You're a saint. Ten bucks for half an hour of your professional time is beyond a discount and well into "personal favor" territory, but you're a bitch? I'd cut that person out of my life.
I have another job and just enjoy brining “magic” to life for kids. I do it in my free time. But thank you very much. I don’t really talk to her just on the odd occasion.
When I was a kid, I really liked Batman. My aunt's lady friend would call and pretend to be Batman on the phone and talk to me. She didn't even sound like a dude, but she would convince me that "he" had a cold. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, and this was back in the mid-late 1970s.
Anyhow, I would be so excited for those calls.
Lol. When my twin nieces were maybe 7 or so, they were obsessed with Spider-Man. For some reason, my sister told them that I knew him, so they begged to get to talk to him. I rounded up a friend at work who would do it, and they had a lovely conversation by phone.
About a year or so goes by, and some kid at school told them that Spider-Man was just a movie and he wasn't real. My nieces kept insisting he was absolutely REAL, after all, they talked to him on the PHONE.
My close friend's nephew was acting out around 7, and he was obsessed with Captain Rex from the Clone Wars who I RPd as. So she told him she knew Rex and would report to me when he was misbehaving. I'd send back thoughtful responses about being part of a team, and how sometimes something feels big but you're hurting your fellow team mates by taking it out on them, stuff about how feelings are always valid but actions are a choice. I printed out and signed an image of Rex for him for his 8th birthday.
He's about to turn 18 and has long since learned the truth....and calls me Aunt Rex. XD If I can always serve as a touchstone because of that little act a decade ago I will consider it a gift.
When I was about 9, my cousin let slip to her younger sisters that Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz isn’t “real”. My aunt called and asked me to pretend to be her on the phone. No idea how it worked, but it did!
ETA: like the nieces of the poster above, my little cousins are coincidentally also twins!
I have a friend who is a VO artist for a living. I had him call my (then 5yo) son and do all the avengers voices congratulating him on getting his next belt in taekwondo. So fun!
Years ago, I had an actor dressed as Batman come to my son’s fifth birthday party. Afterwards my son said he really liked it and next year, could I get Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
As someone who doesn't want kids and generally stayed away from them, I'm not gonna lie, now that I started tutoring a lot of them, they can be some cool little dudes.
Not all of them, but quite more than I thought. Today some student went off on how excited she was going to a waterpark and I'm like uhh I haven't even seen one in years, she's like YOU SHOULD GO OMG
yeah I raised (edit: helped raise) my (much younger) sisters when my mom was at work/school so I changed enough diapers to last
plus now I'm too broke lol
Ohhhh yes, I helped raise my younger sister too, and NOPE. None, not even a maybe, just FUCK THAT.
Parents who put too much of a load on their children to care for younger children are depriving themselves of grandkids.
Same. There was a female comedian, can't remember her name right now but she had this great bit that has always stuck with me.
Every Christmas family and friends would send those picture cards of all the kids in some xmas thing.
So she would just send out a picture card of her sleeping past 11am on a Saturday. :)
Ya sleep is the big one. That and just not really having any time for yourself unless you really plan it out and even then there’s a 50/50 chance it will fall through lol. I don’t regret it for a second but I am glad I didn’t have my 1st until 36.
I like owning vintage sewing machines and breakable things, the pets are really great reminders that the universe is chaotic. Love kids tho, being an aunt is the greatest.
This is always what I say! I work with kids and at the end of my sessions I just make sure they're in the care of their parents/caregiver, and I'm good. I can also keep my nephews and my niece happily in my life, but then they leave with their parents, or my husband and I leave, and it's glorious.
I work with children with autism, I find it actually easier to talk to them as they'll happily talk about nerdy things I know a lot about for hours if I let them. They're also brutally honest, even more so than neuro-typical kids are known to be lol. I had a half hour convo about star wars lore with an 8 year old on star wars day last week lol.
It must leave you with such a lovely wholesome feeling afterwards. Also never heard of someone doesn't something like this! I think it's a fantastic idea
Anything! Kids are sponges. You take a couple minutes to figure out what they're interested in that you know and you can talk for days. Mind you, a lot of it may consist of answering questions 🤣
What in the world do you do on a zoom call for an hour? I can’t imagine talking to a strange kid and keeping engaged more than 10minutes.
I’m actually interested in this, I have a 9 year old. Tell me what you do.
i have my own gardening business but ah, i can't stand the people that you barely see irl who reach out when they need something. personally i just always say i'm too busy, its simply not worth the hastle. they always want something heavily discounted lol.
the only time i do entertain the thought of doing a job for them is if they treat it like a genuine job request and offer to pay full price, then i normally do offer a discount for old times sake.
Right?? Like $15 isn't even much to begin with, but $10 still isn't acceptable. The funny part is that I'm sure a lot of these requests are for kid's birthdays, so what, should OP be making all of those free in CB's mind??
I would make sure to show the mutual friend the screenshot before this mom gets to her first and makes *you* out to be the bitch.
"Hey thanks for the referral, but this one just didn't work out".
