Last updated: September 26, 2019

11 Genius Tips For Pricing Color: Bleach and Tone Services

Sometimes…you get that stubborn client, you know the one, she’s the one who never listens to your advice. No matter how hard you try to tell her something, it’s always her way or the highway. For one anonymous BTC member, her difficult client wants an all-over bleach and tone, but refuses to come in before seven weeks, making fighting off gold bands a constant issue. Read about her dilemma below and see what ourBTC community members are saying about it on Facebook!

“I have a client who is natural level 4 and we lighten with bleach and tone to about a cool level 9. She does not want highlights. It takes 3 1/2 hours with a cut and style. She refuses to come in before 7 weeks, so I have to fight gold bands every time! I’m not sure if anyone in this area will even do an all over bleach and tone…so she comes to me. For those of you who perform this service, what do you charge? And do you work in a big city or small? I work in an average suburban city and I charge $65 for color and cut and $75 for highlight and cut. I am charging this client $75 to lighten and tone. But It is hard, back-breaking work. I need advice.”

1. “A) you’re not charging enough. B) I will NOT guarantee results on a client like this if they do not stick to a proper maintenance schedule. There’s a reason why no one wants to do bleach and tone like this. I won’t do them anymore for this very reason. I’m not working my tail off for pennies. Now, back to charging: your time is worth something. I charge a $1 a minute for my time plus cost built into my service menu. Decolorizing is a minimum $50 plus whatever color I have to lay down after at $65. Our product cost goes up EVERY YEAR and depending on your distributor, it can go up more often. You can’t possibly be making enough to cover your time and costs. Don’t underpay yourself. It’s bad for you, it’s bad for the market, and clients don’t respect us as professionals.” – Diane Treider

2. “I charge 125.00 for a bleach and tone. Or double process as some think of it. I tell the client it is a commitment. With the reds, blues etc. that are the vogue these days bleach and tone are very popular again. Let your client know the upkeep involved before you do the process. No longer than 3 to 4 weeks between touch-ups.” – Mary Mirakian

3. “I charge $100 for on scalp bleach and $15 for a toner. My regular highlights depend on partial, full or all the way through range from $65-100. And cuts are included!” – Loren Doyle, Bolivar, Tennessee

4. “I’m a client – who also gets a bleach and tone regularly and I pay anywhere from $125 – $150 and I’m in a smaller area as well. Charge for your time sista….” – Jude Turner

5. “You have to remember time is money as well as the product that you are using. I charge $120 for a scalp bleach cut toner and I take 2 hours to do it and for a foils cut toner it’s $140 and it takes the same time and I work in a small country town. In hairdressing I think clients don’t think that we should charge them for our time but it is where we make our money. You should be charging clients $1.50 to $2 per min for your time and the product on top.” – Studio Desire

6. “I charge $65 for retouch, $22 for toner, $36 for haircut, and I’d charge that at minimum even if it were 2 weeks.” – Diesha Webster

7. “That’s technically a color correction. $175.00 for bleach and tone at 7 weeks because it’s not that simple anymore . Plus the cut and blow dry. In our area it would $275 min.” – Jerry Peumphrey

8. “Since she is almost going 2 months between touchups it is like she is skipping a month. Well, she is making you do twice the work, so I would double the price………150.00 for the 7 week TU or 75.00 if she comes every 4 weeks. Choice is hers. A customer like this you really don’t need.” – Susan French Brown

9. “I am personally not a fan of “lump” pricing. I think things should be charged per service regardless of how many services are being performed. Charging by the hour may be a good answer to your question. I know about how much I need to make an hour, and if a service is taking significantly longer (or is really exhausting) I charge accordingly. So if a cut and color usually takes you 2 hours, you should charge almost double because it’s taking you just about twice as long.” – Cara Berlin, Asheville, North Carolina

10. “This in my opinion becomes a color correction and would be charged accordingly $100 per hour.” – Amber Buxton

11. “I would tell her if she comes earlier then 7 weeks then it’ll stay at 75. But because it is a hard job, the price will be bumped up if it’s more then 7 or more weeks.” – Jessica Traynor-Wilson