Salon booking site you own, with no commission at all

Booking marketplaces are everywhere in UK hair and beauty. They’re easy to start with, and they do put your salon in front of new people. But there’s a catch that grows with every appointment: on the clients they bring you, some platforms take a commission that can run from roughly a fifth to well over a third of the treatment price — and they often keep charging on that client’s repeat visits too. The client you now think of as a regular is still costing you a cut every time they rebook through the app.

The problem, plainly

A marketplace looks free until you read what it takes:

• a commission on every new client it sends you, sometimes on their return visits as well;
• your salon shown next to every competitor on the same page, sorted by whatever the platform decides;
• the client relationship owned by the platform — their name, their email, their booking history sit in the app, not with you.

You do the work, deliver the treatment, and a slice of the price leaves before you’re paid — for as long as that client keeps booking through the marketplace.

The fix: booking on a website you own

A booking system built into your own website flips the economics:

• a client who books on your site costs you 0% marketplace commission — for that visit and every one after;
• the client’s details are yours: you can text a reminder, send a birthday offer, build real loyalty;
• you’re not lined up next to ten rival salons — your site is about you, your work, your reviews.

To be straight about it: standard card-processing fees still apply on any online payment, a few percent, the same as everywhere — we won’t pretend otherwise. But the marketplace commission drops to zero, and that’s the number that really eats your margin.

”But the marketplace brings me clients”

Fair point — and it’s why the smart move isn’t “delete the app tomorrow”. It’s to own the rebook. Let the marketplace do what it’s good at, discovery, but move your regulars onto your own site: a QR code at the desk, a booking link in your Google listing and your Instagram bio, a card handed over at the end of the appointment. Once a client has booked you directly a couple of times, that relationship is yours, commission-free, for good.

Where we come in

We build the website and the booking engine, designed for your salon, in your branding, and yours at the end of the contract — not rented. You keep your clients, your data and your margin. To work out what moving your rebookings off the marketplace could mean for you, message me on WhatsApp: I reply fast, no obligation.

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Sources: public pricing and terms of hair-and-beauty booking marketplaces active in the UK. Actual commission depends on the plan and on how many bookings come through the marketplace versus your own channel — check your platform statement.