View Full Version : How cheap can we get?
djdave01
12-02-2012, 12:36 PM
Ive just been posting an item on Gumtree, while there i had a look through a list of mobile disco ads.
Found one in leeds, advertising himself at £15 per hour!!!!!
Anyone here that would bother setting up a disco for a 2 hours kids party for £30?
DeckstarDeluxe
12-02-2012, 12:40 PM
Really this again?
Excalibur
12-02-2012, 02:37 PM
Anyone here that would bother setting up a disco for a 2 hours kids party for £30?
Certainly not. :eek: No way would my punters wear a 50% price hike. ;)
TonyB
12-02-2012, 03:43 PM
You would never get that much around here :run:
Richie
12-02-2012, 05:44 PM
Really this again?
LOL, your avatar matches your comments :)
djrobentertainment
12-02-2012, 07:01 PM
Maybe for a laptop a hifi and a light yeah !lol
ppentertainments
12-02-2012, 09:13 PM
Really this again?
It has been a few days :D :D
DazzyD
12-02-2012, 09:17 PM
LOL, your avatar matches your comments :)
What a brilliant comment!!! :D
Lost a couple of Gigs this year down to Price!, Was booked for Sat 11th Jan and cancelled as someone else was £20 cheaper and the guy had to travel 20 miles to do the gig!
May have restucture my Quotes to include a Basic Package, as it seems people are going by Price!
funkymook
13-02-2012, 12:22 PM
Lost a couple of Gigs this year down to Price!, Was booked for Sat 11th Jan and cancelled as someone else was £20 cheaper and the guy had to travel 20 miles to do the gig!
May have restucture my Quotes to include a Basic Package, as it seems people are going by Price!
You were booked and they cancelled - don't you take a deposit/booking fee? I don't consider I have a booking until this has been paid.
You'll always have people charging £10/£20 less than you whatever your price is - so where do you draw the line?
And we all seem to assume people book others solely on being a bit cheaper - maybe they are also very good sales people and sell their services better as well and the odd few quid is incidental? If people only booked on price alone then no DJ would be going out at higher than the lowest rate in their area.
musicologydisco
13-02-2012, 12:48 PM
Ive just been posting an item on Gumtree, while there i had a look through a list of mobile disco ads.
Found one in leeds, advertising himself at £15 per hour!!!!!
Anyone here that would bother setting up a disco for a 2 hours kids party for £30?
Maybe a complete beginner. Got to start somewhere. We all did it to get the first ones under our belt. No point stressing about it.
You were booked and they cancelled - don't you take a deposit/booking fee? I don't consider I have a booking until this has been paid.
You'll always have people charging £10/£20 less than you whatever your price is - so where do you draw the line?
And we all seem to assume people book others solely on being a bit cheaper - maybe they are also very good sales people and sell their services better as well and the odd few quid is incidental? If people only booked on price alone then no DJ would be going out at higher than the lowest rate in their area.
In this partiular case It was a last min booking. I received a TXT message confirmation from the people concerned and I had emailed a confirmation to them,
The Next day They told me another another DJ had quoted lower but was NOT offering the same set up that I was!
I Did draw a line by not compeeting against this DJ on this occasion as I knew the venue was a pain to set up and I thought my Quote was good value.
I get 90% of my bookings by word of mouth and Most People are more than happy paying my usual rate, (Which is a lot higher than I had quoted for Sat, but I had a cancellation from someone else due to ill health) In this case it was a price issue and nothing else.
Excalibur
13-02-2012, 02:47 PM
May have restucture my Quotes to include a Basic Package, as it seems people are going by Price!
In so many cases now round here, no matter what you offer or advise, you just know that a quote of over £100 is going to mean you won't get the gig. sad, but often true. :(
JAMdisco
13-02-2012, 04:01 PM
In this partiular case It was a last min booking. I received a TXT message confirmation from the people concerned and I had emailed a confirmation to them,
The Next day They told me another another DJ had quoted lower but was NOT offering the same set up that I was!
I Did draw a line by not compeeting against this DJ on this occasion as I knew the venue was a pain to set up and I thought my Quote was good value.
