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Grooming Memberships and Packages: What They Mean for Pay
Memberships and prepaid packages can fill a book. They can also shrink commission if the discount comes out of your share.
Some salons sell grooming memberships, where a client pays a set amount each month for regular grooms, or prepaid packages, where a client buys several grooms at once, often at a discount. For the salon, these plans bring steady income and clients who come back on schedule. For a commission groomer, the effect on pay depends almost entirely on how the salon counts those grooms when it figures your commission.
The key question: commission on what price?
Commission is a percentage of a service price, but a membership groom may not have one obvious price. A salon might figure your commission on:
- The regular menu price of the groom, as if the client paid full price.
- The discounted price the client effectively paid per groom under the plan.
- A set amount per groom chosen by the salon for membership dogs.
The difference can be significant. If the plan gives clients a discount and your commission is figured on the discounted price, you are sharing the cost of that discount. The guide on how grooming commission works explains how the base price drives your pay, and it applies just as much here.
Where groomers can lose out
- Add ons included in the plan. If a membership bundles extras like teeth brushing or nail grinding, find out whether you are paid anything for them.
- Coat condition. A plan priced for a well kept dog pays the same when that dog arrives matted. Ask whether extra time or dematting can still be charged.
- Unused visits. If a client skips a month, the salon may keep the payment, but you are usually paid only for grooms you actually perform.
- Timing of pay. If a client prepays for a package, ask when commission is paid: when the package is sold or as each groom is done.
Where memberships can help
Memberships are not automatically bad for groomers. Dogs on a regular schedule are usually in better coat, so grooms tend to be faster and easier. A steady flow of booked regulars can smooth out slow weeks and reduce no shows. If the commission base is fair, a full book of membership dogs can be a good thing for your gross pay, before taxes. See building a loyal client book for why regulars matter so much.
What to ask before the salon launches a plan
- What price will my commission be figured on for membership and package grooms?
- Are add ons inside the plan paid to me, and how?
- Can extra time for matting or behavior still be charged?
- When will I be paid commission on prepaid packages?
- How will these grooms appear on my pay records so I can check them?
Get the answers in writing, and check your first few paychecks after the plan starts. The guide on how to check your grooming paycheck shows how. For the pricing side of the business, how grooming prices are set covers how salons build their menus.