When Did Haircuts Get So Damn Expensive!

To give you some context, I’m in my mid-20s. Over the past 10-14 years or so, I’ve witnessed the price of everything (haircuts included) increase astronomically (inflation). Many of those things rightfully increase in price because there is a finite amount of them. However, with services like “secondary grooming” (haircuts), there’s an arbitrary aspect to how they’re rendered that has to be examined. As mentioned earlier, inflation is primarily predicated on scarcity. However, getting a haircut is not a finite resource in that same way. It’s just a service in which most providers make up their prices.

Some may say, “well the barbers have to pay for their chairs at the shop which then has to rent its commercial space”. But, when I was 15, a haircut was 10$, when I turned 21, a haircut had become 20$ which I thought was ridiculous, but now, the last barber I went to tried to charge me 50$. That was the moment I had to draw the line. I can understand why female cosmetics can cost those amounts; when women get their hair styled, it typically is sustained for at least 2 months. However, when men get haircuts, it typically doesn’t last more than 2 weeks, if that. Furthermore, people that remember what the more reasonable prices were will have the same reaction I had. Couple that with the fact that barbers are suddenly driving luxury cars and living lavish lifestyles; while customers are being squeezed for profit.