Time to come clean, that other DJ was me. I quoted them low because they told me they were on a tight budget and that the other DJ (Dave) was a little too expensive. They couldn't even afford food, just a home-made cake. I needed the money so offered a price and they accepted.
It's a cut-throat business I'm afraid but as most people around these parts are quoting low, (for the time-being) will match or beat them.
I'm currently updating my website to give a (hopefully) classier feel, so I'm hoping to sell my services to clients who don't book on price alone.
DazzyD
13-02-2012, 06:42 PM
You were booked and they cancelled - don't you take a deposit/booking fee? I don't consider I have a booking until this has been paid.
You'll always have people charging £10/£20 less than you whatever your price is - so where do you draw the line?
And we all seem to assume people book others solely on being a bit cheaper - maybe they are also very good sales people and sell their services better as well and the odd few quid is incidental? If people only booked on price alone then no DJ would be going out at higher than the lowest rate in their area.
In this partiular case It was a last min booking. I received a TXT message confirmation from the people concerned and I had emailed a confirmation to them,
The Next day They told me another another DJ had quoted lower but was NOT offering the same set up that I was!
I Did draw a line by not compeeting against this DJ on this occasion as I knew the venue was a pain to set up and I thought my Quote was good value.
I get 90% of my bookings by word of mouth and Most People are more than happy paying my usual rate, (Which is a lot higher than I had quoted for Sat, but I had a cancellation from someone else due to ill health) In this case it was a price issue and nothing else.
Time to come clean, that other DJ was me. I quoted them low because they told me they were on a tight budget and that the other DJ (Dave) was a little too expensive. They couldn't even afford food, just a home-made cake. I needed the money so offered a price and they accepted.
It's a cut-throat business I'm afraid but as most people around these parts are quoting low, (for the time-being) will match or beat them.
I'm currently updating my website to give a (hopefully) classier feel, so I'm hoping to sell my services to clients who don't book on price alone.
Fair play to Justin for the confession but this whole scenario really pushes home that, in these times of austerity, to some people £20 is a lot of money and, yes, what might seem such a measly amount to some of us, can be the deciding factor to someone who wants to give their family and friends a good time but is struggling financially. And this appears to be the case here. And, as Dave had said, the client was happy to pay less and, at the same time, receive less. To me, that's fair enough. It shows the client has thought about the reality of the situation. It's when people demand the moon on a stick but insist on paying peanuts that gets to me! :zip:
BossmanKaraokeDisco
13-02-2012, 07:07 PM
Ok was just having a nose round Ebay and come across this:
Another cheap disco (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kevs-Mobile-Entertainments-/250988623529?pt=UK_ConElec_LightingLEDsStrobes_RL&hash=item3a701676a9)
Bit that confuses me is he says No overheads and yet still reckons he has PLI and PAT :( :rolleyes:
sweetie
13-02-2012, 07:35 PM
Ok was just having a nose round Ebay and come across this:
Another cheap disco (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kevs-Mobile-Entertainments-/250988623529?pt=UK_ConElec_LightingLEDsStrobes_RL&hash=item3a701676a9)
Bit that confuses me is he says No overheads and yet still reckons he has PLI and PAT :( :rolleyes:
he meant no overhead lights - they are so low that when he stands (at the beginning and end of the night) they are at shoulder height :D
DazzyD
13-02-2012, 07:54 PM
Ok was just having a nose round Ebay and come across this:
Another cheap disco (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kevs-Mobile-Entertainments-/250988623529?pt=UK_ConElec_LightingLEDsStrobes_RL&hash=item3a701676a9)
Bit that confuses me is he says No overheads and yet still reckons he has PLI and PAT :( :rolleyes:
I don't normally comment on these types of things but this cracked me up:
The equipment i use is 2 small speakers for small venues and big speakers for large venues
Well, glad he cleared that up!! :D :D :D
chrisj
13-02-2012, 07:59 PM
Confuses me too as he says he has internet radio for 6hrs every night.
Can't have much disco work.
Corabar Entertainment
13-02-2012, 08:04 PM
Chaps... can I just remind you all how much we dislike non-members rigs / procedures being discussed?
