Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

[Jenny K]

This may have been addressed before, but I can't seem to find where.

If a client wants to use a half hour gift certificate toward a 60 minute session, would you charge the difference, or would you charge the amount of the upgrade? In other words, if a half hour costs $45 and an hour costs $70, would you charge $25, or would you charge the cost of a half hour session, $45?

I often give half hour sessions away as a promotion and offer an upgrade for $45, the price of a half hour. I figure they haven't paid anything and it was a gift.

I have also offered buy an hour session and receive a half free. If they want to upgrade, I want to know what you would charge for the upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jim]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

I charge the difference for the upgrade on a GC, since somebody already paid my 30 minute (or one hour) rate. If it were a promotional coupon, I'd state upfront what the cost of an upgrade would be, but I don't think I'd make it the 1/2 hour price, I would be inclined to make the coupon worth 1/2 the price towards the one hour massage.

 

[Shaun]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

Thanks, Breathe.

Okay, so not the price of a half hour, nor the difference between the half hour and the full hour, but half the cost of the one hour session. Never thought of it that way.

If they wanted to upgrade to a 90 minute session (which is $100), what would you charge? Based on what you said, would you charge $50? For a give away 1/2 hour, that won't work for me. I would be inclined to charge the one hour fee ($70).

So the upgrade fee really would depend on how the half hour gift certificate was received (either by a purchase or a donation). I don't usually include the upgrade information when giving away the promotional half hours or selling them, but I guess I should, to avoid confusion later.

 

[Dave Rogers]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

Where I work, club members are often given "free 30 min massage" coupons as thank-yous for membership referrals, new memberships, prizes, etc. If someone wants a 60 min massage, they have to purchase the extra 30 min at the 30 min rate ($45 for club members). If someone has a gift certificate that was purchased at a rate covering a 30 min massage and they want to increase their time, the full amount of the additional time is charged.

Prior to last year, they just used to charge the difference in value ($15 to upgrade to 60 min) but someone in bookkeeping decided they like it better this way.

 

[lilmouseketeer]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

In most states you should differentiate between "coupons," and gift certificates. You can put an end time on a coupon, but in some states you can't expire your GCs. In some states you can expire if the stated value is MORE than the purchase price. So it's probably a good idea to use different formats and/or track them separately.

In the case of a coupon, I'd state it as such:

Good for a complimentary 30 minute session, or $35 off the one hour or 90 minute price. No cash value, may be redeemed only for massage services.

For gift certificates, the sold or stated value is the trade-up value. IOW: if you sold a GC good for 1/2 hour, it is worth the cost of a 1/2 hour massage. To trade up to a 90 minute, I'd charge the difference between 1/2 hour (ie: $45) and the 90 minute fee (ie: $100) thus the upcharge would be $55. To do otherwise is to invite a potential client (or the person who purchased the GC) to feel taken advaneforum.xxxe of.

 

[Simon]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

If they wanted to upgrade to a 90 minute session (which is $100), what would you charge? Based on what you said, would you charge $50? For a give away 1/2 hour, that won't work for me. I would be inclined to charge the one hour fee ($70).

Yeah, not 1/2 the fee for a 90 minute, because 30 minutes is not 1/2 of 90 minutes. I'd use the coupons as such, and give them a discount value, as well as a time value. Your coupons should look different from your gift certificates. They should say on them "promotional" or "complimentary."

 

[Ang.]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

I have specially designed promotional GCs that I use mainly for donating to charitable fundraisers and the upgrade options are printed on the GC.

Excellent idea. I'm thinking about doing a little traditional marketing this summer before the August slow-down (I'm typically slow in August, my athletes are playing hard in races and competitions, and come limping back in late September, : ) I think this method would fit the bill.

 

[raziq29]

Price of upgrading session with gift certificate

I don't differentiate with my gift certificates. I just put "donation" in the "To" section if it's a freebie.

I haven't done that with the "Buy one, get a half hour free" ones, but I think I should, considering what has been said.