Psychic Faire Questions

bigcaat

I did my first psychic faire today. I've read professionally, via phone banks and such, on and off for years, but have never done a faire.

I did it because I took a healing class and they required you to do the fair. Ironically, they didn't let me do healing for practice (don't ask) but I did tarot and psychometry.

For those of you "faire vets" I have a couple of questions, because it seems to be a viable option for making some decent money.

First of all, this particular faire, since it was for students, was extraordinarily structured to 10 minute readings. (It annoyed me.) My thought is that when I do a faire where I am more in control of my own readings to do 15 to 20 minute readings. It seems more reasonable to me. I don't like cutting people off when there is more to be explored. I'm thinking to sign people up for 15 minute readings, but schedule it at 20 minute intervals. How do you do schedule your querents and does this seem a reasonable format?

Second, how much do you charge? My normal fee is $5.00/card with a 4 card minimum. I quickly realized today that a 4 card spread was the max I could do for a 10 minute spread. My thoughts are to do between a 4 and 6 card spread for the 15 minute time limit and keep my same pay structure of $5/card. So we're talking $20 - $30/reading. If it's a busy fair, at 20 minute intervals then, we're talking about $60/hour. Sound reasonable? What do you charge, how do you schedule?

Third, I found it interesting today that no matter how well I shuffled the cards between clients, many of the same cards kept appearing. Does this happen to you? Now, I didn't like it today that there was absolutely no time in between clients to cleanse and re-center. Would this card reappearance be more because of that or would it be something that I personally am bringing to the reading?

Since I was unable to cleanse, was I influencing the readings in some way? I think out of the entire day, there were only 2 readings that I felt I either didn't connect very well, or that (more-likely) they were putting up some sort of resistance. Does this happen to you? Where do you think it comes from and how do you handle it -- these two situations: re-occurring cards and people for whom you feel like you aren't connecting satisfactorily?

Thanks for any input you might have.

Sincerely,
Caat

Edited to add: I forgot to ask, if you want to offer full readings, say a 10 card hour reading, along with the mini readings, how to you schedule it? Do you have sign-up sheets for people? How do you organized the sheets so that people can sign up and know when to return for their reading at the proper time, if not all readings are the same time frame?

Thanks,
C.
 

HighPriestesss

Hey Caat,

I'm not a "faire vet," so I may be totally out of line here, but with over 30 people reading this post without even one reply, I'll give my .02.........

IMO, it's a bit over-whelming, all your questions at once. And admittedly, you're a professional and have been for years. So perhaps you should already know these particular answers? For what it's worth, maybe ask the board one question at a time? I dunno...I'm certainly striving to become a professional reader and have tons of questions myself! :D

Now for some general input based on my limited experience:

"I did it because I took a healing class and they required you to do the fair. Ironically, they didn't let me do healing for practice (don't ask) but I did tarot and psychometry."

Although you said "don't ask," one has to wonder about why they required you to do the fair, but not healing? What's the story here?? Maybe nobody feels open to helping you because you're blocking yourself to their help?

And the only other comment I can qualify to give is turning over the same card repeatedly. The one all-day event I did, although I was the sole reader, did produce the same card(s). It was ridiculous! No matter how long the cards were shuffled, there they emerged. Even a short five-hour event amounted to the same. And it was usually a Court card...darn it! I really dislike Court cards!! LOL Did I cleanse in-between? No. So I'm curious what the pro's have to say on this question as well....

Anyway, that's my two cents. Have a great day!
 

Umbrae

bigcaat said:
...was extraordinarily structured to 10 minute readings. (It annoyed me.) My thought is that when I do a faire where I am more in control of my own readings to do 15 to 20 minute readings. It seems more reasonable to me. I don't like cutting people off when there is more to be explored. I'm thinking to sign people up for 15 minute readings, but schedule it at 20 minute intervals. How do you do schedule your querents and does this seem a reasonable format?

