PetGroomBossPro Blog — Running a Mobile Grooming Business

Setting Service Prices by Size in a Mobile Grooming Business

A Yorkie and a Great Pyrenees can both book a full groom, but nobody expects them to cost the same. Size is one of the most common ways groomers adjust price, because it tracks with time, water, shampoo and effort. Getting your size pricing clear, and keeping it the same everywhere a customer sees a price, is one of the first business jobs in a mobile grooming business.

Why Size Pricing Matters More in a Van

The first steps of a new business are covered in Starting a Mobile Grooming Business With One Van. Pricing comes right after the service list.

In a van, your day has a fixed number of slots. A large double-coated dog can take far longer than a small short-coated one. If they pay the same, the big dog quietly costs you an appointment you could have filled. Size pricing is how you make each slot worth roughly the same to the business, whichever pet is on the table.

Pick Your Size Bands

Use a small number of size bands that customers can place their pet into without a tape measure. PetGroomBossPro uses five sizes on each pet: Toy, Small, Medium, Large and Giant. Those five cover most dogs, and cats usually sit in their own service with their own price.

Give customers a simple guide on your website, like “Small: most terriers and small mixes” or “Large: labs, goldens and similar.” You will still adjust once you meet the pet, but a clear guide means the booking page quote is close to what they pay.

Base Price Plus a Step Per Size

The easiest structure to explain is a base price for each service plus a price add-on per size. For example, your own menu might say:

• Full groom: $85 for a small dog, +$15 for medium, +$30 for large, +$45 for giant
• Bath and brush: $60 for a small dog, with the same size steps
• Cat groom: $95
• Nail trim on its own: $20

Those numbers are only an example. Your prices depend on your area, your costs and the time you spend. The point is the structure: one base price, the same size steps on every service, so customers can work out their price and you can quote it in seconds.

In PetGroomBossPro, you set base prices per service and a price add-on per size in one place. The booking page, estimates and invoices all use those numbers.

Coat, Condition and the Minimum

Size is not the only thing that changes the time a groom takes. Coat type matters. Each pet in PetGroomBossPro has a coat: Short / Smooth, Medium, Long, Double Coat, Curly / Doodle, Wire or Hairless. Some groomers charge doodles and double coats at a higher size band, or add a line on the invoice. Matting is usually handled as a de-matting add-on rather than baked into the base price, so a well-kept coat is not charged for work it does not need.

Set a minimum too. A mobile visit has a cost before you even turn on the water: the drive, the setup, the cleanup. A minimum makes sure a single quick nail trim still covers that. PetGroomBossPro lets you set a minimum on the booking page so a quote never falls below it.

Discounts for Repeat Schedules

Regulars are the backbone of a grooming book, and a client who books every 4 or 6 weeks is much easier to plan around than one who calls whenever they remember. Many groomers reward that with a lower price for repeat schedules.

On the booking page, the customer picks how often they want visits, and you can attach an optional discount to each repeat schedule. The customer sees the lower price right there, which gives them a reason to pick a regular schedule instead of “just this once.” Building those regulars is covered in Building a Full Book of Repeat Clients in a Mobile Grooming Business.

Keep One Price Everywhere

The fastest way to annoy a customer is to quote one price online, a different one on the phone, and a third on the invoice. Keep your prices in one place and let every quote come from there.

With PetGroomBossPro, a customer on the booking page picks a service, how many pets, each pet's size, how often and the add-ons, and sees their price instantly. That request lands in Leads with the quoted price. If you send an estimate instead, it uses the same service list, and an approved estimate becomes the job with the same pet details. The invoice on Complete uses the job's line items. If a pet turns out to be a size up when you meet it, you change the size on the pet, and the next visit at that home fills in with the right size.

Review Prices Now and Then

Prices are not set once for good. Costs change, your skill grows, and your book fills. When you raise prices, give regular customers notice by text or email before the next visit, and change the price on upcoming visits from the Recurring Clients list so it is right on the invoice.

Add-ons are the other half of pricing, and they are covered next in Pricing Add-Ons in a Mobile Grooming Business: Teeth, Nails, De-Shedding and the Rest. To see how pricing ties into booking, the groomer app and billing, visit the mobile grooming business software page.