A portion of a phone conversation with a potential new client a little while ago.
New Person: How come you charge $150 an hour for your tarot consultations? Isn’t that a bit much?
Me: Not if you take my 33 years of experience into account.
New Person: OK, I get that, but $160?
Me: Let me ask you something. Do you get paid holidays and sick days?
New Person: Yes.
Me: I don’t. I’m self-employed. Do you get a regular salary?
New Person: Yes?
Me: I don’t. I’m self-employed. The hours vary. What does your job consist of?
New Person: I take bookings at [Name of Company].
Me: Anything else?
New Person: Not really.
Me: I do tarot consultations for people, prepare for each session by looking over my notes about their topics and questions, create the map or layout for their consultations, do my own administration, make sure the place is clean when clients arrive, brew the tea, attend conferences, and buy books and decks related to my field of work.
New Person: Oh. That’s a lot.
Me: I don’t begrudge any of it. It’s all part of doing what I love to do and offering to the world what I’m called to offer. It’s not just about the money, it’s a part of who I am. $150 per hour ensures that I get fair compensation for it.
I’ll let this conversation speak for itself.
Image: The Ten of Earth from the Tarot of the Spirit by Joyce Eakins and Pamela Eakins.
Great reply. Makes me think it’s time to raise my prices, thanks 🙂
You’re welcome, Jean. It never hurts to check in with ourselves from time to time about our fees and our feelings about them. Sometimes a practitioner can feel a bit burned out or resentful. Looking at how we value our work in a material way is one manner of overcoming the burnout or resentment. If we charge enough, we’ll want to provide even better service and, often, get more dedicated clients. That’s a great feeling!
i agree.
True. What if the person really cannot pay the prices?
A few options, Jean:
* You can have a series of different session lengths. A person can select one that fits hir budget.
* If the tarot experience is something they really want, they can save up for the session. One 18-year-old young woman saved up her baby-sitting money to have a consultation with me. I really respected her for that.
*You can refer them to someone whose fees or style are different.
* You can customise a payment plan with them.
* You can just not take the client.
This is very synchronous James. I just had someone else ask me the same thing. Usually it is not an issue. I replied that any other readers of the same calibre and experience as myself charges around $150 an hr. Because I have lifetimes of experience, and I’ve been working full time as a professional for 20 years. That is what they are paying for.
I also do Astrology in my Tarot readings so I create and focus on their chart before I do a reading, plus all of the self-employed issues that you mention and I blog extensively,tweet FB etc people take our years of education whether self taught or learning from other experts for granted, we need time for reflection, keeping ourselves tuned, ongoing learning, educating, being present fully for your clients, meditating, staying clear and sharp. That’s all part of the job description.
I do believe that you get what you pay for.
I also offer shorter readings by phone as I dont need to meet people in person to do an effective reading.
Yes I could offer someone a payment plan and occassionally I do see clients for a 1/2 hr in person. Thanks for bringing this topic up. Other professionals don’t work for free. I dont answer free questions when people call because I would be on the phone all day with that.Yes I value myself and what I do.
Blessings TARA
Exactly, Tara. I wonder what someone’s lawyer, dentist, or psychotherapist would say if someone said, “Oh, you’ll do it for $10, won’t you?” Our response should be the same as theirs.
One of the things I admire about you, James, is that you know your worth and you expect that you will be compensated appropriately. Without apologies, guilt, or turbulence. It is a great thing to model, knowing your worth.
It’s less about the money itself, Gail, and ultimately about commitment, mine to my craft and the client’s to their growth and constructive change.
That’s what I mean. Worth isn’t about the amount of money, it’s about the dedication, commitment, and the sense of being part of the all that is. The flow of energy, whether it be attention or money, is moved by respect, the power of commitment and passion for growth.
Mmm…
I’m savouring your phrase, “the power of commitment and the passion for growth”. It’s like a ripe Southern Ontario peach. Thank you!
I had a similar conversation on why don’t I offer my Tarot classes for free like B.O.T..A. does. My answer was that I was one single self-employed person who depended on Tarot as my sole source of income. There’s no way I can compete against “free” classes from an internationally-sized organization with a large membership that pays monthly dues. Of course, B.O.T.A. can offer non-members free Tarot classes. I don’t have that kind of financial backup.
Yet, this dismissive attitude toward Tarot as an income isn’t the first time I’ve had to defend how I earned my income. Back in the 80s, I used to live in New Jersey and commute to the Bronx for my job as an indexer on the staff of Social Sciences Index for the H.W. Wilson company. I had to visit a local travel agency and a woman who worked there asked me what I did for a living. She was incredulous that I did nothing but “read articles all day” and some one actually paid me money for that — and that my job required a Master’s Degree in library science.