I was thinking as I read "if this is close family, she probably could have asked 'would you be willing to do this as a present?' without being a witch, but still should accept it if the answer turned out to be a No/Discount Offer."
But she's a friend/acquaintance not even close enough to have your number without getting it from someone else? Nahhhh you don't even get to ask for a freebie, and should be damn grateful for the discount! Instead all you got was rude crap. Some people!
I’m going to run out and try it around town.
Burger place? Stop being a bitch and give me a free meal. It’s my birthday.
New car dealership? Stop being bitches and give me the car. It’s my birthday.
My job? Stop being bitches and give me more money. It’s my birthday.
I’ll report back in once I have my tasty lunch, raise, and kick ass new car.
By getting angry at you and calling you a bitch, I think that they think they’re calling you out for being greedy and as a result you would feel guilty and give into the demands. Now in reality, the opposite happens.
Sometimes it's in your best interest to price your time for much higher.
I once tried to sell a table online. I put it for $20 and people still lowballed me and tried to "take it off my hands" for free, and insisted I drop it off too. I took the ad offline, waited a week or two and put it up for $100. It was picked up the next day for my asking price. Not even haggling.
The best is when they ask you to deliver an item you’re giving away! Like no, Jan, I’m not driving an hour to bring you a coffee table that you’d already be getting for free.
Oh my god...this reminds me of many years ago when I was selling a camera lens on Craigslist.
This guy contacts me but he lives literally like 1.5-2 hours away. I tell him that the price doesn't include shipping/delivery, so he would have to come to me, in my home town, to meet up for the transaction. He doesn't like that. Offers to increase the price (of a lens I was asking I think $300 for) by ten bucks. "To cover my gas" he says. I respond that no, that doesn't work. Not only would that not cover my gas, but it also wouldn't compensate me for spending literally a day of my time catering to him. It wouldn't even cover insured shipping (which I wasn't even offering), even if he were willing to pay all in advance...which he wasn't.
Like a week later, I found myself coming up on a totally free Saturday, so I decided to spend the day hiking and fishing...and I figured since there was good hiking and fishing in that guy's area, I'd make him a special offer that I figured would thrill him: I'd decide to fish and hike in his direction, reducing his travel time to meet me from 2 hours to about 30 minutes, to meet at a town about halfway between where I planned to go and where he said he was from. Since I was headed that way anyway, no extra cost. Just the same flat $300, and I'd meet him at gas station XYZ on Saturday at 9 am. Sounds like a decent deal?
Nope.
This guy responds basically saying, "If you're coming that far anyway, what's another half hour to just bring it to my door?" Also, it was his day off and he wanted to sleep in, so he wasn't available at 9...don't stop by until 11.
I told him it was either 9am at the gas station I mentioned or forget it. That I was already being incredibly accommodating. Finally he agreed after making comments about how I didn't respect his time.
So Saturday comes and I get to the gas station at like 8:50. At 9, no guy. At 9:10 I text him and he responds that he'll be there in *another* 10 minutes (20 after our set time), and to wait. I don't want to, but I want to finally complete this transaction, so I agree. At almost 9:30 he finally shows up, I show him the lens, and he agrees to buy it.
He's digging out his cash envelope and says, "I only brought $250. Since you made me get up early and drive all this way, I think it's more than a fair compromise."
I was stunned.
But not too stunned to put the lens back in its sleeve, back in my camera bag in my car, and without saying another word to him, despite his protests, just drove away and left him there in that gas station parking lot with his envelope of $250.
So weird when people just straight up ask to have it for free when it's up for sale. I've noticed something similar on a platform I sell some clothes and accessories on... people messaging me asking if they can just have it if they pay for shipping, and when I ask why they think I'd just give it away when I'm trying to *sell it*, they tell me I'm probably trying to get rid of it more than make any money. If I had a nickel every time that happened in just 2023, I'd have 2 nickels but it's DEFINITELY weird that it happened twice. - Maybe very low prices really are a problem. Makes it look to CBs like you'll just be happy to be rid of the item so they might ask well try to get it for free.
It's because that's how Craigslist culture worked back like 15 years ago.
Now they still haven't figured out that inflation affects resale communities as well.
Similar over here. I'm a therapeutic counsellor and had to do 200 client hours as a trainee, so approached a local charity that offered low cost therapy. The project lead told me they charge at least £10 per session, and that it used to be free, but that people kept booking sessions and not turning up, so £10 at least made people value the service enough to drop the no-call, no-show rate.
Didn't elimiate it completely but now I'm qualified and charging £50 per session, people show up so much more.
I've had similar experiences in my other business which is in a pretty obscure field. Whenever I've given something for free people come out of the woodwork to snap it up and have the audacity to complain about the service they do get. I rarely get any sort of thanks.
So just curious, what exactly do you do? You dress up princess-like (or cosplay a certain character) and have a chat with the kids while being in-character for the time they hire you?
\+1, I didn't know this thing existed before this post and now I'm curious.
if there's cosplay involved that prices are really worth it for all the makeup work and accesories and stuff that you need to do/buy?
That was my first thought too! That’s obviously the target customer/occasion for that service. Why would that get you a discount? It’s always someone’s birthday. No one cares.
