5 ms·

The barber shop I went to for years used to charge $35 for a haircut pre-pandemic, which with a ~$10 tip ($45) already felt real high. Now a haircut is $50 an

by holler 5y ago

The barber shop I went to for years used to charge $35 for a haircut pre-pandemic, which with a ~$10 tip ($45) already felt real high. Now a haircut is $50 and I no longer go, opting instead to cut my own hair w help from my girlfriend. Maybe people don’t want $50 haircuts.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
The salons in question are still charging $18 for a haircut.
- Larrikin 5y ago
  Is this a complaint about an extremely cheap haircut?
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Not at all, it’s an observation of a business model breaking down.
birdyrooster 5y ago
Maybe people never needed to pay for haircuts in the first place
Ericson2314 5y ago
That's fine, then. We shouldn't assume a certain service or job is productive enough to exist because it used to be in the past. If barbershops need to go the way of horse liveries, that's OK.
- pengaru 5y ago
  > We shouldn't assume a certain service or job is productive enough to exist because it used to be in the past. If barbershops need to go the way of horse liveries, that's OK Automobiles replaced horses, did I miss the memo on something replacing hair growth?
  - Ericson2314 5y ago
    Trimmers replaced scissors for simple cuts. Horses and barns still exist as a luxury, and that could be the fate of fancy cuts too.
    - pengaru 5y ago
      There will always be a demand for grooming by experienced third-party groomers. All we're seeing is a population struggling to accept their dollar is rather suddenly worth much less, there's a significant latency to such things sinking in. It can even be generational, some people never learn. Case in point: When I bought some land in 2018 I paid the asking price, which I thought was perfectly reasonable vs. FMV. When some neighbors came by and welcomed me to the neighborhood, they asked what I paid. When I told them they were shocked and said I overpayed by a lot. This was in 2018, pre-pandemic prices, and the neighbors were an elderly couple who had once owned multiple properties on the block. Their perception of FMV was completely out of touch with reality, and just months later nearby properties similar to mine were selling for 20-50% more than I had paid, still pre-pandemic. Now that the pandemic has completely shocked everything from increasing demand for rural property accessible to city centers, to printing what, trillions of dollars? My place would sell for over double what I paid in 2018, and my elderly neighbors would still be believing it's worth less USD than I paid in 2018, if they were still alive.
      - Ericson2314 5y ago
        > There will always be a demand for grooming by experienced third-party groomers. Sure, just as is their demand for horses. > All we're seeing is a population struggling to accept their dollar is rather suddenly worth much less, there's a significant latency to such things sinking in. It can even be generational, some people never learn. https://twitter.com/JWMason1/status/1426245765437952010 https://twitter.com/JWMason1/status/1426245765437952010 it's far from universal across prices. The fact we where so much about prices and not about wages indicates a big bias in which these yeomen-presenting small businesses control the narrative. I don't own a car, I don't pay for gas. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, even with haircuts. If my haircut price did go up, and the barber's wage did too. I do not resent it.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  Somehow people are going to need to get their hair cut, so this isn't going to be a horse liveries situation. More people may sacrifice quality or preference for a specific style & do it themselves. Some people might get shorter haircuts so they don't need one as often, maybe trim thing around the edges in between paid haircuts. Some people will be price elastic and pay higher prices. The economics and behaviors may change, but the need won't go away.
  - Ericson2314 5y ago
    You answered your own points! Prol buzz cuts, and luxury hair salons. Eventually automation might step in. If Khrushchyovkas are ugly but efficient apartments, then let's call the hair style a "Khru cut" hee hee hee.
ljm 5y ago
In that case you'd be justified in not paying the tip, surely? The effective price beforehand was $45, since you weren't really tippin, just subsidising the employer. They just bumped the price by 5 bucks and dispensed with the pricing trickery by paying proper wages.
- tayo42 5y ago
  The United States really needs to kill tipping culture off
  - dudul 5y ago
    Why? What would be different for the customer? The tip would just be rolled into the price of the service to amount to the same number, and quality of service would probably go down. Employees would also be taxed on the "tip" (which would now be included in their base salary). So what would really be the benefit? And I'm not trying to be dismissive at all. Coming from Europe I also thought initially that tipping was really weird, but after living with it for a decade+ I got used to it and I'm really curious as to why we should stop doing it.
    - tayo42 5y ago
      The experience and price would be consistent. I would know what I'm paying every time instead of trying to figure out what the extra 20% is or try to judge based off the items. Its much nicer going to restaurants out side of the country because you can just pay. There's no worrying about if I'm tipping right or enough or judging the service. Also covid and those ipad paying terminals have turned every job into a tip job. Every cashier wants a tip now. And they ask you if you want to tip becasue no one can touch the terminals. Which is awkward to say no to. I see/hear people leaving ridiculous tips for take out. I had one terminal for take out not have a "no tip" option. I had to manually type in $0.
    - Ericson2314 5y ago
      It undermines the norm that employees should be paid for their labor regardless of what the customer thinks --- that they can be fired of course but not underpaid for the labor already performed It undermines the norm that businesses should pay their damn taxes. To wit, we have been able to put off discussing the non-profitability of restaurants for far too long until now. Remember, it is quite arguable that Baumol's cost disease = "progress", not by definition, but by bi-implication.
jzb 5y ago
As a guy who gets a pretty standard, quick-and-easy cut, I get this. At the same time, $50 a month or whatever is pretty cheap compared to what I looked like after my partner tried her hand at cutting my hair at the start of the pandemic. $50 or look like I've got the mange? I'll pay the $50!
- holler 5y ago
  lol! it took a few tries but she got it down and luckily enjoys doing it so far... saving me $50/month!
tssva 5y ago
There are plenty of barbershops in my area which charge $50 for a haircut but there are many more that charge $18. Having been to a selection of both the difference is mostly the level of interior decoration and not the quality of the haircut. The choice being between a $50 haircut and having your girlfriend do it at home is a false one.
- Ballas 5y ago
  I'd easily pay $50 for the convenience of having it done at home - easily worth it just for the time saved. If your girlfriend can do it for you, that's worth a lot more than the money saved. So in my view once you have established that your girlfriend can do it, that is the better choice regardless of price.
  - holler 5y ago
    this brings up something I've wondered about, why not start a gig barber app? you sign up and someone shows up at your house/work/wherever and cuts your hair
    - detaro 5y ago
      This kind of app has the problem that people would use it 1-3 times and then just directly call whoever they liked to make the next appointment, cutting the app out of the deal.
    - Sylamore 5y ago
      In the US, State occupational licensing laws for one. You can't cut someone else's hair without a license in most states. In my state you can't even dog/cat sit for someone for money unless you are going to their house because you need a kennel license to have them stay at your house if they aren't your pet.

