Commission on packages and memberships comes down to two choices: when you pay it (when the package is sold, or each time a session is used) and on which price (the service’s normal price, or the cheaper per-session value of the package). Paying at each session, on the service’s normal price before GST, is the simplest rule staff accept: the person who does the work earns what they would on any other day. It costs the salon a little more, so it is worth seeing the numbers before you decide.
The two questions to settle
A package is money taken today for work done later. A five-haircut package is paid once, then the client comes in five times and pays nothing at the desk. On those visits the bill is ₹0, yet a stylist spent forty minutes on the client. Any commission plan has to answer:
- When is commission earned: on the day of the sale, or on the day of the work?
- On what amount: the price the service normally costs, or the share of the package price each session works out to?
Memberships raise a third, smaller question: is commission on the member’s discounted price or the full price? That is covered below.
Pay when it’s sold, or when it’s used
| Pay at the sale | Pay at each session | |
|---|---|---|
| Who earns | The person who sold it | The person who does each service |
| Good for | Rewarding selling | Rewarding the work, fairly spread |
| If the client never comes back | The salon has paid for work never done | No commission is paid for unused sessions |
| If the seller leaves | Others do the sessions for nothing | Whoever does the work is paid |
| Refund of unused sessions | Commission must be clawed back | Nothing to claw back |
Paying at the sale looks generous but causes trouble later. The stylist doing the third session of someone else’s package earns nothing for it, and that is the job everyone tries to avoid. Paying at each session follows the work, which is what staff care about on the day.
You can still reward the sale. A small fixed thank-you, say ₹100 for each package sold, added as a bonus at month end, keeps selling worthwhile without muddling the per-session rule.
Which price: a worked example
Take a package of five Haircuts for ₹2,000, where a Haircut is normally ₹600. All prices here are before GST. The client saves ₹1,000, and each session is worth ₹400 of the package price. Commission is 30%.
| Method | Per session | All five sessions | Commission as a share of the ₹2,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the sale, on ₹2,000 | — | ₹600 (paid up front) | 30% |
| Each session, at package value (₹400) | ₹120 | ₹600 | 30% |
| Each session, at normal price (₹600) | ₹180 | ₹900 | 45% |
The trade-off is plain. At the package value, the salon’s commission cost stays at 30% of what it took, but the stylist earns ₹120 for a haircut that pays ₹180 on any other day. Do that for a month and stylists start, quietly, to steer clients away from packages. At the normal price, the stylist earns the same ₹180 whoever the client is, and the salon pays ₹300 more over the package’s life.
Think of that ₹300 as part of the package’s cost, like the discount itself. If the package still makes sense with it, price it that way. If it doesn’t, the package is too cheap. For pricing packages that still pay, see salon packages and pricing salon services.
How Frizzi pays it
Frizzi uses one rule so pay never needs arguing: a package session earns commission when the session is used, at the price the service would normally cost at that branch that day (its branch price, or the menu price), before GST. Selling the package itself earns no commission. That value is saved on the bill when the session is used, so a later price change never changes past earnings. It doesn’t count in the day’s takings or GST, because no money changed hands.
Packages and memberships are in Plus and Pro. Commission at one percentage is in every plan; the bonus for selling, slabs and targets are part of payroll in Pro.
Memberships and member discounts
A membership is usually a fee for a discount: pay ₹2,500 for a year of 15% off services. Each visit is then a normal bill at a lower price. A ₹1,000 service with 15% off is ₹850, and at 30% the stylist earns ₹255 instead of ₹300.
Some salons pay commission on the full price for members, to keep stylists keen on them. It’s a fair choice if you budget for it. Frizzi takes the simpler line and pays on what the client actually paid, after the member discount, the same as any other discount. Whichever you choose, tell staff that member visits pay a little less per service, and that members come back more often.
Gift vouchers, wallet money and prepaid balances
A gift voucher or a client’s wallet balance is just a way of paying. The service line on the bill is its normal price, so commission is earned as usual. Only package sessions, where the price of the service itself is ₹0, need the special rule above. For the GST side of vouchers, see gift vouchers and GST.
The awkward cases
- Unused sessions that expire. With pay at each session, no commission was paid for them, so nothing changes.
- Refunding unused sessions. The same: nobody earned on them yet.
- A session at another branch. The stylist who did it earns, at that branch’s price.
- A price rise. Sessions used after the rise count at the new price; sessions already used keep the old one.
- A package given to a family member. The sessions follow the new client; commission still follows the work.
Explaining it to your team
Staff worry about packages for one reason: they fear doing work for nothing. Settle that before the first package is sold. Put the rule in one line on the staff notice board, for example: “Package sessions pay your usual commission on the service’s normal price, on the day you do them.” Then show one worked example with your own prices.
Check the first month’s pay with the team. If a stylist can see in their own earnings that the five package haircuts they did paid the same as five ordinary ones, the question never comes up again. If you pay a small bonus for selling packages, show that on its own line too, so selling and doing are both visible.
Finally, tell the desk what to say to clients. A package is a saving for the client and steady work for the stylist, and both of those are worth saying out loud.
Questions
Does the stylist who sells a package get commission on it?
In Frizzi, no: commission is earned when each session is used, by whoever does the service. If you want to reward selling, add a small fixed bonus for each package sold at month end.
Why pay on the normal price when the client paid less?
Because the stylist did the same work as on any other visit. Paying less for package clients makes staff avoid selling packages. Count the extra commission as part of the package’s cost when you set its price.
Is commission on a package session before or after GST?
Before GST, the same as every other service.