Direct bookings vs marketplaces: what an Irish hair salon should pay for

Type your salon's name into Google. If the first link that lets someone book with you is a Treatwell or Fresha page rather than your own, ask one uncomfortable question: the client who taps it, is she your client or the platform's?

Marketplaces have brought something real to Irish hair salons: bookings at 11 pm, quiet Tuesdays filled, new faces in the chair in a Dublin suburb where nobody knew your name yet. But they place an intermediary between you and your appointment book, and that intermediary has a business model of its own, with fine print worth reading twice. Full disclosure first: this article lives on the blog of ViteUneCoupe, which sells the opposite idea, a free booking page for your hair salon with no commission, ever. So we are not pretending to be neutral referees. What we will do is lay out honestly what marketplaces genuinely deliver in Ireland, what their fee mechanics actually say on their own pages, every claim checked and dated, and the blended strategy that suits most salons: marketplace for acquisition if the maths works, your own page for everyone who already knows you.

What a marketplace genuinely gives an Irish hair salon

The "ditch the apps" articles, often written by companies selling websites, tend to skip this part, so let us be fair first.

• Discovery. Someone who has just moved to Dublin, Cork or Galway and opens Treatwell or the Fresha app can land in your chair without ever having heard of your salon. A standalone booking page cannot do that on its own. This is the genuine, irreplaceable value of a marketplace, and any honest comparison starts by admitting it.
• An installed habit. Some clients already have the app on their phone, with their booking history and a saved card. For them, the platform is the shortest path to an appointment.
• A complete tool. The marketplace company also supplies the calendar, the reminders and often the payments. For a stylist starting from zero, one app that does everything is genuinely convenient.

If you have just opened, on a street with little footfall and no client base, in a city where the app's directory is thick, a marketplace can be a legitimate accelerator. The problem is not being on one. The problem is depending on nothing else, and not knowing what the fine print says about bookings you thought were yours.

The fee mechanics, verified at the source

Drop one generalisation straight away: "marketplaces take a commission on every appointment" is false for both of the big marketplaces operating in Ireland. Both charge for new clients, not for loyalty, and that distinction is the whole point of this article. Everything below was checked in October 2026 on each provider's own pages and can change; always confirm the current Irish terms in writing before you sign. For a full line-by-line market view, our comparison of hair salon booking software in Ireland covers every major provider the same way.

Treatwell: 35% on a new client's first booking, 0% after

Treatwell's Irish partner pricing page, checked in October 2026, is admirably clear about the model:

• 35% commission on the first booking of each new client its marketplace brings you, plus VAT;
• 0% commission on repeat bookings from those clients afterwards;
• no commission on direct bookings: clients who call, text, WhatsApp, or book through the "Book Now" button on your own website or social media, and appointments you add to the diary yourself, are commission-free;
• a 2.5% processing fee on online prepayments, whoever the client is;
• a monthly software fee that is not published on the Irish page: Freelancer and Advanced plans exist, but you learn the price in a sales conversation.

It is an explicit client-introduction model: you pay for discovery, once per client, not for loyalty. The same page states that your client data "is and remains the property of your establishment" even if you cancel, which is better than many owners fear, and worth holding them to in writing. If the model is not for you, we have compared the alternatives to Treatwell for Irish hair salons in detail.

Fresha: a subscription plus a one-time new-client fee with serious fine print

Fresha is no longer the free tool many salon owners remember. Its pricing page, checked in October 2026, showed us euro prices of 14.95 € per month for an independent professional and 9.95 € per bookable team member on the team plan, each after a 7-day trial, with online payment processing at 1.29% plus 0.15 € per transaction. One caution: the page localises by country, and the tax note we were served quoted a 20% sales tax rate, which is not Ireland's 23% VAT, so open fresha.com/pricing from your own salon and note the figures you are shown.

The marketplace side runs on a one-time Marketplace new client fee, and Fresha's own help centre, checked the same day, documents the mechanics in detail. The reassuring part: the fee applies once per brand-new client who first discovers you on the Fresha marketplace and books online, it is calculated on the value of her first completed appointment with a minimum for low-value bookings and a cap for expensive ones, and "the fee does not apply to returning clients". The exact rate is not stated in the help article; it points to the pricing page, which shows each country its own figures, so ask Fresha in writing for the current euro rate, minimum and cap before listing your salon.

