Selling beauty salon equipment is a tough market because it is a limited market. It’s not your usual everyday purchase. The only people who need beauty salon equipment are people who are setting up new salons.
To be fair, it’s not only beauty salons. But there are very few other customers who would need equipment. A barbershop or a health spa would need equipment, and a nail salon would need beauty salon equipment. Sometimes a massage therapist would need certain items, and cosmetology schools would need equipment.
The Used Market
Another thing that makes it tough to sell beauty salon equipment is the fact that there is plenty of used equipment out there. Typically, when a beauty salon goes out of business, they leave their chairs and other equipment behind for the new owners. So, really, the only time an owner would be looking to buy new equipment is if they are starting from scratch in an empty building.
It’s Not Just Chairs
When most people think of beauty salon equipment, they only think of the chair they would sit in. But there are so many other items that salon owners have to buy.
When a client comes into a hair salon, they will start with sitting in a shampoo chair. This chair is designed only to make shampooing easier. It is not used for styling. This is definitely a niche item.
Then the client will go to the stylist’s station. This is defined by a freestanding cabinet-type piece of furniture. The station will have many drawers and hooks to hold blow dryers and curling irons. Many have a ledge sticking out of the front for the stylist to sit things on. Several kinds of stations include a mirror on the front side.
These stations can be wet stations or dry stations. A wet station is hooked up to a water supply.
Typically, these stations come in hundreds of different configurations and colors. Some look like an ordinary chest of drawers, while others look like an antique cosmetics dressing table.
Before the stylist works on the client’s hair, sometimes the client will be directed to a drying chair. This is the old-fashioned kind of helmet hairdryer. Many older ladies have their hair set in curlers and then sit in the drying chair.
A nail salon or a full-service beauty salon will need a pedicure chair. Again, this is a totally different kind of chair from the stylist chair. These chairs sometimes have a built-in basin where the client soaks their feet. Then there is a shelf in front of that where the pedicure is performed. Often, these pedicure chairs have a built-in massage function so the client can relax while they soak their feet.
The person performing the pedicure will need a place to sit, so a new salon will also need to purchase stools for them. Also, all the tools used during the pedicure will need to be on a rolling cart to move from one pedicure to the next.
Specialized Equipment
For salons that perform hot wax treatments, the owner will need to purchase a wax warmer machine. Also, many salons want their clients to feel pampered, so they purchase a hot towel cabinet. Some of these cabinets have a built-in sanitizer.
At a cosmetology school or at a full-service beauty spa, an owner will need to purchase skin-care stations. Clients sit at these stations to receive make-overs or a steam facial treatment. The station is typically equipped with a magnifier and a steamer. Some salons prefer to use a special reclining chair to give facials to clients.
Update the Look of the Salon
The success of a salon really starts with good interior design. Owners know that a person entering a salon wants to feel important and well-cared for. They don’t want to feel like they are entering a run-down establishment that only offers outdated hairstyles and bad manicures.
This is the one time an owner would want to buy new beauty salon equipment – when their equipment is looking ratty. It doesn’t have to be falling apart; it could just look really outdated. One year green chairs might be trendy, but 10 years later, the new salons have chairs with designs on them.