How much do you charge at PPF?

Since it seems like I am going to be doing a lot more of these this year, I was wondering what the going rate for full face painting and glitter tattoos are. Please post your location and what you charge.

Right now I live in the Charles Town, WV about 40 miles from DC.

I have been charging $5 each or two for $8, but am thinking I am not charging enough.

I saw one painter's set-up on one of "the lists" and saw she was charging $10 for face painting and $5 for tats. $10 each would defenitely make PPF more palatable, though I am not sure where she is.

Thanks!
-Metina

In california I charge $6.00 for full face and $2.50 for cheek art. Im thinking about raising full faces to $7.00. I know kamans art shope inside disney and at downtown disney charges $7.00 for a simple design and $15.00 for a more complex one and when Im working at disney I see MANY and I mean MANY children with face paintings on.

Small shows and festivals I think 5$ I may go up to 7$ on big ones. I think I also am going to add a small cheek art for 1$, something very simple, like a baseball or heart with kids name on it. I can't stand the thought of a kid not getting one because their parents (like myself) may not be able to afford them.

I'm in St. Louis, MO and I charge $5 for full face and I don't do cheek art. Unless I get a request for something small on their cheek then I just charge the full $5. If a little sibling is watching (like the age of 2 or 3) and seems interested, I'll paint something small on their hand at no extra charge.

I like the idea of offering a cheaper design. I have a feeling that most parents would encourage their children to pick from those designs though.

I do $5 for my smaller designs and $8 for full face ... some of the smaller designs actually can take just as long as the simple full faces which is why it's a little more than half of the large ones. I know some of the local painters go as high as $10, but I've heard parents walking away from there saying ten was way too much and didn't get painted because of it. So, I asked my husband how much he'd pay and he felt that as long as it was UNDER the ten dollar mark, it was fine, so eight seemed a good round number.

I've never done a PPF but it is an interesting idea. I think I will ask around here and see what people are charging.

Small festivals I charge $3, $5, and $10. Large festivals I charge $5, $10 & $15, and still have a line though it isn't as long. You can make a lot more even with sporadic customers this way, and be less stressed out, I have found.

I have learned to make my lowest priced designs very simple, my mid-range designs quick but nice, and my highest range spectacular. Most people choose the mid-range.

Usually there is free facepainting at these festivals, so I don't worry too much about the parents that can't afford it. If I hear a mother say something about the prices, I smile like I totally understand, and point them in the direction of more affordable options. I would probably be the one in the free line too if I were there as a patron. Lucky for us that enough parents like to treat their kids to the special occasion of sitting in our chairs!

At small festivals last year, I charged a $5 flat rate for any design they chose, including cheek art and also for the glitter tattoos. At large festivals, I charged $5 for cheek art and my simple face paintings and $8 for my more time consuming designs. I thought about trying a higher price, but was afraid people would complain.

I really prefer the full face to the cheek art, that's why I always charge at least $5.

I don't do cheek art either. I don't have the artistic talent to draw these designs. If I can do it with a sponge and brush, then it doesn't get done.

I was thinking about the 3-tier pricing also, but like the idea of one price too for simplicity. I don't normally work with a picture board rather just tell them I will do whatever they want. Going to a 3-tier price will make me come up with a display, which is more stuff to carry. Hmmm. Well see.

I would LOVE to be able to charge $10 per. I have a few big festivals coming up and might try it. We'll see.

At last year's Street Performers Festival here the three painters they brought in (they won't use locals!) were charging $9 for full faces and $7 for half-faces... and the lines were long.

They were doing fast designs that were pretty but not finessed... lots of UV colours that looked great in the sunlight. Very minimalist.

Also, their set-up was a mess - plastic shopping bags of sponges sitting on the table. All three working off the same table - they were not a "team" so each had their own stuff.

Oddly enough, the higher my prices are, the more respect I get, and the less complaining. I guess the people in line are committed to getting it done, and have respect for the art of it, or they wouldn't be there. The cheaper it is (especially if I'm paid hourly and it's free to the public or guests) the less respect I get. Go figure. Money speaks!

Um...

What's PFF?

PPF means "pay-per-face". That's just another way of saying that the customer pays the painter directly for their face painting, rather than the host of the party or event paying an hourly fee to the painter for being there.

I would love to charge $7 here but I really don't think the folks around here would be willing. I usually go with $3- $5 (and $2 for cheek art) and still have parents say that this is too expensive ..... I wouldn't feel comfortable charging more because of my level of skill, too. :/

I did a recent festival type event and since the set up was free for me, I charged my $5 flat rate. At first I wasn't getting any takers and one Grandmother, who I recognized from a Unity Church I used to attend came by with her Granddaughter.