Three clauses from that same official page deserve your full attention, because they define a "marketplace client" more broadly than you might assume:

• The fee can apply to bookings made through your own website. In Fresha's own words, it covers clients who book through your marketplace profile "as well as those who view your Fresha marketplace profile first and then choose to book through another online channel including your website or social media pages". Attribution follows the client's first view of your profile, not the button she finally pressed.
• You cannot keep Fresha online booking and leave the marketplace. The page states that to take bookings online through Fresha via your website and social media, your profile must be listed on the marketplace, and unlisting it "will disable all your online booking channels".
• Who cancels matters. If the new client cancels online through her own account, the fee is deferred to her next booking; if you or your team cancel on her behalf, or leave the appointment unmanaged or rescheduled, the fee still applies. A no-show avoids the fee only if you mark it as a no-show the same day.

None of this makes Fresha dishonest: it is all published on its own help pages. It does mean "we only pay when the app brings someone new" is only true if you import your full client list before your profile goes live (Fresha itself recommends this, because a regular absent from your list who books through the marketplace can be counted as new) and your team knows the cancellation mechanics. Our guide to Fresha alternatives for Irish hair salons goes through the complete fee structure.

Booksy: a flat subscription, no commission per the Irish page

Booksy publishes its Irish price plainly: 44 € per month, plus 5 € per month for each additional team member, plus VAT, with a 7-day trial and no commitment, checked in October 2026 on Booksy's Irish pricing page. The page states that Booksy charges no commissions or fees for new clients or bookings; mobile payment processing is listed at 2.6% plus VAT per transaction. In other markets Booksy also sells an optional paid acquisition programme (Boost) charged on a promoted client's first visit; the Irish pricing page we checked did not state Boost terms, so if paid acquisition through Booksy interests you, get the current Irish conditions in writing before switching anything on.

Direct booking or marketplace: the comparison

Who owns the client, the reviews and the search result?

Legally, nobody owns a person, and under the GDPR your salon stays responsible for its own client records whatever software holds them (in Ireland the regulator is the Data Protection Commission). Commercially, though, the question is decided by who holds the channel. When a client books through a marketplace, the app sends her the confirmations, suggests the slots, and displays your competitors' photos, prices and reviews one thumb-swipe from your page. Choice is the platform's product; it has no reason to stop her comparing.

And remember where Irish clients actually look first: StatCounter measured Google at 93% of search traffic in Ireland in September 2026. For most salons outside the city-centre app directories, the practical discovery battleground is Google Search, Google Maps and your reviews, not an app store. Our guide to Google Business Profile for Irish hair salons covers how to point that traffic at a booking page you own.

Three things to check before you depend on any platform, each in writing:

• Your client file. How do you export names, +353 mobile numbers, email addresses and appointment history if you leave? A list you cannot take with you is a list you are renting. Treatwell's Irish page says the data stays yours; make sure the export actually includes what you need.
• Your reviews. Five years of glowing reviews on a marketplace listing do not transfer to Google or to your own site if you unlist. Reviews earned on your Google Business Profile stay attached to your salon whatever software you use.
• Your search result. If a marketplace profile outranks your own site for your salon's name, the platform owns your branded search traffic. Check what happens to that listing if you cancel.

Run this test on your last twenty appointments: if the platform vanished tomorrow, could you contact each of those clients, and would they know how to find you? If the answer is no for most of them, part of your goodwill lives on a channel you rent. A clean, exportable client list is also precisely what gives a salon its value the day you sell it or bring in a partner.

The pragmatic strategy: regulars direct, the marketplace only if the maths works

You do not have to choose all or nothing. Two rules cover most Irish salons.

Rule 1: your regulars book direct

A client who already sits in your chair every six weeks does not need to be discovered again. Sending her through a marketplace shows her your competitors at every booking and, given Fresha's profile-view attribution above, can even trigger a fee you did not expect. Build the direct habit instead: your own booking page linked from your Google Business Profile and your Instagram and Facebook bios, a QR code at reception and the stations, and one sentence at the till, repeated every visit: "next time, book directly on our page, your details are already there". Start with your most frequent clients and expect the habit to shift over a few months, not overnight. Keeping those clients coming back is the other half of the job; our guide to client retention and rebooking for Irish hair salons goes deep on that.

