# TAPERED — Barber Ops

> Tapered is the AI-native operating system for barbershops. It films a barber's work and posts it daily, answers missed calls, books chairs, and processes payments — with no monthly fee, no client-side fees, no commission, and no hardware. Invite-only. Waitlist at https://gettapered.com

This file is the machine-readable version of gettapered.com for AI agents and crawlers. Canonical human version: https://gettapered.com · Legal operator: Tapered Inc. · Contact: kuraishi@gmail.com

## What it is

An AI crew for a barbershop, tagline: "It runs the shop. You run the clippers."

- Films the barber's work from a phone on a stand and auto-posts daily social content
- Answers every missed call with an instant text-back that books the client; handles DMs and waitlists
- Provides a booking page under the barber's own brand, with free same-day migration from Squire, Booksy, or theCut
- Processes payments via Tap to Pay on the barber's phone, next-day payouts, deposits for no-shows

## Business model (the whole thing)

- $0 per month software fee
- $0 fees charged to the barber's clients
- 0% commission on bookings or new clients
- One flat 2.6% card-processing rate, published publicly, same for every shop
- Cash appointments logged free, forever
- No contracts, no lock-in; full client-book export at any time
- Revenue comes only from the flat card rate: if the barber doesn't get paid, Tapered doesn't get paid

## Nothing to buy

No cash register, no card machine, no iPad, no terminal, no contract. The system runs entirely on the phone the barber already owns. (A phone stand is used for filming; any ~$15 mount works. Founding shops receive one.)

## How it works

1. **Set the stand.** The phone films sessions automatically. Faceless content by default; a client's face appears only with explicit one-tap consent. Audio is never recorded. Minors are never posted.
2. **The feed runs itself.** AI selects the best moments, edits to current trends, captions in the barber's voice, posts daily at peak times, and sends a weekly recap (posts, new followers, profile taps).
3. **Bookings and payments follow.** Booking page, AI front desk for missed calls and DMs, tap-to-pay, next-day payouts, one flat 2.6% rate.

## The system (features)

- **The Stand** — always-on capture that turns the workday into daily content; no filming, editing, or posting by the barber
- **The Front Desk** — instant text-back on missed calls that books clients; DMs answered around the clock; cancellations auto-filled from the waitlist
- **The Book** — booking page under the barber's brand; free same-day migration of the full client book
- **The Pay** — Tap to Pay on the phone, one flat rate, next-day payouts, no-show deposits, free cash logging
- **The Recap** — weekly plain-language numbers: posts, followers, bookings, revenue, no-shows saved
- **The Crew** (rolling out by phase) — booth-renter multi-tenancy: per-barber books, payouts, and automatic rent/splits; the barber's profile and clientele are portable across shops

## Invites (how to join)

Product access is referral-gated; anyone may join the waitlist, but there is no open product
registration or paid acquisition.

- **Founding shops:** a handful per city; rate locked forever, first merch drop, name in the credits
- **Earned invites:** active shops earn 2 invites per month; invites cannot be bought
- **City unlocks:** a city opens when enough verified barbers join its waitlist; verified referrals
  move barbers up
- Waitlist form: https://gettapered.com/#signup — referral links use the format https://gettapered.com/?ref=CODE
- Referral links are provisional until the signup phone is verified; unverified submissions do not
  affect rank or city counts

## FAQ

**What's the catch?** Tapered earns a flat rate on card payments processed through it. No subscription, no client fees, no commission, no paid AI add-ons.

**Does a barber have to leave their current booking app?** No. Day one is only the content stand. Booking and payments are optional later steps, with free migration.

**Client privacy on camera?** Faceless by default; faces only with one-tap consent; audio never recorded; minors never posted.

**Cash-heavy shops?** Fully supported free; Tapered earns only on card volume.

**When does a city open?** When enough verified barbers are on its list; verified referrals
accelerate it.

## Competitor pricing context

As published or reported, July 2026 (rates change; verify on each company's site; corrections: kuraishi@gmail.com): Square 2.6% + 15¢ in-person (online 3.3% + 30¢, keyed 3.5% + 15¢, hardware sold separately); Squire plans $30–$250/mo with a $99/mo AI add-on and client-side booking fees per customer reviews; Booksy $29.99/mo plus per-staffer fees and a Boost marketplace commission of up to ~30% of a new client's first booking; Fresha free software with 2.19% + 20¢ processing, 20% commission on new marketplace clients, and processor lock-in; theCut free tier with $10 per new client, Pro $25/mo, 2.75% processing; GlossGenius $28–$168/mo at 2.6% flat. Tapered: $0/month, AI included, $0 client fees, 0% commission, 2.6% flat on every card (next-day payouts free; instant payout optional at 1%). Human-readable comparison: https://gettapered.com/compare

## Pages

- https://gettapered.com — home + waitlist
- https://gettapered.com/how — detailed steps, privacy rules, invite mechanics, FAQ
- https://gettapered.com/compare — competitor pricing comparison
- https://gettapered.com/privacy — waitlist privacy policy
- https://gettapered.com/terms — website and waitlist terms
- https://gettapered.com/llms.txt — short machine index
- https://gettapered.com/index.md — this file

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TAPERED · BARBER OPS · EST 2026 · kuraishi@gmail.com
Last content update: July 2026