Why does this happen?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Twice now in the last couple of weeks, I have decided to give a £75 discount to someone I used to go to school with only to find out she lives in a £1.5m house and then I didn't charge a client travel, saving them around £50, only to find out they live in a £2m house...

I don't normally discount anything and am beginning to remember why. ;)

[nigelwright7557]

The more money they have the tighter they are !

Simple application of sods law......

[Shaun]

Next time you feel like throwing money away.....send me a cheque. :d

[Penfold42]

Do they live next door to you then? :p :D

That's a big discount....can you not make it up on extras....:)

[Danno13]

So I'm not the only one that uses houseprices.co.uk on their clients then? :eek:

[Sapphire Disco]

It's not such a bad thing because if they are going to recommend a disco to anyone it's likely to be you ,as you've done a good deal for them.
The trick is to tell them £50 more then give 10% discount :D

Before you ask no I haven't done it to you but some people I have, mainly the rich ones or those I always know will ask for a discount, even if the price you have given is good in the first place ;)

[Mark Wild]

Why does this happen?


Because your one of the good guys

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Before you ask no I haven't done it to you

Are you sure? :boxer2: :D

No, I know you always do very good prices for me. ;)

(Paul owns a jewellers in case anyone was wondering)


Do they live next door to you then? :p :D

That's a big discount....can you not make it up on extras....:)

The one that I included the travelling for is a 2 hour quiz, so not really.

[Tom]

Are you sure? They might want some uplighting for the quiz. Lol

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Darren, last year I had the same kind of thing happen but there was a difference to my situation.
Guy called up, said he had been searching around for my details for ages because it was his 40th birthday coming up and he wanted a big party in a marquee at his house. He ended up contacting a venue I used to play at who by chance had someone working there that knew me and my number which was lucky.

Anyway, not to divert too much. I ended up chatting on the phone with him, got all of the details and as a gesture of goodwill decided to discount him on the price. Arranged to go and see him and when I turned up at his house I was amazed. The house must have been £3million at least, no lie. We had a great chat and he was really down to earth although I didn't remember his face, even when he told me that he used to frequent my Alternative Nights regularly back in the day and said that he had the some of the best times of his life there too and where he also met his wife!

Anyway, did the function and it was a brilliant night. He had already paid in advance so obviously I didn't expect anything else but at the end of the night he came up to me with another £100.00 cheque. He was in tears, hugged me and said that it was one of the best nights of his life! He also said that he appreciated the fact that I offered him discount but as he ran his own successful business, wanted to give me the discount back and also a tip.

You never know Darren, the same thing may happen to you?

[sleah]

The reason these people live in big expensive houses is because they are very careful with their money.
As Tesco say, every little helps :)

[Dynamic Entertainment]

:agree: , but like its been said, you may end up with a few more bookings out of it. I wouldnt even know what a £1m house looks like :D

[Steve the DJ]

I wouldnt even know what a £1m house looks like :D

In Surrey were I live this is roughly what a Million quid gets ya...

http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/~fanf2/hermes/doc/talks/2006-01-techlinks/outhouse.jpg

[rob1963]

Twice now in the last couple of weeks, I have decided to give a £75 discount to someone I used to go to school with only to find out she lives in a £1.5m house and then I didn't charge a client travel, saving them around £50, only to find out they live in a £2m house...

I don't normally discount anything and am beginning to remember why. ;)

I've just been thinking about this, and I wonder if it really matters.

What I mean is that we don't give people discounts due to their inability to pay the full rate...we do it as a gesture either because we've known them a long time, or they are a friend, or they've given us a fair bit of work in the past.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I've just been thinking about this, and I wonder if it really matters.

What I mean is that we don't give people discounts due to their inability to pay the full rate...we do it as a gesture either because we've known them a long time, or they are a friend, or they've given us a fair bit of work in the past.

Not in my case.

I didn't have a booking for one of the dates, so thought it might clinch the deal. It would have been over £400 including travel for a 2 hour quiz.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

In Surrey were I live this is roughly what a Million quid gets ya...

http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/~fanf2/hermes/doc/talks/2006-01-techlinks/outhouse.jpg

Is that yours then? :D

[Steve the DJ]

Is that yours then? :D

Not on my new wage structure... :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Not on my new wage structure... :D

:D

[Steve the DJ]

Much more likely... :lol:

[Excalibur]

Not in my case.

I didn't have a booking for one of the dates, so thought it might clinch the deal. It would have been over £400 including travel for a 2 hour quiz.

