"$500 for a Santa Claus?!"
I could hear every one of those question marks over the phone. And I knew, right then, that I'd lost the gig.
A few years earlier, my wife and I had been hired as Santa and Mrs. Claus for the City of Flint tree lighting. It was a great gig. At the time, my day job overlooked the very intersection where the tree stood, so I'd watch them string the lights from my desk. The booking was one hour: light the tree, take photos with families. That first year we stayed ninety minutes, because the line kept going and we were having too much fun to stop. Year two went just as well.
Year three, they called. I quoted my normal rate. And you know the rest.
Here's the thing: I don't know what the other Santa charged, and I don't know if he set out to undercut me. I've chosen to believe he didn't. He was a newer Santa who offered a lower rate, and the city took it. That happens. My price isn't on the cheap side, and I know that.
So that year, we didn't do the tree lighting.
The following year, my phone rang again. Same woman who'd hired us the first two years. She apologized. After the event, she said, the community had sent in feedback, and the gist of it was: we liked last year's Santa better. Where did he go?
We had that gig for a few more years, until the city eventually stopped doing the event. But that call stuck with me, because it answered a question every performer wrestles with: does charging more actually mean anything to the client, or just to us?
It means something. Let's talk about why — from both sides, because I've been on both.
When you're the one undercutting
I'll be honest: I can't say with 100% certainty that I've never undercut another performer. I'm sure it's happened. What I can say is that I've never done it on purpose.
When I started as Santa, I charged $75 to $100 an appearance. And it worked, in the sense that I got a lot of bookings. One season I did around 75 appearances in five weeks.
Seventy-five. In five weeks.
By mid-December I was running on fumes. By Christmas Eve, I'd lost the twinkle in my eye (and for a Santa, that's not a figure of speech — the kids can tell). Christmas morning came, and the strongest feeling I had was relief that the season was over.
That's not why anyone puts on the suit.
The next year, I raised my rates to a number I was actually comfortable with: $125 at the bottom, $150 as my standard. I did about 50 events that season instead of 75.
Now run the numbers:
- Year one: about 75 events at roughly $75 = around $5,600
- Year two: about 50 events at $125–$150 = somewhere between $6,250 and $7,500
Twenty-five fewer gigs. More money. And I got my twinkle back.
I did lose a few clients — though, to be fair, some of them were just aging out (kids grow up, Santa visits stop). Some made comments about the new price, and I was ready for that conversation. I told them I'm a professional. I bring props and stories. My suit is custom tailored. I've graduated from nine different Santa trainings and schools. Most of them understood.
Two balked hard. So I grandfathered them at their old rate for one more year, then raised them with everyone else. One of those families' kids aged out. The other client? Still booking me seven years later, through three price increases.
Lowballing yourself doesn't just cost you money. It costs you the show. You can't give your best performance at gig number 68 of 75 — and the family at gig 68 deserves the same Santa the family at gig 1 got.
The hypnotist version of the same lesson
I learned this one twice.
When I started doing comedy stage hypnosis, a mentor told me flat out: don't take less than $1,000 for a show. So naturally, my first show, I booked for $600. I couldn't justify $1,000 in my own head yet.
After that one show, I sat down and actually looked at my numbers: what I'd already sunk into training, insurance, attire, and gear, and what it would take to get from there to profit. The answer was obvious. At $600, I could make it work — if I did a crap-load of shows. At $1,000, the show covered my costs and I didn't need to book myself into the ground to get there.
My mentor was right. I just had to see it on paper before I believed it.
When someone undercuts you
The Flint story is the gentle version: a newer guy offered a lower price, and the client took it. Nobody did anything wrong. But I've had the not-so-gentle version too.
Years ago, a client told me another Santa had reached out to them directly. He'd seen the venue's advertisement with me listed as their Santa. He'd met me at a convention, so he knew roughly what I charged. And he contacted my client to let them know he could do it cheaper next year.
My client told me all of this, including his name. I brushed it off. I thanked them for telling me, and they made it clear they wanted me back the next year regardless of his rate.
I never confronted the other Santa. It's not worth it to me. I just wish he hadn't done it.
But here's what my client taught me, and it's the part I want every performer to hear: even if they had wanted a cheaper Santa the next year, that guy had already burned his chance. They were appalled that he would call and try that. He lost that client before he was ever considered for the job.
Clients don't see an aggressive undercut as a bargain. They see it as a red flag.
Think about it from their side. If you'll poach another performer's booking to save them fifty bucks, what else will you cut corners on? And if a client does see it as a great deal and jumps ship over a few dollars? Speaking for myself, that's not a client I want long-term anyway.
What to do instead
When a client pushes back on my price, I don't get defensive and I don't race to the bottom. I remind them what they're actually getting.
