Festival Rates?

So I'm thinking of doing face painting at an up coming festival but I'm unsure of what to charge per face. How do you gauge what to charge per face?

This is what I was thinking.....
cheek art - $3
eye design - $5
half face - $10
full face - $15

does that sounds about right? My boy friends says that sounds really low and he was worried we weren't going to make back the $400 for the booth.

Thoughts?

How many days is the festival, and what is the general attendance?

The prices sound good to me. I usually do either $3, $5, & $10 per face, or $5, $10, $15. How much you can make depends on how much in demand you are, and how fast you can paint. $400 is a lot for a booth fee, but if it's multiple days, and there are two of you working and splitting the fee, it can be very profitable.

sounds about right to me too... I do $5 and $8. The trick is that if you go much higher than what you are suggesting, you probably won't make it back because you may not have anyone willing to pay it. What you are suggesting is pretty much what everyone charges (that isn't just out to undercut everyone) and most people are used to that price range for it.

it's a two day festival and it's just me painting - he's not a painter at all and is there more for crowd control and support.

Okay - thanks for the advice. I thought that sounded right. I know I wouldn;t pay more than that for a face painting so I didn't think any one else would.

I usually charge from $1 for cheek art to $3- $5 for full faces. I wouldn't feel comfortable charging more than that because of my skill level and the fact that I live in a rather poor area... heck, I'm rather poor myself.

Good luck and have fun!

$400 for a two day festival is OUTRAGEOUS!!! You would have been much better off negotiating a percentage if they weren't willing to hire you for the event. If they are expecting enough of a crowd willing to spend enough money to justify their booth fees, then you need to charge a MINIMUM of $5. And that would be for SMALL stuff that takes less than 30 seconds to do.
I would suggest to price at $5 for "hearts on cheeks", $7-$8 (quarter face designs), $10-$12 (half faced designs), $15 (full faces), and $18-$20 (custom designs).

I would also insist and get it in writing that you are the ONLY FACEPAINTER or you are going to be very upset and out the money if there is another one there. You also have to make sure that none of the other vendors is offering it in their booths. It happens all the time and can really ruin your weekend. Please protect yourself!

Is it too late to back out? At two hundred per day, it will take you probably 3 hours of painting each day with a steady line just to make your booth fee back. I agree with dropping the $3 option entirely. Perhaps this is a very well attended festival with lots of money being spent. Best of luck to you!!

Will you let us know how it goes afterwards?

wow - now yall are scaring the heck out of me.... those booth rates are actually pretty standard here for festivals and events.
Not sure how it works in the face painting world, but when I do henna, those are the booth rates I pay. I've tried to negotiate rates before when doing henna, but no one ever discounted anything... I think it's cause I live in a big city. Couldn't even imagine someone paying me to be there... wow

... okay... now I gotta re-think this.... maybe I'll wait for a smaller festival...

EEEK! Not sure where you are.......or what kind of Foot Traffic is coming with that $400 booth fee. The HIGHEST I have EVER paid is $70.00 for a one day event and that was with 15,000 foot traffic. Now that one turned out pretty darn good.

In some of the smaller surrounding towns.....with little $20 booth fees, I will do cheek art for $3.00 but on the standard I charge a MINIMUM of $5.00. I base my rates on the complexity of the design, time, etc. If there is a lot of detail work - I'm not doing anything for less than $7.

One thing I have learned is, if people are willing to pay for face painting - they're just willing to pay. I don't think I could get away with $18 - $20 here - people would scoff at that.

If you are in that big of a city though - you should DEFINITELY drop the $3.00. Especially with that booth fee. If there are two of you working - that will help but, that is still an AWFUL lot of money IMHO.

Breathe. You know your area. This will be a learning experience. We've all had them. You will be fine.

I just started adding the "Special request" to my menu when doing PPF events.....it helps the line keep moving, because people choose from the posted designs (I prefer not to take design samples when doing parties, because I like them to come up with cool new things at those events where I am paid to be there......just not at PPF).
I added it after a fellow face painter and friend of mine over in Texas said she has is on her board to discourage people asking her to do things like a Dora on the cheek. She said a lady cam up and asked for a heart on her cheek, and she stood firm saying, "That is not on my menu board for today, so it would be a special request and costs $20." Believe it or not, the lady paid it happily!!!!

I had not though of that, thanks for the great idea!

it's a 2 day festival with 15,000 plus people... but it's a free musi festival with over 200 bands I think

what do you guys think??

I think you are over thinking this. You have already paid/committed to it from what I have read. The prices seemed fine by most, averaging most of the responses. Prep and enjoy yourself. Then let us know how it went. Have a great time!

IDK enough about your town to make any other assumptions......I say go for it and if it don't work out well, you can always use it as a learning experience. Use your energy now to prepare the best you can, and do your best, and that's all you can do!

And if you're that scared, you can always cancel - just understand that when you do that you can burn bridges.

wow!! This was a disappointing thread! I was reading and excited for an ending to see how you did and nothing..... Please let me know!

lol sorry - no I ended up booking another gig that same weekend for $600 so instead of the risk, I went for the guarnateed win

I was thinking about it and for me to make $600 - I would have to sell at least $1,000 of faces...

yeah - i'm a chicken head

You are not a chicken head, just practical.

I will be doing one myself this weekend. A fairly small Watermelon Festival in NC but expecting 30-40,000 people. Our booth fee was only $50, and I'm going with $3, $5, and $7. My really quick cheek designs, the economy ones, are $2. Those are done with a stencil and a rainbow cake. My glitter tatts are $5. I'm going to see if that seems too steep, because this is a very poor area as well. If I get a lot of frowns at the prices, and people walking away because it's "too high", I will lower them on Saturday. I should at least make my $50 back. For you, your prices sound right to me. Just paint things you can do quickly so you can get in plenty of faces. Get some rest...hopefully, we'll both be swamped!

I do $5/$8/$10 - eye or cheek/1/2 face/full face. People here have no problem at all and often compare me to Disney @ $30 (and my skills are not "Disney"). There are always going to be walk aways, no prob. Coming from a business background, you have to do 80 faces @ $5 (always assume the lowest), that's 40/day just to break even. If you have a steady line, that's very feasibly done in 2 hours. Your first hour may be a little slow getting started. I also suggest posting some of your best designs on large photos (great price at Costco) to draw attention and a big honkin' "face painting" sign so everyone knows what you're doing there!! I think $400 sounds like a lot of $$ too, but that's $200/day & if it's all day and you've prepared your booth ready for biz, you could very possibly walk away with $700-$1000 for the weekend. MOST IMPORTANT: Be confident with your pricing and don't apologize for it. Remember your costs involved in buying the booth, makeup, etc (don't forget your boyfriend isn't there working for "free") If it's ONLY $10 for a full face, such a deal!! Be sure to let us know how it goes.

Good luck!!

Grinmpt, I like the way you broke it down. Thank you.
How do you do charge for a paid event, of 3 to 4 hrs.?