I spoke with Leah Pemberton, who owns Painted Moon Studios in Edinburgh.
Tell me about your Halloween pricing problem.
We charged £28 for any Halloween design. Sounds reasonable until clients started requesting tiny jack-o-lanterns on each nail, spider webs with individual thread lines, and 3D bats. Each set took two hours. We used £8 in materials per client. After wages, rent, and supplies, we made £3 profit per appointment.
Our technicians were exhausted doing back-to-back detailed work.
When did you realize the numbers did not work?
Mid-October when I reviewed our accounts. We had done 118 Halloween sets and earned £354 total profit for the month. One technician developed wrist pain from the repetitive detail work. Another asked for fewer hours because the job stopped being enjoyable.
How do you price seasonal work now?
Tiered pricing always. Simple designs start at £32. Medium complexity is £48. Intricate work with 3D elements or hand-painting is £65 minimum. We show photo examples of each tier. Clients can choose their budget level, and we protect our margins while keeping staff healthy.