To think £17 is too much...

[EasterEggBelly]

... to charge to cut a 3yr old boy’s hair?

I try to support small, local business. I understand why sometimes this means paying more. But this is a trim/tidy up for a child with short hair.

I went to a chain of barbers instead. Paid £7 and it took no longer then 10 minutes. As it happens I have 2 DC so the saving was actually £20.

What do others think?

YABU - pay more to support local if you can afford it.
YANBU - not many people would pay that.

[marmaladepop]

@MrsPnut

I've just looked it up, Gents cut is £15, under 16 is £12 and Under 6 is £9.

It does say of you want zero fades then you need to pay the gents price. Village in Lincolnshire.

My husband has his hair and beard done there and pays £21.

Realise this is an old thread, but thought I'd add on. I've just retired from owning a barbers shop. The prices here (North East ) are variable. It depends on a few things - where you are situated (expensive area = expensive rent), (if you own the premises you possibly can do haircuts a lot cheaper), staff wages, staff holiday pay, staff NI, staff pensions, tax, employers NI, premises service charges if applicable, licensing for having the radio/tv on, commercial waste disposal, frequent clipper servicing, sterilisation sprays, disposable gowns, card machine rental, wifi; it all adds up and is 'not just a pair of scissors'. I get why people think kids should be cheaper, but in fact they should cost more. It can be back breaking doing toddlers and young children who don't sit still - they can take longer than an adult by far, and young boys can have HEAPS of hair, taking twice as long as an average adult. One or two barbers round here refuse to do kids at all. The average price is around £16 now, but with the cost of having to heat the premises, this coming winter I would say it is likely to get to £20 as an average soon. Fades always cost more as they take much longer to do.

[PeachyPeachTrees]

I'm in Surrey. SE England and London has generally high prices. I pay £11 for a young boy's hair cut in a men's barbers. It soon adds up as I have 2 boys and we go every 3 months.

[MakingPlans21]

YANBU to go where you choose. If you don’t want to pay the prices you are not obligated to support them. Feet talk.

[SmudgeButt]

We pay £30 for both DH & myself. So £17 for a little boy is silly money to me.

[Smileandtheworldsmileswithyou]

My hairdresser does free haircuts for children if you go there.

[shouldistop]

£6 for my 4yo at the barber.

[Kottbullar]

We used to pay £7.00 for a cut and a lollipop then after the first lockdown they put the price up to £9.00 now it's £12.00.
However I couldn't get an appointment and my boys were desperate so I booked them in at my hairdresser. It was £10 for a cut and a hair wash which they loved but no lollipop so it cost me some sweets on the way home too!

[PugInTheHouse]

My boys have curly hair so we have been to so many hairdressers that have butchered their hair, the one they go to is £20 each which is a lot but it isn't a quick 10 min job, in fact DS1 has just turned 15 so it'll be £25 now. Its a lot for what it is but at least they do a good job, they have been brilliant and organising their clients after the lockdowns too so I am happy to support them.

[RMNMummy]

I pay £25 for a particular salon which is built for children - there are cars built as seats for the child, they have peppa pig etc playing on each screen and the stylists allow for extra time if the child gets upset/to distract etc.

Excellent business idea if you ask me!

I do think it’s unreasonable at the same time however - for those who wouldn’t be able to afford to pay it. At the same time, my boy HAAAAAATES getting his hair cut and the time I tried to cut it at a ‘regular’ barbers for a tenner he screamed the place down (he was ?18 months) so £25 it is, call it whatever you like 😂

[Londontown12]

It may seem expensive but cutting little kids hair can be tricky ! They move around a lot !
Probs charged you more so u don’t go back I’m a stylist I don’t mind doing kids hair but some stylists hate doing kids hair 🤣 (just being honest )

[TroysMammy]

I begrudge paying £35 for a trim, wash and blow dry hence why I haven't had my now bra strap length hair cut since September 2019.

[Crunchymum]

A trendy new barbers opened almost opposite me and excitedly I went over to get DC1 a haircut.

£25. No concessions (not even OAPs)

I don't even pay that for my own haircut [£20 cut and blowdry from mobile hairdresser]

Owner explained without me asking that the same level of effort and expertise went into all his haircuts and why should he charge less for his skills. I'm not sure a number 2 and scissors on top is male hair artistry at its finest but whatever. We went round the corner to the usual barbers who charge a tenner.

[ShortSilence]

A lot of pps are replying with comparisons to the price at their local barbers, but it is very normal and reasonable for a barber to be a lot cheaper than a hairdresser.

For where we are (in a city) I don’t think £17 is a wild price for a child’s scissor cut at the hairdresser even though you can get it clippered/cut far more cheaply at a barber. It depends what you want.

I still used to take DS to get a scissor cut because his thick curly hair really needed that approach, and they didn’t really know how to handle it at the barber shop near us; they just tended to clipper everyone in a pretty straightforward way, which looked totally wrong on DS.

The barber actually said to me “he kind of needs a scissor cut and I only have one person who does those and she’s only in on a Wednesday” — which is fair enough!

[Feelingbad2]

£9 here for my 4yo at the Turkish barbers.

[Hadsuchahardday]

£12 at my local barbers in London zone 5.

[namechangeaga1ne]

£23 for kids hairdresser round here. Go to barber now for £8.

[InterestRateUpOrDown]

That’s what I pay for mine, but it’s a specialist children’s hairdresser. It’s about £5-7 at a barbers, but we found they didn’t have the time or patience for wailing toddlers. It became too stressful!!!

Yes, it’s expensive but the alternative just isn’t worth the cost saving IMO.

[MadMadMadamMim]

When DS was 3 we went into Edinburgh for the day from Cowdenbeath. DH is a working class Fifer with accent.

I took the older girls to shops and asked DH to try and get the toddler's hair cut whilst we're here.

DH took him into a hairdressers near Waverley Station and said can you just trim his hair, hen?

The girl said, I'd better just tell you it's £28 first and DH walked out immediately!

That was 20 years ago. I still don't think either of them has paid more than a tenner for a haircut.

[Oblomov21]

I disagree with most. Barbers is a skilled profession and takes a good few minutes. £7 is too cheap. Should be at least £10. £15 is reasonable.

[FakingMemories]

I agree, OP. For over a year now I have been going once a month to a local salon for waxing. It’s a small place, just one woman. She doesn’t even have a receptionist. She goes everything. It’s more expensive than the bigger salons and I sometimes feel are doesn’t do a great job. But I keep thinking “support local businesses”. Then I think “but the people who work in the larger salons and chains are local people too”.

[AliTheMinx]

I agree, OP. It's too much. I paid £10 today for my son's haircut.

[Toomuchtrouble4me]

It depends - are they specialist children’s hairdressers? With the character seats and aprons snd I-pads etc etc? I take mine to a kids salon and it’s £15.

[waitingpatientlyforspring]

My ds cut used to cost £5. Couldn't get in to local place so he wanted to go to one near his school. I gave him £10 and it was £10.40 😱 this sas pre-covid so no extra costs.

[Ellasmummyx1]

Thats more than I pay for my own hair

[Blossomandbee]

That's expensive for a small child's cut. Having said that, most the barbers round here charged £10 for boys haircuts pre lockdown, and the one he likes is now charging £16. It's apparently to cover the PPE and loss of customers due to spacing them out etc.