How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?: Part 1
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I was recently asked this question on the blog, and I’d love to give you a straight up answer, but alas, I can’t! There are heaps of different things to consider when it comes to pricing your face painting services, so instead of giving you one number, I’m going to tell you what to consider, so that you can come up with your own prices that are fair to both you and your customers.
Now ask yourselves these questions:
Where do you live or What area do you want to work in?
This is important because the area that you work in will factor into how much you can reasonably charge. So do a little research, find out how much is being charged by other face painters, and have a look at the quality and speed of their work. This at the very least should give you a ball park to start from.
How much experience do you have with face painting?
If you’re completely new, chances are you’re not as quick as those who have been doing it for years. So if it takes you say, 8 minutes to do a design, you’re not going to get away with charging the same amount per hour as someone who can paint the same design in 4 minutes.
What kind of event are you painting at?
If its a charity event, you can choose to give a discount. Some painters even charge just to cover expenses.
Are you supplying the face paints or are they?
You might get an event where its provided for you, not very likely but still possible and if so you can give a discount. Remember a professional face paints kit- including face paints, brushes, glitter etc can cost anywhere from $150-$300, so your materials really need to be factored into the equation. But don’t think you have to go out and buy a professional kit for your first gig, start with a smaller kit, make some money and then invest in a professional kit when you can afford it.
I’ll post Part 2 and possibly Part 3 of ”How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?” in the next week or two to come, so stay tuned to find out more. If you have any questions about what I’ve posted so far, or have something to add, leave a comment. And have a great day!
Happy Face Painting 
Philadelphia Tivoli
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January 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Howdy All!
Since face painting is just a part of my clown services, I don’t have to charge for it specifically. But in researching what to charge for my services, I saw that it could get pretty expensive for a customer. But I learned that if I kept my services sweet and simple I could set my fee a little lower than other clowns and get the customers who fell through the cracks. As a clown, my ability to interact with the children in a personable way has been my biggest asset. When I step through the door and say, “Look at these wonderful kids! I’ve gotta take a picture of them!”, then squirt them with my trick camera they begin to have a ball and, quite frankly, so do I!
January 31st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I generally charge £2 per full face and £1 for cheek art. If I get lots of customers then I know its a good price, but if its quiet i lower the price. I find that once a few kids have their faces done then more want the same!
February 1st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
You know, it’s so very important to consider the price of your materials when setting a price. You can’t charge a nice fee and use cheap products or do less that stellar work. I learned that the hard way. I made a mistake in my early days of face painting. Since I couldn’t paint very well I figured a few stencils would help me out. Well, I got the notion to make my own instead of buying some. All I can say is it was a big mess! I made the stencils by downloading a design on paper and having the sheet laminated. Next, I cut out the design and that’s where the problem started. First, it was murder on my hands to cut and next, some of the finer parts of the design would get messed up in cutting. When I put the stencil on a kid’s cheek, the paint would either run or was unrecognizable! I felt so bad because some of the older youth had been waiting a long time because they let the younger ones go first. For them to finally be able to sit down and I mess up their design almost brought me to tears! Since then, I was determined to learn to face paint and buy better products.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:05 am
[…] Okay, here it is, my 2nd installment of “How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?”. If you haven’t read part one, I really suggest you read that first and here it is: How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?: Part 1 […]
February 12th, 2008 at 12:08 am
[…] If you haven’t read part one or two, I really suggest you read those first and here it is: How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?: Part 1 and How Much Should I Charge for Face Painting?: Part 2 Once you’ve read those parts, ask […]