How much to charge per hour?

Hey,
I'd like to get some input as to how much to charge for birthday parties and such. There is very little competition when it comes to party entertainment in this area, but I don't think most people can afford much either. I'm new so I'm trying to build a reputation and referrals and I'm still kind of slow. ...but I don't want to sell myself short either. Any suggestions/input/help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Do a search for entertainers of all types in your area... face painters, clowns, magicians, story tellers, etc. See what all of them are charging and put yourself somewhere in the middle of all that. You don't want to the cheapest because perceived quality is important, but you also don't want to be the most expensive, especially when you are just starting. You may find that with the exception of a few low ballers, the rest are charging about the same.

When in doubt, Shannon Fennel on here has an article about calculating your costs and paying yourself a fair wage.

Shannon Fennel's resouse is a great way to figure out your fair wage.

Hi... the link to my resources is the link in my signature!

There is a spreadsheet for calculating YOUR costs and figuring in a wage, as well as an article I wrote to go with it.

Thanks Shannon!
Perry, I tried doing a search and there are so few entertainers around here, I couldn't get a good idea. I found only one that even offered face painting and they wanted a perspective customer to fill out a form and they would call back with pricing.

Oh my goodness, Shannon! That is a great resource!!

Shannon, thanks for sharing!! It is a great resource, helped me so much. I just found out I wasn't that bad on setting my rate before, But now I can set it right!

At a fundraiser, came across 3 facepainters. I asked them what their birthday party rate was. They told me $50 for 3 painters.... not each painter but for all 3! Their painting was....... let's just say, you get what you pay for.