Why price alone does not hold your nail clients
Many nail studios step into the price discussion early when chasing new clients. Five euros under the salon down the street, two euros below last year's rate. That works short-term and bites long-term. Clients who come in on price leave on price as soon as the salon around the corner sits two euros lower.
What actually holds clients is trust: does my technician have the technique in her hands, do I pick the treatment that matches my nails, do I get realistic expectations about wear time and upkeep? A client who gets BIAB for the first time and does not know she has to return every 3 to 4 weeks gets disappointed and starts picking at it in week two. Client lost, not because your rate was 5 EUR too high, but because the guidance was missing.
In this guide I lay the three most-used techniques (gel polish/gellak, BIAB, acrylic) honestly side by side so you can pick the right product per client, and so your staff works with realistic rates that recognize the complexity per technique. No sales talk, no "BIAB is always better", just the practice.
What is the difference between gel polish, BIAB, and acrylic?
Quick technique explainer per type, vendor-agnostic:
Gel polish (gellak in Dutch). A thin colored layer in a gel formula that cures under UV/LED light. Not structurally reinforcing, so the natural nail needs to be strong enough on its own. Quick to apply, feels light, and looks tidy. Often chosen by clients who want a neat nail for a week or two without long treatment time.
BIAB (Builder in a Bottle). A thicker gel layer that structurally reinforces the natural nail and visually lifts the surface slightly. Holds longer than gel polish and is kinder to the natural nail than acrylic. Popular with clients with thin, easily splitting natural nails, and with clients who want longer between appointments.
Acrylic. A two-component system (powder + liquid) that hardens through chemical reaction, not through light. Provides the most structure and length of the three but is also the heaviest on the natural nail at removal (filing). Classic choice for clients who want real length, or who work with their hands and need a strong layer.
The choice between the three depends on: wish (color, length, shape), time between appointments, sensitivity of the natural nail, and budget. A good consulting conversation before the treatment takes 5 minutes and earns you a loyal client, because you ask what fits instead of selling.
Realistic 2026 rates and treatment time: side by side
On 10 September 2026 we worked through the public rate pages of 23 Dutch nail studios, spread across Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Tilburg, Breda, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Almere, Haarlem, Zwolle, Maastricht and Amersfoort. Only studios that publish their prices as text on the page. What follows is what we found.
| Technique | Treatment time | Median incl. VAT | Wear time | Damage risk on removal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gel polish new | 60-75 min | 31 EUR (20 to 72) | 2-3 weeks | Low with correct removal |
| Gel polish rebalance | 45-60 min | 37 EUR (22.50 to 57) | 2-3 weeks | Low |
| BIAB new | 75-105 min | 53 EUR (45 to 70) | 3-4 weeks | Very low |
| BIAB infill | 60-90 min | 50 EUR (32.50 to 62) | 3-4 weeks | Very low |
| Acrylic new | 90-120 min | 58 EUR (35 to 80) | 3-5 weeks | Medium with filing |
| Acrylic infill | 75-105 min | 45 EUR (25 to 64) | 3-5 weeks | Medium |
Own sample, 23 nail studios across 15 Dutch cities, taken from public rate pages on 10 September 2026. Studios per row: gel polish new 20, gel polish rebalance 11, BIAB new 20, BIAB infill 15, acrylic new 11, acrylic infill 11. Treatment time, wear time and damage risk do not come from the sample, those are trade guidelines.
About that VAT: consumer prices on a Dutch salon website include 21 percent, and that is how they stand above. What you should know is that only one of the 23 studios says so on the page. For the other 22 it is an assumption based on how it normally works, not something the page confirms. To work back to your own margin, divide by 1.21.
A few notes on the table:
Two rows run against intuition. The median for a gel polish rebalance sits higher than for a new set, and at several studios a BIAB infill costs more than BIAB new. That is not because maintenance is more work; it is because only 11 of the 23 studios publish a separate refill price, and those happen to be the pricier ones. The rest show only a new set, or a combined rate for removal plus new. So draw no conclusion about your own price ratio from those two rows.
The spread on gel polish new, 20 to 72 EUR, is the widest of the six, and it mostly says something about naming. "Gellak", "gelcolor", "shellac" and "gel nagellak" all stand for the same product, and at the top end sits a studio using its own brand name for it. The same goes for BIAB: builder gel, hardgel and baby boom all turn up. So compare what is in the treatment, not what is on the menu.
Acrylic is the hardest to compare. Several studios do not price it separately at all but as "gel, acrylic or polygel" on one line, which means they charge the same hourly rate for three different techniques. Those were left out of the count here.
Treatment time is "for an experienced technician". For a junior, add 15 to 30 percent. For a specialist (intricate detail work, complex nail art) it runs higher. If you do not schedule the right time, you fall behind every appointment and quality drops noticeably by the end of the day.
What sits inside those amounts differs per studio: one charges French tips and nail art separately, another folds them in. On your own menu, list the options separately (French tips, nail art, long extension, repair of two nails) at a fixed price per item (e.g., 1.50 EUR per French tip, 3 EUR per accent nail with art, 5 EUR per repair). Do not shave the main treatment to absorb options; the work costs you time.
Wear time is the practice, not the supplier marketing claim. "Holds 4 weeks" on the packaging often means 3 weeks in practice for clients who use their hands intensively. Communicate honestly, and clients stay realistic.
How to tune treatment time per technician
The difference between a senior nail technician and a junior is invisible to clients (both deliver the final result in principle), but enormous for your planning. A senior does acrylic in 90 minutes; a junior in 120. If both bill at the same hourly rate, the senior earns you less revenue per chair than she is worth, and you overpay the junior for her pace.
