Cost of fortune tellers/psychics ?

Happyzebra

I have't been to one in years and am looking to see someone in Cork and was wondering how much they charge? I did see on one site a lady was charging 80 euro for a reading which I think is a ridiculous price. I'd expect a money back guarantee if i'd paid that much! I am particularly interested in Stephanie in Cobh? Anyone have her number and knows what she charges? Thanks

firiesclose

Hi, I am interested in getting Stephanie number as well if someone can pm pls. Read reviews on White Witch (famous one - Helen Barrett) and not very impressed with reviews. I went to Madame Lisa last month as I had a very important question, I've had 1 failed IVF and was wondering if we should go again, she told me if would never conceive naturally or aided. I would like a second opinion and would like to go to someone really good.

I would like Stephanie number in Cobh or Jackie in Tralee please.

Melodi

I did a lot of research before setting my my reading business and I too was stunned by some of the prices that a few of my fellow readers were charging, especially in some of the larger cities. I don't want to critical, after all people have to charge what they need to in order to travel or maintain a reading room (and rents are higher in larger cities).

On the other hand, I've always based my reading fees on what I think of as the Edgar Cayce model. If you've never heard of him, he was America's "Sleeping Prophet" that could do readings for people while in trance, mostly for health but also past lives and even world events.

When he first started doing his "readings" he was still working as a photographer with his own studio; but as he got more and more requests for readings his daily worked suffered. At that time, he was not charging anything for readings but he had a young family to support. His wife finally came to him in tears and said he could keep living like this if he felt he had to, but she would have to take the children and live with her parents because they had no money for food (this was in the early 20th century, no welfare).

Cayce went an mediated on the problem and decided that since they were health readings, he could charge a reasonable amount but not too much. He also still did a lot of charity readings, for those too ill and poor to afford them; just like many regular doctors did (and still do) today.

His cost was about 2.00 dollars an hour, which in the early 1930's was about the charge of a regular doctor's visit. Over time, I've noticed that this rule of thumb tends to hold up - in the 1980's in Denver the going price for a doctor's visit was about 25 dollars and that's what we charged for readings at the charity psychic fair I worked at every year.

In the 1990's, it was about 40 dollars a hour and that still held up...

These days in America I think this is now getting somewhat out of whack, but only because Insurance and the medical industry have driven doctor's visit costs right out the world of reality and into medical fantasy land (people with good insurance paying nothing, but the un-insured being asked for amounts I certainly would not think of charging for a reading).

That said, in Ireland a doctor's visit runs about 50's Euros (was 30 when we moved here 17 years ago) and I think that anywhere from 40 Euros to 70 Euros is probably a good reading ball park figure. A lot depends on where a person is located, how long their readings are and what they do. Someone doing a 10 minute reading and wanting 50 Euro's for it is probably over-reaching (in my opinion); on the other hand 70 Euros for an hour and a half to two hours may even be under-charging a bit.

So, if you want your money's worth; probably visiting people by an appointment where you (or you and a couple of chosen friends) are the only ones there is going to get you more time; than a crowded tent at a Country Fair. Nothing wrong with reading at fairs (I've done it) but unless the price comes down to reflect the fact that your reading is going to be shorter (and the reader more tired, it happens we are human); the special appointment is probably the way to go.

While readers don't have as many costs as doctors; anyone with a venue for reading has costs, such as rent and insurance. Readers who travel also need to be self-insured, pay for petrol etc; which is why many reader's do charge something.

But again, anyone who wants to charge you much more than the going rate for a doctor's visit is someone to think about twice before visiting. Some folks who are very, very popular may charge more (and still quietly do charity work on the side) just because they are swamped and that's a different issue.

However, I think in general, the Edgar Cayce model is a good example and that can mean sometimes taking rates down as well as up; if the economic conditions warrant it.

meryem

WOW! I find all of your points quite valid and precisely hitting on the nail head. If a psychic / clairvoyant charges extremely high price, than his/her readings value to the client should match the price asked by him/her. Additionally it can also come with money back guarantee. Cool!

