Hello all,

I have been reading the posts here and i find this very interresting. But i do have a question, with the raising gas prices, do some of you add this factor into their pricing or dont consider it at all?

Andrew, i found your spreadsheet very interresting. I am not very good with numbers, but your sheet made it way more simple in my mind.

Puppet hug,
SHould

You should figure all expenses into your pricing structure.  If not you will end up paying for the priviledge of doing a workshop.  For magic shows I currently figure round trip millage at 50 cents per mile.  That is getting ready to go up to 55 cents.

Marty

Another extended question: I'm looking at doing some muppet building workshops for adults, across six weeks (3 hours per week). I have used the pricing calculator to figure out all my costs and have worked out materials/tools costs, venue, etc., added a $25 p/hour wage, and have 20% profit. It all comes roughly to $270 (AUD), and I want to offer a 10% student discount.

I know of a puppet maker who runs workshops in Sydney - albeit they do performance workshops - 8 classes, 3 hours per class. They price it at $700, but offer a $100 early bird discount, plus 5% discount for students.

I've looked at pricing for classes in general in my area, and $300 is pretty much the going rate for a similar number of workshops. Does my pricing sound too cheap though, given this other person's pricing? And that my target market is probably going to be arts/theatre university students?

I'm not a expert but that price seems a bit low. I guess you have to consider the area you live and how bad you need the money. I charge a flat rate per person. This changes depending on the puppet project and I don't rely on it for a living so if it pays for my supplies and a little extra I'm ok with it. If you are relying on this as a primary income you may reconsider.
No one can answer this question for you. How much do you think you are worth? Consider all the time you put into puppetry,your website,research,shopping,and everthing that is involved putting a class together. Andrew gave a formula some time back that gave a good description on how to charge. Did you see that in the archived post. I'll try to find it.

Billy D.

Found it
http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php/topic,846.0.html

Na - The $270.00 AUD you're considering charging is that per student or for the whole class.  If it's per student I don't think you're too far from a reasonable price.  It sounds like you've done you're home work.  $25  is a decent but not high hourly wage.  As you gain experience you could increase that component of you calculations.  (Plummers and electricians get paid about $50.00 per hour here.)  And to some extent you can only charge what people are willing to pay.

Blessings

It's per student. Sorry, knew I was going to forget something...

So it would be a total of about $2700 income, with a total profit of $460 (roughly), but naturally wages are included. The wages are also inclusive of time spent organising materials, etc. If all of the participants in the class were students, I'd still get a $200 profit.

Although it sounds like a low price per student, I'm worried that if I charge more than $300 people won't be interested; it's not only the going rate for classes similar, but I know that a lot of people are disinterested in paying a lot - cheapskates!

If you are relying on this as a primary income you may reconsider.
No one can answer this question for you.... Andrew gave a formula some time back that gave a good description on how to charge. Did you see that in the archived post. I'll try to find it.

I'm not relying on this for income; I want to try out doing classes as an addition to any income. In my area, there are a lot of people interested in classes for puppetry, especially for kids - if I can get adult classes going, I'm going to look at going to schools, etc. At which point, my costs will change and be reflected in the price.

Yes, I saw Andrew's post, and that's what I've used to calculate my costs. I have materials and tools worked out on a per student basis, as well as venue, insurance (although I'm waiting on a quote, I have a back-up quote to give me an idea of the area it should be), wages, petrol (gas to you Yanks!), advertising, phone, contigency.. and a profit margin. I've gone through every stage of the classes and made lists of all the materials and tools, and priced it all out ... so I think I've got everything covered.... I hope!

Have you considered applying for an Arts Grant?  You can lower your prices make a wage and get more interest.  This is very helpful for going to Schools since they don't have the funds to pay you at a professional level. 

Daryl H

No - for one big reason. I wouldn't get it. Arts grants in this country seem to be given out to people who either already have money, or really shouldn't be getting them.

I could, later, sign up with an agent, who under a certain arts scheme, get subsidised by the government for going into schools.

Besides, at this time, the classes are just for adults.

good topic. I have been wondering myself about how to charge.  I like what Shawn said. I think his pricing is reasonable. I do think if you went to low people would see us as inexperienced. This is a great subject that is very important. i am glad I stumbled on this. Great information!

perhaps the quality & texture of fleece has been changing to meet the standards of high definition? i have noticed that some types of fleece [particularly the ones that builders have been using since the 70's] are beginning to look slightly unkempt on high definition cameras/screens.