How to raise salon prices in 2026 without losing clients

A price list from 2024 or 2025 no longer covers what it costs to run a salon today. You put off raising prices because a client might go elsewhere for a few złoty less, but rent, products and wages keep rising regardless. Those are mostly service costs, not goods, and services in Poland cost more than the average inflation figure suggests.

This article turns the guesswork into numbers: how much more services cost in 2026, how many visits you can lose before revenue drops, what the price law says about the list on the wall and online, and how to change a price in Slotsy without touching visits already booked at the old price.

Short answer. Services in Poland now cost 5.6% more than a year ago (GUS, August 2026), and the minimum wage rose to 4,806 zł. If you have not touched your price list since 2025, an increase of 8–10% only makes up for costs. At 8% you can lose 7.4% of visits and keep the same revenue; at 10%, 9.1%. The price law requires the price to be clear and unambiguous (Article 4), and in case of a discrepancy the client is entitled to the lower one (Article 5). In Slotsy you change a service price in a single field: new bookings use the new price, visits already booked keep the old one, and the price list on your page and in the confirmation email change at the same moment.

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Why 2026 is the year to raise prices

Services cost 5.6% more than a year ago and the minimum wage is up 140 zł, so a salon's costs are rising faster than the 3.4% headline inflation figure.

Overall inflation in Poland in August 2026 was 3.4% year on year (GUS, "Wskaźniki cen towarów i usług konsumpcyjnych w sierpniu 2026 r.", published 15.09.2026). That figure averages two baskets: goods rose 2.5%, services rose 5.6%. A salon does not sell goods, it sells its team's work and a rented space, so your real costs sit closer to 5.6% than to 3.4%.

The minimum wage rose on 1 January 2026, from 4,666 zł to 4,806 zł, up 140 zł, +3.0%. If you employ staff or run your own sole proprietorship, that rise is already in your costs regardless of the price list. Social security works the same way: the full contribution with health insurance is 2,359.30 zł a month, the preferential rate with the discount is 888.72 zł.

Year-on-year inflation in 2026 rose unevenly but steadily: 2.1% in January, 2.1% in February, 3.0% in March, 3.2% in April, 3.1% in May, 2.5% in June, 3.0% in July and 3.4% in August (GUS, monthly table). A price list from January 2025 has already lost two years of this rise, not one.

How much to raise: arithmetic, not intuition

An 8% increase lets you lose 7.4% of visits without a revenue drop; at 10%, it is 9.1%.

Instead of guessing, work out the break-even point: the share of visits you can lose without revenue dropping equals 1 minus 100 divided by (100 plus the percentage increase). The higher the increase, the more room you have before losing clients actually hurts.

A worked example: a salon has 120 visits a month at an average of 100 zł, 12,000 zł of revenue. After a 10% increase (110 zł a visit), the same revenue needs only 109 visits: 11 clients could leave a month and revenue would still hold.

For comparison, Booksy's blog, in a post from 21.10.2019, recommends about 3% a year, ideally in November, and cites no data for that figure (biz.booksy.com). Even applied consistently since 2019, 3% a year would not cover 2026 alone, since services rose 5.6% this year, almost double that recommendation.

A practical rule: do not raise every service by the same percentage. Start with the services that fill your calendar, where demand already outstrips your time. Round to a whole złoty, 108 zł, not 107.50 zł: clients remember round prices.

When to raise and which clients to tell personally

The best moment is when your calendar is full two weeks ahead; in Slotsy you check that in the calendar, and you find regulars in the client list by the "Last Visit" column.

Three signals that it is time to raise prices:

1. Your calendar is full two weeks ahead: demand already outstrips your capacity.
2. The costs in the table above have risen since you last changed your price list.
3. You added a new skill, piece of equipment or product the price list does not reflect yet.

Announce the increase four weeks ahead. The new price applies to bookings made after the announced date, not to visits already on the calendar, which keep the old price.

Tell your regulars before they see the new price while booking. In Slotsy, the client list has columns for Total Visits, Total Spent and Last Visit, plus filters by status, visit count and date range, which is how you find people who come regularly and were in recently. A client's profile shows booking history, statistics and internal notes visible only to your team, so you can note who has already been told. Details: customer management.

The law: price lists, the "most favourable price" and promotions after a raise

The price information law requires the price to be shown where the service is provided and, in case of a discrepancy, sold at the lower one; the fine reaches 20,000 zł.

Under Article 4(1) of the law of 9 May 2014 on informing about the prices of goods and services, the price at the place a service is provided must be shown unambiguously and in a way that allows comparison. The regulation of 19 December 2022 on showing prices (§3) allows a tag, a price list or a catalogue in a publicly accessible, clearly visible place, so both the sheet on your wall and the price list on your booking page qualify.

