A friend's perception of DJ's - quite shocked

[mattydinx]

Just had a conversation with a 'friend' enquiring how much I'd charge for a party. They didn't have specifics (no venue, no times - helpful...NAAT!) but as a favour I quoted her a ball-park figure with a bit knocked off.

The conversation followed like this....

Me: if your party's 7:30 till 12 I'd do it for £140
Friend: pffffff
Me: and that's cheap, others charge upwards of £200
Friend: nah i can get a lot cheaper
Me: not all about cost though
Friend: it is
Me: chances are the cheaper ones aren't insured, use cheap/poor equipment which isn't electrical safety checked and download poor quality MP3s from the internet. its like everything - you get what you pay for.
you pay £60 for some geezer with a laptop and a hi-fi and a couple of ty lights - its hardly gonna create the right party atmosphere is it lol
Friend:im not botherd about insurance ha ha. One of the lads who has done 5 partys i have been to is really good n cheap so just gonna get him
Me: 5 parties? - mmm, compared to my 11 years and 100's of parties?....suit yourself lol
Me: so how much is he then? - and what's his company called?
Friend: dunno what his company is called but if you get venue from a list he has he is 50 quid - good eh
Me: lol not really - I wouldnt even load the car up for that
Friend: course it is - its mint for customers

Needless to say if that's her attitude she's no potential client of mine.
As it happens I'm booked most weekends leading up to Christmas and she's thinking about having her function next month.

I'm just surprised that:
A) 60 quid sid is lowering his prices
B) her view on a mobile DJ is all about price
C) her perception that things like equipment, insurance and experience don't mean squat!

I've been invited to said function (when she decides when and where she's going to have it!) so if I'm not working I'll report back.

I know it shouldn't bother me - It's been said many a time before, I'm not aiming for that end of the market.
Just trying to do a favour for a friend and being shot down for being 'too expensive' - It's annoyed me slightly.

[katman]

her perception that things like equipment, insurance and experience don't mean squat!

She probably has the same perception of paying for music and films. It would be interesting to knwo how much of her own personal music/movie collection has been obtained legally.

The current generation seem to think that they are entitled to everything for free and see nothing wrong with it

[Corabar Entertainment]

I think it does hit home more when it's a friend or family member that you just can't get through to though.

My mum sings Corabar's praises if anyone mentions anything about a party, and she's seen us in action several times, but even she can't quite get past the 'price is everything' scenario!

We recently had a conversation with a close friend who is getting married in the not-too-distant future (no date yet). Steve said something about it to him and his reaction was something along the lines of "Good God - I'm not having a DJ. You're the only one I have even the slightest bit of respect for, but I still don't want you to do my wedding!"

[Eski75]

There will always be people out there with micro budgets in any line of work, if the majority of people here on the boards are out most weekends I don't see what there is to get upset about.

You get what you pay for, but equally some people out there (punters that is) are doing what they can with not a lot of money.

Clearly I don't know the lady in the story, she may be a millionaire for all I know, but there are lot of people that aren't and if £50 is all they can afford then that's what they can afford and they'll have £50 worth of DJ. It's the same in any trade. Don't get bent out of shape about what you can't control.

[yourdj]

Not sure why this is important. Every industry has tight people who are not too bothered about what they get.
As for people who do not have the budget then thats understandable as money does not grow on trees.

Take myself for example I bought a car today off Ebay for £350.
I have not looked at it and just took the word of the seller that it works and has a bit of rust etc.
I will hopefully change the wing, bonnet and boot lock and I have a good back up DJ vehicle.

I have broken every rule in the ebay car buyers book.
I bet there is a forum post in thier exivelent sector on exactly the same thing.
Am I bothered about that - no. I have a (hopefully) working car for peanuts.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1706985086...#ht_500wt_1206


Its the same for builder, gutter cleaners, piano tuners - you name it.

I attract clients that would not sniff at paying over £450 as the entertainment is important.
They have the budget and in some cases plough most of it just in to me and scrimp with other suppliers, which is always quite touching tbh.
As for anyone else then they are welcome to book the cheaper option

[Pe7e]

I'm supprised no one has picked up on this,

Friend: dunno what his company is called but if you get venue from a list he has he is 50 quid - good eh

It would suggest to me, £50 Fred may be a bit more business savey than you are giving him credit for. When I personally did discos, I had several landlords/venue owners who were more than happy to supply a free room and a worthwhile percentage of the bar take (over a threshold amount) if I could bring in a good sized, free spending, well behaved crowd. This was especially true for non prime nights, and I would imagine they would be plenty of hard pressed landlords happy to come to such an arrangement in the current tough financial climate. You do need to pick your venue though, the ones who are booked, or busy most nights are unlikley to play ball.

[yourdj]

And the ones you can trust to give you the correct figure

[Pe7e]

And the ones you can trust to give you the correct figure

Yes, too true, but you can estimate it if you take the numbers attending and observing their drinking behaviour, most of the time they were very happy with several thousand extra £s in their tills and paid up with a smile. You do need decent numbers, 30 or 40 people won't do.

[Excalibur]

" A Disco is just a Disco, isn't it? They're all the same. Music, flashing lights. Turn up, press play, money for old rope. "

A belief that may be very widely held, and very hard to change.

[Andy Goodtimes]

Another thing being missed here is that sadly some of the cheap ones out there are actually very good.

I had a friend ask me about this time last year and he was a good friend so I quoted him £150, it was a Friday night close to home, big Club with a stage door and finishing at 11.20pm sharp. The Club offered him their DJ for £80 and he said to me that price was a big issue and his family use that club and had seen the DJ many times and he was good. He used the built in system which is 4 Sound Lab speakers...one in each corner on the wall, a mirror ball and colour changer and then he put some of his own screens on the front of the stage...not really what we would call a decent system but I know this family and their circle of friends and they are a good lot and like a party and I'm sure they would have turned anything into a good night.

I always try to avoid working for friends and family if at all possible.