The ''WHAT TO CHARGE CHART'

[Mermaid Harmony]

So, exciting news in the land of me, mermaid parties are picking up, for this spring, and in the next two months, I have 8 on the books, and some a couple vow renewals in the works! Yay! As such, I don't want to undercut those in Hawaii also working as mermaids, and so I've been raising my prices to get up to everyone else, but sometimes I still think I may not be charging enough, or on the other hand, someone balks at the idea of paying me more than $100 an hour (and then I feel bad, but hey, mergirls gotta eat), someone either Star, Raina (I know it wasn't you, but you know what I'm talking about), or Winged, someone posted a chart of 'what to charge' and I REALLY want to find it and get my prices all sorted before the spring/summer really starts!
Tides of thanks my fellow mers,
Harmony

[Ayla of Duluth]

Same here. Right now I charge $50/hour but I always feel like that's not enough, but I don't want to charge too much. I've been looking around for that chart and haven't found it. :(

[MerEmma]

Even though I'm not doing parties, this would be SUPER cool for me to see.

[AniaR]

Sirena posted an awesome site you could use for freelance work to establish your rate. You input all your info and it spits out a number! I'll poke her about it and see if she can post it. She did post it here before but I don't know where the thread is.

[Spindrift]

I just Googled "Freelance calculator" and came up with this: http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Here is another result that came up: http://allfreelancewriting.com/freelance-hourly-rate-calculator/

[Odette]

As such, I don't want to undercut those in Hawaii also working as mermaids, and so I've been raising my prices to get up to everyone else, but sometimes I still think I may not be charging enough, or on the other hand, someone balks at the idea of paying me more than $100 an hour (and then I feel bad, but hey, mergirls gotta eat),
Tides of thanks my fellow mers,
Harmony

$100 is fine.I suggest not going under $100 if you can.

[AniaR]

it's different for everyone, what you're doing, what you offer, what you spend, and where you're located honestly.

[Mizuko]

At the moment I'm $75 an hour for just basic swimming/looking pretty XD I know its not a lot, but if all they want me to do is BE there, I think it seems reasonable? (also, because my city isn't very big I dont have to drive for hours to events!) I expect at least $100 or more if they want me to entertain/perform however!

[Mermaid Harmony]

I think I figured it all out, I'd still love to find that one calculator, but we're good now, :-) Thank you all for the feedback! I figured out a variable chart for what they want, land, or sea, number of kids, and expectations!

[Mer_Adella]

I hate to say this...but maybe I am just illiterate in the ways of those two calculators. How can you create an idea of how many days you will be working in a year? And other things like that? I must be missing something lol.

[Mer_Adella]

I did find this on google. the second link down on the base pay is the one that you download free onto your computer. it helps calculate your hourly charge and give you an estimate too
http://pandadesk.com/blog/2012/01/freelancer-hourly-rates-know-how-much-to-charge-by-using-these-tools/

[Mer_Adella]

here is a nice and simple calculator I just found

http://www.yourrate.co/

[drucilla]

$31 an hr? I guess. How much do people usually charge?

[Ayla of Duluth]

I just Googled "Freelance calculator" and came up with this: http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Here is another result that came up: http://allfreelancewriting.com/freelance-hourly-rate-calculator/

Apparently I should charge $6.31 per hour. Ha. :(

[drucilla]

Lol not that's funny!

[Mermaid Harmony]

Yeah, when I did the year thing, it came out to about 4.31 an hour, I just laughed, and said, "next". That's not gonna work.

[drucilla]

now*

[drucilla]

You should add in the amount of time you're on the computer social networking (Making/fixing up profiles and pics, also answering email regarding business) That's how it came up with $31 for me, plus the amount I'm looking for annually isn't a whole lot just extra cash in my pocket and my daughters college fund, so how much you are looking to make every year will also be a big factor.

[Mermaid Harmony]

Fair enough. Sometimes I feel bad that maybe it seems like I charge a lot, and then I think about the tail care, driving, having a mertender, time changing, time prepping, entertaining children, practice time, and all of the other stuff, and it's a lot of time and effort into being a professional mermaid, and so I figure we're good and not worry about it, reviews will speak for themselves :-)

[Kanti]

Entertainers are always on the expensive side.
Hell, clowns at children's parties usually cost $100 per hour, but at least they usually bring balloons,
facepaints and stuff like that. Usually they have all-day costs as well incase someone wants you
all day but they don't want to pay a million dollars or something.

We hired some fire dancers for my dad's pirate themed party and they were something like $200
for a 15 minute show PER person. They didn't bring anything besides their act but it takes a lot
more skill, practice and it's a lot riskier to firedance so it makes sense.

Most people would probably be alright with paying $100 per hour for a mermaid since mermaids
aren't exactly common. Just make sure you have a tail that's safe for the pool and the kids.
If you have anything other than a silicone tail you may want to ask the parents if any of the
attendee's are allergic to latex before you show up.

I would base the price around $100. If it's in an area that's far away you could certainly charge
extra for gas expenses.
If you have some sort of 'performance' you could charge a base price for whatever it is like
the firedancers did. Maybe if you have some sort of 'mermaid magic' show or something, you
can tell the parents you'll perform it for $150 if they choose.

[Mermaid Marissa]

^ great point!

[Tasha Mermaid]

my younger brother is a clown/ fire twirler he gets paid $100 for 10 min show in the circus and charges $100/per hour on his own, most people hiring you will expect it to be about the $100 mark, entertainment is never cheap, although i would understand how "just swimming in a tail" would make me feel like $100 is pricey for me to ask......i think our main problem is we never think about what else goes into keeping us going, and we underestimate our worth. Even Santa's at gig's get paid more then $100/hr and really they just sit on a chair and say ho ho ho ....people are paying for the experience and as long as you are clear about what you offer for what price, the people who are willing to pay it will pay it :)