After just reading @Your-Guides post on becoming a professional Tarot reader I had a thought. Most of us work for ourselves and have our own clients and have to chase our own business to get clients. What about working an online Tarot reader job for a company?
I know there are online and phone jobs and while I mostly stick to in-person gigs but I have been wondering if this is something worth looking at. Letting someone else handle getting the clients while you do the readings?
Does anyone have experience with the chat/phone reading platforms that donât require you to be the next TikTok tarot sensation? I checked out a few like Keen and Kasamba but the application process feels like applying to NASA sometimes. Iâm solid with my craft and have been doing weekend pop-ups in my cityâs arts district for years, but translating that to digital feels weird.
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To be perfectly honest, you really should read that guide you linked because itâs the only way to make any kind of actual income as a Tarot reader.
I tried running some online readings as a job rather than getting my own clients, and the platforms do handle the marketing side, but yeah⌠they take a huge cut. Keen keeps 54% and they have a whole bunch of extra hoops and work you need to do, so really itâs more than that. California Psychics is a little harder to get into, but the split is fairer.
That said, the steady flow during slow months saved my business during 2020. I would stream late at night (after 10/11PM normally) when people are more in their feelings and have time to commit to a reading.
The application process for Kasamba was weird⌠tons of forms, then radio silence for weeks, then suddenly approved? But their chat-only setup works better for me than phone. Just know youâre basically starting at zero reputation everywhere. Took me 6 months on Keen before I was making decent money, lots of $1.99/minute readings to build reviews first. And I donât think it was worth it.
If you want to work your butt off to make a few bucks here and there⌠they are easy enough but youâll need to start your own shop if you want to really make it a full time income.
Donât even bother with Oranum. Seriously. They only give you 30% commission until you hit some impossible earning targets, plus you have to sit in free chat forever, hoping someone books. Made $47 my first month working like 30 hours. Absolute waste. Once I started getting my own clients and selling through my own platform, I made a lot more than that with a lot less work. Plus, I get to find the clients that I want to work with.
Purple Garden is way easier to get accepted with vs Keen, but itâs still a pretty poor choice for your effort.
I think these apps and websites are fine if youâre doing it as a hobby. It will let you get some practice in while maybe paying for a few new decks, but as a job? Follow the full-time Tarot reader guide and do that instead.
Keen and Kasamba are the only ones worth it if youâre going to do platforms. Even then, you need to work multiple sites; nobodyâs making a full-time income from just one platform anymore unless theyâve been there since like 2015.
I was on California Psychics for 2 years⌠the money was amazing pre-pandemic, clearing $1200-1500 weekly working on busy evenings but now you would be lucky to hit $600 and thatâs with a ton of reviews. They flooded the platform with new readers, and everybodyâs fighting for scraps. Their application process is rough, too. Two test readings with their evaluators, a background check, and then 90 days of monitoring, where they review random calls. Plus, you have to use your real name for the background check, but pick a stage name for the platform, which felt weird.
Still better than trying to build your own client base from scratch if you donât want to do that, I guess. Just not the goldmine everyone thinks it is.
No judgment, but some of these platforms really push readers to give overly positive readings just to keep clients coming back.
I had to leave one site after they âcoachedâ me about my honest Death card interpretation. Apparently, telling someone their toxic job needs to end isnât âcustomer retention friendly.â The pressure to sugarcoat messages is ridiculous. Goes against everything ethical reading is supposed to be about.
I have no problem with people charging for their readings (in fact, there are some good arguments that we should be charging more) but I donât like having to change what I see in the cards to conform to the business side of things.
When Spirit told me to try online platforms, Iâd been doing local spiritual gatherings for years. I was pretty nervous about it.
Those weekend pop-ups you mentioned - yeah, they do help you get used to reading strangers fast. That skill helps on platforms like Keen for sure. The biggest difference for me is not seeing peopleâs faces when they get their reading. In person, you can see if something lands right. Online, you just have to trust itâs working. Had one client message me months later saying the reading helped them, which was nice to hear since I had no idea at the time.
Purple Ocean takes 30-40% depending on your tier, while Psychic Source starts at 45% for new readers. Iâve been tracking my earnings across three platforms for six months and the math is pretty bad. It becomes a tradeoff, do you want to do the work getting the clients or do you just want to focus on doing the actual readings?
Fiverr could work for you. The downside is youâre still starting from zero with building clients, just like anywhere else.
Their setup is pretty straightforward though, nothing like those complex applications you mentioned. The algorithm can be annoying, sometimes your gigs just disappear from search results for no reason. Just something to keep in mind if you go that route.
