Terms of Service

Who you are dealing with

ShearMargin is operated by Sergei Mochtchenkov from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Using this website or our service means you accept these terms.

What the service is

ShearMargin provides public-market research and salon business analysis: a free Snapshot, a one-time January Price Review, or ShearMargin Advisory. Advisory includes a portal configured for the agreed local market, automatic Weekly Read updates to the agreed competitor information, a monthly action review and one 60-minute session with Sergei Mochtchenkov, CFA, each month.

Coverage, comparator count, refresh schedule and delivery dates are confirmed before Advisory payment. The published Manhattan example is a dated study, not a live feed.

The one-time Price Review is paid through Stripe under The CFO Analyst. Advisory starts only after a written proposal is agreed; an enquiry does not create a subscription.

What it is not

This is the part worth reading properly.

• Our recommendations are advice, not instructions. You decide what to charge. We are telling you what the market around you looks like and what we would do.
• We do not guarantee a result. No specific revenue increase, booking volume or ranking is promised, and any figures shown on this website are examples from research rather than a forecast of your outcome.
• This is business analysis, not regulated investment advice, legal or tax advice, bookkeeping or a full outsourced CFO engagement. Sergei holds the CFA charter. Visiting this site does not create a professional engagement; the paid service scope is agreed separately.
• Competition law is your responsibility. We report publicly available prices. Using that information to coordinate pricing with competitors is illegal in most places. Do not do it.

Accuracy

We build from published sources, which are sometimes out of date, incomplete or wrong at the source. We check what we reasonably can and we tell you where a finding is thin rather than dressing it up. We cannot promise every figure is perfect. If you spot something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

The free snapshot

The snapshot is genuinely free and carries no obligation. We aim to return it within 48 hours. It is prepared by hand, so at busy times it may take longer, and we may decline or delay requests if we cannot do a proper job of them. We will not invoice you for it and we will not sign you up to anything.

The January Price Review ($299)

• A one-time review for one salon location, billed once in US dollars when you order. It is not a subscription.
• It covers every service and stylist level on your published menu for that location, compared with the published prices of the closest comparable salons we can find (usually 25–30; we tell you the number), may recommend holding a price as well as changing it, and includes one round of questions and corrections.
• We deliver it by email within 5 business days of receiving your complete details (address, menu link and the inputs we ask for after payment). If we can’t, we tell you and you can take a full refund.
• After payment we confirm that we can cover your area, that you set your own menu prices, the number of comparable salons we found and your delivery slot. If we cannot serve you, we refund you in full (and cancel any subscription).
• Before you pay, ask us if you are unsure we can cover your area or whether enough nearby salons publish prices. If after payment we cannot find enough comparable published prices to do a proper job, we will tell you and refund you in full.
• Any dollar figures in the review are worked examples based on the volumes and pay structure you give us, not a forecast or a promise.
• Refund. If the review isn’t useful to you, email us within 14 days of delivery for a full refund. You keep the report. No conditions.

ShearMargin Advisory for new enquiries

• Monthly price: USD500 per month for one location, plus USD500 one-time setup. The initial total is USD1,000. Monthly service starts when the agreed setup is ready.
• Before payment: we confirm coverage and agree an itemized setup scope, competitor set, sources included in automatic weekly updates, delivery date and session arrangements in writing. The service is billed monthly and includes automatic Weekly Read updates, one 60-minute session with Sergei Mochtchenkov, CFA, each month, and a written action summary. Weekly updates are not a real-time feed; source dates and gaps identify unavailable data.
• Setup refunds: full refund before setup work starts. After work starts, we retain only the itemized charge agreed in advance for completed work and refund the unearned balance. If we cannot deliver the agreed setup, we refund the setup fee.
• Monthly cancellation: cancel by email before the next billing date to stop future charges. Service continues until the end of the paid month. There is no cancellation fee. If we cannot deliver agreed paid service, we refund the undelivered portion.
• Six months prepaid: USD3,000 with setup included and six monthly sessions. This option is available by written proposal only. Its early-cancellation calculation, refunds, start date and renewal terms must be agreed before payment; the monthly cancellation rule does not imply a refund of the six-month commitment.
• No revenue increase or financial outcome is guaranteed. Any mandatory rights under applicable law remain unaffected.

Existing Weekly Read customers

The following legacy subscription provisions continue for customers who purchased the Weekly Read under them. They do not describe the new Advisory offer. Existing customers are not automatically moved to Advisory.

• Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance, in US dollars unless agreed otherwise.
• You can cancel at any time. Your service continues to the end of the period you have paid for. We do not require notice and there is no cancellation fee.
• The monthly price is flat. There is no introductory rate and no step-up. Annual plans are billed once for the year at the rate shown when you sign up.
• We will give at least 30 days' notice by email before changing the price of an existing subscription.
• 90-day refund. If you cancel within 90 days of your first payment and tell us it has not been worth it, we refund every month you have paid. One email is enough. We do not ask for a reason and there are no conditions attached.
• After 90 days, if we have clearly failed to deliver what you paid for, email us. We would rather refund you than argue about it.

Your data and ours

What you send us is covered by our Privacy Policy.

The analysis we prepare for you is yours to use inside your business however you like. The underlying market datasets, methodology and software remain ours. Please do not republish, resell or pass on another salon's figures from our reports.

Acceptable use

Do not use the service to break the law, to coordinate pricing with competitors, to scrape or resell our data, or to attack the website. We may suspend an account being used this way, and will refund any unused portion when we do.

Liability

Nothing here limits liability for fraud, or for anything that cannot be limited under the law that applies to you. Subject to that, our total liability to you is limited to the amount you have paid us in the twelve months before the claim, and we are not liable for lost profits or indirect losses. If you have not paid us anything, our liability is limited to correcting or withdrawing the work.

Ending it

You may stop using the service at any time. We may end a subscription with 30 days' notice and a pro-rata refund, or immediately if these terms are being broken.

Law

These terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia and the applicable laws of Canada, and the courts of British Columbia have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer elsewhere, this does not remove rights you have locally.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top changes when we do, and we will email subscribers about anything significant before it takes effect.

Contact

hello@shearmargin.com
Suite 2001, 1205 West Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6E 4T7, Canada