Why is massage so expensive? If you're not self employed, it's hard to understand why someone can appear to earn such a high hourly rate. Here are some reasons for the price for many massage therapists:
~If we don't work, we don't get paid. There's no such thing as a paid vacation, sick day or holiday.
~Being self employed, there are no 401K plans, dental, vision or health insurance included.
~Rent, utilities, phone, website, internet access, online booking, gift certificates, business cards and brochures are regular expenses that come out of our wages.
~An electric massage table costs about $1500 or more, a good quality portable is at least $400 (my original massage table purchased in 1997 was over $600).
~For me, every 3 clients = 1 load of laundry, which requires detergent, water, electricity and of course a washer and dryer.
~ An inexpensive gallon of massage cream currently runs $48. Oil is often more. Don't forget the cost of sheets, towels, paper goods, CD/ipod player and music.
~Any responsible LMT will have liability insurance, which costs several hundred dollars per year.
~Continuing education is required--many professional memberships or licensing boards require 48 hours every 4 years, most of which is very pricey. (Not to mention that we often have travel expenses included).
~Licensing fees are paid to licensing boards, typically every 2 years.
~Any advertising done is paid out of pocket by the massage therapist.
~Full time for a massage therapist is considered 20+ hour of hands on due to paperwork, laundry, time in between clients, etc. So although we may have 20 hours of clients, it's more like 35-40 with all the other stuff involved. (Unless you work for someone else, then you get paid less but work less too).
~And then there are taxes...
I'm sure I've not remembered everything, but there's a good start. As you can see, this ends up being not a very high hourly rate after all!
And as a tangent, Groupon takes 50% of your 50% off deal, giving you 25% of your original price minus 3% for credit card fees. Living Social is slightly better, taking only 40% or so. If you use one of those deals for massage, tip your therapist and return to him or her. That's the whole point of a vendor doing a big deal.
