If you were to teac an 8/10 week Tarot course....

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Feb 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	12 Feb 2002
I have been considering teaching a Tarot course during the Summer, and have everything planned out except the cost. How much would you charge? How much do you think people would be willing to pay? Kiama

tarotbear	13 Feb 2002
Well, I was paid by the Adult Education systems that hired me, and they paid me anywhere from $15/hr to $24.50/hr to teach 6-13 students a two-hour class for eight weeks. You were paid to teach the class; the number of students had to have a minimum cutoff, and the System made the profit based on what THEY charged the students to take the class. Not sure if that answers your question or not ???

Thirteen	13 Feb 2002
Quote: Kiama (13 Feb, 2002 08:52): I have been considering teaching a Tarot course during the Summer, and have everything planned out except the cost. How much would you charge? How much do you think people would be willing to pay? Depends on how many students, max, you want in the class. If you're willing to take up to, say 40-60 students, then ten bucks a session would be fair. This because you won't be able to give much personal time to the students, and it will be more lecture oriented. But if you're going for a small seminar, like 10 students, then you'd want to up the cost to about $25 a session. Or you could create a round figure for the entire session no matter how many students. Like $100 for a 10 week course. Most extention courses run from $100-$250 for 10 sessions. Each session is about 3 hours. In some cases, students can choose to take single classes paying a little higher amount for the single class, getting a discount for the entire number. So, for example, if you listed what each class would be about in a catalogue, you could say that it was, say $150 for all 10 classes, or $25 for single classes. So students could skip early classes on the meaning of the cards, for example, and take later ones on, say, advanced spreads, paying only for those. In short, lots of ways to do it. It all depends on how you want to structure the class, how many students and where taught. Again, do you have to pay for your classroom? Is it a good room? How about materials (handouts? A booklet?)? Just things to consider.

Kiama	13 Feb 2002
Well, lets do some maths... The hall I have will not need to be paid for, and has full facilities (Kitchen, loos, TV, white board, tables, comfy chairs, heating, etc) and can accomodate perhaps 25 people at once. If I were to charge each person £70 ($100) for the whole course, that could be up to £1750 in total. I would be buying each of the people who attend the course Amber Jayanti's 'Living The Tarot', at £2.99 per book, so times that by 25, and we minus £75-ish. So that leaves me with £1675. WOW! That's alot. However, it is an un-certified course, so I'm wondering if that would be too much to charge? I don't want to put people off by a high price, but I want to make my time spent worthwhile. (And I need the money for when I move up to University in October!) Wow. Time to get advertising. If anyone else has any comments as to how much you would be willing to pay, please don't hesitate to post! I'm moving along this idea very tentatively at the moment, cuz I have absolutely no idea about how to price these things! Kiama

Diana	13 Feb 2002
edited

Kiama	13 Feb 2002
Diana: I'm planning on giving between 1 and a half hours and two hours per session, and am now considering doing it two nights a week for 6 weeks, making it 12 sessions... Kiama

Thirteen	13 Feb 2002
Suggestion: Extend it to 8-10 weeks and offer the class only one night a week. People work, people have lives. They can take time out or re-arrange their schedules for a class one night a week for 10 weeks, but two nights a week? No. That schedule will jepordize the number of people you'll likely get, especially during the summer. The amount you want to ask for is not too much--but make the class 3 hours (with two 15 minute breaks--so it really runs 2-2 & 1/2 hours). You can always end class short if you need to. This way you can give excersizes to the people (you know, have them go through the deck and pick out cards that bother them, whatever), go around, give them personal attention, have class discussions, etc. They'll feel they're getting their money's worth if the class runs at least 2 hours and if they each get a chance to talk with you one-on-one and really hammer out their problems and concerns. Also, as you have a kitchen and all, shell out a little money to make sure that at each class there's a coffee bar. Paper cups, coffee, tea, milk, cocoa, maybe even come cookies (biscuits, right?). Another thing to remember--before you count your chickens, you might not get 25 students. You might get 5. So decide if there's a minimum number of students needed for you to run the class. Don't assume even at that price, that you'll end up with £1675.

Diana	13 Feb 2002
edited

Kiama	14 Feb 2002
Unfortunately, I don't have 10 weeks during the Summer. I usually would, but this time I'll be moving to either Scotland or Wales when the Summer holidays are done, so I have to finish the course before I move, and I don't know when that'll be! I thought that 6 weeks was a safe bet, but I still wanted to give people their money's worth. I mean, 12 sessions for £70 isn't too bad, is it? I didn't mean to count my chickens either: I was working out the maximum number of people I could have, and the max amount of money I would get, so I can work out whether or not I could afford to lower the price for the course at all. Hmmm.... More serious thought.... Kiama

Kiama	14 Feb 2002
Silly me: I've just worked out that if I start the course on the first of July, I would have 10 weeks! I'm hoping my exams and shool will be finished by July.... They usually are, so fingers crossed! Kiama

Michelle	14 Feb 2002
Hi Kiama, I have never taught a class, but I recently joined one - maybe this will be of some help. We meet once a week for approx. 1 1/2 hours, the cost is $10 a lesson. It's a 5 month, semi private course (4 students). We bring our own cards and the instructor provides a print out sheet with our lesson on it. We have only had 3 classes, but so far things are going pretty good. I think it is GREAT that you are considering teaching- it took me forever to find a Tarot class. Good Luck on your adventure !! Love and Light, Michelle

Thirteen	14 Feb 2002
Quote: Diana (14 Feb, 2002 14:48): Also think 1 and a half hours is definitely too short - three perhaps too long. You're probably right that 3 hours is too long. As you say, 2 & 1/2 hours is probably just right. As to whether 1 and a half hours is too short, that depends on how many students, I think. If you've got a class like Michelle's, with only 4 students, than you really don't need more than an hour & 1/2. But if there's 25 or more, you need closer to 2 & 1/2 hours. Just because you'll have more questions, more students who don't understand and need help, etc., to attend to. So, if Kiama *did* get 20-odd students, then she'd need, say 10-15 minutes at the start of class for people to arrive, settle, warm up. For questions and discussion about last class. Then 45 minutes of new stuff. A 15 minute break for coffee, stretching, the loo, then 45-60 more minutes of class for more new info and for some kind of "work" (learning how to shuffle cards, lay out a spread, maybe even partner up and do a 3 card layout for your partner and vise versa). A bit of time where she can walk around and give personal time to each student. About 2 hours, 15 minutes. Add on the extra 15 minutes just in case--like I said, a teacher can always end early when things go well. So, advertize the class as running 2 & 1/2 hours, though it might not usually run longer than 2 hours.

The If you were to teac an 8/10 week Tarot course.... thread was originally posted on 12 Feb 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.