HN Explorer

Ask HN: How can I get my hairstylist's contact info?

1 points by 149203 ↗ HN
I would like to hire someone to come to my home and cut my hair for $15. I'm a male asking for a simple cut: 3 on the sides, faux-hawk on top kind of thing. Most of my haircuts take 10 minutes.

There are 4 cheap haircut places near my house.

These joints typically pay the employees little, and have high turnover rates. I often get my haircut by someone and then never see them again. They are gone by the time I need my haircut next.

I can't ask for the hair stylist's personal info in order to arrange for them to come over and cut my hair for the following reasons:

- they will get fired - it's creepy to some

What is the best way to find someone to come over and cut my hair on their own time and pocket $15?

My ideal situation would be to find a hairstylist who lives around me, can spend 5 minutes driving over, 10 minutes chopping my hair, and 5 minutes driving home, for a fair $15.

How can I get my hairstylist's contact info to even propose such a thing?

6 comments

[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 19.1 ms ] thread
carpathiani
craigslist, or backpages if you're adventurous
hackuser
Offer more than $15. It's got to be worth their time and effort, including making this special arrangement, packing up their equipment, disrupting their day, worrying if you'll keep your appointment, etc. Would you go out of your way for $15? Also, the lowball offer might seem insulting. I'd say $30 at least, maybe more if you live someplace expensive such as SV.

Also, I had a hair stylist tell me that it's hard to work in people's homes because they lack proper lighting, a chair that's the correct height, a mirror that's large enough, a power outlet close enough for the trimmers, and all these things arranged in proximity to each other. They also have pets and kids running around, etc. Perhaps reassure them on those issues.

How to ask? Ask for a date and when you pick them up, spring the real reason on them. Or post an ad on Craigslist.

greenyoda
"Ask for a date and when you pick them up, spring the real reason on them."

Something tells me that lying about wanting to go on a date for the propose of discussing a business transaction won't go over very well. This will result in neither a date nor a haircut, and the person will never talk to you again.

Would you like it if someone did this to you?

hackuser
Probably, you and I shouldn't go on any dates. We'd probably run into this a lot: I thought it was absurd enough that the joke was unmistakable, but maybe not with everyone.
chrisbennet
First off,

$15 to just drive to your house wouldn't be "fair". $15 to pay for a haircut is borderline "I don't consider you a professional".

If you don't think cutting your hair is that hard, anyone at the hair place can reasonably be expected to do a decent job.

I think it really comes down to you thinking you can save some money on an easy haircut. Why not buy some clippers on Amazon and get a friend to cut your hair? That's what I did/do. I don't do it to save money, it's a convenience thing. (I have very little hair.)

149203
The $15 wage in my part of the US is equivalent to paying $35 in silicon valley or new york. I just want to add that my Craigslist ad has attracted offers at that rate, so the price is fair. (Of course I'm talking about the lowest-tier haircut one could get.)

But the interesting phenomenon is how to more directly (and covertly!) target entry-level hairstylists specifically given the hurdles I listed above.

I'm thinking of going to the back of the Supercuts nearby and leaving flyers on cars.