i give up!

[djdave01]

a few weeks ago, i did a kids party for a mates daughters birthday. at the event was a woman i kind of know through my mate.

she contacted my mate to get me to do her childs party, as id 'done a great job'. As i knew her, i offered a rate of £75 for 2 hours.

i got back from majorca yesterday to find a message saying she'd 'got someone for £50'

I know in this area there are a few DJ's who will happily do kids parties for £40-£60, no PAT, no PLI etc

Its not so much that someone else has undercut me on this one, its the fact that she came to me because of the work ive done before, but she still decided to go with the cheapest option.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Ive just found that too.

A woman with her own business wanting to do some coporate entertaining and she got my number from a previous client with a glowing recommendation.

Went thorough everything and she was more than happy with how I suggested she ran the evening (it would have been her first, and she was a bit out of her depth...her words).

Gave her my price, which was reduced because it was midweek...to be told "Oh, im just ringing round for quotes right now. Ill get back to you")...she never did...

[hammy]

Tomorrows another day I guess.

[soundmaster mobile disco]

Hi Dave hope you had a good holiday.It was not me,that undercut you.i would never go out for a 2 hour partyfor £50.

This unfortunatly seems to be happening more and more in our area.

there should be a few end of term school gigs coming soon.

[yourdj]

Whatever. Hopefully it will be rubbish and word of mouth will book you three gigs instead of one next time. :)

[CRAZY K]

a few weeks ago, i did a kids party for a mates daughters birthday. at the event was a woman i kind of know through my mate.

she contacted my mate to get me to do her childs party, as id 'done a great job'. As i knew her, i offered a rate of £75 for 2 hours.

i got back from majorca yesterday to find a message saying she'd 'got someone for £50'

I know in this area there are a few DJ's who will happily do kids parties for £40-£60, no PAT, no PLI etc

Its not so much that someone else has undercut me on this one, its the fact that she came to me because of the work ive done before, but she still decided to go with the cheapest option.

Wecome to Britain 2011 Dave ;)

Obsessed with prices.

Never mind the quality ( or anything else )

For a bit of fun we have included this on our Home page==

WE WONT LET YOU DOWN--WE LEAVE THAT TO THE AMATEURS:eek:

We also give quotes including this--

When considering our quote please be aware we are receiving a disturbing number of calls from distressed customers who have been let down badly just before their special event by cheap Callers---not allowing time to find a replacement---the last one we received was at 5pm on the night of the event---giving no chance of getting anyone else.

We pride ourselves on reliability over many years in the business and have never let any customer down for a booking.

Some people listen ( not many )

Re the above--I will never forget the poor :Censored: from Birmingham who phoned me on my mobile couple of years ago on my way to a gig in Essex who had some important function and at 5pm he had found out he had been let down by a cheapo --when he mentioned how much he was paying I BURST OUT LAUGHING --

Bit unfortunate--I always tell that story when I get tyre kickers on the phone.

Doesnt make any difference. Once they have a price in their head thats it im afraid. Move on to the next one.

[Digital Jack]

Like the saying that goes ;

You pay peanuts - you get monkeys...............

[Jason]

I think we all get these. I don't mind too much, when its an obvious low-end party in a village hall.
My main annoyance is when its in a nice venue and they are spending money elsewhere.

Clients will always fine someone cheaper, even a £50 may have competition from someone willing to work for a few beers!

Trying to market to clients who don't want that is the main thing.

I don't play on negatives when quoting, just instil confidence that you're the right person for the job and their party will be in safe hands.

A last weekends gig, I had a few people asking for cards at the end. It was a good night and one lady was asking how much. We had a chat, she had a good time and liked the set-up, music and what we did.
I explained my price and she said she'd been quoted 1/3rd of my price.
I think she expected me to lower my price! lol

[Totally Plucked]

This seems to be a developing pattern unfortunately :( :( :(

[Nexus]

Receieved a call the other day. It went something like this.

"How much to hire 6 lights from you?"
I replied with my quote which I believe was very reasonable including set-up.
"Can you do it for £30?"
I replied "No".
"We are spending a lot on the reception and need to cut back on some things. We're using our lap-top, some speakers and an amp we've borrowed of a friend"
I replied " So you're spending thousands on the reception and pennies on the entertainment for your guests for 6 hours?
"Well, no, but, whats your cheapest price to do the whole function?"
I replied with what I believed was a very reasonable quote
"Oh thats far too much. We can't realy afford more than £100!"
I replied "I hope the sun shines for you and you have no regrets. Please feel free to contact me again should you reconsider."