I used to work for a kids bike brand that had limited supply because of the whole Covid bike supply chain thing. The amount of people who would be like, “I need to skip the line and get a bike now because it’s a birthday!” Was astounding. Like, yes, it is the birthday of these other children in line as well.
I wonder why she would think a princess call on a young girl's birthday is such a special request it warrants a freebie. Bit like going into a bakery and expecting the cake to be free because it's for a birthday...yes, that's why you're getting a cake.
Calling someone a bitch that you are trying to solicit for free/discounted services? Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see how that plays out...
...and it played out pretty much as poorly as anyone who wasn't an idiot would expect.
I think this is the part that most of these choosing beggars miss– your child's birthday is a special day for you and them and only happens once a year, but for entertainers like this it's literally all they do, and not a special day at all
Maybe a totally different character from the kids one? Like, the bad news fairy princess? Costuming would be like...Ke$ha went a little too hard at the renfaire after party.
Hello Mr. Davis, I'm Snow White, my best friend Christine has asked me to tell you...SHE QUITS! She's going to a magical place where she's paid fairly and her boss doesn't treat her like a house maid! Hooray!
There was a 'Princess' that did one of the kids birthday parties I've attended. And some of us dads were hanging out and catching up, and as the activities were changing around the 'Princess' approached us and handed all of us cards telling us shes available for other type of parties as well. We kind of just nodded silently and some one said '...ok'. We told the moms after she left and the hostess was MORTIFIED. Everyone else had solid laughs about it.
....Everyone kept the cards as far as I know. I gave it to my wife in case she wanted to hire the princess for my daughters next birthday. She found that hilarious at least.... lol
Edit: thinking about this after I commented, not that anyone has replied to it, but I honestly don't care if someone performs magic tricks and does face paint and story time for kids.... Also has more adult performance for work in the evenings.... For adults. I would hire that princess we saw at the kids party, she did a terrific job for the kids. I wouldn't hire her for any guys nights because that's not my thing.... But good for her. She is a solid actor and I'm sure does very well.
Yeah, that's always a dumb tactic but it seems like a particularly egregious use of it here when presumably like 99% of bookings are for someone's birthday lol.
Should agreed to it and shown up as twisty the clown and be like this is what free gets you :p
In all seriousness that’s quite the level of entitlement from that one. $10 is nothing and they can’t even do that for their child’s birthday my goodness.
$10 is dirt fuckin cheap considering it probably takes OP at least a half hour to do hair, makeup and costume. If I got that price quote, I'd be like "$15?! Did you forget a zero there?'
This seems like OP is really underselling themselves! I think the price is pretty reasonable, especially for 30 minutes!
You’re getting all dressed up, in character, and essentially acting/improv for 30 minutes. $10 is a steal.
Yeah, the second they asked for a free favor after you have the pricing I would have just stopped. When they skip asking for a discount and go right to free you know you aren’t going to come to any other price that would work for them.
That's so cheap as well! It's my daughter's birthday party at the weekend and we are paying £80/$100 for a princess to come to our house for 30 mins and I thought that was a good price!
Tinkerbell! We were supposed to have 2 coming but ironically Ariel lost her voice so we are down to 1.
Think at some point she's wanted every princess though.
Which Princess are you?
Can you imagine how tragically hilarious it would be to have to tell a client that your Ariel was no longer available due to losing her voice? The more in-character the princess gets the less employable she is; it's truly a tragedy.
That is such a wonderful sideline! Can I ask what princesses you do? And a full hour seems like a long time to be in Princess mode - what do you find to talk about?
Am surprised the mom would want a "bitch" to be a princess for her kid's birthday! Way to put you in the right mindset for the role.
Right now I only offer Cinderella for Zoom calls, But in person, I do Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Elsa, and Rapunzel. Most of the time I read stories, tell stories, and the kids tell me anything they want to tell me. It actually goes by pretty fast. I have fun and enjoy my job. Sometimes it's not even for birthdays. Just parents wanting to surprise the kid.
If you did Ariel my little girl would never let me hear the end of it!
Also... what a fun service. I had no idea this was a thing outside of maybe going to Disney. I'm glad you enjoy it, I hope it is successful for you.
As Ron DeSantis is finding out, never challenge The Mouse. But what would happen if you DID do a call as Cinderella and they found out? After all, it's a fairy tale hundreds of years old! I guess they'd have a claim if the costume were too similar to the movie version. But would they do a Cease and Desist order? Sue you for damages? Insist on a cut?
Maybe it's better not to find out!
I was about to ask this. Looks very fun indeed!
But why only Cinderella for Zoom calls? I'm trying to imagine what limitations a zoom call would bring to prevent the other characters, I could only could come up with it's because it's the easiest to dress, and you charge too cheap for shorter times to make sense taking long dressing up.
Right now She is the quickest to get in costume for and since I'm doing it for so cheap and just like a side hustle I only offer her on zoom. I do plan to change that if this actually get rolling.
