How much do you make per massage?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on November 15, 2009 at 4:41pm

I charge $60 in my clinic. The therapist gets $42 of that. This is a small rural town and we're actually more expensive than the other places. The therapist up the road charges $39.

Permalink Reply by Marissa on November 15, 2009 at 5:20pm

As an IC at a physical therapy office, they charge $70 per hour. I get to take home 70% which equals $49. However, I have to pay for taxes, CEUS, clothing, gas, sometimes babysitter so we're actually looking at about $17. I recently took the blinders off and have decided to be private practice only.

Permalink Reply by Jorge Arnaldo Pabón Acevedo on November 15, 2009 at 5:54pm

Well, I work by myself, so for a relaxing swedish massage my price is $55 for 60 mins. So The 10% is for tithes at church and the other 90% it's my. :-)

Permalink Reply by Teresa Parrish on November 15, 2009 at 5:55pm

Interesting to see you break it down like this. In addition to the expenses you mentioned I also am a member of ABMP, update my CPR, have business cards and do some marketing. I also spend time reading articles and researching information for my specific client needs. From the limited information I've gathered 70% is great and what I would consider a high percentage. I hope that other therapists will respond to this question so more people have a base line for negotiating in the future.

Marissa Macias said:

As an IC at a physical therapy office, they charge $70 per hour. I get to take home 70% which equals $49. However, I have to pay for taxes, CEUS, clothing, gas, sometimes babysitter so we're actually looking at about $17. I recently took the blinders off and have decided to be private practice only.

Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on November 15, 2009 at 6:09pm

To be fair, look at it from the owner's perspective as well. You have all your bills to pay on the 70% you receive.

They (and I) have to pay the overhead on the 30% they receive.

There are times when my staff members make more than I do...one of them quite regularly does so. This week her take home pay was $900. Mine wasn't!

With the 30% I keep, I pay 2000. per month for the rent on the office; the phone and Internet, fax and cc machine access is almost 500. per month, plus the fees incurred by accepting cards; the power bill is around 450. per month; the water bill is another 150 or so. I pay for all the advertising; I provide the front desk support so they don't have to worry about that; they don't do laundry, cleaning, or any other chores other than keeping their personal space tidy. I also pay for my own liability insurance, renter's insurance on the building; pay my own quarterly estimated tax and the accountant who takes care of our taxes; buy all office supplies; pay the business privilege license and my own license fees; pay for my own CE classes and dues to the professional associations; I pay for all the sheets and spa supplies, everything except the therapist's own personal massage creme.

Then, like you, I pay my personal clothing, gas, etc. I don't get to live an exorbitant lifestyle just because I own the place, and in fact, I still have to feed it a cash injection once in awhile from my book royalties and teaching money.

The only time I have someone other than myself to do cleaning, laundry, office work etc is when I am on the road. The rest of the time, I do it all, and I am facilitating a dozen practitioners being able to make a good living. It's not a picnic. Unless your private practice is going to be in your home, and even then to an extent, you will still have overhead.

If the folks in your office are billing insurance (most PTs do), you can rest assured they are not getting to keep the whole amount...we belong to an insurance network due to the fact that I have a chiropractor in my office, which allows us to bill massage. The insurance companies discount the heck out of what we do, and the network charges us a 9% administrative fee on top of it. In reality, the boss probably isn't making much more than you are.

Marissa Macias said:

As an IC at a physical therapy office, they charge $70 per hour. I get to take home 70% which equals $49. However, I have to pay for taxes, CEUS, clothing, gas, sometimes babysitter so we're actually looking at about $17. I recently took the blinders off and have decided to be private practice only.

Permalink Reply by Gloria Coppola on November 15, 2009 at 7:19pm

Teresa

Based on the massage survey I am conducting you are doing very well with compensation at your spa!

The "average" across the nation for a 1 hr session is $50-60.
Spas, do charge higher because of their overhead exceeding a private practice.
Most spas are not compensating their employees as well as yours. FYI!!!

Remember you don't have to pay for rent, marketing (which is huge), supplies etc.


Also remember if you are an IC, put away for your taxes (so you don't get caught by surprise).
Keep accurate records of all your expenses!!

So, please take the massage survey, if you haven't already and get your spa colleagues to participate too!
People in most spa settings are making about $15/-20 hr plus tips. by the way. (Average)

Permalink Reply by Gloria Coppola on November 15, 2009 at 8:04pm

Teresa,

Repeat business is your job security, in my opinion . I am speaking as a former business owner too. Currently in private practice. How long have you been with the company? Some might negotiate a higher percentage if you have been there for several years. It surely does not hurt to ask!

