How to work out your rates??

hi guys,

I am just LOVING this forum! So thanks in advance for your replies!
I am in Australia. So far i have been charging $55 per hour. I *think* that it's a fairly reasonable price but I am too honest to ring other painters and 'pretend' to want to book them to get a quote lol.

So, when I get a query saying ' Can you tell me how much it will be to come and paint 15-20 kids?' I always get stumped.

I have been saying ' I can paint about 10 faces an hr depending on the design' which is true. But I could paint more if I rushed and then compromised on my work so... do I then say '2 hrs' or 1.5 hours?
I sort of feel like, if iget all the kids done in an hr and a half, do i just charge accordingly?
Do you guys charge by the half hour?

I am so confused about this... Also, how does your travel fee work? Do you say outside a blah blah km radius i charge a blah blah fee? thanks guys

I charge by the hour with a two-hour minimum.

For birthday parties have a two-hour party package that is limited to 15 faces for the price of an hour and a half (extra $ for extra faces) I take my time at birthday parties to make really detailed fancy faces and make it fun for me and the kids.

The only time I would bill out in half-hours is in an overtime situation - full rate for the booked time, then when approved by the client, if overtime is done it is charged in 30 minute increments, rounded up.

Travel is charged at $0.50/km if the trip is over 50 kms round trip from my home. I don't limit my range - but I don't travel in winter outside of the immediate area.

Thanks, Shannon, We have been face painting for events for 3 years now and still have only had one Birthday Party, would like to do more. People ask about them, but no phone calls so far. We charge $120 for 2 hours and there is two of us at times. We charge $75. for the two hours if only one is needed.
But I get the feeling that is more then the area will pay. The entertainment things, Game house or movie place charge $140. for up to 8 kids then $12.50 for each extra kid. They get balloons, popcorn and drinks, movie or fee tokens for games. So do we stay where we are and just get our name out more or lower slightly and see what happens?
Thank you again.

Holy cow! Don't lower your rates. $120 for two hours for two people? That's just $30 an hour. Are you sure that's enough to even cover your costs? Instead of jumping to the conclusion that your prices are too high, try a difference in marketing. instead of advertising $75 for two hours, try $35 an hour (two hour min). or break it down to per face- Jeez! if you charge $4 per face then you will be getting paid MORE than your hourly!

Yeah! What Geekophile said! Don't lowball yourself!!!

Thanks Ladies, I didn't think I was to low and the biggest reason I've kept it at what is, is because my daughter is still a teenager. I would like to charge that price or close to it for each of us. She gets her license for driving soon and then we'll each be able to do separate gigs, if another car is available.
I am trying to get our name out there, but it seems at time the mentality up here in NH why pay for face painting, I can do that for you at home with my craft paints. Or it's to expensive, $10. for a full face. I have tried the educating part of our business, but so far not much luck.
I do have promoters asking us to work, but it's we pay a vendor's fee first and ppf after. Not much in the birthday realm...
I will try advertising it differently like you said and see where that leads. Thanks for the advice.

Fanta pants- For birthdays I book 2 hours even if there's only 10 kids. At the moment I charge $140 for 2 hours face painting only (I offer other stuff as a full party package). The reason I stick with 2 hours and dont offer less is because I can take my time with more detail and after the kids are painted usually some of the adults will want to be painted too. I'm painting the whole time, even if it's just touch-ups towards the end.
I wouldn't want to compromise my work by rushing at a private gig. I get most of my bookings from parents of painted kids so I like to send the kids home wearing my better work
Plus if you consider time spent meeting the family, set up and take down time etc.. (which I dont charge for), I always end up being there an extra 30 to 45 mins regardless of the length of the booking so I feel it's more worth the effort for two hours pay instead of one.
Know what I mean?
Oh, and I charge $20 + for travel outside my immediate area (ie- next town is 30km away)
So far nobody has balked at my price but I guess different areas have different rate ceilings... you could always have a high rate and lower it or offer discounts if you aren't getting the bookings.

Thanks for your replies!

I think as of the new year I will charge for 2 hours minimum, however what happens when people want to hire you for say six kids? If I finish them in an hour, what happens then?

Maybe you could think about offering additional things in cases like that? Party games etc? Perhaps you can charge a higher rate for the first hour and lower for subsequent hours. eg- $80 first hour then $60 p/hr from then on. Still have your 2 hour minimum but you can drop to one hour at the higher rate at your discretion.

I just fixed up my rates and I display them like this on my site:

1 hour - $100.00
2 Hours or more - $80.00 per Hour

*Additional travel charges may apply*

That way I can set my travel rates as the gigs come. I may need to make it more concrete if clients start crying about how this person only paid that, but so far it's working.

Also, if I quote a high travel fee and they don't like my quote, I can wiggle down to a reasonable travel fee and they think I did them a favour.