I was recently turned down for a wedding reception lasting 5 hours for 150 guests. It was for friends of friends. My quote was £300. They were only willing to pay £150. They opted for an ipod and hired speakers.
The overall cost of the wedding? £12,000!!!!!!

I give up as well.

[CRAZY K]

I think we all get these. I don't mind too much, when its an obvious low-end party in a village hall.
My main annoyance is when its in a nice venue and they are spending money elsewhere.

Clients will always fine someone cheaper, even a £50 may have competition from someone willing to work for a few beers!

Trying to market to clients who don't want that is the main thing.

I don't play on negatives when quoting, just instil confidence that you're the right person for the job and their party will be in safe hands.

A last weekends gig, I had a few people asking for cards at the end. It was a good night and one lady was asking how much. We had a chat, she had a good time and liked the set-up, music and what we did.
I explained my price and she said she'd been quoted 1/3rd of my price.
I think she expected me to lower my price! lol

Sadly all to common in my experience--you do a great job and some tyre kicker comes up afterwards and asks the price---to then be shocked at the amount--really people are their own worst enemy--they can SEE your reliable ( you turned up) professional and THEY CAN SEE FIRST HAND you are throughly entertaining and can make a Party happen -- (you just finished doing that about a minute ago)

and yet--

Its all about the price, running the risk of hiring someone who cannot meet the above requirements--or might not even turn up--

What goes through these peoples heads:confused:

I dont agree about not playing on negatives though--I think these days its necessary with people of shall we say limited knowledge of the Disco world around us-- to be told in plain English that not EVERY DJ is professional, insured and err TURNS UP--even though they might mistakenly think it was a given-- education education education.

[James]

I used to, well i still do actually think that you dont advertise the negatives as well, but can anyone explain the Tesco vs Asda price wars?

eg: were 10% cheaper than asda etc.

[NKR]

WE WONT LET YOU DOWN--WE LEAVE THAT TO THE AMATEURS:eek:



We have never let anyone down! A false statement I think?


Just to clarify my statement. As a non full time set up we are effectively amateurs by definition. It is a bit harsh to just lay into the amateur operations. Nothing else. Carry on :D

[Jason]

I dont agree about not playing on negtives though--I think these days its necessary with people of shall we say limited knowledge of the Disco world around us-- to be told in plain English that not EVERY DJ is professional, insured and err TURNS UP--even though they might mistakenly think it was a given-- education education education.

I simply don't target those markets.
If you cater to the village hall crowd, you'll get those kind of enquiries.
I have done, and still do these kind of gigs -but on my terms and rates.

I'm not there (by a long mile!), but if you visit a premium car sales business (BMW/Merc etc), you really don't walk in if you only want to spend Ford money.
We have to be careful, as these is a market for all. The DJ world is full of the willy wavers who claim to have £400+ gigs each week. Its irrelevant and simply vanity. We all entertain.


You'll have problems educating those that want to spend £100 on a disco.
If your rate is £250, its easier to educate those that want to spend 200 max

[WWDJ]

What goes through these peoples heads:confused:

"Well it's just playing a few records isn't it ...." :D

They really haven't a clue what is involved or can be bothered to pay for it.

[DazzyD]

Like the saying that goes ;

You pay peanuts - you get monkeys...............

It is just me or is anything else thinking that a client would be over the moon if they got monkeys for their child's party? If I could pay £50 and get a performing monkey for my son's party then I'd be well happy! And so would he! :)

[Corabar Entertainment]

It is just me or is anything else thinking that a client would be over the moon if they got monkeys for their child's party? If I could pay £50 and get a performing monkey for my son's party then I'd be well happy! And so would he! :)

:Laugh: :Laugh:

[Excalibur]

It is just me or is anything else thinking that a client would be over the moon if they got monkeys for their child's party? If I could pay £50 and get a performing monkey for my son's party then I'd be well happy! And so would he! :)

How far are you from Hartlepool? I don't foresee anyone bringing monkeys round there. ;) :D :D :D :D

[DazzyD]

How far are you from Hartlepool? I don't foresee anyone bringing monkeys round there. ;) :D :D :D :D

about half an hour away!!

