The European Consumer Centre Finland has compared the price of certain services provided by hairdressers and barbers in Helsinki and Tallinn. The comparison shows that the average prices of hairdressers' and barbers' services are about 2.5 times higher in Helsinki than in Tallinn.
For example, highlights plus cut and style or blow-dry cost 19.17 - 32.59 euros in Tallinn, with the average price 27.47 euros. In Helsinki the same service cost 37 - 102 euros, with the average price 69.10 euros. Prices include VAT, at a rate of 18% in Tallinn and 8% in Helsinki.
Price differences are also clearly visible in highest and lowest prices in both cities. The highest price for a wash, cut and blow-dry in Tallinn was the same as the lowest price in Helsinki (20 euros). The highest prices for some services in Helsinki can be over three times as much as the highest prices in Tallinn.
In both Tallinn and Helsinki large differences were observed between shops. The price of a permanent with styling ranges from 13 to 38 euros in Tallinn and from 34 to 110 euros in Helsinki, with average prices coming to 22.58 and 66.78 euros. Price alone does not always tell the whole story, however, since services can differ in content and quality.
Shops charge more for long and medium-length hair than for short hair. Some shops show the total price of services for customers with long hair, while others add a surcharge. This can be a percentage or a flat rate, with surcharges ranging from 10% to 50%.
The comparison was conducted by collecting price information for Tallinn from shops' websites in spring 2007. Prices in Helsinki were obtained from a national price comparison that was conducted in spring 2007, when the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland collected prices from 38 shops in downtown Helsinki. The comparison included 20 shops in Tallinn.
Many shops in Tallinn give Finnish price lists on their websites and also state prices in euros. Prices in Estonian kroons were converted into euros using the European Central Bank's foreign exchange reference rate (1 15.65.kroon).