Free is a real answer
Plenty of the best things on Wello cost nothing. A Sunday run, a games night, a walk that ends at a pub. Charging isn’t the more legitimate version of creating something, and if money would make it feel like work, don’t charge.
Charge when there’s a real cost to cover, or when what you’re giving people took you a long time to be able to give.
Start with four questions
1. Does this need to cost anything? If there’s no meaningful cost and you simply want to bring people together, free may be exactly right.
2. What does it cost you to run? Food, materials, hire, equipment, travel, anything you’re paying for.
3. Are people paying for expertise too? If you’re teaching or sharing a specialist skill, your time and knowledge have value beyond the raw materials.
4. Would you happily do it again at this price? If you’d resent running a second one, it’s probably too low.
What are people actually paying for?
If you’re cooking for eight people, the ingredients matter. But they’re not the whole value of the experience.
People are also paying for your time, the preparation, the space you’ve created, the thing you know how to do, and the fact that you’ve brought the whole thing together at all.
Your costs give you a starting point. They don’t automatically tell you what the experience is worth.
Social experiences vs skill-led experiences
It helps to know which one you’re creating, because the value sits in a different place.
- Social experiences. The value is doing something together: dinner, games, runs, watch parties, listening nights, walks. These are often free, or priced mainly to cover what goes into making them happen.
- Skill-led experiences. The value includes your knowledge, teaching or preparation: photography, pottery, cooking lessons, sewing, DJing, a language. People aren’t only attending, they’re getting access to your time and what you can do, so these can reasonably cost more. Sometimes that means very small numbers, occasionally one person, but the group is still the normal shape.
Both kinds work best small. Neither is more legitimate than the other.
Work out your costs
Add up what the experience costs you to put on, then divide by the number of people. That’s your floor: below it, you’re paying for the privilege.
Then decide what sits above it, and why. A price that only just covers costs is one you’ll come to resent.
Check what something comparable costs
Useful sense-check, especially for skill-led experiences: what would this cost somewhere else? A class, a workshop, a private lesson, a night out of similar length.
You’re not obliged to match it. But knowing the number stops you guessing in the dark.
Don’t automatically price yourself low
There’s a difference between choosing to keep something affordable and underpricing it because you’re nervous about charging.
If you’re covering real costs, putting in significant preparation, or sharing a skill you’ve spent years developing, don’t assume the lowest possible price is automatically the fairest one.
Ask whether you’d still be happy to run it at that price after doing it three or four times.
A good price should feel fair to the person joining and sustainable for the person creating it.
What Wello takes
Wello takes 10% of ticket sales. That covers payments, the platform and support when something goes wrong. No listing fee, no subscription, nothing to pay if you never run anything, and nothing at all on free experiences.
The rest reaches your account after the experience. Your own costs come out of that, and so does your tax, so factor both in when you set the number rather than after.
Guests pay a small booking fee on top of your price, the same way they would buying a ticket anywhere else. It doesn’t come out of your 90%, but it’s worth knowing about, because the number a guest sees at checkout is slightly higher than the number you set. On a £20 ticket they pay £21. There’s no booking fee at all on free experiences, or on tickets of £5 or less, so the snacks-money end of the scale stays exactly as you set it.
Three example prices
Made up, to show the thinking rather than to suggest a going rate.
- Games night. Snacks and supplies £30, six people, so £5 a head. You might cover it yourself and make it free, ask people to bring something, or charge enough to cover what you’re spending.
- Pasta workshop. Ingredients £60, six people, so £10 a head. But you’re also teaching for two hours and preparing beforehand, so the price doesn’t have to stop at £10.
- Photography walk. Almost no direct cost, eight people. Getting people together to take photos could easily be free. Providing structured tuition and feedback is a different thing, and can be priced accordingly.
Try it, learn, adjust
The price you set the first time is a guess, and it’s meant to be. Run it, see how it goes, change it. Nothing about your first number commits you to it, and people who run something regularly almost always move the price at least once.
A general guide to setting your own prices, not financial advice, and not a prediction. Wello is new and has no figures on what people typically earn, so nothing here promises or implies an outcome. What you charge, what you spend and how often you run something are entirely yours to decide, and you’re responsible for your own tax obligations. See Hosting income & HMRC.