Melodi

meryem wrote: »

WOW! I find all of your points quite valid and precisely hitting on the nail head. If a psychic / clairvoyant charges extremely high price, than his/her readings value to the client should match the price asked by him/her. Additionally it can also come with money back guarantee. Cool!

Hi Meryem, where did you get the idea that readings came with a money back guarantee?

Doctors don't usually get a money back guarantee if they can't make you well; on the other hand if one is suspected of horrific malpractice you can sue them, but I've never heard of a refund before.

I think your suggesting that if readers want to charge astronomical fees, they should guarantee their readings, but the world doesn't actually work that way. On the other hand, clients do get a vote in this; if they feel a reader's fees are way to high and/or the get a reputation for readings that are way off the mark (and there are some like that that have been reviewed on this board) they can vote with their pocket book. They can simply refuse to visit those readers and pick someone else the next time.

Now a reader you suspect of out and out fraud (like the old "I'll remove the curse if you pay me 500 Euro's scam) is a different story. Most places have laws against that sort of abuse and you can report someone like that to the authorities or even bring charges depending on where you live.

Just some thoughts,
Melodi

meryem

Yeah it was expressed in suggestive manner. I agree with all of your views once again.

chicken fingers

Why are you comparing those in your profession to doctors?

Well doctors get paid this, so its fair that we do too.
Well doctors don't come with a money back guarantee so we don't have to.

Do you think you offer an equally valuable service than a doctor?

meryem

The above statements were made in reference to astronomical fees charged by either of two with no proportionate amount of productivity to end user of their services.

Melodi

Chicken Fingers if you go back and read my original post, I was saying that I personally used what I think of as the Edgar Cayce method for pricing readings more or less. In the 1930's, when faced with total poverty; Mr. Cayce agreed to start charging for some readings in order to feed his children (his photography business was suffering he was asked to do so many readings).

At the time, after meditating, he decided he could charge some, but not too much. What he ended up charging was about two dollars an hours (or about the price of a doctor's visit at that time).

I just see it as a good rule of thumb, not an exact figure; it can also get out of whack if doctor's visits get way to high for reality (like they have in the US at the moment). But if a psychic is charging way more than a doctor's visit, it raises a red flag (with me personally), especially people who get rooms full of hundreds of people charging that much per person. I couldn't give that many people a full and sincere reading in one session and I'm pretty sure that anyone else would be hard pressed to do so. But again, that's their business and the people who pay to see them.

As to the other doctor comparison, well it is simply another profession where the "outcome" is difficult to be certain of and everyone (including the law) understands that. It isn't like construction where you have a contract to build a house and if you don't; the person that paid you to build the house has an obvious "breach of contract," they can pursue.

A doctor who "fails" to cure you of cancer or a reader who gives you advice you don't like (but is not illegal) are both difficult to demand a legal "refund" from. Both are services and helping professions, though one takes much more formal education and risks than the other.

chicken fingers

I just don't agree that you can peg what you charge to what doctors charge.
Its not comparable, but if you want I can try:
Doctors have to pass tests to prove that they can do something and its not just tricking people into believing they have been helped. Their work is medically verifiable.

I would think that psychics are for entertainment or purposes of insecurity, for the intellectually challenged, and so on, its either fun or its preying on the weak and foolish.
Doctors are for anybody who gets sick, and its a serious serious business.

Doctors should be paid multiples of what people who pretend they can speak with dead people or read minds get paid.
I would say maybe 30ish per hour for pretending to talk to the dead and cold reading etc. Of course there are a LOT of vulnerable people out there, so take as much as you can without appearing greedy.

Redr

This should be a bit of fun - what are people willing to pay for a meal out/the cinema/a bottle of champagne? If you are willing to pay €80 for a visit once a year or once in the blue moon, to me, that's value for money. However one can get hooked on this stuff and then it gets addcitive and expensive.

