PPF Prices

Pay Per Face Prices

I often find my self doing a lot of commissioned gigs, or 'by donation' gigs most of the time. But every now and then we get a 'vending' gig where we can charge by the design.

This last one I did was more of a time filler. I was offered a free spot at a festival on short notice as their other painter had to cancel, but they still wanted face painting.

So I was mulling first about HOW to do the prices.
I needed to keep written price stickers OFF my signs as I use them for other events, but i still needed a way to mark them. People don't know what design would be a 'large', or a 'medium' or an 'easy' one, and I had no desire to rearrange my signs into 'groups' as i felt that would take away from their aesthetic appeal.

So took on the idea of using colors and a 'price key' that i saw on these photos i found.
  

I liked the idea of the dots, and using colors as a code. That way when I'm at my other events they don't have to have prices on them. Just colored dots that don't have any meaning unless i give them meaning! I also laminated my 'price keys' and wrote the prices on them with dry erase marker, so I could change them if I liked. (that came in handy) 
I had 6 colors, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple and Pink (I could make 7 colors if i add orange if i want or more if I add brown, black and white!)

So with that all figured out and my six colors ready, only one thing left to do.... assign a price to each color.

This was the hard part, and I'm still not sure I like the prices I picked.
Yellow - $2
Purple - $4
Green - $5
Pink - $10
Blue - $15
Red - $20

I had VERY few red dot ones, and not as many yellows as I would have liked just for options. I had no idea what the crowd would be like, but soon found near EVERYONE telling their kids they can only pick a 'yellow sticker' one. It was pretty slow, so it wasn't long before I changed my prices to this

Yellow - $2
Purple - $3
Green - $4
Pink - $5
Blue - $10
Red - $15

I sold more just with that small change. However I want to start over with my stickers choose different price increments, and I wanted to know....

What works for you? What do you use?

You do a full face tiger, cheetah, etc for $2.00???????? EDIT:: Nevermind, I just realized you were showing examples of other photos you had seen LOLOLOL. I thought the top one was yours based on the example you had of Denise's board. GURL, you almost gave me a stroke HAHA

Anyway, I did mine like the picture below. I have 3 price points, which I change depending on the type of event and how much, if anything, I have to pay to get in but no design is advertised below $5.00. If I am asked, and I never have been, for a cheap something or other, I'll do it but I am not about to offer anything for $2.00. LOL No way-no how!!!

lol I would never do a full face tiger for $2 lol
But we do offer a lot of smaller stuff, not just full faces. I like there to be options for the low income families who can't afford much. In this last neighborhood it was very low income, and there was cheap or free craptastic painting down a few blocks from where we were. I didn't see them, but I did see what walked by and it was some of the absolute worst I had seen in a good while. Probably free volunteers or something.

Here was our setup




When I look at it it seems pretty sparse. I'm going to add more to it slowly. Any suggestions?

I adore your setup. Love the flowers off the top edge and the simplicity of it. Clean, neat yet the flowers give it a fairy garden type feel.

HEY! That's my pic! Yay for inspiring people!
It's old now, and I have a five tier system.
My pics are still done with background colors, and I have a price key with those background colors.
Each event determines the price points.
Once upon a time, I read that you should price by what concessions are going.
If a beer is $5 or $8, you know your "audience", and price accordingly.
At lower income events, I price
3,5,8,10,12
At higher income events, I price
5,8,10,12,15
Same pics, same designs, different prices.
Why? Because things are worth what people will pay for them.
When your line is too long, your prices are too high. You will work harder for your dollar.
If you price higher, less people will line up, and you still make the same money, with less stress.
I did an event last fall where I proved this solidly.
My husband was astounded.
He felt like I didn't work very hard (like I do at other events) because I didn't have an hour-long line.
But when he counted down the cash, he couldn't believe it. I actually pulled in half again what I did at the event where I busted tail.
No more Mr. Nice Price.
My time and skill are worth more.
Here's my current price key: It is laminated, as are my other photos. I write on it my prices at each event. Sometimes I put up a "Happy Hour! All faces $1 off!" sign to get things moving. When it picks up, I mark the last person in mine and take it down. If it stays slow, I just keep it up all day.

