Pricing Your Tarot Readings
"How much should I charge for a tarot reading?"
This is one of the first questions people often ask when they start to read tarot professionally.
Charging for a tarot reading is a big step: It is a move that can change people’s perception of you.
Someone who is willing to pay you for your time is more likely to see you as a skilled craftsperson. They are invested in what you’re doing because they have some skin in the game.
When a client isn’t paying for a service, they don’t have anything at stake. It can be the worst reading, or the best reading, but either way, they’ve got nothing to lose it ends up being a bad experience.
But there is a "but" here, which is this:
There is actually a time and place to read for free – and a way to make it feel like a fair exchange. And that’s when you’re in the learning phases as a tarot reader.
I didn’t charge a dime for my tarot readings for seven years, because I was gaining experience.
I did offer free readings, but always in exchange for feedback, and always live one-on-one. I didn’t do freebies through DMs on social media, and was selective about who I read for and how often. I asked for honest feedback from my readings, and made it clear that when I was offering a free reading, it was to enhance my learning.
I didn’t position myself as a professional prematurely, which helped set expectations.
But beyond that, putting a price tag on your tarot services isn’t easy.
It can stir up a lot of feelings: Doubt, insecurity and even guilt are just a few you might encounter.
And when you look at what other tarot businesses are doing, you’ll see a huge range of prices. Some people charge as little as $10 a reading, whereas others charge into the mid-hundreds.
So what should you keep in mind when you are ready to start charging for readings?
First: Be sure you’re really, truly ready to charge. One of the things I’ve seen new readers struggle with is that they rush to go pro before they’ve built up any experience reading for other people.
They don’t have a skill that warrants a price tag yet, so they don’t know how to charge appropriately, or communicate the value of their work. It’s okay to be in the learning phase. Building up experience through practice will take you a long way in delivering quality readings.
Consider that your readings are more than just readings. Your time is precious, and so is your knowledge. Every reading you do for someone is the result of cumulative effort: How many years have you spent honing your craft? How many other skillsets are you incorporating into your tarot work?
You’re not just pulling a few cards. You’re providing something that exists beyond tarot.
Tarot is only a vehicle for the clarity, transformation, and validation that a reading provides. Those are all intangible outcomes that have the potential to change someone’s life.
It’s hard to put a price tag on that, I know. But because so many readers tend to under-charge, it helps to remember that this work can make a real difference in a client’s life.
Tarot reading is not always easy work. You’re often dealing with a range of different personalities, questions, and situations. You’re constantly learning how to work with people’s varying communication styles, needs, and expectations.
There’s much more to being a tarot reader than knowing the difference between major and minor arcana, or understanding elements and court cards. It takes a combination of hard and soft skills to do this work well.
Pricing your tarot services is a personal process, but it helps when you look at your work holistically:
- What did it take you to get to this point?
- How much work have you put into it?
- How do you continue to develop your skills on a continuum?
These are just a few questions to consider and explore when you are trying to determine the value of your work.
Hope this helps.
Until next time,
Liz
p.s. Are you ready to grow your tarot business? I offer mentorship sessions for tarot readers who want help establishing their professional paths.
Click here to learn more.
