What should I charge??

Question

I am a 14 year old babysitter who has been babysitting for 3 years now. I live in Southern California. My going rate used to be $5 an hour for one kid and 3 more dollars for each additional kid. But ALL of my jobs right now are only for one kid, so i was planning on raising it a dollar or two. Possibly from $5 to $6 or $7. Am I on the right track?

Answer 1

You were 11 when you started babysitting? No offense, but what idiot left their kid with an 11 year old? Go ahead and raise your prices, obviously you aren't dealing with the brightest bunch, so I'm sure you can pull it off.

Answer 2

i am a babysitter and i charge the same as u. only all of my jobs but one has been for more than 1 kid. if you plan to raise your price, i would only go to 46 an hour or you mighht loose the business you have. check out the rate calculator at Sittercity.

Answer 3

I would stick to the $5.00 an hour. You are risking the change of loosing business. Childcare already is expensive.
Give the parents a break... if you do? They keep coming back and a huge chance to be referred for another one to babysit for reasonable rates by neighbors, friends or relatives. Good Luck with your raise.

Answer 4

I think it depends on how many hours you're sitting for and which days or nights. I'd charge more on weekends & nights...maybe $8/hr. As for weekdays, maybe $6/hr. Babysitting is a very important job, I'm sure parents are willing to pay good money for. Hope this was helpful.

Answer 5

I pay $12 a day per kid for a professional babysitter. I don't like the ones who charge by the hour.

Robin

Answer 6

You might want to consider a more flexible pay schedule. Consider that if it's a late night, the kids your watching are asleep for the last hours you are there - which is easier. But if it's a short night, like the parents get home before bed time, its non-stop work. Maybe charge $8.50 per hour before bed time and $5.00 per hour after bed time. Add $2.00 per hour per child for before, $1.00 for after.

That's a bit complicated, but I think that will more appropriatly compensate you for your time.

Answer 7

I would say to charge your minimum wage for your state. After all you've been a successfully responsible babysitter for three years, pretty good start for a 14 year-old!

Answer 8

Wow! I only made a $1.25 per hour for each kid. Talk about inflation. Since minimum wage is about $7.50 per hour I would say that is pretty steep. But I have never hired a baby sitter.

Answer 9

Consider that the minimum wage for California is now $8.00 per hour. I would say that if you had to charge for your time and labor, you should get at least minimum wage. If you are snacking or drinking at their houses, I would deduct that from the overall cost. (Soda - $0.60) and (Chips - $0.75) then figure out how much is consumed and deduct it from your hourly wage. You aren't going to eat a bag of chips per hour, nor are you going to drink a soda per hour. So figure you work 5 hours at $8 per hour and you drink 2 sodas and eat a bag of chips. $8 x 5 = $40. Deduct the $1.20 (2 sodas) and the $0.75 (chips) you come up with $38.05. Now divide that by 5 (hours) and you will get what you should charge per hour.

Answer 10

Yeah, feel free to raise it but try and do it slowly over a period of time so as not to scare off your customers. But, just to let you know, I live in So. Cal too and $5 an hour is a bit too cheap. so raise away.