Rule 2: keep the marketplace only if its acquisition cost pays for itself

For genuinely new clients, a one-off acquisition fee can be a fair deal. Do the maths with your own numbers; here is a deliberately hypothetical example. Suppose a new client discovers your salon through the Treatwell marketplace and books a €90 colour service. The new-client commission at the published 35% rate is €31.50 plus VAT on that first visit. If she comes back four times over the year booking directly, commission-free, that €31.50 bought several hundred euro of annual takings: an excellent acquisition cost. If the app mostly sends you one-off deal hunters who never return, you are paying a third of each first visit for clients you never see again, and the sums change completely.

And keep revenue and profit separate. The commission comes off the top line: if your margin on that €90 colour visit after stylist time and product is, say, €28 (hypothetical again), the first visit runs at a loss on its own. That is acceptable for real acquisition and ruinous for re-routed regulars.

So count, over two months, how many platform bookings come from people who genuinely did not know your salon, and how many are regulars the app re-routed. Those two numbers, not the subscription price, should decide whether the marketplace stays.

Where ViteUneCoupe fits

ViteUneCoupe is rule 1, and only rule 1. The free plan gives your hair salon its own booking page with unlimited online bookings and 0% commission, permanently: your service menu, your prices, your stylists' schedules, your calendar, and a client database that belongs to you and stays exportable, with +353 numbers handled fine. It is a real free plan, not a trial. The Standard plan, at 29 € excluding VAT per month with no commitment, adds automatic confirmation, reminder and thank-you emails plus ICS calendar sync with Apple, Google or Outlook; and because Ireland is in the eurozone, the subscription is billed in euro, your own currency, with no exchange rate to think about. Reminders are email only, there are no text messages on any plan, and there is no payment or card processing. Bank-card no-show protection is coming soon in a Standard + Anti No-Show plan at 49 € excluding VAT per month.

And the honest concession, because it is the point of this article: ViteUneCoupe does not bring you an audience. There is no consumer marketplace; nobody discovers your salon through us. If new-client acquisition through an app is your priority and your city's directory is thick, we do not replace that, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. What we give you is the direct channel you own, free, so the part of your business that needs no intermediary stops paying for one.

Frequently asked questions

Do booking marketplaces take a commission on every appointment in Ireland?

No, and it is a common misconception. Checked in October 2026 on their own pages: Treatwell charges 35% plus VAT on the first booking of a new marketplace client and 0% on repeat and direct bookings; Fresha charges a one-time new-client fee on a brand-new marketplace client's first completed appointment and never on returning clients; Booksy's Irish page states no commissions on bookings at all, on a 44 € per month subscription. Always confirm the current Irish terms in writing.

Can Fresha charge the new-client fee if the client books on my own website?

Yes, in one specific case documented in Fresha's own help centre (checked in October 2026): a brand-new client who first views your Fresha marketplace profile and then books through another online channel, including your website or social media pages, can still carry the fee. Attribution follows the profile view, not the final booking button.

Does Treatwell charge commission on my existing clients?

No. Per treatwell.ie's partner pricing page (checked in October 2026), repeat bookings from marketplace clients and all direct bookings, by phone, WhatsApp, or the booking button on your own website and social media, carry 0% commission. The 35% plus VAT applies once per new client its marketplace introduces, on the first booking only.

Can an Irish hair salon offer online booking without a marketplace?

Yes. You need a booking page in your salon's name connected to your calendar, shared through your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and a QR code in the salon. ViteUneCoupe provides one free with 0% commission and euro billing; other direct-booking tools exist at various paid price points. Note the one structural exception: Fresha's online booking only works while your marketplace profile is listed.

Should I quit Treatwell or Fresha overnight?

Rarely. The sensible move is gradual: set up your direct booking page, move regulars across visit by visit, then measure what the platform still brings in genuinely new clients. If that flow justifies its fees, keep it strictly as an acquisition channel, reviewed every quarter; if not, export your client list first, then cancel, remembering that unlisting a Fresha marketplace profile also switches off Fresha's online booking channels the same day.

How do I move my regulars to direct booking?

Through repetition, not pressure: one sentence at the till at every visit, your booking link on your Google Business Profile and Instagram bio, a visible QR code at reception and the basins, and reminders that arrive in your salon's name rather than an app's. Start with your most frequent clients, they book the most often, and expect the habit to shift over a few months.