Slightly personal question, don't answer if you don't wanna BUT...

[Gem Stone]

How much do you charge per hour? For mers in texas, if any, what's your average rate? First question is for everyone.

[SireniaSolaris]

The average I've seen around here (South FL) is $250/hr. The average I've seen in Central and North FL is $300/hr. I've heard of others charging $300/hr as well. Actually thinking about talking to the couple of entertainment companies here who have mermaids and see if they would be willing to up their prices to match the going rates everywhere else to help preserve market values.

[Princess Kae-Leah]

This is something I've been very curious about to. I've been kinda toying with the idea of doing parties and events in character in my mermaid costume, as well as as some other characters(I have a really nice Alice In Wonderland costume and can do a pretty good impression of Disney's animated Alice), but I'm currently on SSI, receiving around $500 a month, and if I started a business I'd lose my funding, so one of the things I'd like to be sure about is if I go ahead with this, I have a pretty good shot of making at least pretty close to what I receive as my SSI payments on average. I realize of course there's no guarantees with this kind of thing, especially when you're just starting out and struggling to establish yourself as a legitimate entertainer, and it's highly unlikely that I'd get rich doing this, but I don't want to give up my SSI for nothing. When I see that most entertainers charge triple digits per hour, one would think making $500 per month would be pretty easy, but I've also heard how difficult it can be to establish yourself and get enough paid gigs to make ends meet.

[ShyMer]

I think I'd feel pretty unsure about getting out there if I were in your position too, KL. Have you considered doing volunteer stuff to begin with to get your name out? Maybe that'll help you get an idea of how much paid work you'd be able to get.

You probably had that idea already though :I

[green52]

I'd be wary about volunteer: commercialism today has bred an unfortunate lack of appreciation for fair compensation in performance and creative fields. If you're doing it as practice, then charge $10 an hour, which is still an incredible bargain, but charge something. I think its important to make clear that your time is valuable, even if you do it for next to nothing.

[indigoice]

I agree. never work for free, it lessens the respect for you and other performers. I myself am only a costumer and have no other interest in the performing arts, but I do all kinds of other art work like paintings and illustration and jewelry/fashion type stuff.

There are tons of "contests" and other ways people try to get art and other things donated to use for free, especially magazines and websites. But it means you never get paid for all your hard work.

There is no such job as being an artist these days because it's far too common and easy for people to just rip off the internet or to get some talented art student to do what they want completely for free. You might think you're getting a good name for yourself and free advertizing in return, but I have never had anything pan out from that sort of trade off, the "contest" or magazine or website now owns the rights to that particular piece of art so I can't make money off it myself anymore and I never had a single contact out of it that would get me real work.

Volunteering for real charities you are passionate about is one thing, randomly offering your performance skills for free is definitely not a smart move for yourself or other performers in your area.

[Winged Mermaid]

Wow, that is a lot more than I thought I'd be O_O But I guess in FL competition is fierce!

[AniaR]

I do SOME work for free, I wouldnt knock that at all :/ I do world oceans day for free every year. So do all the other people who participate. That's my general rule of thumb, if I want to be involved in something that others are donating their time to I'm going to donate too. I also let my parties be auctioned off for charities sometimes too. I charge non profit events a much smaller rate as well. All of those things have paid me back ten fold in publicity and booking other stuff through it. It's how I gained paying work through the winter.

Also, what you charge depends on what you do. If Im just expected to sit there and look pretty it's going to cost a lot less than if Im spending an hour in a pool with kids then another 45 minutes talking to them and handing out treasures. I think it's very important to keep your rates flexible. Sometimes lowering my rate so a family that cant usually afford me can it works out really well. They may not be able to pay my full rate, but that doesnt mean all those other parents in attendance arent.

To be honest, I dont share my rate info online BECAUSE I try to be flexible to everyone's budget. There's not exactly a huge demand here, and I was the only mermaid til Mimi and now she and I are booking things together. I've done things for as low as 75/hr and go right up to 1000$ depending on what's expected of me. Also, if you're working an event they often already have a performer budget and if you dont want to take that pay they'll find someone else who will. they rarely pay your established rate.

