From 1 October, card surcharges end in Australia. For hair and beauty businesses, the cost of accepting cards doesn’t disappear, it just moves into how you price. It doesn’t have to mean a blanket price rise, and it’s more manageable than the current noise suggests.
Know what you can still charge
The ban covers fees added because a client pays by card. Genuine weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees are separate and aren’t automatically affected.
Check whether your booking or payment software adds card surcharges automatically. If it does, find out how to switch it off, or whether your provider will do it for you, so everything’s set before the change.
Start with your numbers
Before touching your price list, get a clear picture of what card payments actually cost you: your payment rate, how much of your revenue comes through cards, and what that adds up to each month.
Your payment provider statement or your booking system’s payment reports should give you this. If the numbers are spread across a few places, it’s worth pulling them together once so you’re working from facts, not guesses.
You don’t have to match your old surcharge
Say you charge $100 for a service and have been adding a 1.5% card surcharge. A client paying by card has been paying $101.50. After 1 October you could keep the service at $100 and absorb the cost, move to $101 and recover some of it, or move to $102 for a clean price that roughly covers it.
The key difference is that you’re changing the advertised price of the service, not adding a fee because of how someone pays.
Review your pricing with fresh eyes
Checking prices regularly is part of running a business, and it pays to make sure they keep up with inflation, supplier costs and the cost of living.
Look at which services take the most time and bring in the most sales. Some may already be underpriced, and a small adjustment there can do more than spreading a rise across everything.
Lift the value of each visit
Price isn’t the only lever. Add-ons that pair naturally with a booking can lift spend without touching core prices. Think a brow tint with a lash lift, a treatment mask with a facial or hair service, or nail art with a gel manicure.
The maths is worth doing. On 100 bookings at $100, a 1.5% surcharge brings in $150. Add a $20 add-on to ten of those bookings and you’ve made $200.
Bundling complementary services into packages gives clients a reason to book more in one visit, and a small complimentary extra, like a hand massage or take-home sample, can make a price change feel like good value rather than a cost.
Should you switch to cash?
It’s the question dominating industry conversation right now, and plenty of businesses have announced they’re moving clients to cash, PayID or bank transfer from 1 October.
Others are pushing back. Celine from Brow Tribe, who uses Timely, is staying on card. “I’ve seen businesses choosing to move back towards cash, and I completely understand why. Personally, I won’t. For me, time is money. I’d rather pay for the convenience, automation and transparency of electronic payments, and simply account for that cost when I set my prices.”
The practical argument against cash is that it isn’t free either. Someone has to count it, manage floats, reconcile it and bank it. Tips need recording, tax time gets harder, and taking deposits at the time of booking becomes almost impossible.
Make the most of the bookings you already have
Reducing no-shows and late cancellations often makes a bigger difference than the card fee itself. Data from booking platform Timely shows that over the past 18 months, Australian businesses taking payments through the platform have consistently seen around 30% fewer no-shows than those that aren’t.
A few simple settings can help:
- Take deposits at the time of booking
- Send automated reminders so clients turn up
- Store card details securely for cancellation protection
- Set and share a clear cancellation policy
Common questions
Will clients accept a price change?
Most clients stay for trust, results and the experience you give them. A single clear price is what many of them have been asking for.
How should I tell clients?
Clear notice and confident, friendly communication work best. Use your booking system’s SMS or email tools to let clients know ahead of time.
Is absorbing the cost my only option?
No. Pricing, add-ons, packages, deposits and cancellation protection are all levers you can use, on their own or together.
Your pre-1 October checklist
- Work out what card payments cost you each month
- Check whether your software adds surcharges automatically and switch it off
- Decide whether to absorb, adjust or combine
- Review services that may already be underpriced
- Set up add-ons and packages to lift the value of each visit
- Turn on deposits and cancellation protection
- Update your prices and brief your team if you have one
- Let clients know about any changes
You don’t need to solve everything at once. Start with your numbers, make the changes that suit your business, and keep reviewing after 1 October.
This article is general information only and isn’t financial or legal advice.
