A vital part of your shower process should be shampooing your hair.
Shampoo helps kill any bad bacteria lingering on your scalp.
It also helps remove dirt, grease, and other unpleasant things lurking in your hair or on your scalp.
When it comes to buying shampoo, you will see some pretty high prices.
Since it seems like a relatively simple product, you may wonder why it’s so expensive.
Why Is Shampoo So Expensive? (10 Reasons)
The average price of shampoo is around $5 to $8.
However, you can also find brands of shampoo that cost $20 or more.
Certain factors like the ingredients in the shampoo, it’s packaging, and production cost all impact the price of shampoo.
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.
1.Vitamin Shampoos
One of the ways you can immediately make your shampoo more expensive is by buying one that has vitamins in it.
While browsing the shampoo isolate in your local grocery store, you may notice that a few brands market themselves as having certain vitamins in their formulas.
You’ll also notice that those brands tend to be a bit more expensive than brands that don’t include vitamins in their formulas.
That’s because vitamins add to the cost of production.
If the company isn’t already using natural ingredients, then it might have to source those vitamins elsewhere.
That adds cost to their manufacturing which they make up for with higher prices on their products.
There’s also the health factor to consider.
Shampoos that market themselves as having certain vitamins in their formulas seem healthier.
Because the product is healthier, the company can get away with putting a higher price on it.
People typically pay more for healthier products than unhealthy products.
Shampoo is expensive when it has vitamins in it.
2. More Oil Content Than Water Content
A big difference you’ll notice between expensive shampoo and cheap shampoo is the water content.
Cheaper shampoos have more water than oil.
Expensive shampoos have more oil than water.
That’s because oil is more expensive than water.
Depending on what type of oil is used, some shampoo companies may take on great costs to make their products.
They might use a type of oil from an ingredient that’s rare and hard to find.
Since it costs them more money to source the oil, they have to offset that cost with higher prices.
Companies that produce cheaper shampoos are able to get away with charging lower prices because of the amount of water they use.
The water helps fill the shampoo bottle.
You’ll still get a decent clean from the shampoo, but it won’t be as effective as the more expensive types of shampoo because it doesn’t have as much oil in it.
Besides the quality of the clean, you might find that the more expensive shampoos are more fragrant or longer lasting.
Oil is also the reason behind this.
It sticks to your hair longer than water which evaporates with time.
As a result, the overall quality of shampoo can depend on how much oil is in each bottle.
Shampoo is expensive when it has more oil than water in its bottle.
3.Natural Ingredients
The most expensive types of shampoos tend to be those made from natural ingredients.
Shampoos either use synthetic ingredients, natural ingredients, or a mix.
Those that use synthetic ingredients tend to be cheaper.
That’s because synthetic ingredients are usually cheap to make.
Natural ingredients, however, are a lot more expensive.
For one, they usually require growing.
For example, if a company is using citrus extracts, then they need to grow the citrus first.
They’ll usually work with a farmer or producer of citrus fruits.
Then they’ll take the extract from the produce and put it into their shampoo.
The problem with natural ingredients is that they’re subject to high costs.
For example, if the citrus farmer is experiencing more expensive costs, then they’re going to sell their citrus fruits at higher prices.
Since the shampoo company is paying more money for their ingredients, then they’re going to sell their products at higher prices, too.
Natural ingredients are a bit more chaotic when it comes to sourcing them.
Climate change can make some ingredients expensive one year and cheap the next.
Natural ingredients are also deemed healthier than synthetic ingredients.
As such, that adds to the price tag on the shampoo bottle as well.
Shampoo is expensive when it contains natural ingredients.
4.Silicone Molecule Size
Inside most shampoos are silicone molecules.
Silicone is a powerful molecule that helps coat the hair with the other ingredients found in the shampoo.
Depending on the molecule’s size, you might have soft and silky hair or slightly more frizzy hair.
Typically, companies that produce more expensive shampoo opt for smaller silicone molecules.
That’s because smaller molecules are able to better penetrate your hair.
It brings those good ingredients deep within the hair follicles.
That can help reduce frizz, clean out any dirt, and leave your hair smooth and shiny.
Larger molecules, on the other hand, tend to just sit on the surface of your hair since they aren’t as effective at penetrating your hair.
You might still have some sheen to your hair, but it won’t last as long.
Shampoos that use small silicone molecules are more expensive because they have to use more.
They need to fill their bottles and since they’re using more silicone to do so, they’re going to spend more money.
Since their costs are higher, they have to put higher price tags on their bottles of shampoo.
