Guide · 7 min read
Your price list does more than list numbers. It sets expectations, protects your time, and tells a new client in three seconds whether you are a hobbyist or a professional. Most nail techs write one once, in a phone note or a Story highlight, and never touch it again.
This guide gives you a real one: a copy-and-paste structure, honest 2026 ranges by service, and the upcharge and deposit logic that keeps the menu profitable instead of leaving money on the table.
It is written for working nail techs and new nail salon owners. And because a clear price list is exactly what your booking page needs, the last step shows how to turn it into a live booking flow.
The template
Start here. Copy this structure, then set the right-hand column to your numbers using the pricing logic in the next section. Keep it to the services you actually offer, so the menu reads clean.
| Service | Typical 2026 range | Set yours |
|---|---|---|
| Classic manicure | $25 - $45 | $____ |
| Gel manicure | $40 - $65 | $____ |
| Builder gel / BIAB | $55 - $85 | $____ |
| Dip powder | $45 - $70 | $____ |
| Full set acrylic | $55 - $95 | $____ |
| Acrylic fill | $40 - $70 | $____ |
| Classic pedicure | $40 - $65 | $____ |
| Gel pedicure | $55 - $80 | $____ |
| Soak-off / removal | $10 - $20 | $____ |
| Nail art (per nail) | $3 - $15 | $____ |
Ranges reflect typical US pricing in 2026 and shift a lot by region. A studio in a major metro sits at the top of each range, a home studio in a smaller market nearer the bottom.
Group the menu so it reads at a glance: core services first (manicures, then enhancements like acrylic and dip, then pedicures), with add-ons in their own short section underneath. A client should find what they want and see the price in a few seconds, not scroll through a wall of options.
Set your prices
The biggest pricing mistake is matching the salon down the street instead of pricing your own work. Use a simple formula: time plus product plus skill, then position for your market.
Start with time. Know how long each service actually takes you, chair to chair, including cleanup. A service that takes 90 minutes should not cost the same as one that takes 30, no matter what the salon next door charges.
Add product and overhead. Quality gel, tips, and disposables cost real money per service. So does your booth rent or studio space. Build those in rather than absorbing them.
Then position for your market. If you are highly requested and booked out two weeks, you are underpriced. Premium, in-demand techs sit at the top of each range. Newer techs building a book sit lower, and raise as demand grows.
A worked example: a full acrylic set takes you 90 minutes, uses about $8 in product, and you rent a booth. Ninety minutes of skilled time at a professional rate, plus product, plus a share of rent, lands around $70 to $85 in most markets. If you have been charging $55 because that is what the salon down the block charges, you have been subsidizing every client out of your own pocket.
Avoid these
A few patterns quietly cap what nail techs earn. Each one is easy to fix once you see it.
1. Matching the salon next door. Their costs, speed, and skill are not yours. Price your own work, not a competitor's guess.
2. Giving away art and removals. The extras are where the margin lives. If it takes time or product, it is a line item, not a courtesy.
3. Never raising prices. Your costs rise every year. A small annual increase, announced with notice, keeps you from quietly working for less each season.
4. Hiding the price until checkout. Surprise totals erode trust. When every price and upcharge is visible at booking, the money conversation is done before the client sits down.
5. No deposit on long services. A no-show on a 90-minute full set is a 90-minute hole in your day you cannot refill. A deposit is cheap insurance against your most expensive empty slot.
Upcharges
Most nail techs give away their most profitable work for free. Anything that takes extra time or product is a priced line item, not a courtesy. Put these on the menu so the price is set before the chair.
Nail art per nail or by complexity (simple, detailed, freehand). Length upcharge for medium, long, and extra long. Removal of someone else's work, which is slower and riskier than your own. Repairs between appointments. French, chrome, and 3D designs as named add-ons.
When these live on the menu, the awkward "how much extra is that?" conversation disappears, and a $60 set quietly becomes an $85 one without anyone feeling surprised.
Put a number on it. A client books a full set ($70), adds medium length ($10), wants chrome on two accent nails ($12), and needs old gel removed ($15). That is a $107 appointment, not a $70 one, and every line was agreed to before she sat down. Across a week of full sets, those add-ons are the difference between scraping by and a healthy week.
Deposits
Full sets and long appointments are the most expensive slots to lose. A deposit on those services is the single best protection against no-shows, and it belongs on the price list so it is never a surprise.
A common structure: a flat $20 to $30 deposit, or 25 percent of the service, taken at booking and applied to the final total. Returning clients who never miss can be exempt. New clients and full sets always pay it.
The key is that the deposit is collected when the appointment is booked, not requested by text afterward, which rarely works. A booking page that charges it automatically through Stripe makes this effortless. See how that works on payments.
Keep the rule simple and consistent. Returning clients who have never missed can be exempt, while new clients and any full set always pay. Written into your policy and shown at booking, a deposit also gives you clean documentation if a no-show charge is ever disputed.
Go live
A price list in a phone note cannot take a booking or hold a deposit. The version that actually protects your time is one where each service carries its price and deposit, on a page clients can book from directly.
That is what BookReady does. You add each service with its price, set a deposit where it matters, and it becomes a designed booking page on your own site, not a generic widget. Clients pick a service, see the price, pay the deposit, and book. Your client list builds itself as they do.
Browse the templates that fit a nail studio on the templates page, or see the full picture on the nail techs page. Most techs are live in about 20 minutes.
From there the menu does the quiet work for you: it sets expectations before the appointment, collects deposits without an awkward text, and gives every new client the same professional first impression. The price list stops being a note on your phone and becomes the front door to your business.
For nail techs
14-day free trial. No card for the first 7 days. Add your services and prices, set deposits where they matter, and take bookings on your own site.
Start your 14-day trialQuestions
It depends on your market and service. A gel manicure commonly runs $40 to $65, and a full acrylic set $55 to $95. Price for your time, product, and skill, not just the shop next door.
Yes. Price art per nail or by complexity as a line item. Free art quietly eats your most profitable time, and clients expect to pay for detailed work.
For full sets and long services, yes. A deposit cuts no-shows sharply and is easy to show on your price list and collect at booking.
Give a few weeks of notice, raise in small steps, and lead with the value: sanitation, skill, and your time. Most regulars stay.
On your booking page, so the price and deposit are attached to each service a client books, not buried in a PDF or a Story highlight.
Yes. Each service carries its own price and an optional deposit, charged through Stripe at the moment of booking.