what people will tip...

Well yesterday was a beautiful summerday, and I took the kids to a big outdoor playground nearby. It has a large cafetaria alongside, so all the parents are sitting close to watch the children.
I asked the owner if i could paint on their premises while my children were playing. (It is better then sitting there alone, sipping coffee for 4 hours, right?)

They were delighted so I set up. I decided not to charge per se, and put up a sign "face painting, tip as appreciated" (it does not sound so good in the translation, but made sense in flemish)

Well they queued up fairly quickly, and I had a steady line of kids for the whole afternoon. Most kids were under 8, and i only painted mask-type versions from whatever they asked. This would leave their mostly already very smudgy mouths free to eat more icecream and chocolate, and was much appreciated by the parents.

Now for the tips... i have never painted for money before, but I already guessed that people would never pay the kind of money you can charge in the US.

Most parents paid the equivalent of 1,5$, some only 0.5$
Everyone gifted something, I painted just a few kids for free if they had been queing on their own without parent.

After 4 hours I had about 15$.

I was wondering if it would be worth starting this as a kind of job, but I believe at this rate it will just stay a hobby.

I have read that some of you also use a tip jar. Any idea how much people will tip in your area?

When working for tips this is what I display along w/ my contact info & QR Code:


As a courtesy, ___________ has sponsored
Amazing Face Painting by Linda
to be here with a free space. Because our materials & time cost money, we suggest a gratuity of $5-$15 per face & we invite you to give what you can & enjoy your day!
Thank you

You suggest $15 for a tip?! Holy, does anyone ever give $15?

Yes, sometime. The most I've ever gotten was $120 for a tip, but it wasn't a Pay Per Face event. The most I've ever gotten for a tip was $20 after a family of 5 went through my line; the dad loved all of the face and was splurging on the girls so he let them get the $10 faces AND gave me a $20 tip for putting up with their endless chatter,lol!

That's great . I got a $50 tip after a birthday party and I was ecstatic!

Never work for just tips, it isn't worth it and in my humble opinion allows people to devalue our work by getting work that is worth $10 for 50 cents.... or less. I have been told by entertainers from outside of my area that tips here are HORRIBLE compared to other places, but I still wouldn't count on it anywhere.

When I work pay per face events, some parents give an extra dollar. When I work corporate events where I am paid to be there, the painting is free for them but I am allowed to have a tip jar. Most parents give me $1 per face... maybe $5 for 3 kids. Some nothing.

I've been painting at restaurants kids night through out the summer for tips only. Tips have varied from $18 to $48 for 2 1/2 hrs of steady painting.

I haven't done PPF yet, but, for parties I have been tipped between $20 & $50 - I think people feel like they are getting a great bargain since I allow local parties to book for just one hour.

I will be donating my services to a local fundraiser on the 18th and working for tips only. The cause is very close to home, a vehicle drove through the front window of one of our athletic centres and seriously injured the receptionist (a single mother of 2 with no health benefits). The gym is holding a BBQ and I didn't hesitate to offer to paint. This will be one of the only times I work for just tips.

Face Painting by Jessica wrote:I will be donating my services to a local fundraiser on the 18th and working for tips only. The cause is very close to home, a vehicle drove through the front window of one of our athletic centres and seriously injured the receptionist (a single mother of 2 with no health benefits). The gym is holding a BBQ and I didn't hesitate to offer to paint. This will be one of the only times I work for just tips.

That's super nice of u to donate your time & material! Hope ppl have the heart to tip

when i was asked to paint for free for my inlaws church function..i got 2 bucks..

Heh, there's no point having a tip jar in NZ, tipping isn't part of our culture, it's definitely not worth it. Mind you, it means we adore the USA tourists who come through.

I hope so too, Tuli. But it's not my goal, I want to drive more people to the fundraiser. I made up coupons with my old business card to offer $10 off 1 hr or $30 off 2 hrs. We'll see how it goes.

Umm.no health benefits? It's called having an OHIP card. Is she not a legal resident of the province? Please don't get me wrong , what a horrible thing to have happened and how kind of you to help out. I am just confused, the only thing I have ever had to pay for in Ontario, is $20 for crutches!

