massage.

I hope you still make a living charging £15 an hour? and it is rare indeed in this forum to hear a therapist actually talking about pricing to meet the needs of the client rather than how much they can screw out of them.

 

[chezmund]

Actually Luke, there is a difference between holistic massage and lomi massage. Holistic massage is generally a term used to sell basic Swedish massage. Lomi Lomi is a more advanced holistic massage system and is an additional major expense to train in it.

This is a question for anyone who wishes to answer it: One thing I don't understand is why practitioners of Lomi Lomi charge more money per hour for this particular massage technique than they do for other forms of massage they also practice. The overheads are no different, physical energy used is not that much different, so why the price difference? And before anyone says that a Lomi treatment is a longer session, read my post again and I did say per hour!

RP

 

[Zorro]

I charge the same per hour for lomi lomi, and sports, and aromatherapy, and Thai, and Ayurvedic (quite amazing how similar some lomi lomi and Ayurvedic and Native American styles are)....

 

[Jimmy Dean]

Hi Cola

Glad to hear that you charge the same. Good massage techniques is good massage so there shouldn't be a price differential.

OK I admit I was slightly exaggerating but with a internet search some therapists are charging an extra £5 to £10 per hour more.

As for style, I think there is only so much technique that can be developed for the human body, so the same skills will show up time and again.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[beachchick]

Hi Pixie,
My guess is a premium is charged for rarity value which is market forces which is the 'business' of massage rather than the vocation because one thing you can be sure of is that the originators of Lomi style; in Hawaii? get/got a pittance for doing it because it was woven into the fabric of their everyday life whereas in the West of the World it becomes another product to sell.

I've never had Lomi Lomi, wonder if it's nice, mmmm yes bound to be I want it...now I've got £15.

 

[Ismayil]

Hi Luke

For once I agree with you about marketing rarity. But that's capitalism for you, and we all have to one way or the other have to go with the system.

You should try it. It's good stuff and more holistic than so-called holistic massage. It will cost you though as it's a longer treatment. But the good news is it's usually done naked with a simple piece of cloth for to cover your bits, and your arse and thighs get massaged! So even you Luke might get the massage you have always been looking for! Lol

Best Wishes

Pixie