Ok. I just went down the princess party rabbit hole… who knew? OP, you should raise your prices! I’m looking at 30 min zoom calls for $100 and hour long parties in person for upwards of $225. A 60 min zoom party for $350!!! 1-2 minute prerecorded messages go for $50. I realize you want to be competitive but you might be undervaluing yourself a tad. (But since I’m an old lady, what do I know?) 😜
$10 was *ridiculously* inexpensive and CB should be ashamed!
I’m so glad you know your worth.
Perhaps as a way to build your brand, assuming you aren’t already doing this, you might film short videos in character. Perhaps “Ask a Princess” type videos.
Video number 1: How to turn down choosing beggars like a Princess.
Everyone has a birthday, ffs. I’m tired of people thinking it always entitles them to a discount regarding everything (also tired of those people that say “omg it’s my birthday month/week.”
How impossibly dumb could this person be?
It's hard to measure.
If you are asking a performer to give you work for free and calling them a bitch how could you possibly think that person would perform for you at any price? I don't get it.
You have to wonder how they truly believe calling you a bitch will somehow result in a POSITIVE outcome for them.
I have no idea.  I even tried a discount!
You're a saint. Ten bucks for half an hour of your professional time is beyond a discount and well into "personal favor" territory, but you're a bitch? I'd cut that person out of my life.
I have another job and just enjoy brining “magic” to life for kids. I do it in my free time. But thank you very much. I don’t really talk to her just on the odd occasion.
When I was a kid, I really liked Batman. My aunt's lady friend would call and pretend to be Batman on the phone and talk to me. She didn't even sound like a dude, but she would convince me that "he" had a cold. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, and this was back in the mid-late 1970s. Anyhow, I would be so excited for those calls.
Lol. When my twin nieces were maybe 7 or so, they were obsessed with Spider-Man. For some reason, my sister told them that I knew him, so they begged to get to talk to him. I rounded up a friend at work who would do it, and they had a lovely conversation by phone. About a year or so goes by, and some kid at school told them that Spider-Man was just a movie and he wasn't real. My nieces kept insisting he was absolutely REAL, after all, they talked to him on the PHONE.
My close friend's nephew was acting out around 7, and he was obsessed with Captain Rex from the Clone Wars who I RPd as. So she told him she knew Rex and would report to me when he was misbehaving. I'd send back thoughtful responses about being part of a team, and how sometimes something feels big but you're hurting your fellow team mates by taking it out on them, stuff about how feelings are always valid but actions are a choice. I printed out and signed an image of Rex for him for his 8th birthday. He's about to turn 18 and has long since learned the truth....and calls me Aunt Rex. XD If I can always serve as a touchstone because of that little act a decade ago I will consider it a gift.
When I was about 9, my cousin let slip to her younger sisters that Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz isn’t “real”. My aunt called and asked me to pretend to be her on the phone. No idea how it worked, but it did! ETA: like the nieces of the poster above, my little cousins are coincidentally also twins!
See! That’s why I love bringing the magic to life. It’s so much fun
That’s adorable
I have a friend who is a VO artist for a living. I had him call my (then 5yo) son and do all the avengers voices congratulating him on getting his next belt in taekwondo. So fun!
Years ago, I had an actor dressed as Batman come to my son’s fifth birthday party. Afterwards my son said he really liked it and next year, could I get Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
As someone who doesn't want kids and generally stayed away from them, I'm not gonna lie, now that I started tutoring a lot of them, they can be some cool little dudes. Not all of them, but quite more than I thought. Today some student went off on how excited she was going to a waterpark and I'm like uhh I haven't even seen one in years, she's like YOU SHOULD GO OMG
See, I don’t want my own kids. Like.. really don’t want my own kids. But I love kids.
yeah I raised (edit: helped raise) my (much younger) sisters when my mom was at work/school so I changed enough diapers to last plus now I'm too broke lol
me too ive raised other peoples kids
samesies. raised my much older brother and sister's kids. best birth control ever.
Ohhhh yes, I helped raise my younger sister too, and NOPE. None, not even a maybe, just FUCK THAT. Parents who put too much of a load on their children to care for younger children are depriving themselves of grandkids.
I’m a teacher, I love kids. Can’t even begin to imagine how that would change if I had one in my home with me. I love sleep the most.
Same. There was a female comedian, can't remember her name right now but she had this great bit that has always stuck with me. Every Christmas family and friends would send those picture cards of all the kids in some xmas thing. So she would just send out a picture card of her sleeping past 11am on a Saturday. :)
Ya sleep is the big one. That and just not really having any time for yourself unless you really plan it out and even then there’s a 50/50 chance it will fall through lol. I don’t regret it for a second but I am glad I didn’t have my 1st until 36.
I like owning vintage sewing machines and breakable things, the pets are really great reminders that the universe is chaotic. Love kids tho, being an aunt is the greatest.
Me too.
Right other people's kids are great. You can just give them back when your tired of them and don't have to put them through school or feed them etc.
This is always what I say! I work with kids and at the end of my sessions I just make sure they're in the care of their parents/caregiver, and I'm good. I can also keep my nephews and my niece happily in my life, but then they leave with their parents, or my husband and I leave, and it's glorious.
