How Do I Save $$ on Aveda & Other Products?

Thanks for the kinds words Shelley.As far as saving money on Aveda or other salon quality products there are several tips on making your $$ go far.1. Check to see if your Aveda concept salon has any buying incentive program. The Eco Salon & Spa in Dallas (972-42-AVEDA, 972-422-8332 offers a punch card system. You get a punch for every dollar you spend on Aveda and after you fill up a card you get a $10 off coupon on future Aveda. This works out to about 10% off the cost of the product for you. Some shops will do this for you, some won't. Obviously it cuts into the profit margin for the shop but in the long run it gets them repeat business & referrals.2. Buy things on sale. During the Holiday season Aveda will offer the Concept Salons special packages where you will save on the package. Ask your salon to notify you of special deals.3. Buy the largest quantity you can. For example, Eco will let you buy the Aveda shampoos in the gallon bottles. If you compare the cost of the quarts to the gallon, you save considerably when you buy the gallon. Some salons are not willing to sell the larger quantities because they make more on the smaller bottles. However, if you ask, some salons will get the larger quantities for you.I like the fact that Eco keeps a large inventory of all the Aveda products so that I know I can just stop by and pick up whatever I need without first placing an order or having to wait for it to come in.4. Refill program. Some shops will let you bring in your empty Aveda bottles and they will refill them for you from their large, industrial size, bottles. They will then give you a $1-2 discount on the purchase.5. Ask for a quantity discount. Some shops will let you have a discount if you buy over a certain volume or pay cash or pay for your order in advance (if the product is not in stock). Ask and you may receive.6. If you use products other than Aveda (which are only sold at Aveda concept salons) you can save money at lower cost stores such as Ultra3, Cosmetics Plus, Sally Beauty or Drug Emporium.7. Buy off the net. I have ordered products from the following site and the prices are great. Check around for other sites that will save you money on hair care orders: http://www.haircareforless.com/8. Only use the most expensive products sparingly and make sure that you get the best use of it. If you are using the very expensive Aveda Deep Conditioner, only use it every other day and only use it on the ends of your hair. Use the lesser expensive conditioners on the other days and limit their distribution to only the parts of your hair that needs it.9. If you like one product, sometimes there is a similar product that will do the trick. For example, if your hair is in great shape, you can probably get the same results from using the Elixer stay in conditioner that you could get from applying a lot of Deep Conditioner. You might want to apply just a little Deep Conditioner and then use more of the Elixer. Or you may find you get better results from the Curressence Spray than you do the Curressence wash out conditioner. Get to know all the products and how they work on your hair and try to be frugal with how you use the product.10. Alternate at times with a less expensive product. Twice a year I give my hair a rest from Aveda. I will use that period of time to test other products like Phyto or Bain de Terre or Fuerter. Often I will save some $$$ on the test products. Since it is a short period of time, it doesn't really affect my hair for the long run.Be creative. There are many ways to save money. If you think of anything that I have missed...please drop me an email and let me know.Thanks for visiting Hair Talk.Good luck.Karen