Shampoo is expensive when it uses small silicone molecules.
5. Luxury Bottles Or Packaging
Packaging also plays a part in determining how expensive the shampoo is.
Some shampoo bottles are designed for an audience interested in a luxury experience.
Companies might bring in an expensive designer who creates an eye-catching design for their bottles.
Some even put their bottles in an ornate box.
They want some of the experience of using their shampoo to come from taking it out of a box or admiring the bottle.
Others might hire celebrities to use their shampoos.
Celebrity endorsements can cost a good amount of money, too.
The more that a company spends on the packaging and advertising of its product, the more money they need to earn to make a profit.
As such, shampoo is expensive when the company focuses on using luxury packaging or advertising.
6. Research And Development Costs
The shampoo world is very competitive.
There are tons of brands offering shampoo.
Because all of them offer the same thing—a clean scalp—each company has to find a way to stand out from the others.
That usually falls to their research and development teams.
They’re charged with experimenting with different formulas to try and find something new.
Their customers likely experience some problems that they want shampoo companies to fix.
Research and development teams look for solutions to those problems.
They’re then able to come up with a new formula that can attract more customers to their brand.
Because of how important research and development are, some companies will spend a good amount of money in the process.
The more they invest, the more quickly they’re able to come out with new, exciting products.
However, that also means they tend to have higher costs for their products.
Not every prototype that the team comes up with is going to make it to the sales floor.
As such, some of that money goes to waste.
To ensure they’re able to invest in their team and cover any losses, the company has to put higher prices on its products.
Shampoo is expensive because some companies invest heavily in their research and development teams.
7. Rare Fragrances
The type of fragrance that a shampoo uses can also impact its price.
Besides the scent itself, another factor is how long the fragrance lasts.
Expensive shampoos tend to have long-lasting fragrances.
Even at the end of the day, your hair might still smell as though you just came out of the shower.
For some people, that’s an experience or benefit that they consider important.
As such, they have no problem paying extra for a strong and pleasant fragrance.
Others might prefer a specific type of fragrance.
Some shampoo companies might have a unique or rare fragrance that few others offer.
If an individual loves that fragrance, then they might be willing to pay extra to have it.
Finally, some fragrances can be quite strong.
Expensive shampoos have a unique way of having a fragrance that lasts a long time without being overpowering.
Since a bit more engineering and cost go into the making of those particular formulas, they tend to cost a bit more, too.
Shampoo companies are also aware that some people don’t mind paying extra for the benefits they provide.
That also factors into the pricing.
Shampoo is expensive when it uses a rare fragrance or has long-lasting benefits.
8.High Demand
Everyone needs clean hair.
As such, shampoo is also in high demand.
Most people don’t like the idea of going to work or social events with unclean, greasy hair.
You can usually tell if someone has cleaned their hair recently or not.
Since dirty hair makes a bad impression, people tend to avoid the embarrassing situation at all costs.
As such, almost everyone makes buying shampoo a priority.
However, this also means that the demand for shampoo is high.
It allows shampoo companies to charge slightly more expensive prices.
They know that because people are desperate to buy shampoo, they’ll have no choice but pay higher prices to get the product that they need.
Shampoo is expensive because it’s in high demand.
9. Organic Shampoos
While natural shampoos can be quite expensive, organic shampoos can be expensive, too.
Organic shampoos stem from natural shampoos.
The difference is that they use organic ingredients.
This essentially means that the farmers responsible for growing the ingredients found in the shampoo didn’t use anything synthetic or artificial to grow the ingredients.
They used natural means of protecting their crops.
Since this is a more expensive way to farm crops, they tend to have to sell their products at higher prices.
Shampoo companies then take on higher costs and sell their products at higher prices.
The idea of something being organic also suggests that it’s healthier.
As a result, that adds to the price tag as well.
Shampoo is expensive when it is marketed as organic.
10.inflation
A final reason shampoo is expensive is due to inflation.
There’s no question that inflation is behind higher prices for shampoo.
Inflation impacts everything.
It makes resources and materials more expensive.
That makes manufacturing costs higher.
However, it also impacts fuel costs and energy costs.
That can make something as simple as running a factory more expensive.
Since shampoo companies are facing higher costs due to inflation, they put higher prices on their products to offset those costs.
Shampoo is expensive due to inflation.
Conclusion
Shampoo is a necessary part of keeping your hair healthy and clean.
However, due to expensive ingredients and manufacturing costs, shampoo can sometimes be quite expensive.
