Why Aren’t All Men Haircuts The Same Price?

I am always fascinated when someone opens the door to a gentlemen’s barber shop and asks how much for men haircuts. When they are told a price of the men haircuts, they inevitably moan and complain and want to know why the prices are not the same as the 5-Minute Super Quick Clip joint  down the road.

I always smile when this happens because it shows such a lack of understanding of pricing mechanisms in our economy for goods and services.  These people are looking for one thing and one thing only—the cheapest price!  They don’t seem to care what is included in that service—just that it is the cheapest available.  They don’t distinguish between physical goods (or commodities) and actual services which are performed by a specific provider.  They are very different comparisons.

It would be accurate to say that Salt Lake men’s haircuts are not a commodity. What do I mean when I say that Salt Lake men haircuts are not a commodity?

All of the items illustrated on this page are commodities.  They are all manufactured and packaged exactly the same.

The exact same products can be purchased in any of a million places around the country.  A 12 ounce can of Mountain Dew can be purchased almost anywhere you go and it is exactly the same product.  A can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup is exactly the same wherever you find it.

How does the typical person decide where to buy a commodity product?  How do you make the decision to buy the exact same product in the exact same size with exactly the same packaging.

We all buy commodity products based upon one thing—PRICE!

Why not?  It is exactly the same thing which is being sold at thousands of locations.  We know exactly what is inside the container and it is always the same.  So why not buy it based upon one single factor—price?

When it comes to buying a service, we use a completely different standard!

Services are completely unique to the specific provider. One provider might include 2 items in their service which would take 5 minutes and be sub-standard in quality, while another might include 13 items and take 35 minutes to deliver deluxe quality.

Salt Lake men haircuts are a different service almost everywhere one is available.  Each shop or salon has a different philosophy for how to perform Salt Lake men haircuts and the results vary tremendously.

A few years ago I decided to experience Salt Lake men haircuts at twelve different shops over the period of one year.  I went to a different type of shop or salon every month for their typical haircut.  I can assure you that no two Salt Lake men haircuts were exactly the same.  In fact, each one was quite a different experience than all the others.

The time varied tremendously for each of the Salt Lake men haircuts.  One shop had me out the door in 11 minutes, while one shop was a 30 minute haircut experience.   The others were somewhere in the 15 – 18 minute range.  In each case except one I felt anywhere from rushed to very rushed!

The best Salt Lake men haircuts experience I had was in the 30 minute shop.  The person who cut my hair in that shop was very professional and had the time to perform many extra services which the other quick-clip shops did not come close to.  What was included in each of these Salt Lake men haircuts was very different.

You might think that with Salt Lake men haircuts,  the price might be reflective of the length and quality of the haircut.  For example,  we might be able to project that the 11 minute haircut with no extra services would be 1/3 of the price of the 30 minute haircut with all the extra services.  The fact was that the 11 minute haircut was $14 and the 30 minute haircut was $20.

The 11 minute haircut was of such low quality that another barber in my shop had to touch up that haircut the next day.   And the actual haircut experience did not inspire me at all.  I felt like I was on a conveyor belt fast production line.  Get me in and get me out!

The 30 minute was by far the best quality, not just because of the extra time, but due to their philosophy of professionalism and providing extra services which led to not only a much better haircut, but also to a very pleasant haircut experience.

I might be biased towards the shop with the 30 minute Salt Lake men haircut experience because they have the same philosophy I do about this profession.   We were trained by the same master teacher who was dedicated to old-school professionalism and service.

So the next time you are out shopping and buying commodity products…make sure you make your decision based upon the only variable—price.

But when it comes to a getting a haircut, beard trim or classic face shave…please be sure to remember that Salt Lake men haircuts are not a commodity!  

It is a very specialized service and you should seek out the very best quality experience that you can find.  You will feel great and look great when you experience superior quality services at a superior traditional men’s barber shop!