I've recently been offered by a few people to do birthday party kid shows for them. As they have not offered a price, nor have I...how much do you think i should charge?

Are you knew to magic?

Most people charge $150-200.

I personally think that is too much. I charge $50 for a birthday.

Bloojay,
Where are you from and what is your experience?
You location makes a big difference what you charge & of course your experience. How many shows have you done?
How many kids, how long is the show..need more info.

MD you arn't sapossed to charge what you would pay for, you overcharge things. Not only is this a great nagotiating tactic, but it equal doing 1 show a month for $150 or 3 shows a month at $50. I have never been told no to my price, I start above what I expect, such as $125 for a 30-40 minute act. They say yes, I win! They say no, no problem, I don't expect that much, I add in balloons for that much, plus all expenses paid, they always say yes.

Don't negotiate your price. If you originally say $125.00, and they say no don't come back with another lower price. They will feel that your show must not have been worth the first price or you would've come down. You can delete something and make it shorter in time but don't take off from your first price. Don't do balloons or do a thirty minute show instead of a forty five min. show for alittle less.
Get my point!

If you are that far under everyone else, my thoughts (and most customers think this way) are: If he is so cheap it's because he has a poor quality show. This is just some kid with gimmicks and not a real magician.

Also every magician I know (and I belong to 2 rings so there is a lot of us) will not help out a person who undercuts prices like that. We won't accept him or her in classes, we will not assist them teaching new tricks, we just ignore their presence. So that is a good way to get yourself cut off from any teacher.

Your price should reflect your skill level and your variety of effects.

Also your price should not be the same, but be reflective of the area
you are performing in.

I'm not ashamed to say that If I am doing a party in a rich afluent suburb
my price is higher than if I am performing for a party in a poor inner
city neighborhood.

If you really can't decide on a fair price...

Look in your yellow pages, call other magicians and ask for a price for
a party. Call 4 or 5 then simply add their quotes and average it.
Charge that.

I disagree with you, Haywire. Respectfully disagre, but disagree all the same. This discussion came up in a forum for professional magicians I belong to and a few had said the same as you. My thoughts are that my shows have a price, just like the hardware store or grocery store has thier prices. And they do not change because someone is richer or poorer. My party prices are $125 (for less than 20 kids) $200 for between 20 and 30. Otherwise it is $!25 for the first hour and $75 an hour after that. That is private party work.

Corporate work is $500 for half day and $800 for a full day. Yes, dinner entertainment for a sales meeting is $500 even if it is 2 hours long. If I do a trade or consumer show it is between $1200 to 1500 a day plus all expenses depending on the distance from where I live the show is.

This makes it easier for me as all I do is look at the event, look at my price list and say "it will cost $XXXX."

Hey work smart not hard.

Peter

I agree with Paddy! My price is just that.. I don't fluctuate it by the customers tax bracket, I see that as price gouging.

I am in a richer part of TX...I have never done a paid show before, onle some volunteer stuff at church or school. I've been doing magic for a few years now. No idea how many kids or how long show will be...haven't recieved all details from client.

You just ignore them? I hope your not as big of an [edited] to your customers, I'm surprised you get jobs if you are. No offense, I agree with most of the stuff you say on the boards, but you say it like your the biggest [edited] in the world, I don't know who would want to work with you.

Yes, we ignore price cutters. They are lower than whale crap. And yes, I do come across as an [edited]. I have learned that the this boad is populated mostly by kids that think that buying Penguin's gimmicks makes them a magician. Well this is the REAL world and Mommy and Daddy don't exist to protect you poor little feelings. I tell it like it is. A magician is a real job and not just quick way to pull a Scotch and Soda and make money from it. Those of us that support our families by perfoming magic do not aid those that steal jobs by charging half of what we do. I can not afford to work for $50 a show, nor can any working magi.

If you undercut the working magi of your community there is a price to pay. Being excluded from their teaching and friendship is part of that price. So call me an [edited], but go out and get a job in any field by working for minimum wages when all others are asking $20 per hour and see how they take it.

Bloojay,
Since you are just starting out doing paid jobs I would suggest coming in alittle lower until you build your show to your liking. Trust me, once you do your show a few times you will change it to make it better. Once you feel you have a decent show and have tried it out with good results then you can creep the price up.
Call a few others from the phone book and ask what they do in their show and ask their price as if you may want to book them, then go from there.
If you are in an affluent area $125.00 a show wouldn't be a bad place to start.
If you are going to be doing kid shows, read everything you can get your hands on pertaining to that.
If I may I would like to recommend a decent book on the subject. It's called the birthday party business/making a living as a children's entertainer. Steve Kissell sells it. His sites are Kentucky clown derby.com or comedy magic workshops. Another excellent book is Clown Magic by David Ginn. Both will give you the necessary info to base your shows from, you just add your own touch to it and you should be on your own.
I highly recommend both as you get more than one perspective on building a show.
Best of luck

First of all i never said magician is not a job, and I work for everything I get my mom and dad don't spoil me. I know magicians aren't people that go out and buy gimmicks and say they are. You can tell it how it is, thats cool and I like that, but there's a way you can do it without being an [edited], maybe you should learn it.