You have a spare chair. A barber you know asks to rent it, or a new nail tech wants a table two days a week. You need a number by Friday, and you have no idea what is fair.
This guide is for owners of small salons, barbershops, nail studios and grooming shops renting out a chair for the first time. You will work out the rent from your own numbers, see the deal from both sides of the chair, and know what a slow week does before it happens.
If you want the numbers now, the free Booth Rent vs Commission Calculator from KANJIN (kanjin.app) does it in one screen. Type the clients a day, the average price, the materials and the rent. It shows what you keep and what the person in the chair takes home, under rent, under commission and under an hourly wage. There is no sign-up.
Start with what the chair earns
Every way of paying for a chair is paid out of the same pot. The pot is what the services bring in, minus what the services use up.
The pot = clients a day × (average price − materials for one service) × days worked in a month.
"Materials" means colour, product, foils, polish, wax, shampoo and laundry. It does not mean the person's time. Time is what the three deals pay for in different ways.
Rent, commission and a wage do not make the pot bigger. They only decide who gets which share of it, and who carries the slow weeks.
The three ways to pay for a chair
Rent. The renter pays you a fixed amount every month. They keep everything the chair takes in, and they usually buy their own materials. You get the same sum whether the chair is busy or empty.
Commission. The person in the chair gets a cut of each sale, for example 45% of the price. You keep the rest and pay for the materials. When the chair is busy you both earn more. When it is quiet you both earn less.
An hourly wage. You pay a fixed amount for each hour worked. You keep everything the chair takes in, minus the wage and the materials. You pay the wage even if nobody comes in.
The calculator's own help text puts the commission range like this: between 35% and 50% of the service price is common, but the percentage matters less than what it leaves.
A worked example that adds up
These are the calculator's starting numbers. They are an example, not a market rate, so type your own over them.
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Clients a day, one chair | 6 |
| Average price of a service | $90 |
| Materials for one service | $12 |
| Days the chair is worked in a month | 24 |
| Hours on one of those days | 8 |
| Hourly wage you would pay | $18 |
| Their cut of each sale (commission) | 45% |
| Rent for the chair, a month | $900 |
Step 1. The pot
- Each service leaves $90 − $12 = $78.
- One day: 6 × $78 = $468.
- One month: $468 × 24 = $11,232.
Check it another way. The chair takes in 6 × $90 × 24 = $12,960 a month. Materials are 6 × $12 × 24 = $1,728. And $12,960 − $1,728 = $11,232. Same answer.
Step 2. Split the pot three ways
Hourly wage. 8 hours × $18 = $144 a day. $144 × 24 = $3,456 a month to the stylist. You keep $11,232 − $3,456 = $7,776.
Commission. 45% of $90 is $40.50 a client. $40.50 × 6 × 24 = $5,832 to the stylist. You keep $11,232 − $5,832 = $5,400. (Check: $78 − $40.50 = $37.50 a client for you, and $37.50 × 6 × 24 = $5,400.)
Rent. You keep $900. The renter keeps $11,232 − $900 = $10,332.
| Way to pay | You keep a month | They take home a month | Together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly wage | $7,776 | $3,456 | $11,232 |
| Commission (45%) | $5,400 | $5,832 | $11,232 |
| Rent ($900) | $900 | $10,332 | $11,232 |
Every row adds up to the same $11,232. That is the pot. The deal only moves money from one column to the other.
All of these are before tax. "You keep" is also before your own shop rent, power and insurance. "They take home" is before the renter's own costs.
What this example tells you
On a steady 6 clients a day, $900 is a very cheap chair. The renter keeps $10,332, which is $4,500 more than the $5,832 they would get on commission. You keep $900, which is $4,500 less than the $5,400 you would keep on commission.
A rent of $5,400 would give both of you exactly the same money as 45% commission, at 6 clients a day. So for this chair, a fair rent sits somewhere between $900 and $5,400. Where it lands depends on how steady the chair really is, and who carries the slow weeks.
The crossover: when commission beats rent for you
The calculator prints one number that settles most arguments. It is the number of clients a day where rent and commission leave you, the owner, the same money.
Crossover = (rent ÷ days) ÷ (price − materials − the stylist's cut of the price).
In the example:
- $900 ÷ 24 = $37.50 a day from rent.
- $90 − $12 − $40.50 = $37.50 a client for you on commission.
- $37.50 ÷ $37.50 = 1 client a day.
Below 1 client a day, rent is worth more to you. Above it, commission is. At 6 clients a day, commission is worth far more to you, as the table showed.
