Need some feedback on my rates!

[Anie.]

I need some feedback on my rates:

I am just starting out (not seeing clients just yet) and currently have my rates set at $60 an hour, tax included ($35 for 30 mins and $85 for 90 mins, also tax included). I'm beginning to wonder if that is a bit too low for my area (Minneapolis, MN). After tax, I would earn $56.07 for an hour. Most places in this area are $60-$70 an hour BEFORE tax. I don't want to feel like I should be raising my rates a few months, etc down the line. It's easier to go down than up, but I am just starting out. I want to offer a "fair" rate, but I don't want to undervalue my work. I am thinking maybe the following would be the way to go:

30 minutes: $35 tax included
60 minutes: $65 tax included
90 minutes: $85 tax included

For the record, I am trained in both shiatsu and therapeutic massage (Swedish, trigger point, deep tissue/rehabilitative techniques) and completed a 1,035 hour program.

Any veterans out there have any advice? Also, how do you decide how much more you charge for mobile services?

Thanks!

 

[Ross M]

My best reply for you regarding how to set your rates is this: find out, either by calling around to different therapists, or by asking people you know who receive massage, what the rate is that they are paying and go from there.


In my area of Ohio, rates are widely varied for the same types of services - in general, a half-hour session will cost anywhere from $25.00 - $40.00 depending on the individual therapist, whether there is a Rx for massage, etc. Hour sessions cost from $35.00 to $65.00, with the average running around $50.00. My personal rates are near the higher end of that scale for several reasons: my experience, my education, my reputation for providing excellent care. Withing a 4 county area therapists are lucky to hit the high end of the above mentioned scale. Folks here are TIGHT with a dollar and then some.

Don't know if that helps or not, but, just thought I 'd throw that out there for yuo.

 

[robertsechenfen]

Thanks for the advice. Based on about 10 minutes of visiting the websites of local therapists/spas in my area I found three that were $70/hr plus tax, one $70/hr tax included, and two $65/hr plus tax.

 

[Morghanna]

While it is true that it is easier to reduce your rates - or discount if you charge more than if you charge less. I think (I may get a lot of disagreement from the others) that if you are straight out of school and have no experience then you shouldn't be charging as much as someone with years of experience. Just my opinion.

I charge more than anyone else in my small city of 15,000 and am very busy, but I have almost 10 years of experience also.

but I also say - go with your gut instinct.

Healingtouch

 

[Hannnnnnahhh?]

That is what I was thinking. I'm torn between offering a fair, realistic rate for my services based on my experience and abilities and running the risk of possibly undervaluing my work.

I was talking about this with a friend a few days ago who is in a similar situation. She is also just out of school (is a shiatsu therapist) and is going to be sharing space with an MT who has 10 years experience and a private practice. The MT told her that she didn't want to be "undercut" by having my friend charging less than she (the MT) does. I pointed out that she is offering a different service and has less experience, so charging less shouldn't be an issue but everyone else in the conversation encouraged her to charge the same as the MT. Some people thought she should even consider charging more because she will be the only one in a small town offering shiatsu. I guess it all comes down to opinions!

healingtouch, have your rates gone up in the 10 years since you started?

 

[Monty Montezuma]

A bit of a side step, I'm sorry, but...
You charge TAX on your services?
Is it different in each area? I thought tax was for retail items, etc.
And when figuring what you would make after taxes, that is not a cut & dry formula. Any legitimate expenses & losses are figured on a schedule C which directly affects your adjusted taxable income.
As for setting your rates, set them standard to like services available in your area for work you RESPECT and think is good quality. (Massage Envy is in my neighborhood, for example, so I did not figure that in when I set my rates because of their discounted rates system. Found out later that they charge just about the same for a 50 min treatment for returning non-members.) I charge $45 for half-hour, $65 for one hour and $85 for 90 minute. That is right in the middle of my area average.

Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[SarahM]

And you can always give yourself a raise when you add more experience under your belt or are hitting landmarks (like in business for 1 yr, 3 yrs, etc).
Jill/sagetherapist

 

[Kazandra]

Bodywork is now a taxable service in MN. I think it started in the past 5 years or so. The perceneforum.xxxe varies by area. My area is 7%.

 

[mom of 2]

For the past 3 years Ohio has collected sales tax on all forms of massage - spa, therapeutic, relaxation, etc.
The opinion in Columbus at the Dept of Taxation is that LMTs are providing a service that is not necessarily medically based [although we are licensed by the medical board!] and that all service provided by LMTs and MTechs should be taxable under the law. The ONLY exception is service provided under prescription by any licensed physician, chiropractor, and others whom the state allows to have prescriptive powers. Those services may NOT be taxed.