How many months of quizzes does £400 buy then? :confused:

[A1DL]

Not in my case.
I didn't have a booking for one of the dates, so thought it might clinch the deal. It would have been over £400 including travel for a 2 hour quiz.


Did the client ask for a price reduction on your original quote, Daz?

Would you have priced the job differently if you had known these facts in advance (and if so, why)?

Perhaps the client already had a few quotes and suspected the price had been increased for this reason, unfortunately this does happen quite alot, with field salesmen (usually the Citroen/Vectra driving breed!) working out their quote for services based on what they think you can afford after seeing the house rather than using more business-relevant criteria.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Did the client ask for a price reduction on your original quote, Daz?

Would you have priced the job differently if you had known these facts in advance (and if so, why)?

Perhaps the client already had a few quotes and suspected the price had been increased for this reason, unfortunately this does happen quite alot, with field salesmen (usually the Citroen/Vectra driving breed!) working out their quote for services based on what they think you can afford after seeing the house rather than using more business-relevant criteria.

That happens up here quite abit from what i gather. Some hotels i work in were getting rediculous quotes because of the hotel that it was. Ive even known weddings be priced on the basis of "its an expensive venue so they can affort the bit extra on top".

[DJMaxG]

How unusual

[Babybob]

So would that be £400 for a 2 hour quiz reduced to £325, but then the travelling comes in, aha the venue is in Portugal isn't it.

[Mark Wild]

How many months of quizzes does £400 buy then? :confused:


:lol: He flies in Chris Tarrant

[DeckstarDeluxe]

In all fairness Darren you'll be providing a quality service to what im guessing is a room full of rich people and most of them buisness owners? Lots of potential for future bookings.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

How many months of quizzes does £400 buy then? :confused:

You are getting more and more surreal on me. What are you on about now?!!


Did the client ask for a price reduction on your original quote, Daz?

Would you have priced the job differently if you had known these facts in advance (and if so, why)?


No, a price reduction wasn't asked for, but this was an usual case, as it's only for 20 people, is not corporate and is on a Saturday night. All these factors together made me think that they would think my quote was too expensive for a Saturday night.


If I had known that they lived in a £2m house, then I probably wouldn't have offered free travel! It will cost me £20 in diesal, so it's not too bad, apart from the 45 mins each way travel time.


In all fairness Darren you'll be providing a quality service to what im guessing is a room full of rich people and most of them buisness owners? Lots of potential for future bookings.

Maybe, but there's not many people going to be there.

[Babybob]

I think Peter and others (including myself) are amazed at the price for a 2 hour quiz, good for you Daz if you can get it but you must admit it is a high price for a quiz.
I suppose your saturday fee is the same regardless of what service you provide.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I think Peter and others (including myself) are amazed at the price for a 2 hour quiz, good for you Daz if you can get it but you must admit it is a high price for a quiz.
I suppose your saturday fee is the same regardless of what service you provide.

No, not at all.

I write the questions and preparation can take anywhere between 3 and 7 hours.

Now, tell me again that £400 (including vat and travel) is high for a 2 hour quiz.

Do you think I am marketing this towards social clubs and pubs?

[ppentertainments]

No, not at all.

I write the questions and preparation can take anywhere between 3 and 7 hours.

Now, tell me again that £400 (including vat and travel) is high for a 2 hour quiz.

Do you think I am marketing this towards social clubs and pubs?

Now we know why Rob is so rich - he does 4 or 5 a week :D :p :D

[Babybob]

Well I personally think it is very high, regardless of where it is being held.
Does Rob charge this for his weekly quizzes, I doubt it but if he did he'd be a very rich man.
As I said good on you if you can generate this kind of revenue for two hours work plus travelling which in this case doesn't seem too excessive.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Now we know why Rob is so rich - he does 4 or 5 a week :D :p :D

Rob doesn't write his, as he'll tell you, but gets a lot less money.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Well I personally think it is very high, regardless of where it is being held.
Does Rob charge this for his weekly quizzes, I doubt it but if he did he'd be a very rich man.
As I said good on you if you can generate this kind of revenue for two hours work plus travelling which in this case doesn't seem too excessive.

Did you read my last post?

It is not 2 hours work at all.