Also NO area is as bad as mine for tips.... I rarely get them and when i do ,it is always from someone NOT from this area!!! If I worked for tips , then this would be one hell of an expensive hobby !

Sorry, I meant to say drug plan. The money will be going to her family to help with financials since she will be hospitalized for a long time. RBC is also setting up a trust fund for the young children.

That's just how our small town is. Nothing bad ever happens so when it does, we go all out. It's comforting

OK that makes more sense. What a nice town that everyone gathers around to help those who need it

I offered to paint for a benefit tomorrow for a local family whose 4 yr old has cancer. They are treating him at U of M which is at least 3 hours from here. Charging $5 for the fast, yet high impact faces. Depending on how many I do, I usually retain a small amount to cover some supplies. We shall see. But I sure as heck don't expect any tips! And I only do this once or twice a year, and usually off peak days and times.

That's the kind of thing I wanted to do Griffinblue, but the event organizer would've wanted me to give everything to the family. She actually got a little iffy about me accepting tips to cover the costs, but I explained to her that I'm just a small business and can't afford to not even have the possibility of walking away with something.

Maybe I'm in the wrong since I approached her...

Well i went back yesterday, and spent a nice afternoon in the sun. The owner of the bar gave me 18€ worth in vouchers for drinks for my kids, as she was so pleased with me painting. I painted only 15 kids, plus the six I brought myself. Some little ones queud without parents, or said they could be painted , "but not if it costs money" their mom had said - those i painted for free.
For me it is still just a hobby, and I got 14 € in tips. I think that about covers my cost for the paint. I have no idea how many faces I can REALLY do with one pot of 30g paint, but they seem to last forever.

Hi Katrien, that's how I started out as well, just going to the indoor playground, put a tip jar, and take lots of pictures of my creations
It's also a good way to start painting faster, if you look behind you and there are 30 kids waiting to get painted, you're just more motivated to work faster

In the area I work in the tipping very s from town to town. We do one charity a year where it's tips only and we give half or more back to the charity at the end of the day. The first year we made over $450 but last year we only made $25 but it was hotter last year. This year the location and date got moved because of the winter tornado we had tore up the location we were at and their still rebuilding. So we will see how it goes Sept. 8th. I have a balloon twister friend that works for tips and has a suggested tip sign so the ones that only tip $1 only get a one balloon animal.

I occasionally "busk" which means essentially working for tips. I can make $150-$250 in a few hours. It's less than my hourly rate, but it's extra cash when I want it. That said, I do it in a high-tourist area where most everyone expects to tip the buskers for performances and wares. We have a unique, busking-friendly city and I would never paint for tips otherwise, and certainly never hire yourself out to paint for only tips.

I also make sure I don't say I'm paining for free, but that I'm painting for donations or tips. That implies that payment is due. Sometimes a little kid only has a pocket of quarters and that's fine, but some parents tip me $10+ bucks a face. The usual range is about $5 per face. If I sense a parent is looking for a freebie, I'll painting something less involved. I also use this as an opportunity to get some good pictures if I've painted something nice. I have no pressure to paint at any particular speed since nobody has an expectation for paying a specific amount for the service. I've had quite a few referrals for parties while busking.

I usually get tipped only about $1 each but people are willing to PAY $7 plus tip in this area if they're being charged. I guess it's because they think you're already getting paid hourly and tips are just on top of what you are getting, so they don't think you need much.

katrien, I think you should try charging. You can start with 5$ and adjust up or down on different days if it is not working. If you don't value your work they won't either.

I added a part to my contract asking if a tip jar was allowed for corporate clients. If I'm discounting for a non-profit I will require one.

At my "day job" the one I love oh so much some days.... right Barb? I volunteered my time and paints for the annual Easter event they have there. It was a good deal for me. I've booked 3 or 4 birthday parties off of it and have gotten my name out there to some "prominent" names in our community. I wasn't happy about it at the time but now I will probably be doing it every year...if I continue to work there.