Lotion Diversion and the Tanning Salon Industry
The tanning industry, while expensive to run, is still a complete scam. Once tanning salon owners learned that name brand tanning bed lotions from companies like California Tan, Designer Skin and OC were being sold online at discounted, affordable prices, the salon industry gave these sales a name: Diversion.
Diversion means any sale that diverts sales from local salons, and it's pretty much an insider term. In order to stave off diversion, disclaimers are found on the websites of popular brands stating something like, "Warning: If you buy our lotion from an unauthorized dealer, there's a chance the lotion could be used or contaminated!"
Scary, right? While theoretically this could be true, the real truth is that the girls and guys working at tanning salons get most of their income from commissions. If everyone discovers these wholesale sites, they will lose a ton of money.
Tanning lotion companies cry diversion when they go around suing random wholesale tanning lotion websites. There's actually nothing illegal about selling lotions at wholesale prices online as long as the website uses their own product images and descriptions. Some tanning lotion companies employ a small group of workers who do nothing but try to stop diversion online. They scare site owners by threatening them with legal action unless the site is taken down.
Back to the scare tactic; most online wholesale shops are owned by salon owners in the first place. Other websites have salons that drop-ship for them. I buy my own lotions and sample packets from these websites all the time. I assure you - they are the real thing. Besides, just imagine how much trouble someone could get in if they tampered with tanning lotions! There has to be a stiff punishment about tampering with merchandise anyway. Also, the site owner could be sued if they replaced a bottle's contents with something like, I don't know, Nair, and then the user gets an allergic reaction to it. That's hypothetical, but I'm sure you understand my point.
Once you become friendly with the staff at a tanning salon, they tend to let their guards down and talk shop to their co-workers in front of you while you're waiting for a bed to open up. I've heard girls musing about how they tell customers that the last bottle of tanning lotion is really the last one, and it will either never be ordered again, or pretend it was discontinued.
I've personally had an experience where I went to buy a new bottle of Australian Gold Body Kisses after tanning moisturizer, but they had sold out about a week prior. I asked the girl if she had anymore, and she said a new box had just come in that day, but she wasn't allowed to open it because of her boss's inventory issues. I believed her because I know the manager of my salon runs a tight ship.
Less than a week later there were still no bottles out so I asked another girl if the box had been opened yet, and she said she sold the last bottle the day before. Now this didn't make sense. Those moisturizers don't sell out that fast. They never do. She said they were getting ready to order more for a sale where you could buy a big bag of lotions for a discount. This meant, I'd have to spend about $75 on some grab bad of junk that I didn't want just to score my $20 bottle of moisturizer. Sneaky.
Tanning bed lotions aren't the only diversions out there. You can also buy accessories online such as Nail Savers, tanning stickers, eye goggles, etc. Anything you need for tanning, you can find online at half the price of tanning salon prices. Even with the added shipping costs, you still wind up saving a large amount of money.
If you decide to save your money and buy from an online wholesale tanning lotion distributor, don't let your salon bully you or make you feel bad if you walk in carrying a brand of lotion they don't sell. It's your right to use whatever lotion you want as long as it's made for indoor tanning beds (regular oils can crack the bed's acrylic layer and make the bed insanely hot).
There are plenty of online shops out there, so take your time and find the cheapest price. Google Product Search is a great place to start.
Published by Alicia White
Alicia is a former air traffic controller who lived in Japan for several years. She's currently a freelance writer in California, and a full-time student majoring in digital media/graphic design. View profile
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13 Comments
Post a CommentDoes anyone know a specific company that does allow you to create your own brand name lotion?
The author of this article is an idiot. Perhaps you need to take a business 101 class. WHY would anyone have a business if it did not make a profit? How do you think we pay rent, payroll, insurance, electricity, supplies, phone, internet, Credit card companies, marketing, water, CAM charges, new beds, lamps, fixtures, toilet paper, paper towels, towels, washing machine, dryers, and the other hundreds of things we need to have a business? I have no DOUBT whoever your lack of common sense self works for makes a profit to pay you to continue to go out and write idiotic articles. Thank GOD for those people that support us small businesses. If the internet is the only place you purchase your lotions then where are you going to use it when the salons close because your cheapness cost them the ability to be there and open for you. Bad message and even worse intelligence.
You can make your own name brand lotion at some labs and have it marketed. Did you know that? after the initial cost of production at a lotion lab they charge about $2.00 a bottle. You can choose what ingredients you want, scent, design and etc. So my guess would be these big companies pay even less per bottle to make it. Why should anybody pay $100.00 for one bottle?
Tanning salons are businesses existing to provide a service. The costs of these services do not just lie within the salon cost for the lotion or the electricity used to turn on a bed. Do the clients wish to have clean towels available to them free of cost? We have to purchase new ones constantly because they are frequently stolen. Do you want to lay on acrylics free of scratches and CRACKS? They need replaced regularly due to cheap drugstore lotion use by stubborn clients. Salon owners and employees are NOT there to scam you. They are there to provide a quality service (which the author of this article seems to partake in) while making a living. Also, I can assure you that places like JCrew and Banana Republic sell their products for a higher profit, and their employees make similar commission as tanning salon employees. This article is so poorly researched. You should be embarrassed.
We are going out of business and I can tell you that It’s mainly the economy that is causing the issues. I’m sure a lot of salons are feeling the hurt, so if you want to be able to tan somewhere and not wait forever or drive a long distance then I suggest you support your local tanning salon, unless you just don’t give a hoot.
I buy my lotions all the time from these sites. Always 100% the real deal. Check out http://www.tanninglotionsource.com and compare it to salon prices!
LOL. Let me know when the boot leg Tingle you get off these 'wholesale' websights does not make you tingle. Ha. My next business venture, selling fake high end lotion on line to idiots who forgot that people will do anything for a buck.
Salons telling you that lotion are contaminated if bought online IS NOT A LIE. We've had tanners purchase lotions online for cheaper only to break out, get a rash,etc. Not only that but every lotion has a certian smell, color, and feel. On several occasions after tanners complaining their "name brand lotion" stinking and not working, i always give them a sample for free of the real stuff, the stuff I sell, the stuff i get straight from the distributer and as soon as they open the sample, ummm different color, smell, and consistency. Then they use, umm oh my gosh, RESULTS! if you're buying it online for cheaper, there's probably a reason, for that, you get what you pay for and if it cost me $50 to get it and you by it online for $20, chances are that what's in your bottle is not whats in my bottle. Maybe you should educate yourself more on the tanning industry before you make false statements. Something else you might not know is that product deversion is againest the law. why? well for
WOW- so are tanning salons not-for-profit? I can buy Levi's cheaper online, hair products, but I choose to frequent small businesses for the customer service I recieve. To call an entire industry a scam because they try to make a profit? How many small businesses will close their doors once they don't make profits?
anyone who owns a business is not going to sell you their product or service at their cost, just look at what you pay in movie theatres for snacks or what you pay in restaraunts for a steak dinner. Itis absurd for you to call this particular industry a scam when all business do this.