cafe reading arrangements

I have just been invited to read cards in a lovely tea shop!

I left one of my pamphlets there for the manager a couple months ago and had forgotten about it, and now she has emailed me saying she is interested in having me doing readings there- yay!

She would like to meet to have a sample reading, and discuss.... but, I'm hesitant to respond until I know exactly what sort of arrangement I'd like to have. I'd like to have a rate established before I talk to her, if it's possible, but I'm feeling a little indecisive.

Ideally, I'd like to be there for a busy evening, every week or two, doing short, cheap readings. (ie: ten dollars for a 3-card spread/ 5-15 minutes approx.)

I already have a nice private room in a Pagan store to read out of, and they make half hour/hour appointments for me.
I would like to do quick readings in a cafe as a way to get my name out a little more and promote myself.
My hope is that I'll be able to catch the interest of some people that may not be initially inclined to spend a large ammount of money on a reading- by doing a shorter, cheaper version, passing along a pamphlet, and perhaps if they're happy with it they'll decide to make an appointment for something more in-depth. (at the store I regularly read from).
I'm not interested in making long appointments through the tea shop, since I feel a loyalty to the store, and I prefer that environment for doing longer, more intense readings.

My question then is what is a fair cut for the cafe? How much should I have to pay them for the privilege of reading in their space? Or is it just a mutually beneficial arrangement, as my presence will draw in more customers for them?
(ieerhaps the store would 'hire' me to be there, paying a flat rate to me, or perhaps they would just let me keep the cost of the readings.)

At the store I usually read in, I get 60% of the cost of the reading, and they get 40%. Their rate is $80 for and hour (so I get 48$), and $40 for a half hour (I get $24). But... there I have a nice, private space, they advertise and make appointments for me, and because the readings are long, the money is generally worth my time.

For those of you who have done readings in a cafe kind of environment, I'm curious about how it worked?

did you pay to be there?
did the cafe get a percentage?
were you paid per reading?
or did you charge the cafe a flat rate for your services?

Rasa said:

For those of you who have done readings in a cafe kind of environment, I'm curious about how it worked?

did you pay to be there?
did the cafe get a percentage?
were you paid per reading?
or did you charge the cafe a flat rate for your services?

Click to expand...

Hi Rasa

I haven't done reading "for" a cafe but I do all my readings "at" a cafe so I get to keep ALL the money. Totally irrevelant to your question, I know.

Rasa said:

Ideally, I'd like to be there for a busy evening, every week or two, doing short, cheap readings. (ie: ten dollars for a 3-card spread/ 5-15 minutes approx.)

Click to expand...

I was wondering though; since you've considered the rates and the type of readings you'd like to offer at this cafe, would asking the nice lady if she's agreeable to you getting the $10/- you wanted per reading of 3 cards (15 mins tops) and she gets her cut from what she decides to charge the clients at her cafe? Who arranges for clients? You or her?

I had a cafe owner who wanted an arrangement similiar to yours BUT he & his gf didn't want to do the work of arrangeing clients or commit to any form of payment (to me) if there weren't any readings. They did suggest I bring my own clients to their cafe AND they get a cut for it. Wonder which planet they come from???!!

Is she ok with you exchanging contact numbers with the client/s in case they want personal readings on days when you're not there? Maybe the day/s and time would be small details to iron out... once the main concern ($$??) is out of the way.

Thank you for your response, Sacredashes.

After pondering costs and percentages for awhile, I decided it didn't really matter what conclusions I arrived at until I went to speak to the manager of the teahouse.

I did get the job, and we agreed on $15 for a 3-card spread, and she would get 25% of my total earnings for the evening. I'm starting out just being there weekly to see how it goes, and if it's good, I'll take on more days.

This will probably work out to less money for my time than doing longer appointments elsewhere, but it is a popular location, so I'm hoping to be busy, and that it will even out.

The manager is flexible about the arrangement, so I can try something else if this doesn't work.

I don't really mind sitting around and not getting paid, if no one's coming in.... but if that's frequently the case, I won't continue reading there for long.
They also don't mind me cross-promoting other places that I read from, and will do some internal advertising (ie: big chalkboard with schedule of events on the wall, sandwich board, etc.).

I'm looking forward to starting there!

Glad it got worked out.. All the best to you and I hope you get real busy at this new place.

Can you post a file of your pamphlet here (with your personal information "greeked" out, of course)?

I am reading this with interest as I am looking to do this, too, but I don't know what to offer/ or how to approach business owners.

Having a base percentage to offer in payment is a good start, though.

TY
~KK

Hi, Kilts

I have attached a copy of my pamphlet. I hope it gives you some ideas for your own promotional material.

I have found pamphlets to be really useful! I think they are less easy to lose than a business card, and I can present a lot of information to someone (assuming they read it), who I may have a too brief an encounter with (or not speak to at all, if they're picking up a pamphlet I've left somewhere) to give a sufficient amount of info to pique their interest in what I do.

Before I made them, I thought of an overview of what I wanted to include, and how it would be laid out over the pages. I wanted the sections to be really separate so that the information is clear, and looks neat. (Honestly, I think it took me longer to format everything so it fit in the tri-fold style nicely than it did to write it in the first place....)

I tried to make all those sections as brief as I could, while still expressing everything I wanted to. Basically, I just tried to think of how I could best get the interest of potential clientele, and present myself in an appealing and honest fashion. I wanted to clarify: what Tarot does, How I use it, Why they should get a reading in the first place, and why they should come to me specifically. I also used it as a space to promote other endeavors (parties and gift certificates, and will probably add something about classes next time I print some out.).

I have had spectacular luck in presenting myself to businesses... the only two I've spoken to about reading out of, I have ended up in.. so I'm just thrilled with how things are going so far! (and I was very nervous to begin with.. I would advise you to just try approaching somewhere you're interested in.. after all, the worst they can say is just, "no")

I think a big part of my success though is that both of those places are ones which have had other readers in them before me... it shows that they are open to the idea of having a Tarot reader around, and also they may already have a structure in place, and so it saves me having to try to choose fair percentages and such.

I always had a hard time setting a rate for myself, then getting the gig at the store made it so much easier.. They said "here is what we charge, and you get this percentage of that" (because they had done it that way with all their previous readers) and it was fair, so I took it. Now, I can use that as a base to set any other rates.

So well explained! Thanks for sharing your pamphlet as an example.

Good luck with your new situation!