Good and bad stuff happens to everyone in life. If something good happens it's a pleasant surprise; if and when something bad is going to happen there's no point in knowing in advance! A fortune-teller may tell you things that cause you to look at life in a different way - which is good - but ultimately you/me/we have to make our own decisions.

Melodi

I'm not saying that fortune tellers are doctors or trained like doctors (except a very few that actually are trained in the medical professions). What I was saying, in that first post is that based on Edgar Cayce's choice for charging, which happened to be about the cost of a GP visit in the 1930's; I have found the cost of a GP's visit to be a good ball park figure for the upper-end costs of most readings.

That doesn't always hold up, certainly does not in the US right now where a GP visit can be between 125 to 175 dollars! But it does a lot of the time and to me Readers who charge a great deal more raise giant red flags.

But when it comes to a money back if you don't like the service question, then readers are a lot like doctors (or a number of other helping professions) if a doctor can't cure you; you don't get a refund unless they are guilty of a legal level of neglect of care.

If you don't like a reader's reading (or it turns out to be "wrong") there is not a lot of you can do either, except complain on a forum like this. Again, unless they have actually engaged in direct fraud or some sort of old fashioned carnival scam; then you might have some legal recourse.

Both doctors and professional readers have (or should have) insurance, though of course a doctor's costs a lot more because if they make a mistake the suffering can be much worse than what most Reader's can inflict even by accident.

It is interesting, that a recent newspaper article said the going rate for GP's in Ireland (depending on where you live) is between about 30 and 80 Euros a visit (for about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour). And the going rate for readings (in most places) is; you guessed it between 30 and 80 Euros for a reading that lasts from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the Reader.

So, the unofficial "link" still seems to hold up, even though you are correct that the professions really are not very much the same except that both provide a service that people are willing to pay for and refunds are highly unlikely if the visit does not meet up to expectations.

Hope that clarifies things, as to the other stuff; there is a skeptic's section here, if you really think all readers are fakes looking to live off those who want to take them for a ride, please feel free to post there. Such people do exist of course, and one reason for boards like this is so they can be "reviewed" and "outed," but I assure you that is not true of all readers; many of whom quietly do a lot of charity and free readings on the side for those who truly can't pay but really wish for some insights.

Melodi

I'm not saying that fortune tellers are doctors or trained like doctors (except a very few that actually are trained in the medical professions). What I was saying, in that first post is that based on Edgar Cayce's choice for charging, which happened to be about the cost of a GP visit in the 1930's; I have found the cost of a GP's visit to be a good ball park figure for the upper-end costs of most readings.

That doesn't always hold up, certainly does not in the US right now where a GP visit can be between 125 to 175 dollars! But it does a lot of the time and to me Readers who charge a great deal more raise giant red flags.

But when it comes to a money back if you don't like the service question, then readers are a lot like doctors (or a number of other helping professions) if a doctor can't cure you; you don't get a refund unless they are guilty of a legal level of neglect of care.

If you don't like a reader's reading (or it turns out to be "wrong") there is not a lot of you can do either, except complain on a forum like this. Again, unless they have actually engaged in direct fraud or some sort of old fashioned carnival scam; then you might have some legal recourse.

Both doctors and professional readers have (or should have) insurance, though of course a doctor's costs a lot more because if they make a mistake the suffering can be much worse than what most Reader's can inflict even by accident.

It is interesting, that a recent newspaper article said the going rate for GP's in Ireland (depending on where you live) is between about 30 and 80 Euros a visit (for about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour). And the going rate for readings (in most places) is; you guessed it between 30 and 80 Euros for a reading that lasts from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the Reader.

So, the unofficial "link" still seems to hold up, even though you are correct that the professions really are not very much the same except that both provide a service that people are willing to pay for and refunds are highly unlikely if the visit does not meet up to expectations.