[Tom]

Well I personally think it is very high, regardless of where it is being held.
Does Rob charge this for his weekly quizzes, I doubt it but if he did he'd be a very rich man.
As I said good on you if you can generate this kind of revenue for two hours work plus travelling which in this case doesn't seem too excessive.
It may be high but how much would you charge for a 2 hours quiz, knowing that the client owns a expensive house, maby have a few real sports cars, large swimming pool ect ect?

I know I would charge higher, because I can and I know they would pay it.

[Mark Wild]

It may be high but how much would you charge for a 2 hours quiz, knowing that the client owns a expensive house, maby have a few real sports cars, large swimming pool ect ect?

I know I would charge higher, because I can and I know they would pay it.

I doubt it's anything to do with how well off the client is really.

[Babybob]

Yes I read your last post, so if a potential client wants to book you for a quiz do you charge them for the prep time in your contract.
Whichever way you look at it £400 seems a lot for a quiz night.

[Excalibur]

I think Peter and others (including myself) are amazed at the price for a 2 hour quiz, good for you Daz if you can get it but you must admit it is a high price for a quiz.
I suppose your saturday fee is the same regardless of what service you provide.
Amazed, no. Impressed yes. On a wind up? Of course. :D


No, not at all.

I write the questions and preparation can take anywhere between 3 and 7 hours.

Now, tell me again that £400 (including vat and travel) is high for a 2 hour quiz.

Do you think I am marketing this towards social clubs and pubs?

Heaven forfend! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Pssssst, Darren. There's a package which writes a quiz in ten seconds. Cost me a tenner. Work smarter, not harder. :p :D :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Yes I read your last post, so if a potential client wants to book you for a quiz do you charge them for the prep time in your contract.
Whichever way you look at it £400 seems a lot for a quiz night.

I despair sometimes.

They are aware that the quizzes are hand written, bespoke and not from a massive database.

I have explained why it costs what it costs and you still don't get it?

Get out of the "People won't pay more than xxx" mentality and you might think differently.

[ppentertainments]

Yes I read your last post, so if a potential client wants to book you for a quiz do you charge them for the prep time in your contract.
Whichever way you look at it £400 seems a lot for a quiz night.

Depends on where you live :sofa: :D

[Babybob]

Ok i'll back down...it's really good value, let me know when you're in South Wales next and i'll get a few bookings for you.:beer1: :p

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Ok i'll back down...it's really good value, let me know when you're in South Wales next and i'll get a few bookings for you.:beer1: :p

I'm not asking you to back down, I am asking you to try and understand the amount of work that goes into these and the reasons why I charge what I charge.

You've never seen me present one, so you wouldn't know whether it's good value or not.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Just to put this in perspective, there is an events company fairly close to me that does the same sort of thing with the addition of 2 moving heads and a lectern and they charge approx £1300.

[Excalibur]

I'm not asking you to back down, I am asking you to try and understand the amount of work that goes into these and the reasons why I charge what I charge.

You've never seen me present one, so you wouldn't know whether it's good value or not.
Yeah, so now we ALL want to come to your next one. We want to learn at the feet of the master. :youdaman: :youdaman:


Just to put this in perspective, there is an events company fairly close to me that does the same sort of thing with the addition of 2 moving heads and a lectern and they charge approx £1300.

Yeah, but isn't their top prize £250,000 :confused: :confused: He's very good that Chris Tarrant. :D :D

[Babybob]

Ok fair enough and as I said earlier good on you if you can get this sort of work....unfortunately it's back to the area where you live debate which has been thrashed to death on here but that's the way it is.
Just to put it into perspective where I live there are Sunday morning quizzes with a :beer1: for the right answer and a 5p fine for a wrong answer, there are no exclusive members clubs which may do things differently and I don't think there are any Dj's that go down the quiz route, I may have a look into that as there may be a gap in the market.
:)

[musicinmotiondi]

Twice now in the last couple of weeks, I have decided to give a £75 discount to someone I used to go to school with only to find out she lives in a £1.5m house and then I didn't charge a client travel, saving them around £50, only to find out they live in a £2m house...

I don't normally discount anything and am beginning to remember why. ;)

Darren that is why they have these houses.