So basically, I do have some set fees. Like extra fees for travel, fees if you want us to do your photos, feed for unusually large birthday parties that want mermaid treasures, and fees for people insistent on booking you for one day and also a backup day if it rains. But with the rest I feel out what the client is looking for and offer them several packages and prices and let them pick. 9/10 they usually always go for the higher price. I've only lowered my rate that I keep in mind for 2 clients and in both cases it turned out extremely well for me.

Florida is different. There are really well established mermaids, and they set the price. Mermaid Melissa starts at 300$ in some places in the world where people have no idea about this field they would no way pay that amount. I sorta get away with my higher rates because there are a few local established actor troups for hire (elvis, munroe etc) and we're in the same ball park.

It really depends on what you do, what you're offering, and the market you're looking for. I feel too many mers take this really broad approach of mermaiding includes 1-1000 when really you should zero in on those first 5 things. Especially starting out, no one's going to pay someone unknown (especially in an area where there aren't any other mers) 300$ to swim in a pool or just sit there and pose for pics.

[Princess Kae-Leah]

Is it typical for dry events to cost less than wet ones? That is, as a dry mermaid, is it unrealistic for me to expect to ever make/charge as much as swimming mers? I think if I'm to start a business, I may start out at around $50/hour.

[Gem Stone]

Ok, a few water related things are opening up around me and I want to give them a business card, but is $100/ hour a good starting amount? There isn't much competition here, or at least none I can find

[Kanti]

Entertainers usually charge a lot.
It really depends what exactly you're doing. My mom was looking for fire-dancers and they charged like $300 per hour, $400 for 2 hours
and like $250 for some 10 minute routine which is like gee wiz...
I guess it depends. Just make an offer, I'd start out low and then the more you get hired, try raising your prices.

[Raivynn]

Thank you guys for this discussion. I am hoping to try my hand at "professional mermaiding" as a second job during the summer, with all the profit from it going to save for a silicone tail ... $50 per party where I am is scandalous, but $50 an hour is cheap in a city that is around an hour drive from me. When you perform, what exactly do you girls DO? Is it just sit there, look pretty while people get their picture taken of you, or what? Not asking for trade secrets, just trying to get a feel for the "job description" -- :p

[ashleyematthews]

Entertainers usually charge a lot.
It really depends what exactly you're doing. My mom was looking for fire-dancers and they charged like $300 per hour, $400 for 2 hours
and like $250 for some 10 minute routine which is like gee wiz...
I guess it depends. Just make an offer, I'd start out low and then the more you get hired, try raising your prices.

I just wanted to chime in here and say I'm a professional fire dancer and those rates you quoted are very much standard in the industry. it might seem like a lot for one or two routines but, if you find any fire dancer who will work for less than $300 i would be VERY wary of their work. fire is an extremely expensive and dangerous performance skill that includes some of the most expensive entertainment insurance out there (which any good fire artist carries, again if not-be wary) hence the need for high prices. (besides the extremely difficult skill itself, there is major cost of fuel for the fire which is semi-expensive gasolines, equipment that has to be changed monthly, insurance, safety equipment and precautions, and medical aid if needed after performances or any issues at all with the fire. not to mention the artist service of choreographing and performance)
I'm a performer in a lot of mediums- dance, fire, theatre, aerial arts, modeling, mermaid-ing etc. and i will tell you one thing when it comes to prices/rates-
when you know a standard rate for an industry (say fire: 300/400 standard) and you accept multiple consistent gigs that lowball you- there will almost always be backlash from others in your industry for bringing down the standard pay for professionals (i.e people doing fire for say 200 and now there's an influx of "why should i pay you this when this person will do it for less than 300 dollars?" and so forth)
especially with mermaiding, there isn't much of a standard quite yet. I have charged different rates for different events when it comes to mermaiding because it's still a rather new 'performance skill' for people out there in the market- and obviously everyone has to start somewhere (if you have to start low, start low) but as soon as you can I always suggest raising rates to match the level of payment standard with your line of work (whatever it may be)
obviously if the market isn't saturated you can make exceptions, and work within budgets- but i always say in any performance/gig situation, be respectful of industry standards and what YOU are really WORTH. Sure I can dance at an event for 100 dollars if i'm really broke- or maybe, if this is the 4th time i've been lowballed for a gig in a row, I can hold out for another gig that will pay me what I deserve and keep the standards of professional-pay at the right level in my industry :-)