When I was at H.W. Wilson, I started at $10,000 a year and was making $50,000 a year when Wilson laid me off and sent my job to India. I worked hard for that income, and in the course of those years had to study on my own time to increase my knowledge of such fields as law, psychology, medicine, and psychiatry in order to understand enough of what I as reading to appropriately assign subject headings for the index. I eventually had to hone my craft to the level that I could train other people to do what I did — and I, myself, never benefited from such training. My skills as an indexer and, later, editor, were almost solely self taught. I earned every penny of the income I received from Wilson, and was still, frankly, underpaid. And, yet, many people, as this travel agent, didn’t believe that such work deserved real compensation.
I think part of the issue here is that Americans, in general, don’t value work that is mental in nature. This holds true for Tarot as well as my former career in indexing and editing.
Thank you for confirming what I can do. I earned a degree in Creative Writing 14 years ago, started teaching myself the tarot 9 years ago and also became a certified hypnotherapist, specializing in past life regression and smoking cessation. I have had the hardest time building a support system and meeting clients who can afford more than free or a barter. Writing is generally frowned upon as it isn’t hard labour or back breaking. Tarot is some silly game. Life coaching? Forget it. It is time I market myself and ask for what I am truly worth. Especially now that the stakes are higher for me with an infant often nibbles my cards.
A great contribution here, Camille. We remember that this is a calling, a sacred duty, AND we ask for right compensation for it. Blessed be!
I figure that the BOTA’s monthly dues are pretty much the same thing as paying a fee for a service, regardless of how it’s packaged. And their programme is very good.
So is yours, Beth, and mental, spiritual, emotional work is just as work-filled as anything physical.
Thanks James very timely for us as well. As you know (and many here may not), Raymond and I have been professional readers (me since 1979, Raymond since 1986). We are facing this conversation heavily for the first time in years; people not having the income they’re used to having, the heaviness of the recession (cough, depression) we went through. We dug deep in terms of what we can do to assist others while not throwing ourselves under the bus.
And you are right, as usual. People fail to realize that while they (and business) may consider this to be entertainment, for us it is an income. We don’t have anyone else paying our bills for us, nor do we have a constant stream of back to back readings (like sitting in a 1-900 line service)…What we have is high quality readings (both psychic and tarot) that takes years of education, research (in tarot) and mentoring to do this right; we are talking about Your life, not about something trivial. We take this seriously (as I know you do too), we have ethics we uphold, work hard behind the scenes that people don’t see unless they spend a significant time with us, other than a reading. The reading is the tip of the iceberg of what we in fact, do for the clients. The money we charge is little compared to the work we actually do both before, during and after each reading.
When compared to other specialists, we are not only severely underpaid for the hours we put in, but we cannot get secondary grants, paybacks like doctors (from the drug companies who compensate doctors with food/money incentives for every script they turn to the specific drug), nor can we get SBA assistance (small business administration) front loans to help bolster us up during ‘down times’, pay for our locations, etc. Most businesses have this. In fact, most of us are ‘on our own’ to develop our businesses, figure out what works (and what doesn’t), and don’t have groups like the rotary club to send clients our way..this business is very solitary for the most part, and very man hours consuming.
Most clients only see us during the 30, 60, 90 minute reading either by phone or in person (or in some people’s cases, email readings). Not realizing what we exactly must do to stay in business. It is very much like any other business, we still pay bills, take out our garbage, and have ourselves to insure, and the cat to feed!
It’s OK to state what your work consists of, Mary. We don’t need to justify anything, but a bit of education is a good thing for everyone who’s considering our services.
YEs no need to justify, but to testify! I suggest we have a group abundance session! Pray to the wealth Buddha, share in our resources,support and heighten the awareness of what we do.
we are professionals, sincere, dedicated.
Actually, Tara, I’m part of a mastermind circle that meets once a month. We check in with one another, share what’s on our mind about our work, receive feedback about what we say, then share a pot-luck meal together. Maybe that’s something you could start up too.
I love your confidence, James. You are so right… we put in so much as Tarot professionals that it IS justified to charge a decent per-hour fee for our services. We, as Tarot professionals, should be proud of our professional and the value we offer our clients.
Good on you for articulating it so well.
By the way, you mentioned being part of a mastermind group. Is this with other Tarot readers, or a broader group? How did you find this group? I am very interested in joining one myself.
It’s a group of five of us who are self-employed agents of change and creativity. I’m the tarot and circle process person, another is a shamanic practitioner and educator, another is a sound-healer and composer, yet another is an intuitive guide and creator of flower essences, and the fifth one leads dream circles and other medicine experiences.
I called it into being. We have a more council-like approach than some MM groups. Our group is not only about making a living, it’s about aligning our souls and work. The sharing is very good. So, if you can’t find one, make one!
And this is why I am a fan of yours. James – well done and brilliantly explained! You are a role model for all tarot readers.