Iâve tried a bunch of online reading platforms and most havenât worked for me. I like ones that pay per session instead of per minute, and you keep more of it. I know marketing is hard work, but it does seem greedy to charge so much per minute and then give the reader a small % of it.
I do like not feeling rushed or pressured to keep the session going, so you can do it at a flat fee for a sane amount of time (I usually like readings from 5-15 minutes, depending on the number of cards).
Everclear offers one of the better reader splits (I think 70/30?), mainly because they use your own phone line instead of routing through their system like most platforms. Less overhead for them means more for us. I donât think they get as many people as the other big sites, but it evens out.
If you try company platforms, treat them like shift work: set tight 90-120 minute blocks and stay fully present. A lot of dashboards quietly down-rank idle time.
I do a simple Wicca-inspired circle and grounding before I toggle âavailable.â Keeps readings crisp and boundaries solid. Practical tip: log call lengths and outcomes so you can track per-minute conversion and claim business expenses at tax time.
From my experience, those online platforms can be tough. Youâre competing with hundreds of readers and it takes months of being available consistently to build up enough regulars to make decent money.
They handle getting clients for you, but youâre still basically building your own business on their platform. If you need quick income, you might want to keep doing those weekend pop-ups while you slowly build up online.
After burning out on Oranum doing 12 hour marathon sessions (the algorithm loved my availability but my Third Eye was basically screaming), scheduling energy reset readings between clients saved my sanity.
Listen to this nudge: your aura needs digital detox too. I now pull a single card for myself after each reading, not for divination, but as a ritual to release the previous clientâs energy. And I keep a bowl of black tourmaline chips next to my webcam that I physically touch between sessions.
The platforms wonât tell you this, but maintaining energetic boundaries online is harder than in-person because you canât use physical space as a natural buffer. I learned to create a closing phrase like âMay this reading serve your highest goodâ that signals to both my energy field and theirs that the connection is complete.
Those platforms are a bit like the Tower card, looks impressive from afar, but once youâre in it, yikes. I tried Keen once and spent more time jumping through hoops than shuffling cards. My application got rejected because apparently my photo wasnât âmystical enoughâ (sorry for having regular human energy instead of ethereal fog machine vibes, I guess?).
Youâre better off creating your own setup. Thereâs a good thread on selling Tarot readings online and its all about Instagram and Facebook marketplace for me.
I started with a folding table that had one wobbly leg, very authentic street reader aesthetic. Set up shop wherever foot traffic flows, or go digital with your own streaming/video content. Just slap your Venmo/PayPal info on there. Local metaphysical shops and psychic fairs work too. I once read at a carnival between the cotton candy stand and a guy making balloon animals. Street readings have a different energy though. Nothing like someone sitting down expecting nothing and leaving surprised.
Going solo means dealing with the occasional character who thinks the Death card means youâre personally threatening them. Skip the corporate middleman. Your readings, your rules, your full payment.
Has anyone talked about safety boundaries with online clients?
Unlike in-person where you can physically leave, online stalkers can be relentless. Theyâll demand free readings through platform messages and some even try to find your real social media accounts. Always use a stage name and never share personal details, even innocent ones like your city.
$100k a year as an online reader is fantasy unless youâre charging $20+/minute and working constantly, most of us are making 30-50k if weâre lucky, less after taxes (remember youâre 1099 so save 30% for Uncle Sam). The top readers on Keen have been there 10+ years and built huge followings. new readers competing with thousands of others⌠good luck breaking $30k your first year.
I was straight up told my 15 years doing weekend markets âwasnât professional experienceâ. What more could you possibly want?
Etsy? My cousin just started selling tarot readings on there last month. Not sure if sheâs gotten any clients yet. Seems like everyoneâs doing it now. When I had Instagram, Iâd get messages from places like Kasamba all the time wanting me to join their reader teams. Like twice a month at least. Maybe just apply directly? If theyâre that desperate for readers on social media, theyâd probably take applications.
Yeah, the competition on those platforms can be tough at first since youâre competing with readers who have thousands of reviews.
At least with companies like Keen handling the client flow, the clients who pay for platform services are usually more serious about their readings. That can make it easier to build repeat customers, although it still takes time to establish a presence. You mentioned doing weekend pop-ups, those back-to-back readings are pretty much what the chat platforms are like anyway.
When I switched from reading at local metaphysical shops to Kasamba, I was really clear about my timing, 24 hours for email readings, immediate for chat. That helped me stand out from readers who left clients waiting.
I also asked my regular in-person clients to leave reviews when I first joined. Having those reviews right away helped a lot with credibility.vThe platforms make it easier to set boundaries than in-person work. You can list what questions you wonât answer (I donât do medical or legal) right in your profile. That way people know your limits before they even book.