It just a royal pain in the butt!!!! However, my clients gleefully request Rx from their doctors, etc. and we don't have to do the sales tax thing.


now if they would just tax the sex workers!..... my apologies for the digression.... that might make the state some real sales tax money

Just an FYI

 

[SeanT]

Gessika, I think your rates are fair, given your area. If you price yourself too high, you'll have to justify it, both to yourself and to others. You can go higher, but you'll have to figure out how you're going to make your sessions special. To go lower tells ppl that you don't think highly enough of your time or skills, or it's a giveaway that you're just starting out.

I understand the point someone made earlier about not feeling right about a new grad charging the same as more experienced therapists. However, I actually did exactly that. Going rates in my area averaged between $60-$65/hr, and I started out at $60 fresh out of school. My reasoning was this: sometimes the quality of the massage you give has little to do with the amount of experience you have. When I was in school, there were ppl in my class who gave a better massage than some of my therapist friends who had been in practice for a couple years! There are so many factors that go into what makes a massage good, and each therapist--and client--is so unique that it seems to me that it's feasible to price yourself according to your competition, even if they're more experienced in actual practice. And, there are those with 3 years of Experience and those with 1 year of experience even after 7 years (because they never bothered to learn beyond the first year).

Honestly, price yourself according to what you believe you are worth. What is your time worth? When setting your price, think of a wide range. Start ridiculously low, in your mind...eventually you'll find a number that makes you think like this: "$20? no way! $35? nope. $45? well, maybe that's the minimum, but I'd have to get something else out of the deal, like if they book weekly or something...or maybe for their birthday. $55? well, maybe if they bought a package of 5 sessions. $65? possibly. let's keep going. $75? yeah, that's fine, but I feel funny about it. Like I can't look someone in the eye when I'm telling them that price. Nah, I can't charge $75. And $85 is out of the question. For an hour? Yeah, too much. OK, let's go back to that $65. Yeah, I'm getting used to that idea." Etc. You'll find a number that "rings true", one that resonates with you, one you feel comfortable with, one that you don't feel shy or sheepish or guilty quoting ppl, yet one where you don't resent yourself for giving your services away.

And one final point: think of it this way...people don't know if someone's just out of school unless they tell them. If you've gotten good training or you have some natural ability or you practice on your friends or something, ppl probably won't know the difference. So go ahead and ask for what you feel is right! A great point from earlier: it's always easier to come down than to go up. So start high and you can offer discounts to your favorite niche markets or donate part of your earnings to a favorite cause or something.

Good luck! You can do this We've all been there, sometimes more than once lol
Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[Rush is Right]

In school, they told us not to undercut ourselves when compared to other therapists in the area. The reason being because eventually, we would have to raise our prices, and at the same time the comp would also be raising their prices, and we would then be behind them all the time.

I am often told my rates are cheap. I happen to be in a small pocket, the going rate for one hour is $45 and $50 an hour, sometimes they will charge you an extra $10 or $15 for deeper work, but I dont believe in doing that.

If you travel 45 minutes west to Appleton Wisconsin or 30 minutes north to Green Bay, the going rates for one hour are at least $60 and often times closer to $80 for an hour. Deep tissue is even more!!

My area is more blue collar, but most of my clientel are not blue collar. I am considering raising my rates in 12 to 18 months.... but still I am not certain.... I hate the rate raising issue....

As for what I make.... well... lets put it this way, in 2005 I didnt pay any taxes!! LOL But I did make a profit!! I grossed $22,000, but once you wack off all my expences... it was cut more than in half. Expences add up big time.

I dont always look at it by how much I made, but by how happy I am. If I can pay my appartment rent, office rent, feed my family, put gas in the tank, and all that other stuff... I am happy. Everything is being paid for and I am not digging myself into a credit card hole, so I am happy. Happy happy happy happy!! I wasnt this happy when I was making $30,000 gross working in a factory and I am netting a lot less at this time.

Christine

 

[Simply-Yours]

From everything you have said, I think your rates are fair.

I believe in offering a fair rate for the service provided and within the going rate of the area if this is a factor.

As for:

I was talking about this with a friend a few days ago who is in a similar situation. She is also just out of school (is a shiatsu therapist) and is going to be sharing space with an MT who has 10 years experience and a private practice. The MT told her that she didn't want to be "undercut" by having my friend charging less than she (the MT) does. I pointed out that she is offering a different service and has less experience, so charging less shouldn't be an issue but everyone else in the conversation encouraged her to charge the same as the MT.

In a case like this where someone new is sharing a space with someone older, I think I'd defer to the older therapists wishes unless there would be a reason not to. Seems to me it would be a good way to keep things running smoothly in the practice.