charging for your psychic gift

Guiding Cauldron

This may be totally in the wrong spot but I wanted to ask people here what you think is a decent wage to charge if your doing a tarot, oracle, or any other divination method for a reading.

I suppose i'm a lil miffed because I have a firm belief that if your truly gifted in any of these areas the main effort should be to share and help other people, not make exorbadent amounts of money. But again since im so new to the whole money aspect of this maybe i'm not knowledgable enough about it to have an impartial viewpoint. Also if you charge to much then how can you possibly expect to have aloyal, trusting following that will produce a stable job front for you?

can i ask for any viewpoints here on this please, like how long your reading is,or how many cards,what do you charge, do you have to have a license? etc. thanks up front and bright blessings xx
 

Kenny

One thing I'll look at is the insurance that is needed. I keep on meaning to look at it but keep forgetting. :)

But it is a skill, along with a gift. Did you pick up your deck and start to give the best answers ever?

If you are unhappy about charging then maybe a gift box idea would work better for you. (A pot where they put money in for a reading you do for them.)

In the end do some research online and see what comes up, also try looking in the Yellow Pages, Tompsons, and BT phonebook for readers and ask them for price lists. A Journal for Tarot does not exist, or at least I don't know one!
 

celticnoodle

I see what you are saying, and agree 100%. I guess that depends on whether or not you are reading as a career to support your family or not. If you are making a career of it, you do need to charge enough to make it worthwhile. However, some readers charge you $500 & up per reading, and that seems outrageous to me!

I have some psychic friends who charge for their services, but in a unique way. They ask for a donation for their services, and one even asks for a donation for the local nursing home. So, you pay what you can afford. Still, if you cannot afford to give any money, you can offer to donate an hour or so at the nursing home and this friend still gives you a reading. The nursing home is fully aware of this operation, and they tell my friend who has volunteered, so no-one has seemed to slip by with out some sort of payment!

I like to think that when/if I offer tarot readings professionally, I'll do the same thing as above---donations or donating your time to a charity. Then they give back as much or more then they are receiving in the reading.
 

AJ

This comes up fairly often, and the median response seems to be about $1.00 per minute.
Keeps you from farting around overthinking, keeps the querent from yip-yapping for hours afterwards.

If you just read once in awhile for friends/family it would certainly be awkward to charge in the beginning, if you want to gift the reading that's great.

If you are doing it a lot, then you are working and should charge. The fact that you feel you are gifted with the ability to read tarot shouldn't matter. I have lots of gifts I've applied to various jobs over the years...I sure didn't tell any bosses to give me a cut in pay for natural abilities :) Time has the most important value of all, we only get so much of it.
 

Lillie

Therre is nothing wrong with making money.

Everyone has to live, to live we need to by food, for that we need money.

A gifted artist seels his pictures, a gifted writer sells her books.

Charge for your gift and your time and your expertise.
 

TenOfSwords

I think it's fair to see it as a consultancy job like any other.

It might truly be a gift, but so is a talent for other professions and the obligation to the world as such and yourself to make the best use of your talents for yourself and for others is exactly the same as I see it.

If creating a business and making a good living is the right way for you to use your talents then you should do that without any bad feelings about it... We're all part of the same world and making a living is making a living is the same regardless of where your talents reside (criminal talents being the obvious exception lol)
 

Guiding Cauldron

thanks for the info all

let me reiterate that I wasnt trying to say that i'm gifted and "all that" in my talents I will always have loads to learn lol

what i was saying is my belief in not charging loads of cash just because kinda thing. The reason this sticks in my head is recently i went to a mind, body , spirit show and most people there i thought were chargeing huge amounts of cash for a reading, or consultation. It just struck me that if these people are truly gifted why charge so much? Sorry if i didnt make myself clear on this front :)

also i love the idea of a donation box thats brilliant and i didnt think of that, ty so much! if/when i deciede to do work i will defiently go that route. I want to help all wether they have 5o p or 5o £, so to speak.

also as a profession is it necesary to get a insurance or licensing?
 

celticnoodle

I never thought about the insurance and licensing part. If you are going to be legite, I guess both are a must have & in that case, charging a little bit more for your services is a requirement, to meet those expenses.

I still get upset with people who charge an outrageous amount, like $500.00 + for a 30minute reading. I'm sorry, but there is not anyone THAT GOOD! (my opinion) - I've had wonderful readings for $30.00---(a 30 minute reading), so yes, $1.00 a minute is about the going rate in the U.S. I guess.

Some good responses here, and good points to go in favor of charging for reading. I don't disagree that charging something is required, when you feel you are good enough to do this regularly. I thought you were talking about those readers who get a bit crazy with charging, as stated above, ($500.00 for a 30minute reading).
 

Chronata

I charge depending on where I'm at, what I'm doing, and how much people in the area are willing to pay.
$1 a minute is a good going rate, (that's the same as what a massage costs in town)

I have also charged a dollar a card...so a quick three card reading...three dollars!
But when I'm in a different place, or booked through the Entertainment company...it can be a lot more. I can make about $100 an hour (that's without tips)

and as far as selling your psychic gift...well, I don't. I think what I am charging is really for my time, and expenses.

If someone came up to me at an event, where I'm chargimng $10-$15 a reading, and really needs one...but clearly doesn't have the money...

I am always willing to do a freebie.
 

HudsonGray

Don't charge if you don't want to. But remember, artists have a gift too, and they sell their works. Nurses have a gift and they get paid. Any one of a number of professions where you have to have training added to natural ability ALL get paid for what they do. There's nothing wrong with that.

The customers are paying for your time, your skills, and your natural ability. There's also some psychology to this also---if they get it for nothing, they often treat it as something not important because the giver isn't valueing it enough to charge.