What works: split your menu into two or three rate tiers based on experience. For example:
- Junior (first 1 to 2 years): acrylic new 55 EUR, treatment time 120 min, based on 27 EUR per hour effective.
- Mid (2 to 5 years): acrylic new 70 EUR, treatment time 100 min, based on 42 EUR per hour effective.
- Senior (5+ years): acrylic new 85 EUR, treatment time 90 min, based on 57 EUR per hour effective.
The client sees a transparent range on your menu ("acrylic new 55-85 EUR"), and your booking system, such as software for nail salons, routes to the right technician with the matching time. No surprises, no confrontation, no senior who feels underpaid. You also do not communicate this as "junior is cheaper because the quality is less" but as "junior needs more time, senior has more experience, you choose". Both can deliver fine work.
Do not charge a single rate for the whole studio. Then you punish your best technician and reward slowness. It creeps unconsciously into every team that does not make rate distinctions.
A common question: what if a junior in her second year already delivers senior-level work? Then you promote her on the menu, not after a fixed 2-year line. Give her a title (mid instead of junior) in your staff system and adjust the planning. Waiting to promote because "she is not officially senior yet" costs you good people to studios that do have a ladder. Recognizing talent is a form of pricing.
When BIAB wins the upsell over gel polish
BIAB has grown faster than gel polish in 2024-2026. For many clients it is the right upsell, not because it is more expensive, but because it fits how they use their nails.
BIAB wins with:
Clients with thin, easily splitting natural nails. Gel polish offers no structural reinforcement, so the natural nail stays vulnerable under the layer. BIAB adds structure and gives the nail rest to grow.
Clients who want longer between appointments. Gel polish needs every 2 to 3 weeks; BIAB every 3 to 4. For a client with a busy job or small kids that saves 2 to 4 appointments a year.
Clients who work with their hands (healthcare, hospitality, gardening). The extra thickness of BIAB protects better than a thin gel polish layer.
Clients transitioning from acrylic to natural nails. BIAB is a good intermediate step: the natural nail gets rest, but the client still has a tidy look.
When BIAB is NOT the right upsell: with clients who explicitly choose a light, short-cycle treatment (gel polish works fine), or with clients who want real length (acrylic suits better). Do not force an upsell; ask what fits.
How to position the right price tier in your studio
A workable positioning for most nail studios: entry tier gel polish, midtier BIAB, premium acrylic. Three clear price tiers on your menu helps clients pick quickly without scrolling through 14 options.
Visualization on your menu: put the three main techniques side by side with "from" price, treatment time, and wear time. Clients see it instantly: "for 35 EUR I get 2-3 weeks, for 55 EUR I get 3-4 weeks". That is an honest choice they can make themselves, instead of a sales discussion on the phone.
On your booking page: let the client pick a time slot per technique, with the matching treatment time automatically applied. If you do not book the right time for acrylic (e.g., scheduling the junior at 90 min instead of 120), you run behind and satisfaction drops. Plenty of nail studios run entirely off Instagram and have no site at all; a booking link in your profile and your Google listing does the same job, and taking online bookings without a website walks through setting that up. What else a nail salon needs from its software is covered in choosing software for a nail salon.
Those three tiers only hold up if the numbers underneath them do. Working out your own floor from chair time, product cost and the hours you actually bill is a separate exercise, and pricing beauty salon treatments walks through it step by step.
Also communicate clearly what is NOT included. French, nail art, repair, long extension: options with fixed prices. No surprises at the till, that is the fastest way to lose a client.
And be sharp on the "from" part. A client who sees "from 30 EUR" online and pays 65 EUR at the till because her nails were long and needed retouching can feel misled, even if the surcharge is fair. Make clear on the menu which factors raise the price (length, repairs, art, premium technique). The client decides before sitting in the chair, and your till moment goes smoothly.
Rates over the past three years: trend and context
Gel polish in the Netherlands got more expensive between 2023 and 2026. Nobody can say by exactly how much, because there is no public price index for nail studios. What does play a part: inflation, higher labour costs and pricier products. To clients it sometimes feels "more expensive for no reason", while the studio is mostly passing on its own costs.
Whether BIAB rose faster than gel polish is something nobody measures. What the sample above does show: studios charge clearly more for a new BIAB set, a median of 53 EUR against 31 EUR for gel polish. That is fair, because BIAB takes more time and specific knowledge than gel polish.
Acrylic rose the least in percentage terms, partly because it was already a premium technique, partly because its market share dipped slightly in favor of BIAB. For a traditional acrylic studio that may be a reason to actively add BIAB to the menu without removing acrylic. Clients can then grow with their preference over the years.
How to put this in motion in your studio starting next week
No full menu revolution, no price explosion. A workable starting point for the next 30 days to bring your pricing per technique and per technician in order.
Week 1: build a spreadsheet with your three main techniques (gel polish, BIAB, acrylic) and put current price, treatment time, and margin side by side per technique. Compare with the table above: are you within market range?
Week 2: split per technician: junior, mid, senior. Set a realistic treatment time and matching rate per tier. Communicate this internally first, not directly to clients.
Week 3: update your menu (digital and print) with the three rate tiers per technique. Write a short explainer "what is BIAB?" and "when do you pick acrylic?" as a consulting handout.
Week 4: train your staff on the consulting conversation: "which technique fits you?" instead of "what do you want?" Close the month with a review: how many clients chose which technique, and where is there room to advise better?
With CelerBook you set a separate rate per staff member on the same service, so junior, mid, and senior sit side by side in the same menu and clients see straight away which rate matches their choice. A different treatment duration per staff member can be recorded too and it applies once the appointment is in the calendar, but the free slots are still calculated from the default duration of the service. Pay-as-you-go from 0.25 EUR ex VAT per completed appointment, no fixed monthly fees, no contract. Try CelerBook for free.