I don't show up, sit in a chair, read a book, and hand out gifts. I tell stories about the reindeer, about Mrs. Claus, about the elves. I bring out items from the North Pole and let the kids see them up close. It's a storytelling show, then gifts and photos. Clients aren't booking a Santa appearance; they're booking an experience.
Once, a client really pushed. My normal rate for that set was $225, and all she wanted was gift handouts and photos. Fine. I dropped her to $125 for exactly that.
On the day, I got there early, and my next gig pushed back 45 minutes. So I had time on my hands. Screw it, I thought — and I did my full $225 set anyway. Stories, props, photos, all of it.
On my way out, she stopped me. She apologized for questioning my pricing, told me I was phenomenal, handed me a tip, and said she wanted to book me next year — at my normal rate.
I lowered the price, not the product. She saw the difference and corrected the rate herself.
When someone still won't budge, I let them go, and if I can, I offer to help them find a Santa in their price range. My services aren't for everyone, and I'm fine with that. I'm just not a sit-and-take-photos Santa.
Why undercutting hurts all of us
Let me be fair about this, because it's not as simple as "low prices bad."
Affordability is real. Some families are struggling and still want that magical Santa visit any way they can get it. They know the mall's photo package runs $100 or more, so a $100 Santa who comes to their living room is a pretty great return. I understand that completely, and there's room in this world for performers who serve those families.
The damage comes from somewhere else.
Here's how it usually goes. A newer hypnotist takes a lower fee because he wants the gigs (I get it — I was that guy). He books too many. He burns out. His performance slips. And now that client doesn't just think "that hypnotist was rough." They think hypnosis shows are rough. Same with Santas. Same with magicians. One worn-out, underpriced performance can sour a client on an entire category of entertainment, and the next performer who calls them inherits that bad taste.
There's also the sales side. A lot of us are performers first and salespeople a distant second. Some people don't know how to sell themselves. Some hate naming their price out loud. Some want to do it for free. All of that is okay — truly. But if this is a hobby for you and you're not charging, understand that the performers trying to make a living are the ones who absorb the consequences. Clients start expecting that price from everyone.
Whether you're pulling a rabbit out of a hat, making someone forget their own name, or bringing wonder to a family at the holidays, what you charge resets what clients think all of us are worth.
Know your worth
So how do you actually figure out what to charge? Here's what I'd tell a new performer over a beer.
Start with what you offer. What do you do that nobody else does? As a Santa, do you read a book or tell stories? (Storytelling and story-reading are not the same thing.) As a hypnotist, do you have a bit nobody else has? At a Ren faire, what does your show give an audience that the stage down the lane doesn't?
Decide what this is. Is it a hobby, where some side cash and a little compensation for your time is the goal? Or is it a business? Both are fine. But be honest with yourself, because the answer changes the math.
If it's a business, price like one. Your rate has to cover taxes, self-employment tax, your costume or attire, mileage, insurance, props, and professional training. My suit and clothing are north of $2,000, and Mrs. Claus's are the same. When I book a one-hour event, I block out three: an hour before, the event itself, and an hour after in case the line runs long. (When it does, and I stay past my paid time to make sure every family is seen, I don't bill the extra hour. I tell the client, "This ran over. I'd normally invoice for the extra hour — not this time. Merry Christmas." I can only afford to do that because my rate gives me room to.) All of that belongs in your price. If you're at $100 a visit, ask yourself: does that cover your travel? Your suit? Your training?
Know what kind of work you want. Home visits, photo sessions, and tree lightings are different jobs. So are high school, college, and corporate hypnosis shows. Price for the work you actually want to be doing.
Ask around. Have you asked potential clients what they'd expect to pay? Have you asked other performers what they charge? (Asking isn't undercutting. Using the answer to come in $50 under them is.)
Then check your calendar. Here's the one rule I'd tattoo on every new performer:
If you have more gigs than you can shake a stick at, you're priced too low.
A calendar that's packed to the point of misery isn't a sign of success. It's your market telling you you're a bargain.
Finally, I set myself a goal every year. Sometimes it's total events. Sometimes it's total revenue. It depends on what I'm building that year. But I can only tell whether I'm hitting it, or whether I'm drifting back toward a 75-gig December, because I keep track of every booking, every rate, and which clients are still on a grandfathered price. That's a big part of why I ended up building OvationCRM: I wanted to see those numbers without digging through four calendars and a notebook.
The bottom line
The cheaper Santa got the Flint tree lighting for one year. The community asked for the other guy back.
Undercutting can win you a booking. It rarely wins you a client. Charge what your work is actually worth, and then deliver more than that.
Keep the twinkle. Charge for it.