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Key takeaways
- New client fees are a share of the booking, often charged on clients you brought in yourself.
- Work out the yearly cost: average ticket x new clients a month x the fee x 12.
- Per-staff seats, texting and marketing add-ons are the other quiet costs.
- A flat price per location with your own online store keeps every client yours.
The short answer
Many booking platforms list your salon on their own marketplace and charge a fee, often a share of the first visit, when a client books through it. The complaint we hear most is simple: the platform decides who counts as “new”, and clients who found you on Instagram, a walk-in QR code or a referral still get charged. If you already bring in your own clients, a flat price with no booking fee costs less. MazalPOS has no marketplace and no new-client fee.
How marketplace fees work
A marketplace is a consumer app or website that lists many businesses. When a client books you there, the platform takes a fee on that booking, sometimes on every future visit too. The fee is tied to the link the client clicked, not to how they first heard of you. That is why owners who send clients a booking link sometimes pay a fee on their own regulars.
Work out what it costs in a year
Use your own numbers: average ticket x new clients per month x the fee x 12. A salon with a $120 average ticket, 25 new clients a month and a 20% fee pays $7,200 a year in fees, before the plan price. Then add per-staff seats, text messages and marketing add-ons. Compare that total, not the headline price. More in what a POS system costs.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is my business listed on your marketplace, and can I turn it off?
- Who counts as a new client, and how do you decide?
- Is the fee charged once or on every visit?
- Can I see each fee with the booking it came from?
- Do you charge per staff member, per location or both?
- Which features are add-ons with their own price?
Keep your clients yours
The clients you earn should not cost you a commission. With MazalPOS, the Growth plan includes your own online store with your name and your products, on the same inventory as your register. Every client gets one profile with their history, balance and notes, and that profile belongs to your business.
A flat price instead
MazalPOS costs $99 (Essentials) or $169 (Growth) per location per month, and every employee gets the MazalTeam app. There is no marketplace and no fee per booking or per new client. Card payments go through your business’s own Stripe account, so processing is billed by Stripe on your account, not marked up by us. See pricing.
Common questions
No. MazalPOS has no marketplace and no fee per booking or per new client. You pay a flat price per location.
Your business takes payments through its own Stripe account, which you connect to MazalPOS. The money goes to your account.
Yes. The Growth plan includes your own branded online store on the same inventory as your register.
Plans are priced per location, and every employee gets the MazalTeam app.
Written by the MazalPOS team. We build and support the register, online store and staff app that stores from Las Vegas to Honolulu run on. Questions about this guide? Talk to a real person.