Check the crossover against a normal Tuesday, not your best Saturday. If a normal Tuesday is well above the crossover, a low rent is giving money away. If a normal Tuesday is near it or below it, rent protects you.
One warning from the calculator: if the stylist's cut is bigger than what a service leaves after materials, commission can never pay you more than rent, however busy the chair gets. Then there is no crossover at all.
What happens on a quiet week
Rent does not move. That is the whole point of rent, and it is also the risk.
Take a day with no clients at all, using the example numbers:
- On rent, the renter still owes you $37.50 for that day ($900 ÷ 24). The quiet day costs them, not you.
- On commission, nobody pays anything. You both lost a day.
- On a wage, you still pay $144 (8 × $18). The quiet day costs you.
Now a whole quiet month at 2 clients a day instead of 6. The pot drops to 2 × $78 × 24 = $3,744.
| Way to pay | You keep (2 clients a day) | They take home (2 clients a day) |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly wage | $3,744 − $3,456 = $288 | $3,456 |
| Commission (45%) | 2 × $37.50 × 24 = $1,800 | 2 × $40.50 × 24 = $1,944 |
| Rent ($900) | $900 | $3,744 − $900 = $2,844 |
On the wage, your share falls from $7,776 to $288. On rent, it does not move at all. On commission, you both drop to a third.
- The renter's break-even. They cover a $900 rent at $37.50 ÷ $78 = 0.48 clients a day, about one client every 2 days.
- Your break-even on a wage. You cover the $144 wage at $144 ÷ $78 = 1.85 clients a day, so you need 2.
If the chair does not earn its own rent, the renter takes home nothing and owes you the difference. Nobody accepts that twice. It means the rent is too high for that chair, not that you got a good deal.
How to set the rent: work backwards
Here is a simple way to pick a number you can both live with.
- Count a quiet month, honestly. Look at your slowest month, or ask the renter how many clients they bring on a slow week. Say it is 3 a day.
- Work out the pot on that quiet month. 3 × $78 × 24 = $5,616.
- Ask what the renter needs to take home. Say they need $3,000 a month to live. That is an example figure. Use theirs.
- The highest fair rent is the pot minus that. $5,616 − $3,000 = $2,616.
- Pick a round number under it. For example $2,400, which is $100 for each day worked ($2,400 ÷ 24 = $100).
Now check it both ways with the calculator:
- On the quiet month (3 a day), the renter keeps $5,616 − $2,400 = $3,216. That is above the $3,000 they need.
- On a normal month (6 a day), the renter keeps $11,232 − $2,400 = $8,832.
- Your crossover moves to $100 ÷ $37.50 = 2.67 clients a day.
- The renter now covers the rent at $100 ÷ $78 = 1.28 clients a day.
Then check your own side. Does $2,400 a month pay this chair's share of your shop rent, power and insurance? The free Break-Even Calculator shows what your whole shop needs each day before it earns anything. If you have never done that sum, read the break-even formula, step by step. It is written for food shops, but the sum is the same for a salon.
Booth rent vs commission vs wage, side by side
| Rent | Commission | Hourly wage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who carries a slow week | The renter | Both of you | You |
| Your income | The same every month | Moves with each sale | What is left after the wage |
| Who buys materials | Usually the renter | Usually you | You |
| Who sets prices and hours | Usually the renter | Usually you | You |
| Best for you when | The chair is quiet or new | The chair is busy and steady | The chair is very busy and you want the profit |
| Best for them when | They are busy and have their own clients | They are building a client list | They want a steady wage |
| Example, 6 clients a day: you / them | $900 / $10,332 | $5,400 / $5,832 | $7,776 / $3,456 |
| Example, 2 clients a day: you / them | $900 / $2,844 | $1,800 / $1,944 | $288 / $3,456 |
How much do barbers and nail techs charge for booth rent?
We are not giving an "average booth rent" here. Rent for a chair depends on your street, your trade, your prices and how many clients the chair really gets. A number from another city tells you very little about your chair.
Instead, ask two or three shops near you what they charge and what is included. Put their number into the calculator with your own clients and prices, and see what the renter would take home. A barber with fast cuts and many clients a day can carry a higher rent than a nail tech or a groomer with long appointments, because the pot is different.
Write the chair agreement down
A handshake deal works until the first slow month. Then each person remembers it differently. Write it on one or two pages, and both sign it. Here is a checklist of what to cover.
Money
- The rent, and whether it is per week or per month.
- The day it is due, and how it is paid.
- What happens if it is late.
- What the rent includes: products, towels, laundry, the card machine, the booking system.
- Who pays card fees on the renter's sales.
Hours
- Which days and hours the chair is theirs, and who opens and locks up.
