Booth rent vs commission: what do you actually take home?
The biggest question when you go independent: are you better off on commission, renting a chair, or running your own shop? Punch in your numbers and compare the real monthly take-home side by side.
Your take-home per month
Commission
$4,806
Chair rent
$6,322
Your own shop
$5,239
Based on $7,578/mo in services + tips. These are gross take-home before income tax — try the tax estimator next.
How the three models compare
On commission, the shop keeps a cut of every service but usually covers rent, supplies, card fees and walk-ins — low risk, lower ceiling. On chair rent, you pay a flat weekly rent and keep 100% of your services, so once you’re booked past the rent it’s almost all yours. Your own shop has the highest ceiling but you carry every cost. This tool shows the break-even between them for your volume.
When does renting a chair beat commission?
Roughly, once your weekly services × your commission cut exceeds the weekly chair rent, renting pulls ahead. Busy barbers almost always come out ahead renting; barbers still building a book are often safer on commission. Change the cuts-per-week to see your own tipping point.
ClipWise does chair rent for you
Set a barber to chair rent, charge their card automatically each week, and keep 100% of their services on their side — all built in.
Start free — 21 daysEstimates only, for planning. Your real numbers depend on your shop’s terms, taxes and expenses.