If they're not a member, they have no right of reply, and, really, all you're doing is making snide remarks behind someone's back.
DazzyD
13-02-2012, 08:44 PM
Chaps... can I just remind you all how much we dislike non-members rigs / procedures being discussed?
If they're not a member, they have no right of reply, and, really, all you're doing is making snide remarks behind someone's back.
In my defence, I wasn't having a dig at his kit or his procedures. It was sheer comic value of the quote I posted that made me comment.
But, apologies proferred and I'll leave it at that.
DJ Paulie
13-02-2012, 11:46 PM
so i can't mention you can't actually view his PLI & PAT certs as you need to register, but you can't log in with facebook either ?
Corabar Entertainment
14-02-2012, 12:16 AM
so i can't mention you can't actually view his PLI & PAT certs as you need to register, but you can't log in with facebook either ?That says more about you than about him...
...really, all you're doing is making snide remarks behind someone's back.
Time to come clean, that other DJ was me. I quoted them low because they told me they were on a tight budget and that the other DJ (Dave) was a little too expensive. They couldn't even afford food, just a home-made cake. I needed the money so offered a price and they accepted.
It's a cut-throat business I'm afraid but as most people around these parts are quoting low, (for the time-being) will match or beat them.
I'm currently updating my website to give a (hopefully) classier feel, so I'm hoping to sell my services to clients who don't book on price alone.
I have no problem with being undercut, and if I had really wanted the job I would have got it.
I am Lucky that I have a couple of local places where I am the recomended DJ and where people are willing to pay that little bit more.
I was just stating the fact that I am finding that Price is more of a factor and that I may have to modify my pricing structure to compete with local competition.
BossmanKaraokeDisco
14-02-2012, 07:40 AM
Chaps... can I just remind you all how much we dislike non-members rigs / procedures being discussed?
If they're not a member, they have no right of reply, and, really, all you're doing is making snide remarks behind someone's back.
Sorry Angela :) did not mean to do anything behind anyones back, I mainly posted the link as he has quoted a 2 hour childrens disco at £40 and any adult party or wedding at £100.
I will bite my tongue and will not say anything about the :Censored: and the fact that his :Censored: are :D :D :D :D :D
Sorry Angela :) did not mean to do anything behind anyones back, I mainly posted the link as he has quoted a 2 hour childrens disco at £40 and any adult party or wedding at £100.
I will bite my tongue and will not say anything about the :Censored: and the fact that his :Censored: are :D :D :D :D :D
Problem is that People will book him because he is cheap!
£20 an hour is not a bad wage and if he is providing good enough service then what his rig looks like is not an issue. Havin a state of the art Rig does not mean you are a good DJ
I would not do a disco for £40 but if he makes a living for himself then fair play to him.
BossmanKaraokeDisco
14-02-2012, 07:57 AM
Problem is that People will book him because he is cheap!
£20 an hour is not a bad wage and if he is providing good enough service then what his rig looks like is not an issue. Havin a state of the art Rig does not mean you are a good DJ
I would not do a disco for £40 but if he makes a living for himself then fair play to him.
Yes I know but I thought I would throw it in the mix as the title said "How cheap can we get". I was only kidding about his equipment. :beer1:
Shakermaker Promotions
14-02-2012, 08:14 AM
I think what you have to remember is that there are DJ's out there who are willing to work for what the majority would call 'silly money' as there are plenty of people out there who only want to pay 'silly money' for the service.
Once you start getting into bidding wars just to get the booking, you are (in my opinion) putting yourself down and de-valueing (sp?) yourself. I personally don't mind doing a slight discount or adding something to give some extra value for money and I've said in the past that I would rather be working than sitting on my backside doing nothing but some of the prices that have been quoted...well, it's really not worth the hassle is it? When you are trying to run a business it definitely isn't worth it.
JAMdisco
14-02-2012, 08:23 AM
I have no problem with being undercut, and if I had really wanted the job I would have got it.
I am Lucky that I have a couple of local places where I am the recomended DJ and where people are willing to pay that little bit more.
I was just stating the fact that I am finding that Price is more of a factor and that I may have to modify my pricing structure to compete with local competition.