You’re jolly good yourself, Theresa. I love your policy around no-shows. Firm!
Indeed you all are great role models for me…Blessings and financial prosperity to all….
And to you, Summer!
I offer my clients package deals—say, they buy three hours, they get one free. It doesn’t take my price down that much, it gives my clients time that they can break up and use as needed, and they still feel they are getting value and I still get paid-up front!
What a great thing to offer clients, Asherah!
I offer the option of a single session, a series of four sessions, or a series of ten sessions.
Variety helps.
I also believe that Asherah has a good way to handle the issue. I may try this in the future when I develop more of a group of consistently returning clients. Until recently, I only worked occasionally as a Tarot reader — and more at parties than with private clients.
At present, I like to tell potential clients what my basic per-minute rate is and what is the minimum amount that I will accept for a 30 to 40 minute reading. I then leave an option open for the client who wants a longer reading (an hour or more) to give me a “best offer” price for the length of reading they want. We usually perform this negotiation through a series of emails. Once I receive the client’s “best offer,” I will either agree to the reading or inform the client how long a reading I’m willing to perform for the offered price.
I wonder if set fees would help here, Beth. Not that there’s anything “wrong” with what you tell people, it’s just that I’ve found that sliding scales, suggested rates, etc. didn’t work for me. In the days when I had a sliding scale fee, no one would take the initiative. They would ask me, “So how much do I owe you?” When I pointed out the range and told them to decide, they wouldn’t do it. So I ended up telling them to pay the half-way mark price which they did. In my own practice, a firm, per-time-frame fee seems to work.
I make my sliding-scale fee work by requiring payment in advance of the appointment. This also stops no-shows. I thing we all have our own unique ways of dealing with the issue of compensation.
Perfect!
No matter what, the prices should be reasonable and not over the top, Tarot or any other new age services are benefit of mankind, yes! we should earn from it but not charge a bomb that it burns the pocket completely, it can be ok for a rich person to avail such services, but the poor will not be able to afford it. It has to be reasonable as anything that is purely based and emphasized on money loses its energy and power in the long run.
Thank you, Amit. This blog piece is ultimately less about the fee and more about honouring ourselves as professional practitioners and reminding clients that there needs to be a contribution to the process on their part. It’s about commitment from both parties. I agree that one should charge what is appropriate for one’s target market, whoever they are. In days of old, when people visited the oracles, it was a pilgrimage. Effort was put into getting to the holy place, waiting and preparing, and making an offering to the temple. Professional fees are our modern equivalent.
Absolutely love your post. It has been a difficult journey particularly in my country, where skepticism brand us negatively to stop some from parting with their money to provide us with fair compensation. The tide’s turning though and I am thankful for the trust paying clients put on my skills. I have taken to giving a portion of my fees to the Children’s Cancer Foundation, as a way to say thank you for the universe’s hand in turning that tide.
What a beautiful way to give back! Thank you for telling us about it. My own way to offer something back to the community tends to be to donate a gift certificate for my tarot services to a silent auction for a good local cause.
[…] s); })(); A couple of weeks ago, I read with intrigue a post by James Wells, titled “I Value Who I am and What I Do.” He relayed a short conversation where his client was asking him why he charged $145 per hour […]
[…] read this from James Wells at Circle Ways, while we are worlds apart in our Tarot experience, the time and […]
That’s what I’ve done too James…and will continue to do; both with Tarot and Numerosymbology. When I was a painter and decorator I did the same with that service too. I really like your article James. It tackles a subject that so many of us struggle with – the art of receiving in equal value to what we give out. Thanks.
It’s important, isn’t it, Ellis, to honour our worth. I get a bit hot under the collar when people say things like, “Well, we can’t pay you anything, but connecting with us will give you great exposure.” Ninety-five (or more) percent of the time, that’s utter crap. Let us all respect ourselves and stand tall in our self-respect. Thank you for reading and commenting here! 🙂
Yes it is James…and you’ve hit on a drum of mine again. Sounds like you’ve had the same experiences with some of the media as I have. It takes a lot of time to write articles. Funnily enough, in my experience, the msm I’ve written for have always paid a fee, respected the rhyme of Creation; but the so-called new age publications have always wanted something for nothing.
😉
Just brilliant James! Clap, clap, clap. Can I quote you? 😉 I couldn’t agree with you more! 😀
Thank you!
Reblogged this on Kashiopia Holistic Wellness and commented:
Brilliant. Inspirational.
Thank you!
I’m starting a proper practice venue soon. I’m not where you are, but very inspirational have a role model 😀
Thank you so much for your article and responding to me!! Love & Light
I’m in Toronto, Ontario, but work on Skype and phone as well as in person. If you need some form of professional support, please let me know and we can set something up. Wishing you well!