[AniaR]

I feel like people just don't like the answer, they see someone else gets paid X and think it'll work for them in a totally different area of performing and it doesn't. I think it's important to have on and off season rates too. This is a whole section in my book, but doesn't anyone remember the awesome rate calculator Sirena posted? You literally typed in all the things it cost you, your travel, your time etc and it pops out an hourly rate. I get frustrated sometimes. I am successfully doing what a load of people on mernetwork want to do. I do at least 1 mermaid gig a week, and it's winter for us right now so I can't even go outside. Sometimes it bugs me people ask and ask and ask for this type of information, but then we nit pick it to death and bounce it back and forth.

I just think you should be a bit weary, fire performers are an established performing industry. Mermaiding is not. And there's about a million different things you can do as a mermaid. Would you honestly feel right charging someone 300$/hr to sit in the pool? Take it from someone who is actually working as a professional mermaid non stop and making money at it. Establish your rate based on your expenses and your time, be flexible, and offer packages. You can't go wrong. If you live in a place that actually has a winter, people aren't going to pay to rent out a pool (usually 150-200/hr) and then pay you 300$ and then buy all the birthday related stuff etc. No one rate is going to work all across the mermaid world. There are too many factors that are different depending on where you want to establish yourself. There is no industry standard. And honestly, some of the mers people are looking at? They put on their websites they do birthday parties... but how many do they actually do? Many find it's not worth their time, so having a really high rate means they don't depend on it as main income and they're not worries about getting regular parties. Besides, people don't even take the time to read what's actually offered in those packages. You want to charge 300$? Are you willing to bring along your tank and cater the party? Because that's what Melissa offered last time I checked.

I put a LOT of research, and my personal experience into this specific section of my book, so I am hoping people will give it a gander when they ask these types of questions.


Edit: I actually just checked, since this thread was started when I first checked, Melissa doesn't offer party packages anymore and doesn't have any party rates on her website anymore.

[ashleyematthews]

Just for the record...i don't charge $300 for mermaid appearances...just fire. was mainly using fire as an example of the way that pro-pay can be driven down over time by people who work for lower rates consistently. i would never suggest charging $300 for mermaid-ing, unless i was providing a tank, or maybe incorporating fire somehow. :-)
i remember when aerial work and gogo dancing at events in LA or nightclubs wasn't an established industry yet- and ive seen both of the industry standards be set and then get pushed lower and lower by newer performers eager for gigs- and when it comes to it, neither was very happy when it happened. just don't want to see that happen to talented mer's who deserve more than 80 bucks for a 4 hour event of hard work and swimming. (which has been a rate ffered to me before, i politely declined) :-)
for example live dance appearances (like gogo dancing) have rates similar to mermaid rates out here in Hollywood per performance 150-175 flat for the night/event. A lot of high profile clubs have started only offering their dancers $100 dollars a night simply because there are girls who need work and take the gigs- sure they probably don't mind and need the money, but it most definitely has had a huge effect on dancers here who know that $100 just isn't going to cut it. and it does tend to cause a little bit of animosity towards the girls who do work for that little cause they're driving their main source of income to pay them less than the line of work entails.

