8 Sales Tips For Charging Your Tanners For Eyewear (& State Regulations)

8 Sales Tips For Charging Your Tanners For Eyewear (& State Regulations)

Even though eyewear isn’t as expensive as selling tanning sessions or salon packages, selling eyewear can create a huge profit center for your business. One of the best ways is to charge for your eyewear.

View your state regulations first:
Must provide free eyewear: TX, PA, NY
Tanners must own their own eyewear and not share: NH, IA, KY
If you are still unsure about your state eyewear regulations, read them below provided by Brenda from Wink-Ease!**

Here are 8 sales tips to start charging your customers for eyewear and not upset them:

1. Make the transition over a period of time.

About a month is a good amount of time to notify your tanners that you will be making a switch.

• Post something about one month before such as signs on your counters or Facebook post to let them know you’re not giving them for free
• Offer a variety of googles or disposables, or give a free pair with any package purchase
• Make it a fun experience like picking out a new accessory like jewelry.

2. Sell Different Eyewear Options For Different Uses

• Sell Disposables as a better option for stand-up tanning. They won’t slide down while dancing during your tan or leave band marks from the string.
• Although red light does not require eye protection, the light is very bright. Your salon can suggest to users to wear specific eyewear.
• Have spray tanners purchase clear disposable eyewear for even face coverage and to see easily.
• Have adjustable options, for some people like their eyewear to fit their face.
• Offer keychain eyewear pods for convenience for some forgetful tanners.

3. Create an Attractive Display

An attractive display will draw more attention to your products, hopefully gaining more sales!

• Display eyewear like lotions on a rack or hanging board on your counter.
• Baskets typically aren’t attractive if your items are in a pile.
• Invest in goggle point of purchase displays
• Show the high end and low end eyewear, explaining to your customers how your display is set up

4. Have a Renew Your Eyewear Campaign

• Advertise for an eyewear event during the summer. Salon owners are unusually successful with sales for this deal especially for slow season: Owners can collect dirty, old, ruined goggles to trade in and put in a bowl for customers to get 40% off to buy new eyewear.
• Customers begin to examine their goggles and see how gross or damaged they can get if they’re just rattling around in their car, gym bag, or purse. It shows them it’s time to get a clean new pair.
• Offer little baggies to put their eyewear in for a small extra price.

5. Buy Smart

• Buy eyewear and accessories online when offered as a deal (buying in bulk)
• Visit your manufacturer websites and inquire about deals
• Check with tanning supplier representatives

6. Create Value With Eyewear Bundles

These campaigns are unique because you are not making money on eyewear itself, but bundling eyewear and other salon items to get them to spend more. Try these options:

• Free eyewear with a lotion purchase (offer less expensive versions of eyewear with less expensive lotions, and offer more expensive eyewear with expensive lotions).
• Offer a pair of wink-ease with a purchase of lotion since they are only 16 cents each and increases the value of the package.
• Bundle with other accessories in your salon, especially if you have some sale items you are wanting to start selling more of.
• BOGO (buy one, get one) goggles & disposables.
• Include a few pairs of disposables in VIP packages.
• Offer eyewear with a purchase of an upgrade.
• Add a pair of disposables with a bottle of water.
• Every time they buy a disposable, you get a punch on a punch card. When they get so many, they can get a free tan, eyewear, or lotion sample packet.

7. Train Yourself & Your Staff About Importance of Eyewear

• When you go to beauty tradeshows, talk to the eyewear vendors and view their selections and advice for selling.
• View different certification programs to stress eyewear for your customers. There is often FREE eyewear training online.
• Teach your staff and customers how to clean eyewear properly. It’s important to have clean eyewear ready for your customers when they arrive and don’t have their own.

8. Your Staff Needs to Set the Example

It’s super important that your sales team needs to wear eyewear too. They would be more willing to promote or push eyewear sales if they believed the safety is important themselves.

• Let them be the example to customers (ex: if your driver’s ed teacher didn’t wear a seat belt, they would probably be fired because they aren’t promoting safety precautions. So consider the same with lazy staff.)
• It’s the law (in most cases)
• It’s the safe and responsible thing to do!
• It’s super easy and cheap to apply goggles or winkease!
• Offer Ziploc bags with goggles to keep them clean, so they want to use them.
• Have your employees ask your tanners “may I see your eyewear please?” Customers appreciate friendliness. This also promotes profit for your salon.
• If you say “do you have it?”, they can just lie or say yes. Ask to see it, not if they have it. Read our blog on how to ask.
• If your tanner tans 6 times per year, you make more money with disposables. ($3 for 6 tans or $50 for 100 tans)
• Have your staff push disposables because they are more profitable. They won’t buy a normal pair or goggles until they lose or forget their pair, or they just get old.

Remember, UV rays can cause damage to your eyes, so it’s best to completely avoid the problem by just simply using eyewear!

**Note: US state laws & Eyewear Regulations Vary by State provided by Brenda Fishbaugh @WinkEase:

US federal law FDA 21 CFR 1040.20

• Eye protection must be worn
• Must block 99% UVA
• Must block 99.9% UVB
• Must be able to see controls

Kentucky:  salon operators cannot offer their tanners shared goggles – those used by multiple people and sanitized by staff after each use. Kentucky regulations require each tanner to have their own eyewear or the salon to provide disposable, one-time-use protection; it is not required to be provided for free.

New Hampshire: does not allow a pair of goggles to be worn by multiple consumers in a tanning salon. Eyewear cannot be altered in any manner that changes it from the manufacturer’s intended use, such as removing any straps that are included in the product packaging. The salon must sell eyewear to the tanner or provide disposable eye protection.

Iowa: eyewear cannot be reused, it can’t be altered, your staff must ask to see a tanner’s eyewear before they enter a tanning room, and the salon must provide disposable eyewear in the tanning rooms at all times with a sign posted stating that disposable eyewear is available and must be worn. This ensures that the tanner shows their own eyewear, but still has access to clean eyewear in the tanning room.

Pennsylvania: requires eyewear to be provided free of charge and sanitized before each use. Tanners may also use their own FDA-compliant eyewear.

New York: requires the salon to provide eyewear at no charge if the tanner does not have their own. Eyewear must be sanitized between uses, unless disposables are provided.

Texas: recently deregulated salons – this means they don’t have to be licensed, but the law still applies. A salon still must provide sanitized eye protection for free and it must be provided in the tanning rooms.

New Jersey: no longer requires eye protection to be provided for free, according to Tim Smith at the Department of Health. The new regulation reads that the operator must ensure the consumer has protective eyewear and make a reasonable effort to ensure that consumers use protective eyewear when tanning. This means that NJ salons can sell or provide shared goggles.

Ohio: also removed the “eyewear provided for free” clause in their latest regulation update. The new regulation reads, “Eyewear owned by an individual may be cleaned and disinfected before each use either by the individual prior to arriving to the facility or by the facility before the individual’s session. To meet the requirement that eyewear shall be disinfected prior to use, a facility may offer disposable eyewear for one-time use.”

Massachusetts: Eyewear is mandatory. Salons must provide it, but it doesn’t have to be for free; they can choose to disinfect goggles, or they can require the tanner to buy their own eye protection. The salons can choose to sell disposables or give them free with each tan. If your state is not mentioned above, then you are one of the lucky salon owners who gets to choose whether you sell goggles and disposable eye protection or provide shared goggles and disposables.

Disagree with any of the above info? Want the complete regulations for your state? Email Brenda@WinkEase.com

Contact Sales@ProSun.com to see our current deals on all tanning eyewear!