Privacy Policy
Who we are
ShearMargin is a competitive-intelligence service for hair salons, operated by Sergei Mochtchenkov from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. For any question about this policy or your information, write to hello@shearmargin.com.
Information collected automatically
We load the Google Ads tag (gtag.js) to measure visits from advertising and actions on the site. It can read or write advertising cookies and send technical information to Google, including the page URL, ad-click identifiers and IP address. Our thank-you pages are configured to send advertising-measurement events. Google's handling of this data is described in its privacy policy.
Google Fonts also receives requests from your browser to display our typefaces, including your IP address. Our hosting provider receives the requests needed to serve the website. We do not use a separate Google Analytics script, session recording or social-media pixels.
You can manage cookies through your browser. Blocking cookies alone does not necessarily stop a script from loading or sending requests. A content blocker configured to block Google Ads can prevent that tag from loading.
Information you provide
Three forms exist on this site. This is everything they collect:
| Form | Fields | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Snapshot (free) | Salon name, email address, and your salon address or nearest cross-street | To identify your salon in our market data and send you the snapshot you asked for |
| Contact | Your name, email address and your message | To reply to you |
| Price sheet (pricing calculator) | Your email address, optionally your salon name, and the figures you typed into the calculator — your costs, your services and the prices it worked out | To email you the price sheet you asked for |
The pricing calculator itself runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type into it leaves your device unless you press “Email me this price sheet” or ask for a snapshot — and then only the figures listed above are sent.
Each form includes a hidden anti-spam field. If you are a person, you will never see it and it stays empty.
What we do with it
- The snapshot form: we research your salon against published market data and email you the result. That is the only reason we use it.
- The contact form: we read your message and reply.
- The price sheet form: we email you the sheet. Your calculator figures are used to build that email and to understand what salons are asking for. We never publish them, and we never attach them to a named salon in anything we share.
- Follow-up: if you asked for a snapshot, we may email you once or twice afterwards to see whether it was useful. Say no and we stop, permanently.
If you buy something
Payments for the January Price Review, ShearMargin Advisory and existing Weekly Read subscriptions are taken by Stripe on its own checkout page, under our parent business The CFO Analyst. Stripe collects your card details, name, email, business name and the salon address and menu link you enter at checkout; we never see your full card number. Stripe’s privacy practices are at stripe.com/privacy.
After you buy a review, we ask by email for a few business figures (your stylist levels and how they are paid, rough monthly volumes, chair times, product costs). We use them only to prepare your review, keep them with your order records, and never sell them or disclose them to other salons; our service providers listed below process them only to deliver their services.
We do not sell your information or disclose your private salon figures to other salons. Technical data is processed by the providers described in this policy, including Google for advertising measurement. We do not add you to a mailing list you did not ask to join.
Where it is stored
Form submissions are handled and stored by Netlify, the company that hosts this website. Our team accesses these submissions to respond to your request. Netlify's own privacy practices are at netlify.com/privacy. Email we exchange with you sits in our email provider's systems in the ordinary way.
Some of these providers operate servers outside Canada, including in the United States, so your information may be stored or processed there.
External services
This site loads Google Ads (the advertising tag described above) and Google Fonts (our typefaces; loading them means your browser makes a request to Google's servers, which will see your IP address). Netlify handles hosting and forms, Stripe processes payments, and our email provider handles correspondence. Our meeting-booking links open Calendly; information you enter there is handled through that service. These providers process the information needed to deliver their services. We do not sell customers' private business figures or disclose them to other salons.
How long we keep it
We keep snapshot and contact submissions for as long as we are in conversation with you, and for up to 24 months afterwards in case you come back. After that we delete them. You do not have to wait for that — ask us at any point and we will delete your information sooner.
Your rights
Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA), and under the GDPR and CCPA if you are covered by them, you can ask us to:
- tell you what information we hold about you;
- correct anything that is wrong;
- delete it;
- send you a copy;
- stop contacting you.
Email hello@shearmargin.com and we will action it within 30 days. There is no charge and you do not need to give a reason. If you are unhappy with how we handled it, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Salon and market data
Our analysis is built from publicly published information — price lists, service menus, public reviews, business listings and public social media accounts. We do not buy personal data, and we do not access anything behind a login or a paywall.
If you become a customer, your own analysis is yours. Reviews include other salons’ published prices, which anyone can see; we never share one customer’s private figures (volumes, pay, costs) with other salons.
If you operate a salon that appears in our market data and you would rather it did not, email us and we will remove it.
Children
This is a service for businesses. It is not directed at anyone under 18 and we do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. If the change is significant and we hold your email address, we will tell you directly rather than quietly editing the page.