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.

[Mumof32017]

I take my 3 and 2 year old boys to a local place, they are £13 each. Ideally I wouldn’t be paying that but the guys are brilliant. £26 every couple of months is manageable but I definitely would go above that.

[Mumof32017]

Omg what?! I take mine to a place with the campervan seats and tablets to keep them quiet - it’s £13 a kid and they are 2 & 3. We live in Hereford 🙈

[Mumof32017]

*wouldn't go above

[NowWhatUsernameShallIHave]

Although I totally understand having a DS myself Im guessing that the hairdressers have qualifications and better training

I know the barbers near me used to take on new people with little experience and train on the job

The barbers will have a limited range of services whereas the hairdressers will have varied. So while a ladies haircuts may take an hour and cost £50, for them to cut a childs hair for 30 mins for £17 they are effectively losing out on £33. That’s the only way I can see it.

But I would go to the barbers

[funinthesun19]

£6 for my two younger boys under 10
£8 for my eldest boy who is 10

£20 for me for all three of them, and you’d be paying £17 for just one. That’s shockingly expensive.

[funinthesun19]

And the cheap prices I pay aren’t a sign of bad quality either. Their barber is fantastic and always does an amazing job.

[bookworm1632]

Why is it unreasonable for ANY business in an open market, to advertise a price and then charge it??

If you think it's too much - don't use the business!

Side note, barbers are always cheaper than hairdressers, not that there's that many of them around any more. Seems to be a dying art to be able to do a neat gent/boy's cut in

[DietrichandDiMaggio]

I think some people are ignoring the fact that it is a hairdressers and not a barbers, so probably more expensive for any haircut.
Lots of hairdressers don't have cheap prices for children, because it is less profitable; some people seem to expect them to charge half the adult price for a cut and finish for a 14 year old, when it takes the same time, resources etc.

[DietrichandDiMaggio]

Meant to add that at the moment for most decent hairdressers demand outstrips supply, whilst restrictions mean having less in the salon at any time, as well as them needing to recoup lost earnings, so no surprise they don't want to use appointments up on low profit haircuts for kids.

[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.

[Ellasmummyx1]

Thats more than I pay for my own hair

[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.

[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.

[AliTheMinx]

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

[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”.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[namechangeaga1ne]

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

[Hadsuchahardday]

£12 at my local barbers in London zone 5.

[Feelingbad2]

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

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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 )