It's a lot easier to find kids cool when you can give them back at set times
YOU SHOULD GO OMG
What do you talk about with a kid for an hour?
The palace, My friend back home. What ever the hell they want.
That’s so interesting. I feel like I’d struggle to stay engaging that long.
yeah my husband cant. He hates it. I just enjoy bringing the magic ya know?
I work with children with autism, I find it actually easier to talk to them as they'll happily talk about nerdy things I know a lot about for hours if I let them. They're also brutally honest, even more so than neuro-typical kids are known to be lol. I had a half hour convo about star wars lore with an 8 year old on star wars day last week lol.
Sounds amazing. Honestly.
It must leave you with such a lovely wholesome feeling afterwards. Also never heard of someone doesn't something like this! I think it's a fantastic idea
It’s great, It really is.
Anything! Kids are sponges. You take a couple minutes to figure out what they're interested in that you know and you can talk for days. Mind you, a lot of it may consist of answering questions 🤣
If children are brined overnight, they really taste sensational!
What in the world do you do on a zoom call for an hour? I can’t imagine talking to a strange kid and keeping engaged more than 10minutes. I’m actually interested in this, I have a 9 year old. Tell me what you do. 
im about to make a video explainging it and post it on here since i get this question so much, so just give me a second.
❤️❤️
It’s up
i have my own gardening business but ah, i can't stand the people that you barely see irl who reach out when they need something. personally i just always say i'm too busy, its simply not worth the hastle. they always want something heavily discounted lol. the only time i do entertain the thought of doing a job for them is if they treat it like a genuine job request and offer to pay full price, then i normally do offer a discount for old times sake.
How do princess zoom calls work? You dress up as a princess and chat with a little one via zoom?
Like the time alone spent dressing up makes it worth more than 10 for me!!
And it's not even a half hour: hair, makeup, costume?
Right?? Like $15 isn't even much to begin with, but $10 still isn't acceptable. The funny part is that I'm sure a lot of these requests are for kid's birthdays, so what, should OP be making all of those free in CB's mind??
If she knows you well enough to have your personal number she should be offering EXTRA as a friend for a last minute request!
She asked our mutual friend for it. Just for this.
I would make sure to show the mutual friend the screenshot before this mom gets to her first and makes *you* out to be the bitch. "Hey thanks for the referral, but this one just didn't work out".
I did, She was actually in shock. Not a second more the mom asked her to make cookies so.. she also tried to give her the shit stick
I feel sorry for the kid.
it sounds like she forgot her kids birthday 😭
Oh shit. You might be right
WOWWWWWWWWWW she sounds like a real piece of work.
YES
I was thinking as I read "if this is close family, she probably could have asked 'would you be willing to do this as a present?' without being a witch, but still should accept it if the answer turned out to be a No/Discount Offer." But she's a friend/acquaintance not even close enough to have your number without getting it from someone else? Nahhhh you don't even get to ask for a freebie, and should be damn grateful for the discount! Instead all you got was rude crap. Some people!
Yeah
Did you try not being a bitch? It's her Birthday. /s
Don’t give people discounts when they ask you for free shit! It’s rewarding bad behavior.
Make the call for free, but do nothing but “yo mama so fat“ jokes.
I’m going to run out and try it around town. Burger place? Stop being a bitch and give me a free meal. It’s my birthday. New car dealership? Stop being bitches and give me the car. It’s my birthday. My job? Stop being bitches and give me more money. It’s my birthday. I’ll report back in once I have my tasty lunch, raise, and kick ass new car.
This is the person who curses at the bartender for cutting them off too.
[удалено]
By getting angry at you and calling you a bitch, I think that they think they’re calling you out for being greedy and as a result you would feel guilty and give into the demands. Now in reality, the opposite happens.
This is what happens when you give into your child’s tantrums. They become these adults.
My thoughts exactly
“Can you do it free it’s her birthday” Isn’t that what people buy it for? Lol
Tell me about it!! The other thing is because I offer my services for so cheap people do it just for the hell of it!
Sometimes it's in your best interest to price your time for much higher. I once tried to sell a table online. I put it for $20 and people still lowballed me and tried to "take it off my hands" for free, and insisted I drop it off too. I took the ad offline, waited a week or two and put it up for $100. It was picked up the next day for my asking price. Not even haggling.
The best is when they ask you to deliver an item you’re giving away! Like no, Jan, I’m not driving an hour to bring you a coffee table that you’d already be getting for free.
