How much to charge for a reading?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Sep 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Beelady13	22 Sep 2004
I do readings on the street for strangers. I am an advanced reader, but I hate to charge for such a thing as Tarot, so I read for donations only. This works very well since I let the person pay according to how well the reading went for them. Most people give me $10-$50 and some people can't afford more than a few dollars, which I feel is fair since some people give me so much. On average I make anywhere from $25-$100 an hour, so it is always worth my time. I guess as a witch I feel charging is wrong, but donations are a way of exchanging the energy, a way for me to get something back. Reciently, I have opened up my readings to regulars(more than just my friends and family) some of these clients I have to drive to and I feel I need to get an exchange of energy that will cover my travel costs and still make it worth my time. Any help for a person who believes money is only a physical exchange of energy and to me energy is more inportant than money.. Thanks..

yve	22 Sep 2004
What you provide is therapy, counselling, support...how many therapists, counsellors etc give their services free?....if your clients are satisfied with what you give them, why should you question your worth? And you should indeed be compensated for your driving. You have nothing to feel ashamed about by charging for the service you provide. The difference is that you aren't trying to rip them off as some of those psychic scams, your clients can tell your sincerity and honesty, and that seperates you from frauds and scams. :)

Beelady13	22 Sep 2004
What I ment by hating to charge for a thing like Tarot, is that I feel Tarot is my gift to others. I am not ashamed to recieve money in exchange, but rather that I'de rather exchange Tarot for one of "their" gifts. For example one of my clients gives me massages, another gives me break dancing lessons, another is teaching me the art of Shamanism. The question is if they cannot exchange a gift of their own how much do I charge? Thanks again.

mota	23 Sep 2004
A good rule of thumb is charge according to the prices of haircuts and perms in your area. A half-hour reading should be the price of a quality hair cut in your area. A one hour reading should be the price of a good perm in your area. There are beauticians that work both very cheap and very expensive...don't guide yourself by the extremes. When your clients ask your prices explain about how you have priced them based on the price of haircuts and perms. This puts this in perspective and practically eliminates price questions, as most women understand this concept and can relate to it.

Teranar	23 Sep 2004
Hmmmm... interesting line of thinking, perms and haircuts... That's a good idea, Mota, it makes perfect sense! If I only knew how much a haircut cost... In the past if anyone asks me to put a general label on pricing my readings, I'd say either $5 or $10. My first two years I'd just say $5 because my gypsy godmum would charge $15, and I felt a third of her price for just starting was proper, as time went on I'd say $10 because I felt I was a bit more experienced, and was answering some tough intimate questions on the rare occasions I'd get a reading. (My short stint trying to read for an income resulted in getting kicked out of a starbucks and an AT thread I made talking about it that lasted a year.) Now if someone asked me the same question I'd ask how much do YOU think it was worth?

Ho Kok Hong	23 Sep 2004
It's worth a lot for the price they give it to you! It's better for not making price for a tarot reading because we can't make sure the reading is 100% accurate.So it's depends on the customers. They can give you a fair price.Don't worry,they know what's your purpose for the business. Best wishes......

Shade	23 Sep 2004
Remember that any business has costs and you need to make sure your costs are taken care of. If you have business cards, a phone line, rent for an office, etc. you should include the cost of these things in your pricing. I like the hair cut rule of thumb, very creative. I guess you should start with your goals and work backwards. Let's say that your goal is to make $200 in a day. And lets say you have $25 in costs (super arbitrary unrealistic numbers). So you need to make $225 today to meet your goals and over your costs. If you see yourself doing 10 readings today (based on experience) you should be charging about $22.50 per reading.

lunar_rabbit	23 Sep 2004
In our area, I would question the expertise of anyone who charged $25. I'd be afraid they were no more experienced than I am. LOL. I believe the going rate around here would be $40-$75 or more. I think I figured out one time that it worked out to about $1 per minute. When asked, you could say that you prefer a bartering system and explain the types of exhange you have with other clients. But since you realize that not everyone is comfortable with that, that you were told by a colleague that the haircut/perm going rate was a good rule of thumb. Around here a good haircut would be $30-45 or so, a perm would probably be $65-100. So I guess it does work out!

tmgrl2	23 Sep 2004
It's always good to see what readings are "going for" in your own area of living. Here on Long Island, they run about $100 an hour. $25 for a 15-minute, $50 half hour.... terri

Shade	23 Sep 2004
This is a very valid marketing point. People associate price with value. Peple wil also proably take a reading more seriously when they've set down more cashola. I have a favorite reader I go to maybe once a year who charges $145 per reading... you had better believe I am paying rapt attention when she is speaking.

tmgrl2	23 Sep 2004
I agree, Shade. My masseuse pays $175 to her "reader" in New York City. I recently read for her. She was very pleased with the results (at least she told me so). I usually don't give her a gratuity, so the reading was my gratuity. We may work something out on an ongoing basis. I do believe, though, that people won't pay higher prices unless they feel they are getting quite good guidance. terri

Shade	23 Sep 2004
There aer ways to add value to readings if you want to chare a bit more ofr them. My $145 reader tapes our sessions and gives me a copy so taht I can go over it again and again later on. If taping might cramp your style you could try giving them notes, it doens't have to be elaborate. I think some other readers on here said that they provide their notesto their clients.

Ace	28 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Shade Remember that any business has costs and you need to make sure your costs are taken care of. If you have business cards, a phone line, rent for an office, etc. you should include the cost of these things in your pricing. Good point, Shade. Beelady: in another thread you say you are getting worn out and drained by reading. I suggest you raise your prices by quite a bit, $!00/hr is not too much, or stop doing tarot for money and for strangers. You are giving more than a reading. you are giving a LOT of your energy and mindpower away. This is NOT free. You are building good karma, if you believe that way (and as a Pagan, I bet you do) but no one has asked you to give away ALL your life force. A saint cut his cloak in half to clothe a begger, and St Francis tried to give all his clothes away, but the trouble with self-sacrifice is you can only do it once! You are giving and the only exchange they have is money. Let them give it to you. IF they need a reading and they don't want to pay what you KNOW your energy is worth, then they didn't really need it, did they?

TemperanceAngel	29 Sep 2004
Beelady, I started with what I felt comfortable with and what I thought I could produce (if that makes sense?) Also because I had just started charging for readings I felt that I should charge less than someone with loads of experience. I still feel uncomfortable about the whole money thang, but a girl has to make a living... That's why I work from a shop, thay decide the price, not me. I also always do my freebies outside the shop, to balance things up.

The How much to charge for a reading? thread was originally posted on 22 Sep 2004 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.