Article 5 says that in case of a discrepancy or doubt about the price, the consumer has the right to demand the price most favourable to them. For a salon: if your booking page shows 100 zł and the wall price list still shows 110 zł, the client is entitled to pay 100 zł. Change the online price list, the wall price list and your Google listing the same day; a mismatch costs you the difference, not the client.

Article 4(2) and (5) concern promotions: after a price cut you must state, next to the reduced price, the lowest price charged in the 30 days before the cut, including in advertising. In practice, after a rise from 100 zł to 110 zł, a "promotion" to 105 zł must show the lowest price of the last 30 days next to it, which is 100 zł, so it reads as an increase, not a discount. There is no way around this rule.

Article 6(1)-(2) sets the penalties: the provincial trade inspector (Inspekcja Handlowa) can fine up to 20,000 zł, and up to 40,000 zł for at least three breaches within 12 months.

Check the details with your accountant or lawyer.

How to update prices in Slotsy: 6 steps

Changing a price in Slotsy is a single field on the service; visits already booked keep the old price, and new bookings use the new one.

1. Services → pick a service → the Price field → Save changes. Editing does not touch bookings already made; only new bookings use the updated details. The price shows to the client in the service list, before confirmation, and in the booking summary. Details: service management.
2. Service description. A service has an optional short description shown to clients; use it to say what the price includes (wash, styling, consultation). Same screen as step 1.
3. Translations. A service's name and description can be translated into Polish, Ukrainian and English in its Translations section; the page picks up the client's browser language, and they can switch it. Details: translations.
4. Price list categories. Services can be grouped into categories; the price list on your company page splits into collapsed sections, for example "Hair · 6 services", once you have more than six services and at least two categories. Details: service categories.
5. A note on your page. The page builder has a hero subtitle and an About section with its own title and description, visible right after saving. Put one sentence there, for example: "New prices from 1 November; visits already booked keep the previous price." Details: page builder.
6. Services you drop. Instead of deleting a service, set it to Inactive: it disappears from the booking page while existing bookings stay preserved. Same screen as step 1.

How to tell clients

One message, four weeks ahead, with a date and one reason, no apology.

Three short templates, each with a date, the new price of one flagship service, and a line that booked visits keep the old price:

• Instagram post or story: "From 1 November we are changing our prices: the service that costs 100 zł today will cost 110 zł. Visits already booked keep the old price."
• A sentence at the end of a visit: "A heads-up: from 1 November this service will be 110 zł instead of 100 zł. Any visits you already have booked keep the old price."
• A personal message to a regular: "Hi, from 1 November I'm raising my prices, this service will be 110 zł. The visit you already booked keeps the old price."

Worth being honest here: Booksy Biz includes 100 marketing SMS a month, Fresha includes 50 SMS or WhatsApp messages plus 100 marketing emails. Slotsy has no mass-messaging tool, so the announcement goes out through your own channels: Instagram, the salon, personal messages. So it is Slotsy if you rely on your own channels and want a price list in three languages for 0 zł, and Booksy or Fresha if you need bulk SMS in the same system.

Ready-made Instagram post templates, not only for a price increase, are in the article turning Instagram followers into bookings.

Five mistakes when raising prices

1. Raising the price the same day you announce it. Booked visits keep the old price: the client booked at the price they saw and can rely on Article 5.
2. Updating the online price list and forgetting the wall list or Google. At a discrepancy the client pays the lower price, so the mismatch costs you.
3. Explaining and apologising. Detailed explanations of your own costs raise more questions than a single reason answers.
4. A "promotion" right after the increase. Next to the discounted price you must show the lowest price of the 30 days before the cut, which is the old, lower price, so the promotion reads as an increase.
5. Raising everything by the same percentage. Start with the services your calendar is already full of.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I raise prices in 2026? 8–10% covers 2026 alone: services cost 5.6% more, the minimum wage rose 3.0%. From a 2024 price list, raise more, since you are also covering the year before.

Can I raise the price of a visit that is already booked? In practice, no. The client booked at the price they saw, and Article 5 of the price law entitles them to the price most favourable to them. Slotsy keeps booked visits at the old price automatically, even after you change the price list.

How far ahead should I announce a price increase? Four weeks, with a specific date in the message, giving clients time to book a last visit at the old price if they want to.

Do I need a price list on the wall if I have one online? Yes. Article 4(1) of the price law and §3 of the regulation require the price at the place the service is provided, clearly visible; an online price list does not replace that.

Can I run a promotion right after a price increase? Yes, but next to the discounted price you must show the lowest price of the last 30 days (Article 4(2)), which is the old, lower price: a promotion to 105 zł shows 100 zł beside it and reads as an increase. Wait 30 days.

Does Slotsy send clients a notice about the new price? No. The new price shows in the service list, before confirmation and in the booking summary; the announcement itself goes out through your own channels.

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Prices, indicators and rules checked 27.09.2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it and show the date of the update.

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