whats up with both prices

Ok Shannon I know u have missed me rofl, ( I drive her crazy, in a good way, I think hehe ) but OMGosh there has been such a flood of new face painters up here since I shut down to go to school, I cant believe it. It's great but, these tinny little street fairs here that are charging full and high prices to the painters and the painters are paying it! It is driving me to drink! Ok I know this will stir the pot but hey we are entertainers and in a lot of city people are terrified of us and our paints because of uneducated painters and so on. Ok I have been out of the loop that's a, give me, but come on $75 bucks for one night 6pm to 9pm a week with free painters using poster paint in a tinny town where half the population leaves for the summer? really? Stand up for your self guys, you are a commodity, a draw, not saying we should not pay just saying when it comes to some events, some are so small they should split the both price or even pay u to come in some cases. My point, you are worth more and in a small town u maybe lucky to clear 100 bucks were the peps are looking at ya like your trying to lick there kid. It took me a year to get the moms around here to not be afraid of me and.... OK I am starting to wine. You get my point, competition is good for us, look how amazing you all have gotten while i was off learning to do hair but at what point do we surrender into the roll of vender or keep fighting to maintain our entertainer statues?

I have to agree to an extent... as long as there are painters who will gladly pay the exorbitant fees to take their chances, the festivals/events will continue to refuse to see the benefit of having a face painter on the premises and lower the fee to reflect the win win. I have no problem walking away from an event that I suspect won't be worth my while, but there are so many here who will gladly jump at the chance.

Unfortunately, "all good things must come to an end". With the internet and tons of tutorials out there, super-easy access to products, and awesome message boards like these where you can learn how to get your foot in the business, we will see an overwhelming influx of painters with lower rates and willing to pay full price for expensive vendor spots that probably won't pay off for them.

This is just a fact of life that comes with the changing of times... I'm trying to ride this wave as long as I can, and enjoy every minute. I'm hoping I will know when it's time to jump off.

Jeez, that sounds depressing... LOL. Welcome back Monster Princess, I've missed ya!

You speak quite accurately I'm afraid, Angie

ya I guess that's kinda what i was hinting at. but maybe just maybe if we grab some of the newbies and start taken them under our wing instead of treating them like compaction we can start curving that wave or at lest take off the crest... kinda how the clowns did with there mafia I mean union No that's not to say I think we should start a union just start making it a point to collect minions and set them straight.

and Angie look at your work!!! OMGosh wow chicky!! ugg everyone is now wiping the floor with me lol

Monster Princess Art wrote:but maybe just maybe if we grab some of the newbies and start taken them under our wing instead of treating them like compaction we can start curving that wave or at lest take off the crest...

That's what we do here on FPF. LOL

And hey, no one could ever wipe the floor with you! Your work is awesome!

They may be paying the big vendor fee now, but surely they won't last the test of time. They'll work out their paying out more than they can make, & who can afford to keep that up!

I'm with Mandi...Good ones will last...bad ones won't. It is a LOT of work to get ready for a festival. Many people won't do more than a few, then they'll be gone.

ugg u guys are right, I got lucky when I started here. There really wasn't a lot of competition and I did have great support like u guys and opened a lot of doors in my little towns. I need to chill, just get back to painting and let my work speak for its self. Thanks everyone
And.... I know that's what the chat if for Ang lol but, wow from the way other face painters act toured each other up here I have a lot of work to do getting this chat out to all the newbies in my area.

and here is something I have been practicing, ready... "clear throat"...... mmmm
Thank you.
I am working on, thank you, with out excuses rofl Its harder then it looks.

I'm just going to ride it out as well... there's no way I'm going to take someone under my wing so that she can then be more empowered to stab me in the back... sorry...nope.

I'm getting my surf board out of storage...

hehe I can see your point. The Kevlar vest I ware around can get heavy but it works for me

Cream rises to the top... right?

I've had several cream teas here in the UK ... yum!!! And Cornish Pasties... tonight we are having fish & chips and spam fritters!

other then the spam I'm so with ya! hehe

Monster Princess Art wrote:hehe I can see your point. The Kevlar vest I ware around can get heavy but it works for me

LMBO! I need to get one of those... I swear sometimes I wonder if there isn't a bullseye on my back! It's hard work not being phased by the antics of others...

There was a festival I wanted to go to so badly. A biker rally, of all places. Family friendly, and looked like SO much fun... They wanted $750 for 3 days. I nearly stroked. I tried to explain to them that I am NOT in the Harley Davidson family, I am a housewife who loves to paint and make kids smile, but no dice. Had the same thing happen at a 4th of July celebration, and they wanted $350 for 1 day.... sheesh! Passed on them both...

it just kills me they do this. Especially when lessening to counsel members complain that all they can get at there fair and events are corporate out of town stuff. I get it they need to make a lot of money but I think the money they would loss on giving locals a brake on both rent would be made up buy people wanting to come see the local artisans instead of just being drug there buy there kids and trying to get out as fast as they can.

$350 for one day is nuts! I guess if you are big business then yeah you can afford it....but people like me.....nope.

btw...talking about newbies...you think the new Snazaroo commercial will create more painters??

I don't think I have seen the snaz commercial? But, yeah, probably! lol I also think, tho, that 1) FP'rs are a special breed, and 2) so are business owners. It takes a lot more to run this as a legit business than most ppl think about...

Na with as much as I use snaz and like it for little kids.. well its not the easiest paint to use.

I'm fortunate to be on friendly terms with most of the painters in my area. We refer work back and forth and get together sometimes. There are a few in the area that I either don't know or have had bad experiences with, and I just avoid them whenever humanly possible.

ugg I wish I could get the painters here to do that Angie.. but usually when they find out that I am MP they start looking like I am going to eat there solos.... I just keep trying though lol maybe its the horns. I should start a support group for the Cornu inflicted. heheh

I was outraged the the first time I was told that I was able to provide my services at a market 'free of charge to those attending'. They said they didn't pay for 'entertainment' and that I would get 'free marketing opportunities as they will advertise free face painting'.

I couldn't believe that they expected me to paint for free! I was happy to pay for the booth but then they wanted to charge me for a "business booth". Needless to say I declined the offer and had to really bite my tongue because I trully wanted to let them know where they could shove their 'offer'!

AngieAnders wrote:Unfortunately, "all good things must come to an end". With the internet and tons of tutorials out there, super-easy access to products, and awesome message boards like these where you can learn how to get your foot in the business, we will see an overwhelming influx of painters with lower rates and willing to pay full price for expensive vendor spots that probably won't pay off for them.

This is just a fact of life that comes with the changing of times... I'm trying to ride this wave as long as I can, and enjoy every minute. I'm hoping I will know when it's time to jump off.

Jeez, that sounds depressing... LOL. Welcome back Monster Princess, I've missed ya!

That is so well put. (what she says!!)