What California's ad law says about prices
Before you touch your price page, it helps to know what California's law text says about it.
In a January 2007 newsletter article still on its site, the Medical Board of California called medical spas marketing vehicles for medical procedures. Section 651 of the California Business and Professions Code makes it unlawful for a licensed healing-arts professional to put out any public communication with a false, fraudulent, misleading or deceptive statement, claim or image. A price page on your site is public, so read it with that rule in mind.
Three parts of the law matter most for a price page:
- Phrases such as "as low as", "and up" and "lowest prices" are banned in a price ad.
- An ad about fees, other than a standard consultation fee or a range of fees for specific types of services, has to disclose all the variables and other material factors.
- The Podiatric Medical Board of California, one of the state's licensing boards, lists prices that are not clearly identifiable for each product or service among the things that make an ad misleading.
This is what the text says, not legal advice. Have your healthcare attorney or medical director read your own menu before it goes live.
The layout: service, unit, exact price
Give each line on the page one service, the unit it is sold in and one exact price. Nothing else sits on the line. Here is the shape, with placeholders where your numbers go:
| Service | Sold by | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Injectable A | the unit | your exact price per unit |
| Injectable B | the syringe | your exact price per syringe |
| Facial | the visit | your exact price per visit |
| Consultation | the visit | your exact fee, or no charge |
The law bans "and up" style wording in a price ad. A price per unit is one way to keep a price exact when the total depends on the person. The law's text asks a fee ad to disclose its variables and material factors. Naming the unit on the line, and the count in the consultation line below it, is how this layout tries to answer that, and your attorney decides whether it does.
One price per line also keeps each price clearly tied to its service, which is the thing the licensing board's list names. Do not tuck a package price into a paragraph, and do not show two services under one number.
What about "starting at"
The law bans "as low as", "and up" and "lowest prices", and "starting at" is not one of the phrases it names. It still reads a lot like "and up". Treat it as a question for your attorney, and use an exact price per unit in the meantime.
What about a range
Section 651 sets a range of fees for specific types of services apart from other fee ads. If one service truly varies, a range may fit, but ask your attorney how to word it for your menu.
The consultation line under every price
Under each price, add one short line that says what changes the total and where it gets decided. Copy this and fill in your own fee:
Price is per unit. The number of units is set at your consultation with a licensed provider. Consultation fee: your exact fee.Change "unit" to "syringe" or "visit" to match the line above it. Keep it to the facts: what the price covers, what varies and the consultation fee.
The line does two jobs. It names the variable behind the price, which the law's text asks a fee ad to do. It also points to the consultation fee, which section 651 treats differently from other fee ads.
If you book online through Mangomint, its prompt-to-call setting lets clients see a service in online booking without being able to book it, with a note explaining why. For a service where the plan comes first, that note can repeat the consultation line. The visitor then gets the same answer on the booking page as on the price page.
What to cut from the page
Section 651 counts an ad as misleading when it is likely to create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results, including a photo that does not accurately show the results of the procedure. A price page is where that slips in, because the price sits right next to the promise.
Go through the page and cut these:
- "As low as", "and up" and "lowest prices".
- A plus sign after a price, which reads like "and up".
- "Best" next to a price or a service.
- "Guaranteed", and any line that says what a treatment will do for the visitor.
- The word "results" anywhere near a price.
- Before and after photos.
On photos, the law is specific. Before and after views have to be shown the same way, without flattering poses or lighting, and carry a statement that the same results may not occur for all patients. That takes care on a gallery page. The simplest price page leaves the photos off.
Pressure goes too. The Medical Board of California tells consumers to be careful when procedures are heavily marketed with high-pressure sales that promise unrealistic results. A countdown timer or a "today only" banner beside a price reads like the thing that page warns about.
Check your booking page and Google profile too
Your prices show up in more places than your site. A visitor may see your booking page or your Google listing first, and the same words should hold there.
On a Google Business Profile, you select Edit services, pick a service, and can add a price and a description to it. Use the same exact price per unit you use on the site, and paste the consultation line into the description. If a price on Google does not match the site, one of them is wrong, and a visitor will notice before you do.
In your booking tool, open each service and look at how the price shows to the public. Any display that turns a price into a minimum or adds a plus sign reads like "and up", which the law bans. Switch it to the exact price. For services that need a consultation first, a setting like Mangomint's prompt-to-call shows the service without letting anyone book it.
What to do
- Open your price page and mark every "as low as", "and up", "starting at", "lowest" and plus sign after a price.
- Rewrite each line as one service, its unit and one exact price.
- Add the consultation line under each price, with your exact consultation fee.
- Take result words and before and after photos off the price page.
- In Google Business Profile, select Edit services and match each price and description to the site.
- Check how your booking tool shows prices, and turn off any minimum-price display.
- Send the finished page to your healthcare attorney or medical director before it goes live.
For a new site, websites for med spas is the place to start, and every site Your Wish Is Our Code builds ships with its search and answer-engine baseline.