Dog grooming price list template (free, ready to adapt)

Most groomers do not have a pricing problem, they have a pricing confidence problem. The work is skilled, physical and slow, and yet the price gets set by glancing at the salon down the road and knocking a fiver off. A written price list fixes that. It anchors what a groom costs before anyone asks, it kills haggling at the desk, and it makes sure the 40kg matted Doodle pays like a 40kg matted Doodle, not like the Yorkie before it.

Below is a full price list structure to copy, with example figures so you can see how it hangs together, plus how "from" pricing protects your margin and how to put prices up without losing your regulars.

How to structure a grooming price list

Price on two axes: size and coat. Size sets the base, coat adjusts it. A smooth-coated Lab and a wool-coated Labradoodle can weigh the same and take wildly different amounts of your day, so a single flat price per service always undercharges the hard dogs and overcharges the easy ones.

Suggested size bands (adjust to your clientele):

• Small: up to 10kg (Chihuahua, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu)
• Medium: 10 to 20kg (Cocker Spaniel, Cockapoo, Border Terrier)
• Large: 20 to 40kg (Labrador, Golden Retriever, Standard Poodle)
• XL: over 40kg (Newfoundland, Bernese, Old English Sheepdog)

Coat types worth a written adjustment: wool and curly coats (Poodles and the Poodle crosses) and heavy double coats (Huskies, Chows, German Shepherds). Both take longer on the table, and both should say so on the list.

Why "from £X" protects your margin

Your "from" price is the best-case dog: brushed at home, groomed on schedule, stands still. Every real-world complication (a coat left 16 weeks instead of 8, matting behind the ears, a dog that needs two people for nails) costs you time, and time is the only thing you sell. "From" pricing means those dogs move up from the base instead of eating your margin.

There is a catch, and every groomer knows it: the from-price becomes the assumed price. The owner reads "from £45" on your website, hears nothing more, and arrives ready to pay £45 for a dog that is a £60 job. Now you are having the awkward chat at the door, with a lead in one hand.

The fix is not to abandon "from" pricing, it is to confirm the actual price at booking, per dog, in writing, before the day. "From £45" on the price list, "£60 for Alfie, coat as discussed" on the booking confirmation. No surprises, no dispute, no discount given away just to end an argument.

How to raise prices without losing clients

1. New clients first, regulars later. Put the new-client price up today. Move regulars at their next rebooking with notice. You never lose a regular over a rise they were warned about, you lose them over one they discover at the desk.
2. Small and regular beats big and rare. A £3 rise each year passes almost unnoticed. A £10 rise after three years of guilt feels like an event, and events make people shop around.
3. Give dates, not apologies. Two lines does it: "From 1 September, Alfie's full groom will be £52. Nothing else changes." No essay about rising costs, no sorry. You are running a business, not asking a favour.
4. Expect to lose the bottom few, and let them go. The clients who leave over a small rise are usually the late ones, the matted ones and the hagglers. They cost the most to serve and they free up slots for people who value the work.
5. The list is the price. Never negotiate at the desk. If the price list says it, that is what it costs. The moment one client haggles a fiver off, your price list is a suggestion.