Hope that clarifies things, as to the other stuff; there is a skeptic's section here, if you really think all readers are fakes looking to live off those who want to take them for a ride, please feel free to post there. Such people do exist of course, and one reason for boards like this is so they can be "reviewed" and "outed," but I assure you that is not true of all readers; many of whom quietly do a lot of charity and free readings on the side for those who truly can't pay but really wish for some insights.

Cam1

Hi just wondering if u got that number for Stephanie in cobh if so could you please send it on to me ?

D.Campbell

http://www.paranormal.ie

acarra

Stephanies number is 0876983063. You'll get her faster if you text her, good luck. Shes such a pet

Cam1

Hi just wondering if anyone has a number for Betty a fortune teller in Cork ?

Pollyrose

Anyone ever go to Madame Lisa in limerick , opinions please ?

jenny smith

Melodi wrote: »

Chicken Fingers if you go back and read my original post, I was saying that I personally used what I think of as the Edgar Cayce method for pricing readings more or less. In the 1930's, when faced with total poverty; Mr. Cayce agreed to start charging for some readings in order to feed his children (his photography business was suffering he was asked to do so many readings).

At the time, after meditating, he decided he could charge some, but not too much. What he ended up charging was about two dollars an hours (or about the price of a doctor's visit at that time).

I just see it as a good rule of thumb, not an exact figure; it can also get out of whack if doctor's visits get way to high for reality (like they have in the US at the moment). But if a psychic is charging way more than a doctor's visit, it raises a red flag (with me personally), especially people who get rooms full of hundreds of people charging that much per person. I couldn't give that many people a full and sincere reading in one session and I'm pretty sure that anyone else would be hard pressed to do so. But again, that's their business and the people who pay to see them.

As to the other doctor comparison, well it is simply another profession where the "outcome" is difficult to be certain of and everyone (including the law) understands that. It isn't like construction where you have a contract to build a house and if you don't; the person that paid you to build the house has an obvious "breach of contract," they can pursue.

A doctor who "fails" to cure you of cancer or a reader who gives you advice you don't like (but is not illegal) are both difficult to demand a legal "refund" from. Both are services and helping professions, though one takes much more formal education and risks than the other.

There is no comparison between a doctor and a psychic. Doctors have real qualifications and their work is based on science.They are tested by exam before they are allowed to practice. A psychic is not a profession so the claim "simply another profession where " is nonsense. I can set up as a psychic tomorrow without any training or taking any exams. i cannot set up as a doctor in this way. Anyone who pays 80 euro for a fortune teller needs more help than they can get from an unscientific person. Any psychic or healer advertising in a paper or online needs to meet ASAI standards

i wonder if this applies.

jenny smith

Melodi wrote: »

Hi Meryem, where did you get the idea that readings came with a money back guarantee?

Doctors don't usually get a money back guarantee if they can't make you well; on the other hand if one is suspected of horrific malpractice you can sue them, but I've never heard of a refund before.

I think your suggesting that if readers want to charge astronomical fees, they should guarantee their readings, but the world doesn't actually work that way. On the other hand, clients do get a vote in this; if they feel a reader's fees are way to high and/or the get a reputation for readings that are way off the mark (and there are some like that that have been reviewed on this board) they can vote with their pocket book. They can simply refuse to visit those readers and pick someone else the next time.

Now a reader you suspect of out and out fraud (like the old "I'll remove the curse if you pay me 500 Euro's scam) is a different story. Most places have laws against that sort of abuse and you can report someone like that to the authorities or even bring charges depending on where you live.

Just some thoughts,
Melodi

Doctors are under Medical Council and can be complained to them.

https://www.medicalcouncil.ie/Public-Information/Making-a-Complaint-/Fitness-to-Practise-Inquiries/Medical-Council-Sanctions.html

What organisation oversees psychics like that.? when a psychic is a member of any organisation it just means they paid the membership fee