What to charge for a gig: a working performer's pricing guide

A client asks the question every performer dreads: “So… what do you charge?”

If your stomach drops a little, you’re normal. There’s no menu for this. Every gig is different, you don’t want to scare them off, and you really don’t want to find out later you left money on the table. So a lot of performers just blurt the same number they charged last time, or whatever feels safe, and hope.

You can do better than hope. You can’t look up a single correct price — it depends on your act, your market, and the room — but you can use a repeatable method to land on the right number every time. Here it is.

Why there’s no single number

Your fee isn’t one figure; it’s a base that moves up or down with the gig. The big levers:

The event and audience. A corporate client with a budget, a wedding, a ticketed theater show, a library kids’ show, and a backyard birthday are not the same gig — even if you perform the exact same material.
Time — all of it. Not just your 45 minutes on stage. Travel, load-in, setup, the meeting beforehand, the hours the booking blocks off your day. You’re pricing the whole commitment.
What you bring. Gear, an assistant, sound, custom material, extra insurance — every requirement that costs you should be in the number.
Demand and experience. The more booked-up and proven you are, the more your time is worth. Raising your rate is how you manage demand.
What it’s worth to them. A company spending five figures on an event values a great act differently than someone splitting costs for a house party. Price the value, not just the hour.

The performers who under-charge usually price only their stage time and forget everything else on this list.

Build your number from a floor

Start with a floor, then adjust up.

Your floor is the “I won’t get out of bed for less than this” number. It covers your time (the whole day, not the set), your costs for that gig, and enough margin that it’s genuinely worth doing. Below the floor, you politely pass — taking cheap gigs trains clients (and you) to undervalue your act.

Then adjust up for the levers above: bigger budget, longer day, more travel, more gear, higher stakes for the client. Your floor is the start of the conversation, not the answer.

A quick gut check: if you say your number out loud and feel a little nervous, you’re probably close. If you feel relieved, you went too low.

Pick a pricing model

Most working performers use one of these:

Flat fee per show — the simplest, and the norm for variety, magic, comedy, and music. One number for the agreed performance.
By time — hourly, half-day, or full-day, useful for strolling/ambient work, multi-set gigs, or all-day events.
Packages / tiers — “good / better / best” (e.g., a 30-minute set, vs. set + meet-and-greet, vs. full-event coverage). Tiers quietly anchor people to the middle and make the yes easier.
Add-ons — travel beyond X miles, extra sets, early setup, custom material. Bundle the obvious stuff into the base; charge separately for the extras.

You don’t need all of these. Pick the one that fits how you actually work and keep it consistent.

How to answer “what’s your rate?”

Never quote before you understand the gig. When someone asks your rate, ask first:

When and where is it? (date, travel)
How long do you need me, and doing what?
Who’s the audience and how many?
What’s the occasion — what would make this a win for you?

Then quote with a calm, specific number or a tight package — not a mumbled range that invites a haggle. Confidence is part of the product; a performer who’s sure of their price is easier to trust than one who sounds like they’re guessing.

Deposits and actually getting paid

A number you never collect isn’t a fee. A few habits that save you:

Take a deposit to hold the date (a common split is part up front, the rest on or before the day).
Put it in writing — fee, deposit, what’s included, travel, cancellation terms. A one-page confirmation prevents most disputes.
Invoice promptly and track who’s paid, so nothing quietly slips through unpaid.

(That last one is its own quiet money-leak — easy to fix once you’re logging gigs in one place.)

Raising your rate (especially with repeat clients)

Your price should climb as you get more booked and more proven. The trickiest version is the return client — and it’s also where tracking pays off directly.

When a client re-books, you want to know exactly what you charged last time so you can step it up deliberately, not accidentally quote the old number out of habit. A modest, confident increase on a client who already loves you is some of the easiest money in the business. But only if you remember the number — which is a record-keeping problem, not a pricing one.

The performers who charge well are the ones who track

Pricing confidently comes from data, not vibes. When you can pull up what you charged this client last time, what similar gigs paid, and whether you’ve actually been paid, you quote from a position of knowledge — and you stop leaving money on the table.

That’s the whole reason to keep your gigs in one place. If you’re not yet, start with our free Working Performer’s Gig Tracker — it logs your fees and flags what a repeat client paid before. For the bigger picture on setting up a system, see how to keep track of your gigs. And when the spreadsheet starts creaking, TrouperList keeps every fee, payment, and past set connected — so the next quote writes itself.