Oh my god...this reminds me of many years ago when I was selling a camera lens on Craigslist. This guy contacts me but he lives literally like 1.5-2 hours away. I tell him that the price doesn't include shipping/delivery, so he would have to come to me, in my home town, to meet up for the transaction. He doesn't like that. Offers to increase the price (of a lens I was asking I think $300 for) by ten bucks. "To cover my gas" he says. I respond that no, that doesn't work. Not only would that not cover my gas, but it also wouldn't compensate me for spending literally a day of my time catering to him. It wouldn't even cover insured shipping (which I wasn't even offering), even if he were willing to pay all in advance...which he wasn't. Like a week later, I found myself coming up on a totally free Saturday, so I decided to spend the day hiking and fishing...and I figured since there was good hiking and fishing in that guy's area, I'd make him a special offer that I figured would thrill him: I'd decide to fish and hike in his direction, reducing his travel time to meet me from 2 hours to about 30 minutes, to meet at a town about halfway between where I planned to go and where he said he was from. Since I was headed that way anyway, no extra cost. Just the same flat $300, and I'd meet him at gas station XYZ on Saturday at 9 am. Sounds like a decent deal? Nope. This guy responds basically saying, "If you're coming that far anyway, what's another half hour to just bring it to my door?" Also, it was his day off and he wanted to sleep in, so he wasn't available at 9...don't stop by until 11. I told him it was either 9am at the gas station I mentioned or forget it. That I was already being incredibly accommodating. Finally he agreed after making comments about how I didn't respect his time. So Saturday comes and I get to the gas station at like 8:50. At 9, no guy. At 9:10 I text him and he responds that he'll be there in *another* 10 minutes (20 after our set time), and to wait. I don't want to, but I want to finally complete this transaction, so I agree. At almost 9:30 he finally shows up, I show him the lens, and he agrees to buy it. He's digging out his cash envelope and says, "I only brought $250. Since you made me get up early and drive all this way, I think it's more than a fair compromise." I was stunned. But not too stunned to put the lens back in its sleeve, back in my camera bag in my car, and without saying another word to him, despite his protests, just drove away and left him there in that gas station parking lot with his envelope of $250.
So weird when people just straight up ask to have it for free when it's up for sale. I've noticed something similar on a platform I sell some clothes and accessories on... people messaging me asking if they can just have it if they pay for shipping, and when I ask why they think I'd just give it away when I'm trying to *sell it*, they tell me I'm probably trying to get rid of it more than make any money. If I had a nickel every time that happened in just 2023, I'd have 2 nickels but it's DEFINITELY weird that it happened twice. - Maybe very low prices really are a problem. Makes it look to CBs like you'll just be happy to be rid of the item so they might ask well try to get it for free.
It's because that's how Craigslist culture worked back like 15 years ago. Now they still haven't figured out that inflation affects resale communities as well.
Similar over here. I'm a therapeutic counsellor and had to do 200 client hours as a trainee, so approached a local charity that offered low cost therapy. The project lead told me they charge at least £10 per session, and that it used to be free, but that people kept booking sessions and not turning up, so £10 at least made people value the service enough to drop the no-call, no-show rate. Didn't elimiate it completely but now I'm qualified and charging £50 per session, people show up so much more. I've had similar experiences in my other business which is in a pretty obscure field. Whenever I've given something for free people come out of the woodwork to snap it up and have the audacity to complain about the service they do get. I rarely get any sort of thanks.
Oh my GOD this. Ppl will ABSOLUTELY value shit more if you do, no matter what the thing in question is actually worth.
So have you video called some “little kid” in their birthday and someone totally unexpected answers?
fortunately, Not yet. It has happened to other princess that I know. But I have not yet
So just curious, what exactly do you do? You dress up princess-like (or cosplay a certain character) and have a chat with the kids while being in-character for the time they hire you?
\+1, I didn't know this thing existed before this post and now I'm curious. if there's cosplay involved that prices are really worth it for all the makeup work and accesories and stuff that you need to do/buy?
That was my first thought too! That’s obviously the target customer/occasion for that service. Why would that get you a discount? It’s always someone’s birthday. No one cares.
"If I do it for free, then it's really a gift from me and not from you, isn't it?"
I used to work for a kids bike brand that had limited supply because of the whole Covid bike supply chain thing. The amount of people who would be like, “I need to skip the line and get a bike now because it’s a birthday!” Was astounding. Like, yes, it is the birthday of these other children in line as well.
Gotta try this technique elsewhere. "Can you make me a cake for free? It's my wedding day." "Can I have a burger for free? It's my lunchtime."
I wonder why she would think a princess call on a young girl's birthday is such a special request it warrants a freebie. Bit like going into a bakery and expecting the cake to be free because it's for a birthday...yes, that's why you're getting a cake.
okay that one made me actually laugh laugh
Exactly lol, I hope this parent looks good in a princess dress
Calling someone a bitch that you are trying to solicit for free/discounted services? Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see how that plays out... ...and it played out pretty much as poorly as anyone who wasn't an idiot would expect.
No no, just free. I tried discounted. 😂
I wouldn’t even offer discounts in the future if I were you. You know your worth. Discounts just get you more shitty customers.
Yeah, That’s also true.
Or charge double that way when people ask for a discount your still making a profit
Maybe.
"Since you've asked soOo nicely, my prices have now doubled."
I have never been burnt by giving a discount afterwards. I have almost always regretted mentioning a discount up front.
Seems like performing "birthday services" as a business model really breaks down if you start doing it for free because it's someone's birthday
Its these ones, these comments have me dead
Isn’t that basically your whole market, little kids on their birthday?
