[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":327},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-\u002Fblog\u002Fnew-year-price-increase-announcement":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":313,"extension":314,"howToSteps":315,"itemList":315,"meta":316,"navigation":317,"path":318,"publishedAt":319,"readMinutes":320,"seo":321,"stem":322,"tags":323,"updatedAt":315,"__hash__":326},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fnew-year-price-increase-announcement.md","The New Year price increase: announcing it in the holiday rush",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":301},"minimark",[9,13,26,31,34,56,59,63,72,90,93,97,104,124,127,158,161,165,171,198,203,207,210,234,241,245,251,255,268,272],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Most stylists who raise prices on January 1 do it the quiet way: update the booking page over the holidays and let clients discover the new number at checkout. It technically works. It also wastes the single best rebooking lever you get all year.",[10,14,15,16,20,21,25],{},"Because here's the thing about a January raise: ",[17,18,19],"strong",{},"the announcement is worth more than the raise."," If you tell your regulars ",[22,23,24],"em",{},"before"," the holidays that prices go up in January, you've handed every one of them a concrete reason to book their next appointment now — at the current rate. A price increase, announced with a runway, is a rebooking driver disguised as a policy change. This post is how to run it that way: the timing, the wording, and what to say when someone pushes back.",[27,28,30],"h2",{"id":29},"why-announce-before-the-holidays-not-after","Why announce before the holidays, not after",[10,32,33],{},"The instinct is to wait until January so you don't \"bother people during the holidays.\" That's backwards. The holiday rush is when your clients are already in your chair, already thinking about their next visit, and already in a spending frame of mind. It's the highest-contact stretch of your year. Announcing the raise then does three things at once:",[35,36,37,44,50],"ol",{},[38,39,40,43],"li",{},[17,41,42],{},"It gives regulars a reason to rebook immediately."," \"Prices go up January 1 — book your next color before then and you're at the current rate.\" That's not a threat, it's a favor, and it converts a vague \"I'll call you in January\" into a slot on your calendar today.",[38,45,46,49],{},[17,47,48],{},"It fills your slow months in advance."," January and February are dead. A pre-holiday nudge that pulls next appointments forward is exactly the medicine for a soft new year.",[38,51,52,55],{},[17,53,54],{},"It removes the checkout surprise."," Nobody feels ambushed at the register in January, because you told them in December.",[10,57,58],{},"The client who books their January root touch-up in early December, at the old rate, is a win for both of you: they saved a few dollars, and you filled a slow-season slot you'd otherwise be sweating.",[27,60,62],{"id":61},"the-inflation-case-if-you-want-the-why","The inflation case, if you want the \"why\"",[10,64,65,66,71],{},"You don't owe anyone a justification for your own prices. But if a client asks — or if you want a line in your announcement — the honest, citable rationale is inflation, and it's the same source the ",[67,68,70],"a",{"href":69},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-often-should-you-raise-prices-cpi-2026","BLS CPI post"," uses.",[10,73,74,75,81,82,85,86,89],{},"Per the ",[67,76,80],{"href":77,"rel":78},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bls.gov\u002Fnews.release\u002Fcpi.nr0.htm",[79],"nofollow","BLS Consumer Price Index release",", cumulative US inflation has run roughly ",[17,83,84],{},"5–7% over the last 18 months",", with the 12 months ending April 2026 up about ",[17,87,88],{},"3.8%"," — the highest year-over-year reading since May 2023. In plain terms: your booth rent, your color, your foils, and your own grocery bill all went up. If your prices didn't, your real take-home quietly shrank. A New Year raise that roughly tracks inflation isn't you getting greedy — it's you not falling behind.",[10,91,92],{},"That's the whole rationale, and it's one most clients already feel in their own lives. They've watched their groceries and gas climb. A modest raise reads as catch-up, not a shock.",[27,94,96],{"id":95},"the-wording","The wording",[10,98,99,100,103],{},"Keep it short, warm, and specific. The three things every good announcement has: the new date, the invitation to book now at the old rate, and a thank-you. Here's a template — ",[17,101,102],{},"rewrite it in your own voice",":",[105,106,109],"blog-aside",{"label":107,"type":108},"The heads-up text","note",[10,110,111,112,116,117,120,121],{},"Hi ",[113,114,115],"span",{},"Name","! Quick heads-up: starting ",[17,118,119],{},"January 1",", my prices are going up a little to keep pace with rising costs. If you'd like to get in at current pricing, book your next appointment before the end of the year — I'd love to see you before the holidays. Thank you so much for a great year 🤍 ",[113,122,123],{},"booking link",[10,125,126],{},"A few notes on the wording:",[128,129,130,136,142,148],"ul",{},[38,131,132,135],{},[17,133,134],{},"\"A little\" and \"to keep pace with rising costs\""," does the whole justifying job without over-explaining. The more you defend a raise, the more you signal you're unsure about it.",[38,137,138,141],{},[17,139,140],{},"The date is concrete"," (\"January 1\"), which makes the \"book before then\" offer real instead of vague.",[38,143,144,147],{},[17,145,146],{},"The invitation is the point."," You're not just informing them of a raise — you're giving them a window to beat it. That's what turns the message into