- What happens on public holidays and when the shop is closed.
Prices and services
- Who sets the renter's prices.
- Which services they may offer, and any they may not.
- Whether they take payment at your register or their own.
Clients
- Whose booking system the clients book through.
- Whose phone number and name are on the appointment cards.
- Whether walk-in clients who ask for "anyone" go to the renter, to you, or in turn.
- Who keeps the client list when the renter leaves (see the next section).
Products
- Whether they may sell their own retail products in your shop.
- Who buys colour and supplies, and where they are stored.
Notice and leaving
- How many weeks' notice each side gives to end the deal.
- When and how the rent can go up, and how much notice that needs.
- Insurance: who covers what if a client is hurt or a tool breaks.
Keep a copy each. If something changes, write it down and both sign again.
Whose clients are they when a renter leaves?
Answer this before the renter starts, not on their last day. Ask who really found the client:
- The renter brought them. They followed the renter from a previous shop, or booked through the renter's own phone or page. Most renters will expect to keep these clients.
- Your shop brought them. They walked in off the street, found your shop on Google, or booked through your booking page. You will want to keep these clients.
Then make it clear in practice, not only on paper:
- Booking. If the renter books their own clients on their own system, those clients are in practice theirs. If everyone books through your system, decide in writing who may contact which clients after a renter leaves.
- Cards and stamps. If the shop runs a loyalty card, say whether stamps a client earned in the renter's chair still count at the shop after the renter leaves. Clients do not like to lose stamps they earned.
- Contact details. A phone number or email a client gave is personal data. What either of you may do with it after the renter leaves depends on the law where you are. Ask a local lawyer if you plan to use it.
If you want regulars to stay with the shop after a renter leaves, the shop has to give them a reason to return. That is a separate job. Our guide on why customers stop coming back covers it.
Tax and employment status: ask a local accountant
Whether renting a chair makes someone self-employed depends on where you are. It also depends on how much control you keep over their hours, prices and clients. A renter who works your hours, at your prices, with your clients, can look a lot like an employee, whatever the agreement calls them.
Getting this wrong can be expensive for both of you. Before you sign, or before you change anybody's arrangement, ask a local accountant or employment lawyer. Bring the chair agreement with you.
The calculator does not count tips. If tips are shared in your shop, the free Tip Pool Calculator splits them by hours worked, to the cent.
Where KANJIN helps
Everything above works with a pen and the free tool. If you want it kept in one place, KANJIN's free plan has three screens for this, with no credit card and no time limit.
- Team pay planner. In the back office, the Paying your team screen compares hourly pay, commission and chair rent with your own numbers from a real shift. The figures stay with your shop, so you can come back next month and compare.
- Staff logins. Give each person their own login, so they can stamp cards and leave shift notes. Counter staff never see your takings, your costs or what your team is paid.
- A stamp card for the shop. The stamp card works on the customer's phone number. Customers download nothing. Every chair can stamp the same card, so a client's stamps stay with the shop.
The honest limits: KANJIN does not write your chair agreement, collect the rent, run payroll, or work out tax. It also does not decide who owns a client. That stays in your agreement.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for booth rent? Work it out from what the chair earns. Multiply clients a day by the average price minus materials, then by the days worked in a month. That is the pot. Charge a rent that leaves the renter a living on a quiet month, and check that it covers this chair's share of your own costs.
Is booth rent or commission better? For the owner, rent is better while the chair is quiet, because the rent arrives whether anybody sat in the chair. Commission is better once the chair is busy, because you keep a share of every extra service. The crossover in clients a day tells you which side of the line your chair is on.
How much do barbers charge for booth rent? There is no single right number. It depends on your area, your prices and how many clients the chair gets. Ask two or three shops near you what they charge and what it includes, then put that rent into the calculator with your own numbers to see what the barber would take home.
What commission percentage is normal for a stylist or nail tech? Between 35% and 50% of the service price is common. The percentage matters less than what it leaves. If the cut is bigger than what a service leaves after materials, commission can never pay the owner more than rent.
Who keeps the clients when a booth renter leaves? Whatever you both agreed in writing before they started. In practice, clients who book through the renter's own phone or system tend to follow the renter. Write down who may contact which clients, and ask a local lawyer about using their contact details.
Your next step
Open the free Booth Rent vs Commission Calculator and type in one normal week and one quiet week for your chair. Look at both columns, yours and theirs. Then write the number into the chair agreement.
When the chair is filled, KANJIN's free stamp card on the customer's phone number gives every client a reason to return to your shop, whichever chair they sat in. Create your free KANJIN account. No credit card, no time limit, and nothing for your customers to install.