by holler 5y ago

toomuchtodo 5y ago

The salons in question are still charging $18 for a haircut.

Larrikin 5y ago
Is this a complaint about an extremely cheap haircut?
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Not at all, it’s an observation of a business model breaking down.

birdyrooster 5y ago

Maybe people never needed to pay for haircuts in the first place

Ericson2314 5y ago

That's fine, then. We shouldn't assume a certain service or job is productive enough to exist because it used to be in the past. If barbershops need to go the way of horse liveries, that's OK.

pengaru 5y ago
> We shouldn't assume a certain service or job is productive enough to exist because it used to be in the past. If barbershops need to go the way of horse liveries, that's OK Automobiles replaced horses, did I miss the memo on something replacing hair growth?
- Ericson2314 5y ago
  Trimmers replaced scissors for simple cuts. Horses and barns still exist as a luxury, and that could be the fate of fancy cuts too.
  - pengaru 5y ago
    There will always be a demand for grooming by experienced third-party groomers. All we're seeing is a population struggling to accept their dollar is rather suddenly worth much less, there's a significant latency to such things sinking in. It can even be generational, some people never learn. Case in point: When I bought some land in 2018 I paid the asking price, which I thought was perfectly reasonable vs. FMV. When some neighbors came by and welcomed me to the neighborhood, they asked what I paid. When I told them they were shocked and said I overpayed by a lot. This was in 2018, pre-pandemic prices, and the neighbors were an elderly couple who had once owned multiple properties on the block. Their perception of FMV was completely out of touch with reality, and just months later nearby properties similar to mine were selling for 20-50% more than I had paid, still pre-pandemic. Now that the pandemic has completely shocked everything from increasing demand for rural property accessible to city centers, to printing what, trillions of dollars? My place would sell for over double what I paid in 2018, and my elderly neighbors would still be believing it's worth less USD than I paid in 2018, if they were still alive.
    - Ericson2314 5y ago
      > There will always be a demand for grooming by experienced third-party groomers. Sure, just as is their demand for horses. > All we're seeing is a population struggling to accept their dollar is rather suddenly worth much less, there's a significant latency to such things sinking in. It can even be generational, some people never learn. https://twitter.com/JWMason1/status/1426245765437952010 https://twitter.com/JWMason1/status/1426245765437952010 it's far from universal across prices. The fact we where so much about prices and not about wages indicates a big bias in which these yeomen-presenting small businesses control the narrative. I don't own a car, I don't pay for gas. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, even with haircuts. If my haircut price did go up, and the barber's wage did too. I do not resent it.
ineedasername 5y ago
Somehow people are going to need to get their hair cut, so this isn't going to be a horse liveries situation. More people may sacrifice quality or preference for a specific style & do it themselves. Some people might get shorter haircuts so they don't need one as often, maybe trim thing around the edges in between paid haircuts. Some people will be price elastic and pay higher prices. The economics and behaviors may change, but the need won't go away.
- Ericson2314 5y ago
  You answered your own points! Prol buzz cuts, and luxury hair salons. Eventually automation might step in. If Khrushchyovkas are ugly but efficient apartments, then let's call the hair style a "Khru cut" hee hee hee.

