Evening surcharge: is it fair and how to explain it to clients
Evening slots go first, and they are exactly the time you take from yourself. Whether an evening surcharge is fair, how much to charge and how to tell clients.
In short
- A surcharge is fair when the client sees it before booking and can come during the day at the usual price.
- Even if some evening clients move to the daytime, income doesn’t drop and your evenings get freer.
- Announce it ahead, and don’t change the price of existing bookings.
Contents 8 parts
Evening slots go first
17:00, 18:00, 19:00. The times everyone wants, because the rest of the day clients are at work. The middle of the day has gaps, but evenings are booked weeks ahead. And evenings are exactly the time you take away from yourself, your family and your rest.
An evening surcharge is one of the simplest ways to balance that: the evening costs a little more, the day stays at the usual price. This article covers whether it is fair, how much to charge, how to tell clients, and a calculator that shows what a surcharge brings in for you.
Is it fair
Yes. Charging more for time everyone wants is nothing unusual: taxis have a night rate, hotels have weekend prices, a Friday evening flight costs more than a Tuesday morning one. Popular time is limited, and a surcharge shares it out more fairly.
A surcharge is fair when three conditions are met:
- The client sees it before booking, not at the till.
- There is an alternative: the same treatment during the day at the usual price.
- The rule is the same for everyone, not a matter of mood or of who the client is.
How much to charge: a fixed amount or a percentage
There are two ways, and both have their pluses. For most masters a fixed amount is simpler, because the client understands it straight away.
| Type | Client sees | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed amounteasier to understand | “From 17:00 +€5” | €40 → €45 |
| Percentagegrows with the price | “Evenings +15%” | €40 → €46 |
A good start is an amount the client notices but that doesn't feel like a penalty. For a treatment of €30 to €50, for example €3 to €5. If after a couple of months evenings are still booked weeks ahead, you can raise it.
What it brings in for you
Type in your treatment price, the surcharge and how many evening visits you usually have a week. The calculator shows what the surcharge brings in a month and a year.
Work it out
What an evening surcharge brings in
Type in your price and how many evening visits you have a week.
Client pays
€45
Extra a month
€87
Extra a year
€1,040
Even if the surcharge costs you up to 1.9 evening visits a month, you earn the same as without it, and work fewer evenings.
The numbers update as you type. Nothing is saved or sent.
The last line matters most. Many masters worry that some clients will stop coming in the evening because of the surcharge. But even if that happens, your income doesn't drop as long as you lose fewer evening visits than this number. And every client who moves to the daytime fills a daytime gap and frees up your evening.
From what time to start
Look at when your schedule fills up first. It is usually one of these:
- From 17:00, if clients come straight after work.
- From 18:00 or 19:00, if there are still free slots until six, but later ones go at once.
The threshold mustn't be so early that the surcharge covers half the day. Then it is no longer an evening surcharge, just a price increase. If that is what you are planning, read How to tell clients about a price increase.
Which times fill first in your schedule and which stay empty shows in your occupancy. How to work it out is in Which numbers to check every month.
How to tell clients
Announce it ahead, at least two weeks before the surcharge starts. Stress the choice, not the price: daytime slots stay at the current price. Don't change the price of bookings that already exist.
Ready-to-use message
Announcing an evening surcharge
Replace the parts in brackets with your own.
Most clients accept it without questions, because the price is visible before they book and they have a choice. Those who can only come in the evening because of work will pay a little more for a time that suits them, and that is fair.
Before you start: check
The most common mistakes aren't in the surcharge itself, but in how it is introduced:
Check yourself
An evening surcharge without misunderstandings
How it works in RINDIQ
RINDIQ calls it a late-hour surcharge. You set it for each specialist and each treatment separately: in the specialist's list of services, open the treatment and enter the time the surcharge starts from and how many euros it is. It applies to bookings that start at that time or later, every day until closing.
- On the booking page, evening slots carry a +€5 tag, and the treatment has a note “From 17:00 +€5”.
- In the booking summary the client sees the surcharge on its own line before confirming.
- The price is fixed on the booking. If you change the surcharge later, existing bookings stay as they are.
- If a client moves an unpaid booking from the evening to the daytime themselves, the surcharge drops off. The other way round, it is added, and the client sees it before confirming.
In RINDIQ the surcharge is a fixed amount in euros. If evening clients also tend to run late, read The client who is always late: how to fix it.
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