[djdave01]

Hi Dave hope you had a good holiday.It was not me,that undercut you.i would never go out for a 2 hour partyfor £50.

This unfortunatly seems to be happening more and more in our area.

there should be a few end of term school gigs coming soon.

Holiday wasnt bad Gary, shame the sun didnt appear much

Ive got a couple of school gigs soon, plenty other kids partys, and the usual mix of weddings & adult birthdays booked in so im not worried about this one.

The main point about this was the fact that she activly seeked me out to do the gig, then dumped me for £25

[CRAZY K]

We have never let anyone down! A false statement I think?


Its quite easy to show if I get out all my booking details for the last 5 years during which I have used this statement to show hundreds of customers we havent let down-- which I could if required--;)

Needless to say I wont be unless I get paid a fee:D

[Corabar Entertainment]

Its quite easy to show if I get out all my booking details for the last 5 years during which I have used this statement to show hundreds of customers we havent let down-- which I could if required--;)

Needless to say I wont be unless I get paid a fee:DAlan, I think you missed Neil's follow up post clarifying what he meant:-

Just to clarify my statement. As a non full time set up we are effectively amateurs by definition. It is a bit harsh to just lay into the amateur operations. Nothing else. Carry on :D

[djdave01]

Just to update this thread, a photo has surfaced of the disco that did this kids party.

guess you do get what you pay for :eek:

[Leicester Ben]

That photo made me smile, we are short of DJ's for kids parties tomorrow and so I will have to go and do one. The set up I will take will be worse than that and we charge £130 :)

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Seen worse to be fair.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Just to update this thread, a photo has surfaced of the disco that did this kids party.

guess you do get what you pay for :eek:

All he needs to do is tidy the cables up really .

[Booche]

All he needs to do is tidy the cables up really .

I agree it looks like the guy has invested some cash into it if he had a cloth hideing the cables would it look so bad ?

[kieran Griff]

and some speakers stands?!? black cloth, T-Bar

[Booche]

quick idea lol

Yes stands etc but still ;)

11667

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Although stands are preferable, I suspect as it was a kids party, he didn't use them for safety reasons.

[djdave01]

its the little things like a star cloth, stands, and a few lights that make the difference.

That was the entire setup, one light, and he apparently played music from teletubbies & in the night garden. It was a 10 years olds party!

Everyone starts somewhere, and ive no idea how long this DJ has been in business, but even at my very first gig, i had a light boxes, speaker stands, 4 effects lights and the wires were tidy.


Although stands are preferable, I suspect as it was a kids party, he didn't use them for safety reasons.

if he was bothered about safety, i suspect he'd have had PAT & PLI, he didnt

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

if he was bothered about saftey, i suspect he'd have had PAT & PLI, he didnt

Did you ask him then? :confused:

[kieran Griff]

Although stands are preferable, I suspect as it was a kids party, he didn't use them for safety reasons.

I suspect he didnt use them because he didnt have them :cool:

[Dynamic Entertainment]

I suspect he didnt use them because he didnt have them :cool:

Im guessing that someone who has invested in a pair of Mackies will know the benifits of speaker stands. Theres plenty of members here who advocate the lack of speaker stands for childrens parties...and it means that the sound is "at their level" (ish)

[djdave01]

Did you ask him then? :confused:

no, i wasnt there, but my mate was, and he did ;)

[supersound]

Maybe he dosent know about PAT testing?

Just a thought,as if he is performing low cost gigs,he will be at venues that dont ask for it.However he might have to go through the motions someday as alot of us have.

Paul

[ppentertainments]

no, i wasnt there, but my mate was, and he did ;)
And he didn't get a smack in the gob :confused: :D :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

no, i wasnt there, but my mate was, and he did ;)

Of course, that's the first thing you do if you're a guest at a party isn't it....:lol:

Come on...

This is typical of the sort of thread we don't want on here.

The set up could look a lot better with a cloth and tidier cables.

The speakers could very well be on the floor for safety as the light is. Anything that people are saying is just opinion, you don't know for sure.

Safe equipment is a legal requirement, PAT is not and nor is PLI. Yes, it is a good idea and good practise, but let's not slate someone when we don't know the facts. All this "My mate was there and asked" is frankly nonsense.

[soundmaster mobile disco]

This is just a great example of what us djs in fife are up against,its no wonder that my bookings are down.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

This is just a great example of what us djs in fife are up against,its no wonder that my bookings are down.

