How much is a tanning bed is the doubt every regular tanner have in her mind. The long-term expenditure is very crucial to decide between buying a tanning bed or going to the salon.
The decision to invest in a tanning bed is huge. It makes you cross-check multiple times, think, analyze and rethink!
You might be thinking that they are costly and it’s not a wise idea to have one in your home. What if I tell you that you made a mistake by not considering the long-term benefits- the direct & indirect ones?
I have always believed that buying a tanning bed is always a wise investment. In the case of a tanning salon, you should always invest in the best ones.
Let me walk you through the cost aspects of the tanning bed to ease you out a bit.
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The Two Types of Tanning Beds
The consumers of a tanning bed can be majorly categorized into commercial buyers, which include the salons and spas, and residential buyers, like you and me. One can analyze that the needs and priorities of both categories do differ and so does the type of tanning bed they desire for.
A spa owner needs to look at the life and durability of the bed since the chances of multiple usages are pretty high in a spa compared to home. Salons long to have tanning beds with low maintenance cost. Preference and quality of the product are correlated.
For 2 to 4 sessions a week one need not purchase a high ended tanning bed. Therefore to relax from the dilemma of whether or not to make the decision on having your own tanning bed, it will be quite fruitful to have a look at the mean price of the bed, reasons behind the varying cost, factors you need to consider etc.
Healthy sun-kissed skin never fails to attract our attention, you won’t disagree. Relying on the mighty Sun to do his job might not work for everyone every time. Just like anyone, my first preference was tanning salon. The trend I noticed is that there is no standard pricing for salon services.
From airbrushed tanning to tanning on the tanning bed, the rates are expected to vary greatly. From hi-end tanning salon to small neighborhood spa, the average cost per session changes considerably. We will dig deep into this further in this article.
What Determines the Tanning Bed Prices
To be honest, the prices of tanning beds varies. There is a huge gap between the costliest tanning bed and that of low priced ones.
When you ask me how much are tanning beds, I can’t give you a fixed value. The rate varies like anything.
But, ever wondered what makes these much differences in tanning beds’ costs?
Let us see the factors one by one:
- Purpose: Commercial tanning beds which demand high durability and efficiency costs more than residential tanning beds.
- Type: Considering the method of tanning, the technology used etc, there are mainly base beds, stand up beds and high-pressure beds. Their price increases in the respective order. High-pressure tanning beds use specialized equipment and are much more expensive. It’s more preferable to classy salons while the regular beds do a decent job for home usage. Stand up tanning booth is the best option for people suffering from claustrophobia and back issues.
- Type of bulb: There are 2 types of bulbs. UVA bulbs which tan fast but is riskier in terms of getting sun burnt quickly. UVB bulbs, which reduce the chances of getting sunburnt, but it asks for more time or sessions to build up your tan.
- Red light is another variant seen in tanning beds, which is preferred by health-conscious people. The aim is to achieve smooth skin rather than tan. It is placed part specific and will affect the price of the product.
- The number of bulbs: More the number of bulbs in the bed, more is its price. However, the taller you are, larger the bed you need to tan your body (like me!). So not just the price the base of making your decision.
- Quality: We don’t expect anything good to be cheaper, isn’t it? Cheaper tanning results in cumulative damage which leads to premature skin aging with visible wrinkles, lax skin etc and in extreme case cancer. Indeed good price fetches better quality!
- State of delivery: The more the product is preassembled as delivered, the more it is charged. Well, there is a tradeoff between you yourself assembling or paying for an all set bed!
- Company and warranty: You can guess how important brand name is when it comes for sales, both in demand and price. Trustworthy companies provide longer warranty period and coverage. It’s worthier to invest in such a guaranteed option regardless of its price.
How Much Does a Tanning Bed Cost? Average, High and Low Costs
On an average, a tanning bed will cost you around $2500. But this depends on the type of tanning bed you’re using.
Below is an average cost estimate of the two types of tanning beds:
- Commercial tanning bed: ranging from $2500 to $6500 with varying electricity needs, tanning time and efficiency. Average price= $3500.
- Residential tanning bed: ranging from $1500 to $3700. With considerable quality and durability on an average, it will cost you approximately $2000.
Should I Buy a Tanning Bed?
In order to make a choice between owning a tanning bed and going to salons, let us consider a real-life scenario to find the apt choice for tanning for you.
For a regular tanner, the following assumptions can be made:
- He/She tans at least four times in a week
- Total duration considered is 10 years for this estimation
a. Residential Tanning at Home:
Consider buying a residential tanning bed (16 lamps) of $2000.
A normal tanning session lasts for 20 minutes; this means you get 40 tanning sessions from the same set of lamps.
Typically a tanning lamp has 800 hrs of life. You need to replace them after their end of life and the cost would be around $250.
Considering you tan four times a week, you need; 4 times/week x 4 weeks X 2o minutes = 320 minutes of tanning lamps per month.
Therefore, you can use a set of tanning lamps roughly around: 800HoursX 60 Minutes/320 minutes = 150 months=1.25 years
Therefore, the cost of tanning lamps in 10 years time = $250x 10/1.25= $2000
Residential beds won’t use much energy as they are between 120 to 220 volts. Still considering the typical electricity charge and 4 sessions of 20 minutes per week, your monthly expense will be $4.
Total expense towards electricity for 10 years = $4x12x10= $480
The cost estimate of using a residential tanning bed for 10 years is tabulated below:
| The average cost of the tanning bed: | $2000 |
| Electricity Cost | $ 480 |
| Tanning lamp cost | $2000 |
| The total estimated cost for tanning bed | $4480 |
| The average cost of tanning per month | $4480/(10X12)= $37.33 |
Premium quality beds last more than 12 years and your average cost per month will fall further.
A used tanning bed can reduce your initial investment. But the problem with it is that you can’t use it for a long-term and you might have to replace the tanning bulbs sooner.
b. Cost Estimate for Tanning in a Salon
The basic tanning in a salon costs around $10 per session whereas a deep tan will approximately cost $16 per session and usage of high-pressure tanning bed is priced around $26 per session. This might differ when long-term memberships and packages are taken into consideration.
The main logical error we perform while calculating the cost of tanning is that we forget to consider the costs of gas for the drive to the salon as well as the opportunity cost of the time spent in the salon (nerdy stuff huh).
The fuel will cost you around $45 per month given you live approximately 12 miles away from a salon and use 4 sessions a week.
Considering basic tan, your monthly expense on bronzing your body will be on an average $195.
The below table will make it clear:
| Tanning Salon Cost | $50 |
| Fuel Cost | $45 |
| Total Cost: | $95 |
Remember, we have considered the average cost of a tanning salon here. The difference will be huge if you are a level IV or Level V tanner.
The difference per month is = $95-$38= $57
Moreover, the opportunity cost of the time you spend in driving, waiting and tanning is not accounted for as of now. This will be more than 1 hour.
Do you see what I see?
So, What Do You Think?
Folks, since the love for tanned bronze skin never-ending, so is the demand and need for indoor tanning. Even if the initial purchase of the bed demands huge, each session will cost you only cents! Much lesser than the expense you make for the same in your trip to the tannery. In long term, having your own tanning bed will be more beneficial than you guess.
The comfort both financial and psychological, you receive at home is not replaceable by a spa session. And as a positive side effect, you are emitting lesser GHG and save the environment by cutting down your trips to the tanning salon.
From the wide variety of available options, choose the one apt for your need, frequency of use and preference.
If you’re ready to explore the top-rated tanning beds, check out this link.
Tan your skin, not your wallet!