[Babybob]

Anyway it brings me back to a comment I once heard about quizzes....there are no easy or hard questions, you either know it or you don't.
A friend of mine at work is a mere forklift truck driver but he is brilliant at the Daily Mirror quizword which is very difficult to say the least but when it comes to sport he regards me as the master...hehe. ;) :D :p

[Excalibur]

Anyway it brings me back to a comment I once heard about quizzes....there are no easy or hard questions, you either know it or you don't.A friend of mine at work is a mere forklift truck driver but he is brilliant at the Daily Mirror quizword which is very difficult to say the least but when it comes to sport he regards me as the master...hehe. ;) :D :p

Oh no, not that one again! :eek: :( :( Last time we had that, blood was spilt! :eek:

[Babybob]

Oooo sorry if I have opened a can of worms, i'll use the search facility and check out the prior threads.
:confused:

[rob1963]

Now we know why Rob is so rich - he does 4 or 5 a week :D :p :D

Not rich...just reasonably comfortable ;)


Well I personally think it is very high, regardless of where it is being held.
Does Rob charge this for his weekly quizzes, I doubt it but if he did he'd be a very rich man.
As I said good on you if you can generate this kind of revenue for two hours work plus travelling which in this case doesn't seem too excessive.

Babybob, I don't get anywhere near that for my quizzes, but there are two very good reasons for this.

Firstly, as I understand it, Darren is talking about a one-off quiz, whereas my pub weeks are weekly. Obviously things are a lot cheaper for a weekly quiz than they would be for a one-off corporate quiz. I do a few one-off corporate quizzes, and charge more than double what I get from my regular pub quizzes.

Secondly, it looks like Darren's quiz was a fair distance from where he lives, which adds to the time involved & travel costs...whereas MY average travelling time to a quiz is probably only about 15 to 20 minutes.

The other thing you need to understand is that most of the time involved in doing a quiz is the preperation. Somebody else writes the quizzes I run. I therefore have no preperation (apart from 5 minutes to look through it to make sure I understand it), so less time means less earnings.

Darren is writing his own quiz, and I'm sure it takes him a whole day to compile one quiz...because I know that's how long it takes the guy who writes the pub quizzes which I run.

I have first hand experience of the work & time in preparing a quiz, as I used to run one back in 1992-1993 which I DID write myself, and it took blooming ages! Sometimes I'd sit through half an hour of a film just to find a 30 second clip to use at the quiz...and that was only one question!


Rob doesn't write his, as he'll tell you, but gets a lot less money.

Indeed.

I could earn more money if I wrote my own quizzes, but I'm really not interested in doing that.

Firstly I'm not desperate for the extra money, and secondly I have no inclination whatsoever to spend a whole day every week compiling a quiz.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of things.

[ppentertainments]

What are you doing in tonight Rob ???? Unusual for you is it not.

[rob1963]

What are you doing in tonight Rob ???? Unusual for you is it not.

I don't work on Monday nights at present.

:D

[ppentertainments]

I don't work on Monday nights at present.

:D

Monday is the new Friday :D :p :D

[rob1963]

Monday is the new Friday :D :p :D

:rofl:

[Bouncy Dancefloor]

interesting thread

i used to host a Quiz night (weekly) id get £80 a night, show up about 8:45, setup 2 speakers, one mixer amp + Radio mic. Id compile the quiz myself, mainly from using the internet and mixing the questions up myself. It was alot of work and in all honesty, probably not worth it for me. The funny thing is though, (i dont know how much rob pays or charges) but for about £5 a week they will send you the entire quiz, so this is an option. The important thing about pub quizzes is that they are on strange nights, mine was on a Monday when obviously i wasnt busy doing weddings etc, so i saw it as a way of topping up my salary (as i am fulltime)

Darren, if you dont mind me asking, do you do visuals with plasma's/projectors etc? I can imagine a well presented quiz show being worth the £400 price tag in this case.

Also the thing that people forget is the real skill is in the presentation, anyone can read out a few questions, not anyone can entertain a crowd through chatter alone, its quite an art

[rob1963]

i used to host a Quiz night (weekly) id get £80 a night, show up about 8:45, setup 2 speakers, one mixer amp + Radio mic. Id compile the quiz myself, mainly from using the internet and mixing the questions up myself. It was alot of work and in all honesty, probably not worth it for me.

I think £80 a night for a quiz which you compile yourself is on the low side. If I had to write my own quizzes, I'd certainly be looking at a three figure sum.

I get less than £80 for my quizzes, but there's no preparation, so they only involve a couple of hours work plus a bit of travelling time.

Also, my set up is even simpler than yours. I don't bother with a radio mic & only use one speaker, so it's only 2 trips to carry in the gear & about 5 minutes to set it up.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

The funny thing is though, (i dont know how much rob pays or charges) but for about £5 a week they will send you the entire quiz, so this is an option.

