What Price Do You Charge

[supersounds]

Hi guys and gals
whets the average price djs are charging for a 4 hour disco lets say within a 20 mile radius for a wedding and or birthday

[rob1963]

Hi guys and gals
whets the average price djs are charging for a 4 hour disco lets say within a 20 mile radius for a wedding and or birthday

How long is a piece of string?

It depends on many factors including your location, experience, music, equipment, whether you have PAT tested gear & public liability insurance, the type of gig, etc etc etc.

I'm in the North Surrey / South West London area, and have 24 years experience. I charge £250-£300 for a disco of up to 5 hours duration. Daytime set ups are £30 extra, and I charge an overtime rate of £1 per minute. I know there are others who charge more, but I'm happy with this amount, as for me it's not just about getting as much money as I can...I also want to be competitive.

:)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

and I charge an overtime rate of £1 per minute.

I have never heard of anyone charging by the minute in our industry!

Can't you just tell people £30 per half hour?

[rob1963]

I have never heard of anyone charging by the minute in our industry!

Can't you just tell people £30 per half hour?

Darren - I like to be different! :p

It's just easy to work out that way, and clients only pay for what they want.

Many discos charge a set amount per half hour/hour or part thereof.

Therefore, if you want less extra time than that, you still have to pay for the full 30 or 60 minutes.

I could quote my overtime rate as £60 an hour, but that infers that an hour is the minimum overtime period & £60 the minimum cost, which isn't the case.

I just like to keep things simple, so £1 a minute it is! :)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Darren - I like to be different! :p

It's just easy to work out that way, and clients only pay for what they want.

Many discos charge a set amount per half hour/hour or part thereof.

Therefore, if you want less extra time than that, you still have to pay for the full 30 or 60 minutes.

I could quote my overtime rate as £60 an hour, but that infers that an hour is the minimum overtime period & £60 the minimum cost, which isn't the case.

I just like to keep things simple, so £1 a minute it is! :)

What happens if someone wants 20 seconds extra? :p :D

[rob1963]

What happens if someone wants 20 seconds extra? :p :D

That will be 33.33 pence! ;)

[Have a disco]

£200 for basic small set up and then scales up to £350 for large show Overtime is fee divided by hours played per half hour ie; £200 at 4hours = £50 per half hr

[PropellerHeadCase]

Rob, have you ever had someone argue the toss about how much overtime you've actually played. You know, "Well my Tag-Heuer, set to Grenwich mean this morning, says you only played 13 extra minutes."

[rob1963]

Rob, have you ever had someone argue the toss about how much overtime you've actually played. You know, "Well my Tag-Heuer, set to Grenwich mean this morning, says you only played 13 extra minutes."

Hi Al,

No, I haven't...yet!

I always make sure I get the cash in advance too...and then they get exactly what they paid for.

Having said this, most venues have a licence to a certain time, and thats it, so overtime for me is pretty rare. The only occasions I sometimes get asked to go on longer is with gigs in marquees or private houses.

[DMX Will]

Hmmm hard one, I will openly admit we base anything in our local town (5 mile radius) around the £180 mark.

It doesn't tend to drop below £150, with the exclusion of our regular gig at a primary school which we do for £80? I think. It's 3 times a year and normally on a Thursday from 6-8, so that's all good.

We've done a couple of 16th's this year, finishing at 11. Which we charged a little bit below the £180 mark, as there was still time for the pub.

The £180 is without anything fancy.
It's our smallest rig, deck stand bar (no truss) and doesn't include our video screens etc, (seperate package available for £50-£75).

That aside, I quoted for a wedding in Surrey the other day which came to £375 all extras included.

[jamesh]

hmmm the overall price for the night varies and is done on an individual basis so i cant really say - but i don't have package prices or add on's - what they get when i quote is me and as much or as little kit as will fit in the venue safely... The only exceptions to that are things like confetti cannons and additional decorative lighting etc... Stuff that you wouldn't get at a "normal" disco.

Out of contract hours get charged on a per hour basis with a minimum of 1 hour paid before the time continues. At most gigs i tend to run over the time a little anyway (generally anywhere between 10 mins - 30 mins) if the venue are happy for me to do so and the client doesn't get charged for that as it's my decision to carry on or stop... it just depends how the night goes...

This benefits me in 2 ways... People get a bit more for their money and are generally pleased at that... and it also gives the client a little extra time to decide if they want extra time / check with the venue etc... and bring over the additional payment.

[rob1963]

That aside, I quoted for a wedding in Surrey the other day which came to £375 all extras included.

OMG Will...you quoted for a wedding in SURREY?

Do I ever come to Sussex & nick YOUR potential clients?

:p :p :p

[mikeee]

That aside, I quoted for a wedding in Surrey the other day which came to £375 all extras included.

OMG, not only are you coming into Surrey, but your undercutting us as well :rolleyes:

Pricing is all ways going to be "One of those questions", normally followed by "You can't get that around here" :eek: what a load of old bbbbb*********.

Here's a nice rule of thumb for you to play with, whats is the average PAYE rate for your area, multiple by three, this gives you a base rate for a self employed person. Now work out your annually expenditure - vehicle, kit, cd's, gas, electric , telephones etc - divid by 52 to give you a weekly amount. Now add the two figures together and that is the minimum you have to earn out of your gigs every week.

[DMX Will]

OMG Will...you quoted for a wedding in SURREY?

Do I ever come to Sussex & nick YOUR potential clients?

:p :p :p

Wedding for someone who works at a bar we do quite alot, so it wasn't like she dug us out of nowhere


OMG, not only are you coming into Surrey, but your undercutting us as well :rolleyes:

What's your rate for such an event then Mikeeee?

[PropellerHeadCase]

Here's a nice rule of thumb for you to play with, whats is the average PAYE rate for your area, multiple by three, this gives you a base rate for a self employed person. Now work out your annually expenditure - vehicle, kit, cd's, gas, electric , telephones etc - divid by 52 to give you a weekly amount. Now add the two figures together and that is the minimum you have to earn out of your gigs every week.

After all of the discussion about how much to charge you drop that one on us here? :bang:

Anyway, the reverse could be that you take the PAYE of the type of client you want and then do that, and then price accordingly. By the way, that calculation doesn't tell you how many gigs to plan for, per week ;)

[mikeee]

After all of the discussion about how much to charge you drop that one on us here? :D :D :D


What's your rate for such an event then Mikeeee? Hour's, Location, Access, Type of Show????

Before the business started falling to pieces in the 80's - kit getting cheaper, more people doing it etc - my peers told me, the way to price is, A saturday night (4 hours) is charged at the rate equivalent to the average weekly wage for the area. Hope that helps.