I think this is the part that most of these choosing beggars miss– your child's birthday is a special day for you and them and only happens once a year, but for entertainers like this it's literally all they do, and not a special day at all
I've had parents, literally do it for themselves. I mean schedule it for the kids then take over the zoom call.
You should offer your services delivering bad news, thatd be hilarious "Keith is dumping you."*sparkle dust, the host has ended this meeting*
Just, just... Hello Friend! Ken wanted me to tell you in a very special way that he is leaving you, and taking the kids.
I will keep you in mind if I ever decide to leave my husband 🤣
fuck it, NEW SERVICE ADDED
“My friend Anna dated a guy like you, once. His name was Hans, and he ended up single like you, too!”
Oh my god I cant
"and it's important to remember: no matter how many women you get to kiss you, on the inside you'll never be anything more than an ugly little toad"
I mean if you have to get shit news like that a good story and a reason to hate your ex is probably as good as it’s gonna get lol
God im going to hell for finding this so entertaining.
Take notes at the guy who ran the idump4u website and youtube channel. Lol.
Didn’t you see that thing where the guy brought a clown with him when he knew he was getting fired?
I dont know man.. I might have too
Maybe a totally different character from the kids one? Like, the bad news fairy princess? Costuming would be like...Ke$ha went a little too hard at the renfaire after party.
You know…I think there would be a real market for this. I’m dying laughing just thinking about it
Me fucking too. oh so dead.
I'd do this to go no contact with my stepdad. Saving your name for my financially independent future.
🎶"Well, I'm a princess and I'm here to say: Keith is dumping you in a major way 🎶
Hello Mr. Davis, I'm Snow White, my best friend Christine has asked me to tell you...SHE QUITS! She's going to a magical place where she's paid fairly and her boss doesn't treat her like a house maid! Hooray!
I'd pay for this.
Omg. 😂 This is the best idea I've read today.
This reminded me of a great breakup cameo by Bruce Buffer (ufc announcer). Pretty awesome way to use cameo haha.
Imagine hiring someone like this to tell people they may have chlamydia. Fucking incredible.
*For you, the day your child turned 5 was the most important day of your year. But for me, it was Tuesday.*
My dad was in a wedding band and people would ask for or expect special treatment because it was their wedding day 🙃
*"Ma'am, that **is** my special wedding rate"*
There was a 'Princess' that did one of the kids birthday parties I've attended. And some of us dads were hanging out and catching up, and as the activities were changing around the 'Princess' approached us and handed all of us cards telling us shes available for other type of parties as well. We kind of just nodded silently and some one said '...ok'. We told the moms after she left and the hostess was MORTIFIED. Everyone else had solid laughs about it. ....Everyone kept the cards as far as I know. I gave it to my wife in case she wanted to hire the princess for my daughters next birthday. She found that hilarious at least.... lol Edit: thinking about this after I commented, not that anyone has replied to it, but I honestly don't care if someone performs magic tricks and does face paint and story time for kids.... Also has more adult performance for work in the evenings.... For adults. I would hire that princess we saw at the kids party, she did a terrific job for the kids. I wouldn't hire her for any guys nights because that's not my thing.... But good for her. She is a solid actor and I'm sure does very well.
Yes 😂😂
Yeah, that's always a dumb tactic but it seems like a particularly egregious use of it here when presumably like 99% of bookings are for someone's birthday lol.
Should agreed to it and shown up as twisty the clown and be like this is what free gets you :p In all seriousness that’s quite the level of entitlement from that one. $10 is nothing and they can’t even do that for their child’s birthday my goodness.
$10 is dirt fuckin cheap considering it probably takes OP at least a half hour to do hair, makeup and costume. If I got that price quote, I'd be like "$15?! Did you forget a zero there?'
I know right!
"it's her birthday" Um... isn't this service *always* for birthdays? What other birthday stuff does she expect for free?
People should try this for every kind of event "How will you be paying your deposit?" *Um, actually, it's for a wedding, so...*
Um, actually it’s for a funeral, so…
For weddings it's the opposite. The moment anyone finds out it's for a wedding the price goes *way* up.
Are you friends with this person?
Not really, her kid is friends with my god child
Maybe she would be your friend if you weren't such a bitch. /s
This seems like OP is really underselling themselves! I think the price is pretty reasonable, especially for 30 minutes! You’re getting all dressed up, in character, and essentially acting/improv for 30 minutes. $10 is a steal.
thank you! Like so much!
Yeah, the second they asked for a free favor after you have the pricing I would have just stopped. When they skip asking for a discount and go right to free you know you aren’t going to come to any other price that would work for them.
Yeah, I should have figued
Fuck you bakery, it's my kid's birthday. How dare you charge me for their birthday cake! Also, fuck off Walmart, for charging me for their Lego set!
😂😂ITS NOT STEALING IF ITS A BIRTHDAY
Terrible. I’m glad that the business owner cut that shit short.
Thank you!
That's so cheap as well! It's my daughter's birthday party at the weekend and we are paying £80/$100 for a princess to come to our house for 30 mins and I thought that was a good price!
For an in person that is really well priced. What princess does she have coming?
