Magician hiring, fair prices.

Question

My friend is an amateur magician, he does mostly card tricks with a few more impressive tricks on the side, he charges $40 an half hour. for a professional magician that would be a steal, but he is far from professional. Do you think this is a fair price?

Answer 1

Sounds fun... Well I think it's a fair price, unless he isn't getting any business with that. You didn't mention if he was actually getting any business yet or not. In my opinion, I think if he's charging too much, he'll know, because business will be slow.

Just make sure he has a good costume, because that's key! I think if he has a good costume and he's good at what he does, he can make that much easily. Also, it might help if he prepared some jokes, so he can tell some magic-jokes while he does his magic-tricks.

Answer 2

Prices for entertainment are always negotiable. I am glad to see that your friend does not appear to be marketing himself as a professional when he is not. There are too many cases of people claiming to be  professionals, when they don't have the training, experience or credentials.

To be defined as a professional entertainer, you should:

1. Have a show of consistent quality. Whatever that may be. You shouldn't be hot one night and bumbling the next.

2. Follow standard business practices for the profession. (e.g. contracts, office procedures, etc.)

3. Charge a fee within the appropriate range for someone making a living from the craft. (Doing a full illusion show for $50.00 does not qualify you as a professional.)

4. Dependablity -  Show up on time and do what you've promised.

Best of luck in continuing your magic.

Answer 3

Like any other service or product, it is worth what someone else is willing to pay. He needs to stay flexible in his pricing starting out in order to build up both experience (as a magician and working) in order to get better at what he does. So it is a fair price if the client is willing to pay it. If he needs to make a deal to come down a bit he can offer an extra few minutes to the service. It's all negotiable.

Good Luck!

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