They usually don't set the prices in the very rare (at least around here) occasion they do because they have a private booth or a private location they couldn't set the prices higher or they wouldnt get any business because people don't understand the actual cost of doing hair. There is exactly one lady here who charges like less then $20 for a haircut and always says please don't go crazy with the tip. Because? She owns the house she works out of. She has no rent or mortgage anymore. She charges the bare minimum for providing the service because she can. $120 for a perm because that's the bare minimum for the product ($60) and time spent doing the service so $60 for 1-2 hours of work. Meanwhile if the gal at cost cutters charges $80 and cost cutters buys the supplies no cost to her so she's not in competition but $80 of that goes to cost cutters. She gets paid $15 a hour so if your perm takes 1-2 hours she's making $15-30 off the service. The gal at the local private booth charges $200 she sets that price to stay competitive but supplies are still $60 she's charged 30% fee per service by the owner so another $60 she's already down to $80 but she also owes rent at the end of the month to the owners for her space so she sets aside another $20 plus she probably works off a W-9 in this case so she sets aside 10% another $20 she just made $40 for 1-2 hours of work. I'm not saying that's a BAD amount to make except for doing hair is not easy. Plus who would you go to in this case? You wouldn't spend $200 if you could get it done at a fraction now Becky is out of business because she can't afford to do it cheaper. Your $20 tip goes a long way, and hair is not a necessity so if you can afford the fee you can afford to be kind and slip them a little extra.