She didn't recognize me, but anyway, when she found out it was $5, she decided it wouldn't be a good idea and told her Granddaughter that she wouldn't want to spend her $5 spending money on face painting. I absolutely don't have a problem with this, but what bothered me was the comment she made to me before she left. In a rather annoyed way, she said, "Why would we spend $5 when we can get it for free at so many places."

Did she want me to set up there, hauling my canopy, 4 concrete weights, my tables, my chairs, all my face paint supplies that are so expensive and all my signs and face paint design books that have taken hours to create and just happily give it away for free or $1?

That's the only thing that bothers me, if someone doesn't want to pay, I understand that, but why do some want to make the face painter feel bad about it?

I did end up swamped that night, but the first 45 minutes to an hour, I didn't get a single customer. Once my husband brought my 2 little ones over and I face painted them, people started lining up.

Hiya,

Many times, one of the best ways to get the ball rolling is to grab a couple of organizers kids and paint them for free. Usually once you get a free faces walking around, it gets the buzz started.

As to the grandmother, some people just don't have a filter and will say anything with total disregard. However, at her age, she is most likely from the depression era and is all about anything for free.

In light of this I want to add that this is another reason NOT to work for free, and absolutely don't tell the public it is free(even if it is). If you are paid say and maybe even put up a sign that "Face Painting is brought to you or sponsored by XYZ and is no charge to you."

If someone says "Is face painting free?" respond with "Sweetheart face painting is never free, but it is being sponsored by XYZ and is no charge for you today." If we want the minds of the public to change, then we have to start with ourselves.

This is something I can definetly improve on and will start with today's gig!

-Metina

Excellent idea, I might have to make up one of those sponsered signs for my paid events. Maybe I need to be more personally active in this small way of educating the public that it's not technically free.

I'll shortly be heading out to a local festival today at the same place. I'm hoping it goes well.

That's such a good thing to point out Metina. We know it's never free but the general public assume that because they don't foot the bill, we do it for free. It's a great idea to emphasise who IS kindly paying.

There are so many charities here who will try to get us to work and give them ALL the proceeds and maybe not even cover costs. I only help one or two because of personal reasons but they must cover costs.

I did a PPF at my church fair and had a hard time as some of the elders decided as they were giving their time and everything for free, I should be too. It's hard to attract kids at the best of times and I stuck to my guns. I even had turned down hourly work for them. It worked out fine in the end.

Sherry, that's so sad! I'm surprised she said that to you. You should have called her by name as she was leaving. That would have really tripped her up. Hehehee...

Well, don't let it bother you. For every humbug at a festival, there are 10 more who think it's wonderful. When I hear people say things like that, I just smile to myself because I know that in a minute or two - if not already - there will be hour long lines of people who can't WAIT to be painted for $5 or more.

Festivals are so funny though... If they see you there and not painting anyone, they automatically think your prices are too high. If they see you there with a line, they automatically think it's a great deal. We're all just sheep. Bahh.

yeah, I've been working some local hockey games lately... everyone was asking how much it cost as they came up and I said, "We're being paid by the arena today!" So, without even having heard this from you guys, I instinctively knew that I shouldn't be telling them "it's free" or they'd be asking me to do it for free at their events (everyone's a charity you know). I couldn't help but laugh as they were all saying, "it's about time the arena paid for something!" ... not like they don't have a million employees and hockey players to pay or anything.

I stuck to my word. I did an event at a public librairy yesterday and made a sign that said, "Face Painting today is being sponsored by XYS and EVS and is no charge to you."

No one asked how much so I didn't have to say it, but I did get several questions about working birthday parties ect. Now it is really hitting home, because I think we need to make every effort to stress that you are not a volunteer when everyone else around you is. The head of the librairy even saw my sign and commented that she liked it since nothing is really "free" and there is a more positive spin to say "No cost to you."

She was also shocked at how little they paid me for my four hours work(I gave them my non-profit rate) and said she had lots of events coming up that they would like to work with me on. We'll see.

-Metina

Angie, I never thought of that! When you first said that I thought, "Eeks, I don't remember her name. " But now it came to me.

I did my local festival yesterday and it was the same thing... nothing at first and once I gave away a few free ones, I was swamped the rest of the day, barely time for a bathroom break! Maybe I need to raise my rates or find someone to paint with me.

Raise your rates and keep the money in your pocket. You won't be as exhausted, won't have to depend on someone else and you will still make just as much!

So how do you collect money at these events? Where do you keep it so it doesn't get swiped?

I have an apron with zippered pockets, and I keep my money in there. I keep it on until I am in my car.