Are these people in the same market as you then?:confused:

[soundmaster mobile disco]

Are these people in the same market as you then?:confused:



No i dont think and hope not.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

No i dont think and hope not.

That's what I thought, hence the confusion with...


its no wonder that my bookings are down.
;)

[chrisj]

I have contacted several schools (end of term discos), sports clubs (presentation nights) and other regular clients from the last few years and 80% of the time I get told 'We are not having disco this year as we are cutting down on costs'. Even a nursery that I have been to for the last 5 years said this when I called last week. Apparently the staff are arranging a couple of games before the children have a snack on their last day at end of term.

[djdave01]

This is just a great example of what us djs in fife are up against,its no wonder that my bookings are down.

i agree with you Gary, this is the usual problem with people wanting the cheapest DJ they can get. the picture shows what you get if you book a cheap disco round here.

from what ive been told, no one that attended the party was happy with the disco, so thats 40 more people who have learned not to book a cheap DJ.

Just another 360,000 Fifers left to educate lol

[Vectis]

thats 40 more people who have learned not to book a cheap DJ.

... or 40 more people left thinking that all DJs must be :Censored:

How can you be sure that all the guests are aware that this was a "cheap DJ"? I'll bet 90%+ were unaware of this important factor.


Come on guys, quit worrying about Sid and market like you mean it!! :beer1:

[Corabar Entertainment]

...and why does everyone seem to assume that it's more applicable to their particular geographical location?

Do people really think that sids aren't everywhere? :confused:

[djdave01]

... or 40 more people left thinking that all DJs must be :Censored:

How can you be sure that all the guests are aware that this was a "cheap DJ"? I'll bet 90%+ were unaware of this important factor.


Come on guys, quit worrying about Sid and market like you mean it!! :beer1:

my mate Calum was there, he'll have told all the people lol


...and why does everyone seem to assume that it's more applicable to their particular geographical location?

Do people really think that sids aren't everywhere? :confused:

We all know there are sids everywhere, i thought most DJ's on here would interested in this, guess i was wrong. Maybe i should stay quiet in future :zip:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

my mate Calum was there, he'll have told all the people lol



We all know there are sids everywhere, i thought most DJ's on here would interested in this, guess i was wrong. Maybe i should stay quiet in future :zip:

Why do you get so defensive all the time?

Personally, I think threads like this are a waste of time. No-on really knows if he had insurance or his gear was electrically safe, regardless of what the person said who was there. (when was the last time you went to a function and asked if someone had insurance, if it wasn't your function or anything to do with you?)

No-one knows if he has stands or more lighting. It's all guess work.

[djdave01]

im only going on the information i was given, and only started this thread as i was annoyed at the time.

he may indeed have more lights & stands, but im my 20 year experience, ive never known a DJ to supply just one light, even at a kids party.

As i mentioned before, its not just the equipment that was the problem, the music selection was very poor for the age group and ive since learned that the other adults in the room had to deal with the party games as the DJ wouldnt do it.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Look at the gallery thread, theres plenty of Djs providing one light...usually a Wizard on a stick ;)

[Leicester Ben]

The light I took with me to the kids party on Sunday didn't work so I didn't have any lights. The kids all had a great time, the client thanked me by email and I've taken 2 bookings today off the back of it.

It's not the equipment that you use for kids partys which is important, it's how you interact with the kids which is the most important thing.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

The light I took with me to the kids party on Sunday didn't work so I didn't have any lights. The kids all had a great time, the client thanked me by email and I've taken 2 bookings today off the back of it.

It's not the equipment that you use for kids partys which is important, it's how you interact with the kids which is the most important thing.

I completely agree with you...However....if i was only taking one light, I'd make bloody sure it worked, and have a spare in the van :D

[Leicester Ben]

In my defence it worked last time i used it :)

[ppentertainments]

The light I took with me to the kids party on Sunday didn't work so I didn't have any lights. The kids all had a great time, the client thanked me by email and I've taken 2 bookings today off the back of it.

It's not the equipment that you use for kids partys which is important, it's how you interact with the kids which is the most important thing.
I have one in a couple of weeks in a marquee where I don't take lights. 5th year running now :)

Kit list :
Mixer amp with 2 speakers
Laptop
Microphone
Prizes, inflatables etc