Expecting work free.

[ButchersPleasure]

I work in the beauty industry. Massages, nails, eyebrows etc. I have about 4-5 friends who book me then don't pay. I don't mind as a one off but these so called friends are asking every few weeks. It's really starting to piss me off. Would I be unreasonable to say" hey this is my living I need paying" even if I give them discounted prices. I don't want to sound greedy but due to covid I have lost a lot of money. No government help as business was only set up Feb 2020.

These are not friends - I have friends who do things for me (treatment for my dog, or helping in the garden) and I pay them their going rate. I wouldn't dream of not paying a professional for their services despite how friendly I was with them.

My old hairdresser seemed to have this problem. She put a Facebook post up saying that she had been advised by her accountant that her discount structure for friends wasn’t sustainable, and she therefore would be charging the same price for everyone going forwards. She said she hoped people would understand that she needed to keep her business going.

Really winds me up when people take advantage like this. We have similar with DH who has a useful skill.

Good friends don't expect to sponge off their mates. That's all there is to it. YANBU at all.

These people don’t sound like very good friends. My best friend is a hair dresser and I would never ask her to do my hair for free. Tell them straight that you can’t afford to work for free anymore, and mean it.