Call a leading hair extensions salon and ask about cost of extensions and you are likely to get an answer like it depends. It depends on the length. It depends on the quality of hair. It depends on the method for attaching the extension hair. No one seems willing to offer a straightforward answer. If you are lucky you will get a range depending on the salon of a few hundred pounds to a few thousand. Not exactly helpful.

Most likely you will get an invitation to come in for a “free “ consultation. Once there they may give you a price per strand and then give you a range of how many strands. Make sure you bring a calculator! Rather than giving you a total all-in cost you will be forced to calculate the costs yourself. The formula? Multiply the cost per strand by how many strands they THINK you will need and multiply that by the VAT that they do not tell you is not included. Remember that the amount they THINK you will need at the consultation is more often than not substantially lower than the actual number you will have when they are done. By the time you get to the cash register your full head of Russian Virgin has cost you £1500…..and don’t forget the VAT!!!!

So the real question people should be asking….What is the “fair” cost for hair extensions? In order for you to be able to make the appropriate decisions next time around I will provide you with some “what they really don’t want you to know” insight.
As most you know the cost of extensions varies, and rightly so, depending on the type of hair. Russian Virgin is much more expensive than Chinese. One explanation is that this difference is just a function of supply and demand. There are 1.3 billion people in China and 129 million people in Russia. Another explanation is that you are paying for quality. The best Russian Hair comes from small rural communities where the diet, while simple, is high in nutrients and vitamins and low in sugar, salt, and processed animal fats. Other factors that will influence costs are transportation, the number of middlemen and profit margins.

Hair, of any type, can be sourced in one of two ways. Directly or indirectly. Directly means that a salon is buying it from a collector located in the country of origin. For Russian hair that means most likely buying it directly from a major center in Eastern Europe (i.e. Moscow, Kiev etc ). Indirectly, means that it is bought from a broker who, in turn, sources it from directly. Most salons are forced to use hair brokers as they are too small and do not have the financial resources, experience and local knowledge to be able to cut out the middleman. Sourcing hair directly from Russia is particularly difficult due to language and the level of corruption. While the inclusion of a broker does increase the cost of the hair the question remains is that enough to justify a £1500+ price tag. Let’s break it down and see.

24” Russian Virgin sourced from a broker in London will likely cost £2900 per kilogram or roughly £350 per head. If the method used for attaching the extension hair is Micro Rings then the cost of glue for the pre-bonding and rings need to be included. Assuming the salon uses high quality rings and glue this probably accounts for an additional £30. Labour, at most, should take into account the time for 2 hair extension technicians working for a minimum of 2 hours at a generous salary of £10/hour for another £40. So material and labour come to around £420.

On top of labour and materials you need to include fixed costs such as rent, light, heating and advertising. Average rent for a decent sized salon in West London is about £60,000 per annum. Heat and light will depend on the size of the salon but probably no more than £6000 a year. Marketing is a variable, which can justify a higher price, but it is an unlikely culprit as most Salons rely on the strength of their website and Google pay-per-click.

One possible explanation for some salons charging such high prices, if it is not the materials, rent and heat, is that the business is poorly run. Very few salons in London just specialise in hair extensions. Most offer a variety of less profitable services like haircuts or manicures. The more services a salon offers the more experience the owner needs to run the business profitably. Quite often the owners just do not have the right level of experience. As a result the hair extensions customers are charged substantially higher prices in order to subsidise the other poorly run services.

If you have managed to get this far you are still probably wondering what is the fair price. Based on hair and labour of £420, 30% of selling price should be attributable to fixed costs and a profit margin of 20%-30% the fair price should be around £850-£950. Any more you are paying someone that should be out of business and any less you have to start questioning the authenticity of the hair.