caffeinator-good post!
Mort,
A BD party should be at least $100.00! If you are at that level.
A block party or community event should be somewhat higher.
A Business party/picnic is even higher.
It also depends on what you do. I.E. A magic show and balloons, or maybe even facepainting.
For a BD party I do a magic show with a ventriloquist skit and balloons, this usually goes for about $115.00/$120.00.
Facepainting will be a little more.
The same service for a block party will be $150.00 to $175.00 with some variables.
Find out the event how much time you think you'll be there and charge accordingly.
Companies have more of a budget. One Company I've been doing for five years I keep the price the same because of all the other jobs I get from it and for their loyalty in having me back every year.
Hope this helps.
And by no means should you stop, just get as much info thru reading and looking into the biz.
Mike

Thanks alot Kristenl for your help. Well it is so obvious that i could do that... thanks a lot for helping me out.

Thanks to everyone who have posted a reply and helped me out on this thread

Magiske Morten

Sorry, but this is all rubbish. I mean, charge what you want and feel comfortable with. It doesn't matter AT ALL what other magicians are charging. Do what YOU do. Yes, other magicians in our areas are our friends and yes you could ask them for advice. But, we all make different salaries doing the same job in the corporate field. You don't have to charge what others are charging for this.

Several times, just because I wanted the opportunity to perform I've cut my price to match what someone can afford or wants to pay. I personally have never cared what I make from a gig and therefore don't really have a set price. Contrary to what some may say on this forum or anywhere, this does NOT make me a bad person.

I've often considered taking the approach of, and I have said this in the past, pay what you can based upon what you thought of the quality of my performance after it's done. In other words, pay what you think I'm worth. This is humbling and gratifying, and I've found, works VERY well. Say you normally would think to charge 60 dollars, or 150 dollars or whatever you want for the half hour, your people will give you 100s of dollars and you DON'T have to feel bad about that. They gave you what they wanted.

Again, and the bottom line is, charge what you want and feel good about it.

If i want to feel good about something i will help my grandmom with her groceries, if im selling a professional act, im going to do it from a business standpoint.
Charging 60 dollars for a kids show is not going to help anyone. The magician getting the 60 is going to get drastically underpaid, and will not be able to live off of his magic. So when the 16 year old grows up, and actually has to provide for himself, he is screwed. The 60 dollar act also undercuts actual professionals. It steals from their pockets and people will be less likely to pay a legitimate price.
Charge little more than nothing if you want, and feel good about it, but in the end who are you really helping.

Yep, just follow that advice, then when you go to a ring meeting and need help... Well you are undercutting other magi so they are going to help you? No.

If you start getting into cut throat competition with others in your community you are not only hurting them, but you are hurting yourself. I have had women tell me that magi X only charges $50 for a party (this is less than half of the "standard" fee in this area) and my only response is; "I have a deal with him, he doesn't charge my price and I don't lower my quality to his level. You can not buy a Cadillac for the price of an old used VW."

I close a lot of parties with that line and get a lot of referrals form the parents.

Shoemaker,
Out of all the ignorant posts I have read on this forum over the years I have to admit, your's ranks at the top.
That is the dumbest comment or suggesting on how to run a business. If you don't care how much you make you probably don't care how much you put into your show.
So they are paying for what they got. Wow! a post that can out do odie's many whackie posts.

I'm not suggesting how to run a business. I'm suggesting how to run a hobby. The guy who started this thread sounded like a just getting started hobbyist to me.

Perhaps you all think I'm "ignorant" because I'm not a "professional". I'm fine with that.

I'm not trying to make my living as a magician. I have a full-time job. I just want to do magic shows to do them, give kids a good time and have a good time myself.

And what I spoke of before, my method of charging, gets me several gigs a year and the respect of many magicians in the area including a recent past national president of the Society of American Magicians.

So please, call me ignorant if you want. But I'll keep doing my thing, having fun, and not worrying about making tons and tons of money.

Shoemaker, I don't think you're ignorant because you're not a professional. I think you're ignorant because you're full of bull crap. Undercutting prices will not earn you the respect of any magician let alone the "past president" of SAM. He might, and does, respect professional and amateurs that give free shows to worthy causes. That is an entirely different thing than undercutting other magi.

Another reason I think you're lieing is the use of the term "respect of many magicians in the area including a recent past national president of the Society of American Magicians." If this were a true statement why didn't you mention his name. Gee I could then say I took a class from a famous magician.

His name's Andy Dallas. Thanks. I was just trying to keep a little anonymity in the game because I respect his privacy and mine. But, if you decide you need his phone number in order to cross-check my "lies" I can give you a number for his business in which you can leave a message. Mention my name and he might get back to you. I don't really know. I'm not in charge of his affairs, he's just a friend. Petty of you to make me respond in such a way. Thanks man.

Why everyone needs to be so mean just because I have a great time doing my hobby and don't charge as much as YOU or other magicians is beyond me. Here's the thing about all of the magicians I've ever met in my entire life: we have discussed a GREAT many things, but never - not once - have I ever discussed prices. It's a stupid and arbitrary idea for someone to say that we should all be charging the exact same, or even similar fees. Singers don't do this, at least not the few that I know. Do you need me to NAME them as well?

I'm sorry I started this. We should be encouraging one another. Please, just charge what you want, ask every magician you know, average them together, round to the nearest dollar and be done with it (a bit of an attempt at humor, in case you can't tell, I tried).