No reason to go for longer than a 10 minute reading. Usually, a 30 minute reading means there's too much verbiage being scattered about. Read the cards. That's it. Just read them.

bigcaat said:
Second, how much do you charge? My normal fee is $5.00/card with a 4 card minimum. I quickly realized today that a 4 card spread was the max I could do for a 10 minute spread. My thoughts are to do between a 4 and 6 card spread for the 15 minute time limit and keep my same pay structure of $5/card. So we're talking $20 - $30/reading. If it's a busy fair, at 20 minute intervals then, we're talking about $60/hour. Sound reasonable? What do you charge, how do you schedule?

Depends on the area. Depends on the competition. Depends on how long you can talk about a card without 'cold reading'.

bigcaat said:
Third, I found it interesting today that no matter how well I shuffled the cards between clients, many of the same cards kept appearing. Does this happen to you? Now, I didn't like it today that there was absolutely no time in between clients to cleanse and re-center. Would this card reappearance be more because of that or would it be something that I personally am bringing to the reading?

I once had a party where dang near the entire group had the same cards, but they were tight as a group, and all positive folks - in the long run it made sense. My job is to read the cards, not figure out why others are on the same wavelength. Also - sure you shuffle - but then you deal off the top of the deck like you're playing poker or rummy - where perhaps you should spread the cards out and let the sitter choose? It IS their reading after all.

bigcaat said:
Since I was unable to cleanse, was I influencing the readings in some way?

Cleanse? No you don't have time cleanse. in a good fair, it's 10 hours of back to back readings. You have to do all that grounding centering and cleansing beforehand.

Influencing the reading is a completely different matter - IF (and I emphasise IF), you were having newbie reading jitters (that's a fancy word for FEAR - which nobody ever has - after all - we're readers (roflmaopp)) that will influence not only the randomization process, but what is 'seen' in the cards.

And you know what they say, "the first time never counts..."
 

Debra

I'm glad you asked about this...I'll be interested to see what experienced faire readers have to say. For myself, all I can draw on is my recent experience doing five hours of free readings at a Halloween benefit.

The same cards came up over and over, sure enough. Why? I think because the people at the event tend to have the same kinds of problems and personalities.

Those with different problems and different personalities got different cards.

I tend to be a 15-20 minute reader myself. But for a faire, shorter might be better. It's a fun-oriented event, not really the setting for heavy questions in my opinion. You could always give out your business card for a follow-up reading. That's what I did at the benefit--when someone asked for a fuller reading, I told them to come see me another day.
 

satinangel

Have been doing fairs for several years now, so will try to give some input where I can.

bigcaat said:
For those of you "faire vets" I have a couple of questions, because it seems to be a viable option for making some decent money.

Some will be good and some will be bad. Every event is a crapshoot. It can depend on the month, the week, the day, the weather, other events going on in the area, where the event is held...I could go on and on.

First of all, this particular faire, since it was for students, was extraordinarily structured to 10 minute readings. (It annoyed me.) My thought is that when I do a faire where I am more in control of my own readings to do 15 to 20 minute readings. It seems more reasonable to me. I don't like cutting people off when there is more to be explored. I'm thinking to sign people up for 15 minute readings, but schedule it at 20 minute intervals. How do you do schedule your querents and does this seem a reasonable format?

All venues are different, some will have schedulers and a set format that you must abide by and some might even set your pay scale for you. For this type of event normally they are set right at the 15 minute mark, with no breaks in-between, so if you are really busy, you will be seeing up to 4 people an hour...you will have to ask for breaks, if necessary.

For other events, you may be all on your own. I still like to keep to the 15 minute schedule, when booking my self...but I can be a little more flexible here...for such cases, when someone needs a little more time...have to be careful here though, as you may have someone waiting for you, and you may not even know it.

Either way, it's important to have plenty of business cards and you can hand the sitter one and say, "I would love to explore this with you further, feel free to give me a call and we can set up a private appointment."