Unfortunately though, if you do this, the questions could be totally unsuitable, too hard or too easy. Funnily enough, last night, a member of my league that I run said he was in a pub and they had a quiz running that someone from behind the bar was reading, and he said the questions were very obscure and ridiculously hard. My league players are of a very good standard too.




, if you dont mind me asking, do you do visuals with plasma's/projectors etc? I can imagine a well presented quiz show being worth the £400 price tag in this case.

Also the thing that people forget is the real skill is in the presentation, anyone can read out a few questions, not anyone can entertain a crowd through chatter alone, its quite an art

Exactly right. I have had corporate quizzes where people have actually asked me to give people stick! You certainly need a lot of front and have the ability to entertain, rather than just sitting there.

I have used visuals and other bits and pieces, but not all the time.

[Excalibur]

Exactly right. I have had corporate quizzes where people have actually asked me to give people stick! You certainly need a lot of front and have the ability to entertain, rather than just sitting there.

I have used visuals and other bits and pieces, but not all the time.

Oh Lord, give me the strength not to type what I'm thinking. :eek: :eek: Oh the temptation. :( :(

[Bouncy Dancefloor]

rob, the reason i compiled the quiz myself is because i didnt know better at the time? I must admit, i enjoyed compiling the quiz because i knew i would get certain reactions off the regulars from certain questions. The quiz itself was also enjoyable, apart from one scary moment, infact let me know what your decision was

Question was "alphabetically, which football team in England or scotland comes first" The answer was Aberdeen, quite a common quiz question. NO NO NO shouts a new quiz team (they play quizzes 4-5 nights a week) its A.F.C. Bournemouth, alphabetically this comes first!

I was put on the spot and decided in favour of Aberdeen. My reasoning behind that AFC was an abbreviation and the only basis for their arguement was that the Dot after A would come before the B in aberdeen. Every other arguement says that a) its an abbreviation b) A stands for associated, which is after aberdeen c) ignoring the Dot, means F is next, which is also after aberdeen

What would you do?

[rob1963]

Question was "alphabetically, which football team in England or scotland comes first" The answer was Aberdeen, quite a common quiz question. NO NO NO shouts a new quiz team (they play quizzes 4-5 nights a week) its A.F.C. Bournemouth, alphabetically this comes first!

I was put on the spot and decided in favour of Aberdeen. My reasoning behind that AFC was an abbreviation and the only basis for their arguement was that the Dot after A would come before the B in aberdeen. Every other arguement says that a) its an abbreviation b) A stands for associated, which is after aberdeen c) ignoring the Dot, means F is next, which is also after aberdeen

What would you do?

I'd probably have done the same as you, although I don't think the question is worded particularly well.

If I asked that question, I can see a load of teams asking which leagues I was talking about.

It's spooky you mentioned that particular question though, as I had a similar question in my quiz this week "Alphabetically, which football team in the premier league comes last?" A bit easier & less controversial than your question!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Just to back up what I was saying about pricing for quizzes, I did another corporate last night and charged £300+vat for an hours quiz.

Not only were they happy with the price and service, because the start was delayed for 30 minutes and it went on longer, they actually asked me if they needed to pay any more!

I'm not quite that mercenary though...

[ppentertainments]

Just to back up what I was saying about pricing for quizzes, I did another corporate last night and charged £300+vat for an hours quiz.

Not only were they happy with the price and service, because the start was delayed for 30 minutes and it went on longer, they actually asked me if they needed to pay any more!

I'm not quite that mercenary though...

For the service you are offereing I can't see a problem with your price TBH.

Without getting into another debate, I live in the cheapstake part of the country, yet for corporate race nights can go out for £800 without any complaints. My minimum charge for any race night is now £350 which is a lot more than my minimum disco charge.

A race night takes me 15 mins to setup and same to pack away compared to an hour either side for a disco, and is a lot less work in all honesty. Unlike other operators in the area though, I do personalise race cards, posters etc (which takes about an hour once all information gathered) and offer a 'dummies guide' and free telephone support up until the event.

[Excalibur]

Just to back up what I was saying about pricing for quizzes, I did another corporate last night and charged £300+vat for an hours quiz.

Not only were they happy with the price and service, because the start was delayed for 30 minutes and it went on longer, they actually asked me if they needed to pay any more!

I'm not quite that mercenary though...

Hey Darren, I just saw a Pig looping the loop outside my house. ;)


Only joking, I know you'd regard the goodwill garnered from such a move as almost as good as filthy lucre. ;) :D :D