Our pricing guides quote real numbers rather than ranges we invented. This page explains where they come from and how they are worked out, so you can judge how much weight to give them.
Where the numbers come from
Vendors on BuzzGram publish their own service menus, including prices. Those are the same figures a customer sees on a vendor's profile. Nothing is estimated, modelled or supplied by a third party.
We only use businesses that are currently active. Prices are pulled at the time a guide is written, and the month appears in every guide.
Why medians rather than averages
An average is easily distorted. One vendor offering a $900 wedding package pulls the average for an entire category somewhere no real customer would ever pay.
A median is the middle value: half of prices sit below it, half above. It describes what you are actually likely to be quoted, which is the question a pricing guide exists to answer.
We also publish a typical range, which is the middle half of prices. A quarter fall below it and a quarter above. That is a more honest picture than a minimum-to-maximum span, which is always dragged around by a single outlier at each end.
When we decline to publish a figure
A named service only gets a number when several independent vendors offer it. One vendor is not data, and two is not much better. Where a service does not clear that bar, we either leave it out or say plainly that pricing varies too much locally to average.
You will see this most often in newer cities and in categories where very few vendors publish at all. We would rather say "get quotes" than invent a number that reads authoritative.
What these numbers are not
- Not quotes. Length, complexity, travel and add-ons all move a final price. Treat a median as the middle of a menu, not a promise.
- Not paid prices. These are listed prices. What someone actually paid may differ, and some vendors publish a starting rate rather than a flat one.
- Not the whole market. They describe vendors on BuzzGram, which skews toward home-based and Instagram-only businesses. Salon and storefront pricing generally sits higher.
- Not permanent. Prices change. Every guide carries the month its data was pulled.
Why we publish it at all
Because almost nobody else can. Home-based and Instagram-only vendors rarely appear on Google, so the going rate for a service in a given city has been effectively unknowable unless you asked ten people directly.
Knowing the going rate makes people better customers. You can tell a fair quote from a bad one, budget properly, and stop asking "how much?" as your opening message.
Corrections
If you are a vendor and your pricing has changed, update your services on BuzzGram and future guides will reflect it. If you think a figure in a published guide is wrong, tell us and we will check it.
FAQ
Where does BuzzGram get its pricing data?
From service menus published by vendors on the platform. These are the same prices a customer sees on a vendor's profile. Nothing is estimated or supplied by a third party.
Why do you use medians instead of averages?
Averages are distorted by outliers. A single expensive package can drag a category average somewhere no real customer would pay. The median is the middle value and describes what you are likely to be quoted.
What does the typical range mean?
It is the middle half of prices for that service. A quarter fall below it and a quarter above. That is more useful than a minimum-to-maximum span, which is always distorted by one outlier at each end.
Why do some guides not include a price for a service?
Because too few vendors publish pricing for it locally. We only put a number on a named service when several independent vendors offer it. Otherwise we say pricing varies and suggest getting quotes.
Are these prices what people actually pay?
They are listed prices. Length, complexity, travel and add-ons move the final figure, and some vendors publish a starting rate rather than a flat one. Treat a median as the middle of a menu.
How often are the numbers updated?
Each guide carries the month its data was pulled. Vendors update their own menus continuously, so newer guides reflect newer pricing.
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