This January, a number of beauty professionals got an unpleasant email. The commission they pay their booking platform was going up — from 20 to 25 percent. Plus VAT.
For some, there was a second sting: commission started being charged even when a client doesn't show up. So the client books, doesn't come, the specialist earns nothing — but still owes the platform.
There was a fair amount of anger online about it. Some were even talking about a collective complaint. Which makes sense — the feeling of being stuck in a system that changes the rules on you unilaterally isn't a pleasant one.
But anger doesn't solve the math. So let's count calmly — when does a commission model actually make sense, and when are you just overpaying.
Commission-based platforms give you more than a booking system. They give you a spot in their directory — a client opens the app, looks for a specialist in their city, and finds you among the others.
Brought you a client, takes a cut. That's the logic. It's a marketing fee, not a software fee.
And that's the whole point. You're not paying for the software. You're paying for someone to bring you people.
The question is simple: do you actually need someone to bring you clients?
There are situations where commission genuinely makes sense.
If you're just starting and have no clients, no followers, no name — the platform's directory can bring you those first people. At that stage, 20 or 25 percent is an investment. You're paying for growth you can't generate yourself yet.
Same if your traffic is unstable. When one month is full and the next is empty, a flat fee feels risky. Commission means you only pay when you earn.
Here the commission model is on your side. Fairly.
The problem starts later. Once you have your own clients.
Picture a specialist with a steady base. Sixty appointments a month, nearly all regulars. People who've been coming for years and aren't going anywhere.
What is she paying commission for? Those clients are hers. They'd have come without any platform. But the system still skims a cut off every new client — and sometimes off the regulars too.
Let's count. Say fifteen new clients a month, around thirty euros each. Twenty-five percent commission is a hundred and twelve euros a month. Over a year, more than thirteen hundred. In commission alone. And that's before any no-show fees.
A flat-fee system over the same year costs maybe two hundred euros. The difference isn't small change.
There's something odd in all this.
The better you do, the more you work, the more you hand over. The commission model almost punishes success. A flat fee does the opposite — the more you earn, the less you pay the system in percentage terms.
For a beginner, commission helps. For someone experienced, it becomes a weight they drag along out of inertia, because switching feels like too much hassle.
This is the part platforms don't advertise.
A client who found you through the directory is technically the platform's client. Not yours. If you ever decide to leave, nothing guarantees you take that client with you. The platform can offer them another specialist in your place.
With a flat-fee system where people book directly through your link, the client list is yours. You can export it, move it, take it. It's your asset.
A small thing while everything's fine. It matters when something changes. And as we saw this winter — things change.
You don't need to decide on emotion. Just count one thing: how many new clients you actually get through the platform's directory each month. Not all clients — only the ones who came specifically from there.
If that number is large and growing — the platform is working for you, and the commission is justified.
If most of your clients are regulars who already know you — you're probably paying for something you no longer need. And paying more over time, because you're not the one setting the rules.
That's all it takes — doing the math. The answer is different for everyone.
If you want to see what a flat-fee system with no commission looks like — try the YXEO demo. You'll see exactly what your client would see. No registration, no commitment.