Fair comment Dave, but maybe we should all get together and agree not to quote below a minimum fee. I don't like undercutting people but business is business, however, if we all agreed on a minimum amount then the deciding factor would be how we sell ourselves, might work, might not.
Corabar Steve
14-02-2012, 09:08 AM
£20 an hour is not a bad wage
So there's absolutely no other work involved apart from the actual performance then?
BossmanKaraokeDisco
14-02-2012, 09:10 AM
Fair comment Dave, but maybe we should all get together and agree not to quote below a minimum fee. I don't like undercutting people but business is business, however, if we all agreed on a minimum amount then the deciding factor would be how we sell ourselves, might work, might not.
That could be an interesting conversation trying to sort that out :daft: :daft: :D :D
So there's absolutely no other work involved apart from the actual performance then?
Yes there are other factors, and some DJ's work for alot less than that.
But as far as Joe Public are concerned they want a two hour disco and if they are earning £6ph in some shop job then paying £20 ph for a guy to play a bit of Music is more than enough,
Most people do not take into account setting up, equipment purchase etc
We can try to educate people but at the end of the day while there are DJ's willing to do the job for peanuts, We can choose to try to compete or aim for the better paid jobs, Personally I choose the latter :beer1:
That could be an interesting conversation trying to sort that out :daft: :daft: :D :D
It never works
I have tried to get a couple of DJ's to agree a pricing structure only to find them qouting £10 less as they know my price.
I'm not entering into a bidding war with anyone, My price is set and that is it,
As I stated earlier 90% of my work is word of mouth and so people are prepared to pay for the service I provide.
soundtracker
14-02-2012, 09:43 AM
£20 an hour is not a bad wage
Correct, its absolutely diabolical!:(
Correct, its absolutely diabolical!:(
Just to play devil's advocate
Better than sat at home earning Nothing!!! :eek:
soundtracker
14-02-2012, 10:08 AM
Just to play devil's advocate
Better than sat at home earning Nothing!!! :eek:
Advocate this!
http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15309
chrisj
14-02-2012, 10:10 AM
Ha, this is so much like a thread on another site I was just looking at.
My turn. I am out for a 4 hr gig tomorrow night, 5m away, with the rig pictured, for ....wait for it.........£40 for the night.
Why, well it is a new venture that started only 3 weeks ago and there are not many punters coming along as yet and with the low turnover £s I am willing to keep my fee low as £40 is all the manager will pay at the mo. We do have an agreement that the pay will increase if the number of punters do.
So taking into consideration the travel set up working time and everthing I am working for minimum wage, if that in fact.
And I have been a dj for 43 years.
Advocate this!
http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15309
Yes you can use all sorts of figures to say what you should be earning
But the fact remains
To some people £100 for a few hours work is better than being sat in front of the telly! :p
Corabar Entertainment
14-02-2012, 10:56 AM
....and for some people the words 'business planning' have no meaning!
BossmanKaraokeDisco
14-02-2012, 11:02 AM
Yes you can use all sorts of figures to say what you should be earning
But the fact remains
To some people £100 for a few hours work is better than being sat in front of the telly! :p
Got to admit anything is better than being sat in front of the telly but you have to draw the line for a minimum charge.
I know there are DJ's out there who go out for £20 an hour, the trouble is DJing is not just turn up, setup, perform, pack down and go home and for £20 an hour how do they have PLI PAT and I would bet my life on it that they are all running illegal music without Produb.
I know the customer does not care in a lot of cases but if the PRS boys turn up and they switch the DJ off they will care then, I hasten to add I have never heard of this happening.
Unfortunately there will always be customers who want £50 discos and there will always be DJ's that will work for £50 a night.
funkymook
14-02-2012, 11:08 AM
Ha, this is so much like a thread on another site I was just looking at.
My turn. I am out for a 4 hr gig tomorrow night, 5m away, with the rig pictured, for ....wait for it.........£40 for the night.
Why, well it is a new venture that started only 3 weeks ago and there are not many punters coming along as yet and with the low turnover £s I am willing to keep my fee low as £40 is all the manager will pay at the mo. We do have an agreement that the pay will increase if the number of punters do.