Second, how much do you charge? My normal fee is $5.00/card with a 4 card minimum. I quickly realized today that a 4 card spread was the max I could do for a 10 minute spread. My thoughts are to do between a 4 and 6 card spread for the 15 minute time limit and keep my same pay structure of $5/card. So we're talking $20 - $30/reading. If it's a busy fair, at 20 minute intervals then, we're talking about $60/hour. Sound reasonable? What do you charge, how do you schedule?

As stated in the previous comment, for the VERY structured events you will not be able to set your own price.

When I am able to set my own, my fees vary depending on the area and what the other readers are charging. It's nice to stay competitive and not undercut.

Keep in mind, pay structures may be different in your area, here they range from $1/min, $20 for 15 min to $25 for 15 min.

Hope this helps.
 

Apollonia

While we're on the topic, the shop where I read is scheduling a psychic fair offering five minute readings.

I've never done a fair, and I wonder anyone has experience with readings of this length. Thanks!
 

bigcaat

Apollonia said:
While we're on the topic, the shop where I read is scheduling a psychic fair offering five minute readings.

I've never done a fair, and I wonder anyone has experience with readings of this length. Thanks!

First of all, thanks to those of you who gave me your helpful insight.

Regarding 5 minute readings. I would never do that. 10 minutes to me, was just not quite long enough. At that length, it seemed like nothing more than a psychic mill, churning out as much as possible in the shortest amount of time with no regard to quality or respect for the client.

I can see 15 minutes, you can reasonably give them something worthwhile in 15 minutes, but unless you are doing simple one card and interpreting that, I can't see ethical readings in 5 minutes.

JMO, your mileage may vary.

Caat
 

Apollonia

bigcaat said:
Regarding 5 minute readings. I would never do that. 10 minutes to me, was just not quite long enough. At that length, it seemed like nothing more than a psychic mill, churning out as much as possible in the shortest amount of time with no regard to quality or respect for the client.

I can see 15 minutes, you can reasonably give them something worthwhile in 15 minutes, but unless you are doing simple one card and interpreting that, I can't see ethical readings in 5 minutes.
Caat

Thanks, Caat! :)

That's kind of what I was thinking. I'm not sure whether I can effect a change, but maybe I can bring up the idea of making the readings a bit longer.

If not, I'll report back after the fair and let you know how it worked out! Who knows, maybe it'll turn out that I have a knack for auctioneer-like speed talking...
 

Umbrae

Apollonia said:
While we're on the topic, the shop where I read is scheduling a psychic fair offering five minute readings.

I've never done a fair, and I wonder anyone has experience with readings of this length. Thanks!

bigcaat said:
Regarding 5 minute readings. I would never do that. 10 minutes to me, was just not quite long enough. At that length, it seemed like nothing more than a psychic mill, churning out as much as possible in the shortest amount of time with no regard to quality or respect for the client.

Umbrae said:
No reason to go for longer than a 10 minute reading. Usually, a 30 minute reading means there's too much verbiage being scattered about. Read the cards. That's it. Just read them.

Ouch bigcaat! I’m glad you stated that mileage may vary but ouch!

Think on this – how long must you speak for each card? How much time do you actually use speaking? How much time do you NEED to spend speaking on each card?

The whole point of ‘short’ readings, is to help get ego out of the way, and help minimize the use of the Forer Effect so often relied upon by so-called “cold readers”.

Three cards five minutes is very doable. Five minutes can also produce very freakin’ great readings! Myself, I’m wary of readers who absolutely positively need more than 20 minutes per reading – cuz I know that they ain’t reading what’s in the cards, they’re phishing.

So get over yerselves...
 

Grizabella

Set a timer for yourself and then start talking and sustain it for five solid minutes. That will give you a better concept of what five minutes of talking about something really is. It can contain a whole lot more than you think. Ten or fifteen minutes can be an eternity!