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.

[YouAreYourBestThing]

@AnnaSW1

It's £30 here

For a 3 year old's hair cut?

[Grapewrath]

Yes. That’s ott.
My mobile hairdresser charges a tenner and I’m fine with that, she’s very good.
A friend has set up mobile and is charging £15 for a child and £25 adult dry trims and I think it’s too much. I feel bad as she keeps asking that local friends support her but I just won’t pay more than I need to at the moment and neither should anyone else feel obliged to

[ColdandFrosty1]

I usually pay about £5 for my son to have his hair cut and he has it done at the same time as me x

[Ironmanrocks]

Round here I think it starts at £5 (maybe less) but it goes up a £1 for every year, so you pay the price of their age until 11 when they pay normally. (I only started taking him when he was 5 as he was scared of hairdressers.... 🙄 ) I took him to a barbers once when he was 6 or so and they charged £10. I felt ripped off!!!

[Mytiredeyeshaveseenenough]

Sounds pretty standard for a hairdressers but would be extremely expensive for a barbers.

If you are ok with them having really short hair, buy a pair of Wahl clippers (pay the extra, it's worth it). As long as you clean them and then oil them now and again, they are pretty much bomb proof.

Slightly worrying that my last haircut was £5. It was a while ago to put it mildly.

[Whammyyammy]

I'm all for supporting local businesses, but its a two way street. Businesses need to be realistic in pricing in the service they offer and not rip locals off/try to recoup losses.

Do that and word will get round and your business will fail

[Xmasbaby11]

£17 is loads! My hairdressers is £8 for a child's cut. Toddler is cheaper, £5 I think. My dd9 has long curly hair .. it's a bargain!

[Wtfdoipick]

It only costs me £10 for my daughter at the hairdressers (best part of £200 to get mine done so not a cheap place) mind you hairdressers and barbers are taking over my little NW town

[goldenlilliesdaffodillies]

My husband paid £8 for my 10 year olds haircut at a barbers. They did such a terrible job and my son was so upset, that they didn't finish it. I took him to another kind hairdresser which cost £14 to sort out which included a wash and blow-dry.

[georgarina]

That's on the expensive end ime. I have a 3-year-old and there's a private toy shop/hairdresser by me that does haircuts for £20, and then a place on the high street that does it for I think 10 or 12.

Both places have seats shaped like cars, so DS is happy either way lol.

[Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov]

I'd say they've deliberately priced themselves out of the market because they don't want to do it. I could understand that.

[emilyfrost]

YABU. You don’t have to pay that price, you can go elsewhere.

Obviously some people will pay it and are happy with the outcome, so it’s the businesses choice to charge so much and the clientele’s choice to pay it.

[Condenast]

But is the £17 for a specialist kids hairdressers, they play with trains while they’re waiting, where they get to sit in an aeroplane, watch peppa pig, have a biscuit and juice and leave with a goody bag?

[goldhoops]

@EasterEggBelly I was literally traumatised that day and gutted. I was busy trying to take DS off his little hairdressing car as he was screaming and DH went to pay when I was busy calming the little one down and no time to challenge it. It's a absolute rip off! £22 even if my son sat through the whole thing how long would that have taken? Maybe 10 mins and then it's ME holding his head still, entertaining him etc the hairdresser literally did nothing to allow my son to warm up to the idea. She just came with the scissors and went in. A childminder the hour probably costs the same if not less.

There were other tots there, a little older than my 2yo who were just sitting there still and it took like literally 10 mins and they paid £22. I think I'm going to cut bits out one by one and just grow it equally for the time being. I've been to trotters before and they charge roughly the same price but at least the hairdressers there are more interactive.

[Fundays12]

My boys are £10 each. It's a local business ran from a summer house in a ladies garden. She is slightly more expensive than others around here but much quicker and better

[kimfox]

A scissor cut takes longer and (arguably) more skill so
I'd expect to pay more at the hairdresser than the barber. I live in the south east so £17 seems pretty normal for a child's haircut, it's £8 at the barber, and I usually give a tip, so £10. The barber gives a free lollipop as well - bargain.

I prefer the hairdresser for DS but I'm not particularly organised with booking him in - after all the lockdowns my hairdresser has such a backlog of clients they aren't doing kids at all right now.

[MisgenderedSwan]

My local hairdresser charges £5 for a boy's cut and is amazing, makes sure they're comfortable and chats to them so they stay still etc. I'd pay double for her! £17 is crazy 😱

[dotdashdashdash]

@AnnaSW1

It's £30 here

For a childs haircut?!

[Inthesameboatatmo]

£10 here in Surrey

[mn81987]

@goldhoops you do realise it's a hairdressers and not childcare? They're there to cut hair not entertain your child, if you know the child is going to kick off then leave it for another time!! For a hairdresser doing kids is literally the worst part of the job snd can take longer than doing an adult!

[EasterEggBelly]

I appreciate context is everything and we do live in a London borough but it’s not one of the more affluent ones by any stretch.

@goldhoops that sounds so stressful, I feel for you. I wouldn’t mind paying more for the car to sit in, a lolly when you leave or even just someone who is good with children! Sounds like you didn’t get any of those things!

I think the posters saying they’ve priced it that way to put parents off have hit the nail on the head and this justification also makes me feel better about not using them. Win win all round!

[Howsonetoknow]

That's a lot! I pay £11 for DS(6) and that's at a child specific very fun themed kids only hairdressers (small business but you pay for the kid friendly experience)

[feckinarse]

Gosh, I'm in greater London and the (excellent) local barbers costs 8 quid for a very good boy's cut.

[feckinarse]

(meant to add: YANBU, 17 is far too much!)

[ChocOrange1]

Seems expensive. I paid £11 for my 4 year old daughters haircut. She has a lot of hair and it took about 30 mins.