ljm 5y ago

In that case you'd be justified in not paying the tip, surely? The effective price beforehand was $45, since you weren't really tippin, just subsidising the employer. They just bumped the price by 5 bucks and dispensed with the pricing trickery by paying proper wages.

tayo42 5y ago
The United States really needs to kill tipping culture off
- dudul 5y ago
  Why? What would be different for the customer? The tip would just be rolled into the price of the service to amount to the same number, and quality of service would probably go down. Employees would also be taxed on the "tip" (which would now be included in their base salary). So what would really be the benefit? And I'm not trying to be dismissive at all. Coming from Europe I also thought initially that tipping was really weird, but after living with it for a decade+ I got used to it and I'm really curious as to why we should stop doing it.
  - tayo42 5y ago
    The experience and price would be consistent. I would know what I'm paying every time instead of trying to figure out what the extra 20% is or try to judge based off the items. Its much nicer going to restaurants out side of the country because you can just pay. There's no worrying about if I'm tipping right or enough or judging the service. Also covid and those ipad paying terminals have turned every job into a tip job. Every cashier wants a tip now. And they ask you if you want to tip becasue no one can touch the terminals. Which is awkward to say no to. I see/hear people leaving ridiculous tips for take out. I had one terminal for take out not have a "no tip" option. I had to manually type in $0.
  - Ericson2314 5y ago
    It undermines the norm that employees should be paid for their labor regardless of what the customer thinks --- that they can be fired of course but not underpaid for the labor already performed It undermines the norm that businesses should pay their damn taxes. To wit, we have been able to put off discussing the non-profitability of restaurants for far too long until now. Remember, it is quite arguable that Baumol's cost disease = "progress", not by definition, but by bi-implication.

jzb 5y ago

As a guy who gets a pretty standard, quick-and-easy cut, I get this. At the same time, $50 a month or whatever is pretty cheap compared to what I looked like after my partner tried her hand at cutting my hair at the start of the pandemic. $50 or look like I've got the mange? I'll pay the $50!

holler 5y ago
lol! it took a few tries but she got it down and luckily enjoys doing it so far... saving me $50/month!

tssva 5y ago

There are plenty of barbershops in my area which charge $50 for a haircut but there are many more that charge $18. Having been to a selection of both the difference is mostly the level of interior decoration and not the quality of the haircut. The choice being between a $50 haircut and having your girlfriend do it at home is a false one.

Ballas 5y ago
I'd easily pay $50 for the convenience of having it done at home - easily worth it just for the time saved. If your girlfriend can do it for you, that's worth a lot more than the money saved. So in my view once you have established that your girlfriend can do it, that is the better choice regardless of price.
- holler 5y ago
  this brings up something I've wondered about, why not start a gig barber app? you sign up and someone shows up at your house/work/wherever and cuts your hair
  - detaro 5y ago
    This kind of app has the problem that people would use it 1-3 times and then just directly call whoever they liked to make the next appointment, cutting the app out of the deal.
  - Sylamore 5y ago
    In the US, State occupational licensing laws for one. You can't cut someone else's hair without a license in most states. In my state you can't even dog/cat sit for someone for money unless you are going to their house because you need a kennel license to have them stay at your house if they aren't your pet.