no there's no set industry standard yet (LA has started to kind of have one though, as it's a pretty common thing here now at mansion parties)- but it's good for everyone to sometimes think "i think i deserve *blank amount* for this amount of work, travel, supplies, insurance etc." and it's higher than the client maybe expected, you sometimes need to stand your ground, so you can make the money you should be out of your talent.
That calculator sounds like an awesome resource- i'd love to see if it there's a link at all.

and for the record one more time- i book at least 2 mermaid gigs a month here (typically private mansion parties/private corporate events)- maybe Hollywood is a different scene due to all the gig opportunities, but you typically don't see a lot of girls working for less than $150-$175 (and that's on the lower end) unless they're just sitting in a small fountain or tub of sorts (which happens, rates adjust)
but hey then again, Hollywood has it's ways- not everyone has to follow them. But i've always had success at treating my business of "gig-er extraordinaire" :p like a business and out of respect for my other performers (in any medium whether it be fire, dance, modeling, mermaiding, whoknowswhatgignext) I always try to respect them as well by never pushing rates too low unless there are charities/other worthy opportunities involved, we're all in this together!

Much love! <3

[AniaR]

Sorry I wasn't referencing you, I was referencing my first post from a year ago where I gave the example of a Florida mer who charged 300$ for parties that she also catered and brought a tank to. I live in Canada, where we get outside swimming weather 2 months a year if we're lucky. I would never ever get away with be able to charge 300/hr :p but I work mermaid gigs every week. I just have to factor in that people hiring me are generally renting a pool or venue as well. I live in a small coastal community, that probably makes in a year what Hollywood generates in a month. My point was that mermaiding has a LOT more variations depending on your location. There simply aren't enough people making a career out of it for there to really be established anything yet.

[Odette]

I charge depending on time,location and what other services they want. it can range from $100-$1,000. (the $1,000 price is for the new show that will cost over $30,000 to finish and is targeted at hotel pools) starting out, $50/hour makes everyone feel more comfortable since they will usually pay $200 on decorations alone,BUT it doesnt really cover expenses for me. i think the above comments got it down. ive been doing gigs very often for winter and i have to say if you really want to try this, you need to make sure you stay on top of all the emails and calls. if you market yourself enough they will pile up.

volunteering your services depends on the event. i work as an in-kind sponsorship for 2 main organizations and it has gotten me more publicity and they stand for causes i strongly support so i think its a good idea to volunteer where appropriate.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

As I'm disabled I'm not aloud to work officially so I can't ask a lot for my gigs :( So I only ask 20 euro as a mermaid or 50 euro for face-painting for a day-part (about 4 hours). The costumer do have to provide my transport to en from the place of event to my home, some food and drink and if the place has an entree-price the costumer has to pay mine.
But as the people here are in 'crisis' they don't want to pay for a chubby mermaid to play or paint with their kids on parties :mad: Also most of them think I'm crazy when I tell them I'm a mermaid :( :doh:
I really wish I could do more gigs :(

[Usagi]

So how many professional mers are CPR certified. Is it a necessity? I got CPR/AED certified about 4 years ago through a friend's church, but rather than four hours, we only did about two. If I were to go into professional mermaiding, I would definitely want to renew my certification. I wouldn't wanna try to save a kid, crack a rib, and then get sued lol

[AniaR]

there's no standard, so there is no requirement. I think it's a good thing to have in general, but in reality you aren't capable of being responsible for someone's safety while you're in your tail. That's why there are lifeguards. I think if someone should have the training it should be the assistant or person who is with you in the water the most.

[Mermaid Melanie]

I would say if you are doing any workshops or teaching kids any in water activities then for sure you should be first aid certified. You can take classes through PADI CPR with First Aid and Care for Children. Also PADI run an Oxygen Provider course as in many places it is illegal to administer oxygen without being a qualified doctor so the O2 provider course covers you a bit more on the legal side of things.

[Mermaid Harmony]

I'm CPR/AED/1st Aid certified and a mandatory reporter, but that's because I work with kids during the day, I figure things like this are nice to have even if not needed, and can give me peace of mind, and can help when talking to others.