Great thread running here, and not to hijack for more than three seconds, but, Forest Fairy, may I ask (after complimenting you on your beautiful artwork!) what your photo board is made of? The A-frame one? The thing I'm asking is what is the product that all the photos are printed on? It looks like that laminated corrugated lightweight board stuff such as Vistaprint makes their lawn signs out of. I have been considering having my designs printed on something like this. Is that what it is? Thanks!

Looks like Coroplast. That's what mine are.
Corrugated plastic.
You can get it at any sign store. They will cut to size.

Yes rthling! You are very inspiring!
I save photos of all the face painting setups i find online, good and bad (yours is one of the good) because i like to get ideas and inspired, and even a bad set up can teach you something. Like if their sign looks too cluttered, or it too small you can't read it as a distance, which is why i chose to have my sign say just 'Face Painting' in colored caps, to be clear a ledgible. More information is inside the tent, but you have to have the basics to draw them in.

I like your pricing options too! They make total sense. I was feeling like $2 might be a little low. :/
Yes things are worth what people pay for them, totally agree, which is why i like the system of changing up the prices based on where you are set up. No need to prove anything to me, i know this system works and know the logic behind it.

OMG I LOVE the 'happy hour' idea!!!

JJJJJ - No problem. I get asked this a lot on here in private messages. Yes rthling is right, it's coroplast. My last sign was WAY too heavy with the old board, the black corrugated plastic is nice and light, perfect width for the A-Frame i already had too. I laminate my dessigns individually and stick them to the board with rolled tape. Works great, and I can swap designs with ease with out have to buy a new print each time. What a money saver! This sign has withstood rain, and hail storms, but it mostly gets it's damage from kids picking at it. :/ If they see a lifted corner, they will lift it more. So I'm actually ordering a hard clear plastic sheet that slips right over top. I'm going to get one for the larger face sign too and secure it with bulldog clips. 

Other great thing about my A-Frame sign is that I can 'flip' the boards around at the end of the day so they point inwards. This hides the designs from the "one mores" at the end and also protects the front during transport.

Thanks Fairy. I have heavy boards currently and the thrill of transporting them is gone   (if it ever existed!). I am definitely moving to coroplast. I do have the clear plastic sheets over my current boards, and I got them from Home Depot and Lowe's. I bought them at separate times, in the same size panels, and so here's a tip: one of my three plastic sheets is waaaaaaay heavier than the rest. This has to do with its thickness. So be sure to check for that when purchasing.

And yes, kids pick at everything! I work in a school and I often use floor stickers to mark sitting areas, etc. If it peels upward (or even if not) by one teeny edge, it will get picked at over and over. If you stick it, they will peel!            Kids!!!

no problem JJ Always happy to share.

I have a similar system but include multiple dot colors. The top dot color is for that exact design and the lower/alternate dots indicate that the design can be scaled up/down. For example, I can do a full face monster, monster mask or one eye monster that would all be based on the main picture. This allows a kid who really wants the monster but the parent doesn't want to spend $10 to get the $8 or $5 version.

I've thought of doing that, Kris. I didn't know how to do it!
Thank you so much for explaining how that works!
Do you have problems with people not having a visual, so not choosing the other (cheaper) options?
Or is that kinda the point?  

I do that for a few designs. Mostly people just ask "What do all these color dots mean?"   
So I then explain. And the reindeer means nothing specific - I just never used him before and he was getting lonely in Emoticonland.

Poor lil reindeer.
      

On the sign I list a brief description and price with a colored dot by it. I also have the statement that most designs can be scaled up/down. The price sign would be something like this (but with the colored dot by the price number):

Face Painting
Full Face Deluxe: $12
Full Face Basic: $10
Half Face/Deluxe Mask: $8
Simple Design/Mask:$5
Mustache: $1
Many designs can be scaled up or down.

There are some people who are more dense than others and don't really get it but I just say something to the paying parent/person "So you want spider guy, do you want the one eye, mask or full face version?" and point to the price sign.

Also my display has pictures with various levels (but not various levels of each design) so hopefully they are able to understand the differences.

Love it!      
(Even more than I love the bouncy emoticon, which is a lot!)

I like the idea of having a foot note that certain designs can be 'scaled down' to meet a lower price.