As a previous employer's viewpoint, should they negotiate a lower rate because of an increase in cost of rent etc.?? A thought? Most MT's do not realize how much it costs to run a business and how many hours goes into keeping a business running. Finding new clients etc.

Even on my massage survey business owners all answered that MT's don't realize the cost of overhead and the challenges involved. One really needs to be on top of it at all times and a great networker!

Do they keep you consistently busy? If so, that is awesome!

If not, you may want to consider private practice if you are good at running a business.

Hope this helps give you some perspective.



Teresa Parrish said:

Thanks for the info everyone. It is certainly beneficial to understand it from both sides of the table, so to speak. I guess my natural follow-up question is at what point does repeat business become valuable to the employer? Do you think as an IC I can negotiate a higher rate on those clients that are repeatedly coming back only for my services?

Permalink Reply by Erica Olson on November 16, 2009 at 1:08am

At this point, not enough.

Our "standard" (ie, visitor) rate for tourists is $95/hr. Locals (and their friends and family) get a 20% discount, so that knocks it down to $76/hr. Package rates are even less than that--$71.25/hr. My commission is 40%, putting me anywhere from $28.50 to $38 for an hour session, with $30.40 being the most common.

We have not run at the $95 price level for the last six months, and the owner of the spa has recently said that she will not run it this winter, either, due to the economy (I live in a ski town, so winters are our bread and butter).

Permalink Reply by Teresa Parrish on November 16, 2009 at 8:13am

This is very insightful for me. I realize that repeat business is the goal in private practice. I guess I feel that my situation is unique in that I work at a Boutique Hotel in a room that was a large storge closet(and I spent time helping them to set up the room and understand what they needed to have to be ready for clients). In the beginning it was only hotel guests, a few locals came in and now I have repeat clients and more coming from word of mouth. I am happy to be generating revenue for the hotel, but was feeling that I should be getting more from my repeat clients without considering the "overhead" aspect the hotel owner has. So thank you everyone for taking the time to s p e l l it out for me.

Permalink Reply by Marissa on November 16, 2009 at 9:13am

Laura, I agree. I understand the process. You are doing it the correct way and probably should receive a little more for your work involved. In my private practice I pay rent as well as all the overhead, everything you mentioned, of course. However, the PT office I have been with for 7 years does absolutely no marketing. In fact, unless you are a PT patient, you have no idea that massage therapy is offered. I use the same lotions they do, so no skin off their noses. I clean my own room, which they use when I am not there. And they just throw my sheets in with their loads, again: same sheets. Plus, it is a large PT chain that is in the business of making money. In and out 30 min appointments w/o real hands on client care. Even with the insurance billing issues, they are doing just fine. Like a lot of companies out there, they are able to figure ways around the insurance cuts. For most therapists, 70% is a fantastic cut! In just about any other situation, I would be thrilled. However, doing it solely on my own lets me have all the figures directly in front of me. I know where each and every penny is going as well as what amount of time is being spent to market. I have been mobile as well for 7 years. Other than having an actual base location, these things are not new to me. For me, it is the right choice.


Laura Allen said:

To be fair, look at it from the owner's perspective as well. You have all your bills to pay on the 70% you receive.
They (and I) have to pay the overhead on the 30% they receive.

Permalink Reply by Gloria Coppola on November 16, 2009 at 9:59am

Teresa, Have you been checking out the statistics I have been posting from the Massage Survey?

You may find the info beneficial as well!
Good luck with everything!

Permalink Reply by rudy m smith on December 30, 2009 at 6:28am

Teresa, I live in Mobile Alabama. I am in private practice. I see 39-41 clients per week; this has been consistent for 10 years. I own my own commercial building(s) because I don't believe in paying rent (someone elses' mortgage). Thus I have location security. I charge $70.00 for the first hour and $1.00/minute for each additional minute so the average ticket is $75.00 (good thing when problem solving or dealing with a huge person). All clients are booked in for 1.5 hour rotations; this allows you to focus on a body rather than a clock. I also receive tips and use these to help reduce the cost of massage for clients who have limited financial resources roughly 4 people per week. I make $160K a year less overhead which brings me down to the $65K / year salary BUT I intentionaly create additional overhead by buying MORE real estate (deductions) whenever I can. Thus at the end of my fingers carreers I will own 10 to 12 commcercial buildings and have a built in retirement set up! It's like saving .30 cents or more on every dollar I make.

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