Just out of curiosity, for any professional readers

Tiggy-cat

When you do readings for people other than your friends or family, do you charge, and if so, what do you charge?
 

nisaba

I do charge. I work out of a new age shop, mostly, and the shop owner sets the fee. It's a pretty-well standard fee for most places and most free-lance readers in the region. I get the same fee her other readers get, and pay the same percentage of the take to her as her share. :)

If I do readings by email, I charge the same. Yes, I end up with a little more in the hand, but it takes a lot more time to type up than to speak.

What *you* will need to charge, will be what's standard in your region, which may be a lot more or a lot less. Ask readers in your own community. If you can find their advertising, ring up (or email) and ask for a price on a reading. :)
 

jsgrrchg

I think if you charge people takes you more seriously, and not like a game, because they pay you. The other reason because I charge is to have a balance with the client, he pays you, and you give him or her a value information for the querent life. I hope you will find my answer helpfull ;)
 

SunChariot

When you do readings for people other than your friends or family, do you charge, and if so, what do you charge?

I think that that is the difference between a professional reader and a non-professional one. To make a profession of something means that you charge. I do charge clients, but not friends (my family would not have anything to do with Tarot).

I am a online reader only. So I charge per card. I offer 1, 2 or 3 cards readings, of course the more cards the more detailed the answer,

I charge $22.00 for one card, $40.00 for two cards and $50.00 for 3 cards. I also offer a basic Soul/Personality/Year card reading for $8.00.

But it depends. I do know that my readings tend to be longer than most people's. Some people's readings tend to be longer than others. That of course affects the pricing.

Basically I decided on the price when I read for a bunch of AT friends and asked them what they honestly felt my readings were worth, pricewise. Although I haven't raised my prices since then at all.

And I do run a contest in my newsletter each month, so once a month someone gets a free reading. :grin:

Babs
 

hazlit

I charge for the readings I do, however the amount varies. depending on my overheads.
If I read from my home office or my local market (the latter is a $15 site for for a 4 hour aperture), I charge the least - $1 per minute.
If I read at a major Psychic Expo, where the site fee might be, say, $860 for a 3 x 3 metre space over a period of two 8 hour days, I charge about $1.65 per minute. In that case I have to make sure that I make enough to pay the site fee in the first day, so that the second day is profit. This kind of thing requires a fair bit of effort in setting up (I use dividers, hangings and other decor, as well as a volunteer to take bookings - always buying them a reward for their work - all of this has to be factored into the cost).
All of the above taking into account that I'm located in South Australia - my charges are in line with the going rate for my area.
I've been charging these rates for the past few years and can't look at raising them due to the flattened economy.
Fortunately I don't depend on this income, though I may do in future!
 

celticnoodle

I use to read in a new age shop, before we moved to a different state. I still do readings via, phone, email and face to face. I charge the same as what was charged at the new age shop, which is about the going price for the area I live in, maybe slightly less.

I think if you do charge for a reading, you need to see what the competition out there is charging as well and try to keep it within the same price range.
 

caridwen

When I read at fairs, I charge per spread.

3 Card is £10
5 Card is £15
7 Card is £20
Celtic Cross is £25

At some fairs we were all booked to do 3 card quick readings at £10 per reading.

I was told that my prices were too low.

When I've done private readings, my costs have been more say £40 for about an hour and a half taking in a couple of spreads.

If you are just starting out something like a 3 card reading for £5-£10 may be reasonable depending on your experience.:)
 

Tiggy-cat

Very interesting answers all around, thank you! I looked into this a bit in my area and found someone literally a few blocks up the street who advertises online and her pricing seemed like a good ballpark, and she does party bookings as well. I'll look into it some more, and perhaps I should start practicing by reading for friends, eventually feeling skilled enough to charge a nominal fee for random stranger readings, just as a side venture.
 

Grizabella

Goodness yes! You definitely should do lots and lots of practice readings for friends and strangers before going into business and charging for readings. Even when you've done all your practice, you'll want to keep your prices down for the first six months to a year, in my opinion.

The way I did it for a long time was by using a tip jar. I found as much or more money was put into the jar. Now it,s my friends and relatives who know I read have set my price. $30 for half an hour. There's a lot that can be said in that time period and if time allows I sometimes throw in a little free something or other like a new spread I've devised or a couple oracle cards or something like that. They definitely get their money's worth and then some.
 

canid

A couple rum & cokes works for me. Seriously though, it's usually $25 if they actually have a job. Many freebies are thrown in though...that's just me.