rebookings.",[38,149,150,153,154,157],{},[17,151,152],{},"You don't state the new number in the blast."," You can if you want, but leaving it as \"going up a little\" keeps the message about the ",[22,155,156],{},"invitation to book now",", and lets the actual new price show up on your menu.",[10,159,160],{},"Send it to regulars individually where you can — a message that reads like it was written to one person lands very differently from an obvious mass blast. If your booking tool has a per-client text thread, that's exactly the surface for this.",[27,162,164],{"id":163},"a-worked-example-of-what-the-runway-is-worth","A worked example of what the runway is worth",[10,166,167,168],{},"Here's the shape of why the pre-holiday version beats the quiet version. ",[17,169,170],{},"Illustrative numbers only — yours differ:",[105,172,174,185,188,195],{"label":173,"type":108},"The math",[10,175,176,177,180,181,184],{},"Say you raise your color service from ",[17,178,179],{},"$120 to $140"," on January 1, and you have ",[17,182,183],{},"40 regulars"," on a roughly 6-week color cadence.",[10,186,187],{},"You send the heads-up in early December. Some clients who weren't due until mid-January book in December instead, at $120, to beat the raise.",[10,189,190,191,194],{},"You \"lose\" $20 on each pulled-forward appointment versus the new price — but you ",[22,192,193],{},"gained"," a filled December\u002Fearly-January slot you might not have booked at all, and locked in a client who might otherwise have drifted. A slow-season chair filled at $120 beats an empty one at $140.",[10,196,197],{},"After January 1, every new booking is at $140. The pull-forward is a one-time, deliberate trade: a small discount on a handful of appointments in exchange for a fuller slow season and zero checkout surprises.",[10,199,200],{},[22,201,202],{},"(Illustrative — the point is the trade, not the specific dollars. Your prices, cadence, and client count are your own.)",[27,204,206],{"id":205},"handling-pushback","Handling pushback",[10,208,209],{},"Most regulars won't blink. For the few who do, the move is the same one that works for any price conversation: acknowledge, don't negotiate, don't over-explain.",[128,211,212,222,228],{},[38,213,214,217,218,221],{},[17,215,216],{},"\"Prices are going up again?\""," → \"They are, a little — first raise in ",[113,219,220],{},"X months",", just keeping up with costs. I really appreciate you, and I'd love to keep you in the chair.\" Warm, brief, no apology.",[38,223,224,227],{},[17,225,226],{},"The client who books three appointments at the old rate to stockpile."," → Let them. That's a regular locking in future visits with you. That's a good outcome, not a loophole.",[38,229,230,233],{},[17,231,232],{},"The rare person who leaves over a modest raise."," → They were price-shopping, and a competitor's small discount would have taken them eventually. A raise that occasionally loses a purely price-driven client while keeping every relationship client is a raise working exactly as intended.",[10,235,236,237,240],{},"The stylist who raises annually, with a heads-up, is the ",[22,238,239],{},"normal"," one. The stylist who hasn't raised in three years and then does it silently at checkout is the one who gets the pushback — because the surprise, not the number, is what stings.",[27,242,244],{"id":243},"the-bottom-line","The bottom line",[10,246,247,248,250],{},"A New Year price increase is one of the few pricing moves that doubles as a rebooking campaign — but only if you announce it ",[22,249,24],{}," the holidays instead of after. Tell your regulars in December, invite them to book at the current rate, keep the wording short and warm, and let inflation be the honest reason if anyone asks. You'll walk into January with a fuller book, a cleaner checkout, and a raise nobody was ambushed by.",[27,252,254],{"id":253},"references","References",[35,256,257],{},[38,258,259,260,263,264],{},"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ",[22,261,262],{},"Consumer Price Index News Release."," ",[67,265,267],{"href":77,"rel":266},[79],"bls.gov\u002Fnews.release\u002Fcpi.nr0.htm",[27,269,271],{"id":270},"related-reading","Related reading",[128,273,274,281,287,294],{},[38,275,276,280],{},[67,277,279],{"href":278},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-20-raise-rule","The $20 raise rule"," — how much to raise, and the script for telling clients.",[38,282,283,286],{},[67,284,285],{"href":69},"How often should you raise prices? The BLS CPI data"," — the inflation-floor math behind the \"why.\"",[38,288,289,293],{},[67,290,292],{"href":291},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-raise-your-average-ticket","How to raise your average ticket"," — the levers beyond the menu price itself.",[38,295,296,300],{},[67,297,299],{"href":298},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-cancellation-policy-i-actually-use","The cancellation policy I actually use"," — the other end-of-year conversation worth setting up front.",{"title":302,"searchDepth":303,"depth":303,"links":304},"",2,[305,306,307,308,309,310,311,312],{"id":29,"depth":303,"text":30},{"id":61,"depth":303,"text":62},{"id":95,"depth":303,"text":96},{"id":163,"depth":303,"text":164},{"id":205,"depth":303,"text":206},{"id":243,"depth":303,"text":244},{"id":253,"depth":303,"text":254},{"id":270,"depth":303,"text":271},"A January price raise lands better if you announce it before the holidays — so regulars can rebook at the old rate first. The timing, the wording, and how to handle pushback.","md",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fnew-year-price-increase-announcement","2026-10-22",7,{"title":5,"description":313},"blog\u002Fnew-year-price-increase-announcement",[324,325],"pricing","seasonal","nBrPeQVlkhDrd7uS0_7n7KU_vXM-zrTFC5p0NL9tIHg",1793296941063]