High vendor fee, better turn-out?

We got a last minute gig at a heritage fest for Saturday. The organizer was really sweet and didn't charge us the $50 late fee because she really liked our work. But the vendor fee is $200. It's their 13th year doing this event and it's in a huge and busy part of historic downtown. I'm just wondering if a higher vendor fee means a better turn-out and more money for us. Has anyone else come across this?

No way...higher fees don't mean anything. I had an event try to charge me their $1000 fee....I politely declined. In the end, they brought me in on percentage, and I made $60. All 4 days... 40 000 people, huge marketing...just not a good fit for painting. It was a trial for me...but huge numbers and fees don't equal profit.

I'm not sure about festival painting and turn-out possibilities as I don't do them. But I do wish you lots of luck.

Not always. You have to figure out what the mix is. If there are kids, you might do really well, but two hundred for one day would be a lot, and it depends on how much you need to make per hour to pay your booth rent and make the profit you want.
I have had just as good luck, or better even, when the booth rent is low. Even if the event is slower, and you have less overhead to make up for, you could do better than if you have to paint like a maniac to turn a profit. I may paint fewer people, but make just as much or more. I have one this weekend and the booth rent was $15 (which included electric...) so I am on vitual profit midway through my second face, and, even if I am slower, I make more per hour because I use less product. I had one that was 150 for a day, and I passed, but they called me and offered me a spot for 50, and I took it, but it was slower than slow...

The best craft show I have is at an elementary school where the PTO has the kids doing all kinds of performances all day long on the gym stage. If you can find one like that, get in...you will be swamped all day. If you have any event with a stage, and oodles of kids (from the piano players to the karate demos) you will hae kids walking by all day long...new ones every 20 minutes. Something to look for!

$200 is a very high. I don't go higher than $100 for a 1 day event. How many hours is the event?
My criteria:
How long has the event been going(13 yrs is a pretty good run, but we have a craft show at a church that's been going for 25 yrs but NEVER has kids... just old folks & their crafty stuff).
What's the target market? If it's all Car Guys, you won't be painting much.
How many have been in attendance in past year.
How's the weather(I did a 2 day festival where the only thing painted was my arm. It rained & the wind blew, etc). I was out $150 + all turned down business for that weekend(it was potentially a $2000 weekend).
Are there other face painters(free/craft paint hookers/professional)? So far my biggest competition was someone doing very simple stuff or free church teens(it didn't put a dent in my profit).
Festivals & Craft Fairs are always a gamble.

Also where they place you at the festival. Did one festival filling in for another painter so thank God I didn't pay booth space but all the kids stuff was hidden in a back corner we only made $16.00

Wow those are some horror stories. It's 10am-5pm, I'd like longer but I guess I'm glad it's not because it gets dark at 6 now and I have no lights. Last year brought in 6,000. Its a mix of visitors, mostly families. We'll be right between the children's museum tent and the veriozen tent with a Wii display, so even if we bust hopefully we can make good connections. It's in a busy park and the weather is expected to be nice. So I guess we'll hope and pray and see what tomorrow brings

$200 is a little high for a one day event... that's not to say that you can't make that much money in one day, but even on a fairly busy day at a festival I'd pull in $400 to $500, so do you want to give up HALF of your money in vendor fees? IF it's steady with the right customers and the weather is nice and .....

Glitterfly and I usually split on one festival here that is $200 for 3 days and it is a well established, family event so it is worth it.

I know many artists try to negotiate their fee. Face painting can draw more people to certain events. I think there is another thread here about selling yourself more of an entertainer than a vendor. Good luck with it.

I could use that thread, I think I'll search for it. I had an event organiser contact me and offer me the "opportunity" to purchase a stand at their show for only $450 per day. I managed to politely decline. What the hell?

I need to look up that thread Flopsie! My strategy has been to apply late, and see if I can get a discount, but I have not tried to sell myself as entertainment, I need to work on that.

Well I am also splitting it between another facepainter and a caricature artists in my booth. So really it's just about $68. We'll see. I'm shaking in my little chuck taylors ):

I've not had good success in festivals this year - not bad turn-outs but lousy painting time.

I wish you a much better experience!

68 bucks is worth doing, especially if you expect a decent turn out. I hope you have a great day!

Huzzah! Thanks for all the advice guys, glad we stuck it through. It was a city and cigar festival...so it was pretty dang stinky. But we managed to make $300 for charging pretty low and we got an amazing gig in March and got in good with Verizon wireless and they have events all the time. It's awesome to do some crap gigs and then one that pays off. So good!

This was my first year painting.

It was hit/miss for me. Some of the festivals were worth the higher fee, some were not.

What you have to remember is that you need to make certain that you can make not only the fee back, but the total cost of your presence there. (gas, food, advertising, supplies, etc).

Oddly enough, there were two festivals with a 25$ entry fee in VERY small areas.. and I made more money there than at a festival where there were 10,000 people!!! Go figure.

Take notes about what sold well at whatever event you were at... etc.... it will help in the upcoming years in deciding what venues you wish to continue working at.

Good luck!