Contemplating raising my rates...Help please:)

I have been painting for couple of years, but made my business offiicial June 2013. I was charging $70 per hour and rates dropped if more hours were booked. It definately helped to up sell for the parties with a lot of kids. I started at that rate for being new and not feeling my speed was up to par (8-10 per hour) as you big dogs:)

Recently, at my "day" job, they allowed me to offer facepainting at our monthly Kids Club. I knew I could only get paid my hourly rate at my job there, so I was using it to up my speed and practice. This month it was really busy and I was able to get a more accurate time of my speed...91 faces (1 time only) in 4 hours putting me at 23 faces per hour!!! That's even with some down time a couple times:)

So now I feel I can raise my prices now that my speed has increased. I have read from other posts to charge what I'm worth and I agree. However, is it too soon from official start up to raise my prices again? Is jumping to $90 still under selling me or is $100 better? I always under sell my abilities and I can't seem to improve in not doing that to myself yet...haha. Trying though! I believe others in my area run from $40-$125.

Sorry for the rambling... and Thanks for your help!!

I would go to the $100 or higher. Scan the local gigmasters, etc., to check out the range of others if it makes you more comfortable. But believing in YOU and what you are worth is the part that is most important here. There are lots of threads on the forum if you search, in which people discuss just these things. Some people get more work once they raise their rates. A big thing is to believe in your worth. It will come across in your phone voice when you field calls. And if you are struggling with having undersold yourself in the past, join the club! But it's part of the life adventure to learn and grow. So do that "fake it till you make it" thing, and practice SOUNDING like you believe in your worth. Then, experience after experience, you will move to a place where one day it comes naturally, because you DO believe in yourself. (See? I can ramble too!  )

But good luck, and go for it!

Thanks JJJJJ! It means a lot:) I'll do more research on the prices of others, too.

I did read some of the other topics:) It helped me to realize I shouldn't have a 3 tier pricing. Like someone said in a conversation that might have been on a fb forum... "Do you work less during those last couple hours to justify charging less?".

I wouldn't jump TOO high, since you have some real low cost painters in your area. I would never want to be the highest, but the $90. seems fair, even the $100 seems OK. I wouldn't worry about the spread fromt he 70 to the 90. However, if people call you tat JUST took you card and want to book you, they might balk at the 20-30 per hr increase. In that case you can always give them a slight discount if you wanted, once time only. But the new people who take your card will only know your new price. Also, I personally feel I rather put a 2 hr minimum instead of price too high. Even if you do $100, but tell people you can paint 23 faces, you may have to do all the traveling/setup for one hour, as lots of parties have that number of kids or less. Just something to think about. I charge $80 an hr (OK for my area) but I have a 2 hr minimum, so I know I'll always get $160 for a party and I get plenty of them

I've seen your work improve a lot.charge more.
not only are your designs consistently improving, but so is your speed.

$90 sounds better. For clients who have booked you before, that's a big jump that they may not be expecting and may not be able to afford.

There have been times after I increased my rates by $10 an hour, that people complained.

If you really feel that you want to go as high as $100, be prepared that some of your clients may look somewhere else for their face painting needs.

I've found that many of my past clients make it a point to tell me not only that I need to charge more but ALSO that they didn't tell their friends how much I charged-because they really think I need to charge more and they know their friends can afford it.


but, I have taken care to make sure I keep track of who paid how much so that if I ever get a call back, I know not to give them my new MUCH higher rate-though I do let them know I took their advice and raised my rates.

Don't worry about what you "should" charge. What do you want to charge? It is hard to raise rates over and over again, so if you plan to settle on $115- that is easier to jump there soon rather than by $5 increments over the course of a year. If you charge $XXX per hour, and you find yourself saying sorry when someone says it is too much, and you wish you were more affordable, don't charge that much. Remember we NEVER buy 100% of what we look at, so shrug it off when people say no thanks. Make sure it feels good. That is the only time it will make you happy.

Thank you everyone. It all was great advice!! I'm going to go right in the middle of everyone in my area with $85 with a 10% or 5% discount when 3+ hours are booked. I'll decide when that time comes:)
I've had a couple of calls, but one wanted me to replace her painter that got pink eye and only wanted to pay $25 per hour. She thanked me for my time but I was too much. I said thank you for letting me know and to have a wonderful evening:). The other is for in late March. Of course they are pricing round but they liked the contract, deposit and how thourough I was in my quote. So we'll see on that one... haha:)

Thank you again for the wonderful advice! It's so greatly appreciated!

Building a customer base takes time and patience. Even after a bunch of years, this January I had ONE booking. I should enjoy it while it lasts, cuz some months can be crazy.

But do what you can to get the word out. Keep posting on every site, that helps with your website, do some freebie or discounted work where there will be LOTS of kids (a school or preK can be a good thing). Make sure everyone goes home with your card. Place your business on any free booking sites that you can find. And practice like crazy between jobs!