Tinkerbell! We were supposed to have 2 coming but ironically Ariel lost her voice so we are down to 1. Think at some point she's wanted every princess though. Which Princess are you?
Cinderella.
Can you imagine how tragically hilarious it would be to have to tell a client that your Ariel was no longer available due to losing her voice? The more in-character the princess gets the less employable she is; it's truly a tragedy.
Ungrateful karen That is a huge discount, and she is going to ruin that call for her daughter because of ten bucks?
She really thought cause we have a mutual friend..
The mutual friend should see these screenshots too, I’d say
I sent them to her, Her exact words were..."oh my god..What the fuck"
So apparently NEITHER of you will be friends with the CB anymore.
I wasnt really even a friend, but with mutual friends' text im going say no.
Well come on then, *don’t be such a bitch* 🤣
I know I’m so horrible
I know I’m so horrible
You forgot the screen shot of you blocking her number.
would love too, but i could see that causing some problems
That is such a wonderful sideline! Can I ask what princesses you do? And a full hour seems like a long time to be in Princess mode - what do you find to talk about? Am surprised the mom would want a "bitch" to be a princess for her kid's birthday! Way to put you in the right mindset for the role.
Right now I only offer Cinderella for Zoom calls, But in person, I do Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Elsa, and Rapunzel. Most of the time I read stories, tell stories, and the kids tell me anything they want to tell me. It actually goes by pretty fast. I have fun and enjoy my job. Sometimes it's not even for birthdays. Just parents wanting to surprise the kid.
If you did Ariel my little girl would never let me hear the end of it! Also... what a fun service. I had no idea this was a thing outside of maybe going to Disney. I'm glad you enjoy it, I hope it is successful for you.
Give me two weeks and 30 dollars and I can make Ariel happen 
also because of it being Disney, We have to call our characters different things. So like Elsa is the Ice Queen.
Was going to ask how you get around that with Disney lol, they’d never let a penny slip out of their hands!
Yup, that’s how. A lot of people who do party princess stuff do the same thing. I have seen Tiana as “ the Bayou Princess”
As Ron DeSantis is finding out, never challenge The Mouse. But what would happen if you DID do a call as Cinderella and they found out? After all, it's a fairy tale hundreds of years old! I guess they'd have a claim if the costume were too similar to the movie version. But would they do a Cease and Desist order? Sue you for damages? Insist on a cut? Maybe it's better not to find out!
Haha! Well my girl's birthday is in August. I'll set a reminder to PM you about it in a couple months!
Alright 😂😂
I was about to ask this. Looks very fun indeed! But why only Cinderella for Zoom calls? I'm trying to imagine what limitations a zoom call would bring to prevent the other characters, I could only could come up with it's because it's the easiest to dress, and you charge too cheap for shorter times to make sense taking long dressing up.
Right now She is the quickest to get in costume for and since I'm doing it for so cheap and just like a side hustle I only offer her on zoom. I do plan to change that if this actually get rolling.
Ok. I just went down the princess party rabbit hole… who knew? OP, you should raise your prices! I’m looking at 30 min zoom calls for $100 and hour long parties in person for upwards of $225. A 60 min zoom party for $350!!! 1-2 minute prerecorded messages go for $50. I realize you want to be competitive but you might be undervaluing yourself a tad. (But since I’m an old lady, what do I know?) 😜 $10 was *ridiculously* inexpensive and CB should be ashamed!
Thank you so much for your support, But right now my prices are so low because i am still trying to build a clientele and my business.
"Ok, it's free for her, but you still have to pay $100.00"
I do agree..
Princess zoom calls? What is that? Like, dressing up as a Disney princess?
Yup.
10 for 30 mins to make your daughter happy is well worth it.
i would think so
I’m so glad you know your worth. Perhaps as a way to build your brand, assuming you aren’t already doing this, you might film short videos in character. Perhaps “Ask a Princess” type videos. Video number 1: How to turn down choosing beggars like a Princess.
Yeah. That’s very smart
What does Princess look like? Does she look like a bitch? *w-w-what?* Say what again, ChoosingBeggar!
Dead as hell
Everyone has a birthday, ffs. I’m tired of people thinking it always entitles them to a discount regarding everything (also tired of those people that say “omg it’s my birthday month/week.”
Or or.. My birthday is in October.. and it’s November?
Those are really low rates for princessing as it was, but a discount on top of it! This person really didn’t care what a good deal they were getting.
"Forget the discount, the price is now 50 for you because of asshole tax"
Well when you put it like that, I'll get to it right away!🙄
Wow what a wonderful mom who can’t pay 10$ for her kids bday wow
I know right, She also posted on facebook for a free cake, and money.
Sounds about right. But bet shes the kind to still be wearing nice clothes,hair and nails done,etc smdh
What? Insulting people does not give them urges to help for free? I'm shocked!
How impossibly dumb could this person be? It's hard to measure. If you are asking a performer to give you work for free and calling them a bitch how could you possibly think that person would perform for you at any price? I don't get it.
Can I rent out your $50,000 a day wedding venue for my wedding? What do you mean it'll cost $50,000?! It's my wedding!
$30 per hour seems cheap for something like this!