Past Tooth Fairy Prices
When I was a kid – I was feeling lucky to get 25 cents for my pearly-whites! Once I even got 35 cents more – because my little sister snuck some of her own money under my pillow to be nice. 🙂 I was in heaven!
When my oldest son finally lost his first tooth (in 2nd grade!) – I wasn’t sure how much the Tooth Fairy was supposed to pay.
What was the going Tooth Fairy price these days?
When my son’s tooth fell out he announced to us that his friend got $1.25 for his tooth, and you could tell he was excited to get the same. (This Tooth Fairy couldn’t disappoint! :))
That was 10 years ago – and my son was ecstatic with the $1.25 he received – but was even more impressed and excited about the letter/receipt that the Tooth Fairy left him – including her business address her own Tooth Fairy store web address. My 7 year old was obsessed with the internet and web addresses at that point – and immediately wanted to check out the website!
Then my son announced . . . “Oh – The next tooth is supposed to be worth $5.25 . . . that’s what my friend got!”
Really? Hmm . . . do they get more expensive? Is there a difference for what tooth it is?
“Well, hon – I don’t know what Tooth Fairy that little boy has – but I know ours only pays $1.25 max per tooth.” There was no way this Tooth Fairy was going to be swindled into constantly increasing the Tooth Fairy price for teeth! 🙂
Current Tooth Fairy Prices
With 5 kids between the ages of 8 and 17, you know we’ve lost quite a few teeth around here! I have to admit though – when my kids started to say to me “Mom – I’ve just lost a tooth . . . you owe me some money!” I would jokingly tell them that the Tooth Fairy no longer would visit them and give them money because they didn’t believe in her anymore. Occasionally I gave in and helped the Tooth Fairy out and just paid them during the day (as this Tooth Fairy was too tired to wait till my kids finally fell asleep late at night to sneak in there!).
For the last decade, our Tooth Fairy price has stayed the same (I guess there is no inflation where she lives!) . . . $1.25.
However, I was shocked to hear the news this morning at what the latest average Tooth Fairy prices are!
According to a survey done by Visa – the average Tooth Fairy price paid is $3.00 . . . with some Tooth Fairies paying as high as (drum-roll please) $20.00!! Man! Why couldn’t I have lived in that Tooth Fairy district?! 🙂 I’m not telling my kids!
It appears that the differences in the Tooth Fairy price depends on a variety of factors. To help you figure out how much the Tooth Fairy will pay for you kids – Visa has created an online tool and free app called the Tooth Fairy Calculator (as part of Visa’s free financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life).
Before your Tooth Fairy dishes out $3.00 or more for your child’s pearly-white, here are some Tooth Fairy price stats from the recent survey to help you:
Less than a dollar: 3% of people surveyed (7% last year)
Exact $1: 30% (29% last year)
Between $2 to $4: 13% (18% last year)
Exactly $5: 18% (same as last year)
More than $5: 8% (3% last year)
“What the Tooth Fairy can Tell us About the Economy“
This is an interesting article from earlier this year on CNBC – comparing the Tooth Fairy price paid out with the national economy. It quotes statistics done by Delta Dental and their “Original Tooth Fairy Poll” that’s been going on since 1998. You can read about global Tooth Fairy traditions, find resources on how to really “Wow the Tooth Fairy” with articles on keeping kid’s teeth healthy, and more.
What does is your Tooth Fairy price these days?
Share with us below what the going Tooth Fairy price is at your household! Or do you not even participate in the Tooth Fairy “program”? 🙂 Let me know what you think!
As for us – if anyone loses another tooth . . . the price will still be $1.25 . . . that is – IF they still believe in the Tooth Fairy! Otherwise – this Fairy is going to save that money for the orthodontist bills that I know are coming! 🙂
Please share with your friends through the buttons below! Thanks!
Lori, here’s some data we collected (anonymously) a while back indicating what FamZoo families are paying when it comes to the tooth fairy: http://blog.famzoo.com/2010/03/whats-tooth-fairys-going-rate-these.html
Personally, I still like to give $1 no matter what the data says 🙂
Bill
Thanks for stopping by Bill and sharing your statistics!
I agree – I like $1 a tooth!
One of my friends told me today that when the Daddy, I mean Male Tooth Fairy visits her kids, they’ve gotten $5 – but when Mommy – aka the Female Tooth Fairy visits – they only get $1. Needless to say they like the Male Tooth Fairy better! 🙂
This app is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Here we go encouraging the entitlement behavior with these kind of apps.
I found it interesting that it tried to tell me that what I would give my kids is like “the equivalent to $0.67 that you received from the Tooth Fairy as a child.” I never got 67 cents . . . it was always a quarter! 🙂 I do remember getting a book about allowances when I was 9 and it said that my allowance should be a certain percentage of my parent’s income. My mom wasn’t too happy when I inquired how much my dad made and then told her I wasn’t getting enough allowance. I think she wished she hadn’t bought me the book. 🙂 (she wasn’t too upset . . . but my allowance didn’t increase either. 🙂 )
Thanks for your input!