So taking into consideration the travel set up working time and everthing I am working for minimum wage, if that in fact.
And I have been a dj for 43 years.
Call me cynical - but when you've increased the crowds for the venue and ask for a decent fee I wouldn't be surprised if you get undercut by someone. Unfortunately when it comes to paying more in these scenarios most venue managers seem to suddenly suffer from short sight and memory loss.
Solitaire Events Ltd
14-02-2012, 11:44 AM
We do have an agreement that the pay will increase if the number of punters do.
It won't.
I think you're a little naive taking business on like this.
You could fill that room with 200 people and I bet your wages don't go up.
£40...good lord. :daft:
I would make a loss.
chrisj
14-02-2012, 11:55 AM
It's not a lot but better than sitting in front of the telly. If the money does not go up with the numbers I will just say I am finished.
I get maybe 3 Wednesdays per year normally. I do have one Wednesday booked in May and to be honest I cannot see this preent Wednesday gig lasting that long.
I have been lucky and got a Friday 40th booking in April out of last Wednesday from a guy who was there.
SC Events
14-02-2012, 12:17 PM
Just came across this website: http://nothanksdj.wordpress.com/
Shocking!
BossmanKaraokeDisco
14-02-2012, 12:32 PM
Just came across this website: http://nothanksdj.wordpress.com/
Shocking!
:eek: On the phone to my lawyers now, I never gave permission for my pics to be used :lol: :lol: :lol:
djdave01
14-02-2012, 12:51 PM
Just came across this website: http://nothanksdj.wordpress.com/
Shocking!
cant believe some of the photos & videos on that site, the video 'What if the DJ is unprepared and RUINS the first dance song?' is making me cringe
Shakermaker Promotions
14-02-2012, 02:03 PM
Honestly, is it that bad where you are that you have to go out with all that kit and work for just £40.00? Apologies if that sounds harsh but you have to set a cut off point where it just isn't worth it.
Doesn't the thought ever go through your mind that you are doing it for peanuts and is it worth the effort?
I've personally heard the same thing from Bar/Venue Managers in the past that want to try something midweek. I was told at one venue that were paying me £125.00 on a Wednesday (walk in job) that the money would increase if the numbers went up. The numbers did go up yet the money stayed the same. Now, £125.00 isn't that bad for a walk in job and every Wednesday equates to £500.00 per month (that's how I looked at it). I doubled the attendance within a month yet they didn't budge on the money. I kept at it for as long as I could but it wasn't long because I firstly didn't enjoy that much and secondly, I couldn't get it out of my head that they were just stringing me along and wanting the cheap option.
As I said earlier, I think it's easy to de-value yourself if you start dropping prices to compete with other people for jobs. I have my price and I generally stick to it. There are people out there that book me and lots that don't because they want the cheaper option and that's fair enough, they simply aren't my customers. If it ever got (or gets) to the point where I am trying to compete with others in the area for jobs around £150.00 on a Friday or Saturday because it's that quiet.....I'll just re-think what I want to do for a living.
ppentertainments
14-02-2012, 02:38 PM
If you worry about people going out for such a cheap price and being competition you are worrying about the wrong thing. If this is competition for you and you need to worry about it then you either need to take a good hard look at your business or pack in altogether.
Harsh, but true.
As for going out cheap yourself, that is your choice. I have a few 'cheapies' I do and openly admit to doing but the benefits they bring make it worthwhile, however this is quite rare.
DJ Paulie
14-02-2012, 02:47 PM
Just came across this website: http://nothanksdj.wordpress.com/
Shocking!
I posted that site on my Facebook and the 'other' dj forum !
Larry B Entertainment
14-02-2012, 03:18 PM
Just came across this website: http://nothanksdj.wordpress.com/
Shocking!
I dont quite see the idea of this. We dont know the story behind those setups or how much the DJs were being paid. Yes there are some obvious bad setups but a lot of them dont look too bad, we all started somewhere.
However I see Kam have just released their new multi function uplighters. Not DMX compatible as yet but they are in the very early stages of development.:D
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