Pricing & Costs

How to set up service variants and pricing tiers in salon software

Australian salons using Bella Booking can set up service variants (e.g. hair length options) and pricing tiers (junior/senior rates) to reflect the real differences in time, skill, and product usage. Clients self-select variants when booking online, and pricing tiers adjust automatically based on the team member.

Start free trial View pricing

What are service variants?

A service variant is a named version of a single service. Instead of creating separate services for "Women's Haircut (Short)", "Women's Haircut (Medium)", and "Women's Haircut (Long)", you create one parent service with three variants underneath. Each variant has its own price, duration, and optional timing overrides.

Keep your service menu clean — one listing shows "From $X" instead of three separate entries
Consolidated reporting — all variants report under the parent service
Clients self-select during booking — they choose their variant (e.g. hair length) online
Each variant can have different processing time and buffer time settings
Variant name appears on the calendar, in notifications, and on receipts

Variants work for any dimension where price or duration differs: hair length, treatment area (brows vs full-face), intensity (express vs deluxe), or scope (half-head vs full-head highlights).

Client eligibility — initial vs return pricing

Some services genuinely take longer for first-time clients. An initial colour consultation requires more time than a root touch-up. A first physiotherapy assessment includes history-taking that return visits skip. Client eligibility lets you create variants that are automatically offered based on whether the client has had this service before.

How eligibility scoping works

When you create a variant with "initial client" eligibility, it's only shown to clients who haven't previously booked that specific service. Once they've had their first appointment, subsequent bookings automatically show the "return" variant instead. No manual switching needed — the system checks appointment history.

Common initial vs return configurations

Hair colour: "Initial Colour Consultation" (90 min, $180) vs "Colour Touch-up" (60 min, $120). Physiotherapy: "Initial Assessment" (60 min, $120) vs "Follow-up Session" (30 min, $75). The duration difference alone justifies separate pricing — clients aren't overpaying, and your schedule isn't underallocating time.

This is particularly powerful for online booking. New clients see the initial variant (with appropriate time allocated), while returning clients see the shorter, less expensive return variant. Neither needs to make a decision about which to book — the system handles it.

What are pricing tiers?

Pricing tiers let different team members charge different rates for the same service. A senior stylist with 15 years of experience commands a higher price than a junior who qualified last year. Pricing tiers make this automatic — assign team members to a tier, and their prices adjust without creating duplicate services.

Tier	Women's Cut	Full Highlights	Blow-dry
Junior	$55	$150	$40
Senior	$75	$200	$55
Director	$95	$260	$70

When a client books online, the price shown corresponds to the team member they select. If they choose a senior stylist, they see senior pricing. If they pick "any available", the system shows the tier's price for whoever is allocated. No confusion, no surprises at checkout.

Combining variants with pricing tiers

Variants and tiers work together. A "Women's Haircut" service can have three length variants (short/medium/long), each with three tier prices (junior/senior/director). That's nine possible price points from a single service listing — without cluttering your menu.

The online booking flow handles this naturally: the client selects the service, picks their variant (hair length), and chooses a team member or "any available". The correct price is shown at every step based on their selections.

If you're just starting with tiered pricing, begin with two tiers (Standard and Senior). You can add more tiers later without disrupting existing bookings or pricing.

Setting up variants in Bella Booking

1Navigate to your Service Catalogue and select the service
2Open the Variants tab
3Click Add Variant — enter name, price, and duration
4Optionally set different processing time or buffer time per variant
5For initial/return pricing: set the client eligibility scope on each variant
6Repeat for each variant you need
7Configure pricing tiers under Settings if using tiered team pricing
8Assign each team member to their appropriate tier

Once saved, your online booking page automatically shows "From $X" on the service listing and presents variant options during the booking flow. No additional configuration needed for the client-facing side.

When to use variants vs separate services

Not everything should be a variant. Use variants when the service is fundamentally the same thing at different scales or intensities. Use separate services when the treatments are genuinely different in technique or purpose.

Use variants	Use separate services
Haircut: Short / Medium / Long	Haircut vs Colour (different techniques)
Facial: Express 30min / Full 60min	Facial vs Microneedling (different equipment)
Wax: Brows / Lip / Full Face	Waxing vs Laser (different modality)
Massage: 30min / 60min / 90min	Massage vs Chiropractic (different practitioners)
Initial Assessment / Follow-up	Physio vs Pilates (different service type)