How can you make more from permanent makeup services? Here’s the secret: Get the best credit card processing for salons. Yes, it’s that simple. Before you say it’s not worth the time and effort, and you’ll still have to pay credit card transaction fees anyway, here us out. Because if you can actually stop paying credit card processing fees, you could boost your salon’s profits by more than 10%.Got your attention? The fact is you’ve invested a lot to become an entrepreneur in the permanent makeup space. Starting a permanent makeup salon costs between $100,000 to $500,000, according to Sage, an accounting software company. You also have ongoing costs, such as license fees, labor, equipment, marketing, and insurance. Simply put, you shouldn’t let money fly out the window! By handling your finances well, you can live your dream as a highly successful salon owner. So, stop paying too much in credit card processing fees!In this guide, we’ll show you how you can take home 100% of your revenue from permanent makeup services like microblading. After reading, you’ll be ready to take your business to the next level.
You work in a growing field. The permanent makeup field is part of the beauty and aesthetics market, which is expected to exceed $26.5 billion in value by 2024. If you have a good marketing strategy and do good work (which we know you do), you most likely get a decent amount of permanent makeup clients. That’s great! Now, think about this question: How many of your permanent makeup clients pay with a credit card? Probably a good portion, right? Credit cards are used for 44% of transactions, according to Statista. Since the average cost of permanent makeup services is around $800, your clients are more likely to use a credit card. And as Federal Reserve research shows, credit card usage rates increase as transaction values increase. Considering that permanent makeup application is a high-value transaction, a higher percentage of your customers will pay with a credit card. 50-60% of your revenue could come from credit card transactions. If you have to pay fees on more than half your permanent makeup revenue, you stand to gain a lot from eliminating those expenses. It literally pays to pay attention to your salon’s credit card processing. So, why do credit card processing fees at your salon matter? Because lowering them could improve the financial health of your business greatly.
With the best credit card processing for salons, you can boost your profits by 10% or more. First, understand you probably pay 3% or more in fees per transaction. Take a look at average network fees below. That doesn’t even include the merchant service provider markup.
So, how can you increase profits by more than 10% at your salon? Let’s do an example so you can get a clear idea of what you stand to gain.
Here’s what you could make if you get rid of credit card processing fees. Let’s say:
What if you could pay $0 in fees instead of $14,616? Your permanent makeup salon profits would jump from $87,000 to $101,616. That’s an increase of 16.8% in profits!Imagine what you could do with that extra money. You could expand your studio’s business, take a nicer vacation, put more money away for retirement, buy a bigger house, and more. The point is this: That money deserves to be in your pocket. Here’s the good news: By getting the best credit card processing for salons, you can get stop paying those fees. In the next two sections, we’ll explain how this is done.
The first step to free credit card processing is finding the best merchant service provider (MSP). To do that, you must understand how fees work. You should begin by looking for MSPs with pass-through pricing. This pricing model is more transparent and typically more affordable than tiered pricing. With tiered pricing, many transactions end up in the higher fee range, and you won’t notice that until you look at the bill. With pass-through pricing, you pay set rates and don’t have to worry about what “tier” the transaction is. Additionally, know there are three credit card transaction fees you have to pay:
You also have to pay the MSP markup. That’s how the card processing company makes money. That fee is usually collected as a per-transaction fee, a monthly fee, software fee, hardware fee, and/or other sorts of charges. To get the best credit card processing for your salon, you should look for MSPs with the lowest fees, of course. You want good customer support and quality hardware and software too. Narrow down your choices to two or three. Then, it’s time for the fun part: Negotiation!Wait! You can negotiate credit card processing fees. So, what can you negotiate? Well, you can’t tell Mastercard you’re going to pay 5% less. But you can negotiate a discount on MSP fees. In fact, we’ve seen permanent makeup studios get 5-10% off the MSP markup. It’s that simple. By understanding fee structures, shopping for the best MSP, and negotiating the markup, your permanent makeup salon can save thousands per year.
The second step to getting the best credit card processing for your salon is implementing a cash discount program. A cash discount program can complement your MSP and enable you to keep all your permanent makeup revenue. How does this work? As the name implies, your permanent makeup clients who pay with cash get a discount. At NadaPayments, for instance, our cash discount program gives clients up to 3.95% off their bill. The client still has the option to pay with a credit card. However, they’ll pay the non-discount price (which includes the cost of processing the credit card). By offering a cash discount, you ensure your salon doesn’t lose any revenue to credit card transaction fees. And you still offer your customers the convenience of choosing their payment method.Now, you may wonder: Is this legal? Yes, it is! Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act, merchants can give discounts for cash payments. This gives you the opportunity to eliminate credit card processing fees. Interested to learn more? At NadaPayments, we’re ready to help permanent makeup salons get the best credit card processing. Call us at +1 (929) 293-1800 or click the link below.
