Some people really are cheap

[ross@rds]

Well was ment to be doing a 50th next sat 8th, but got cancelled so a female dj my mum knows said there was a gig going so got detials its a dance club disco 7 - 9 and wait for it £40 ..... haha i said £90 is the cheapest i will go out for reply "She won't pay that as it is far too much for a couple of hours work" i would have thought £90 is a bargin when i charge £150 for private functions normally. Yes its only 2 hours but thats 2 hours plus lugging the gear to the venue setting up and taking down also getting my mate to drop and pick me up. Sorry just had to have a little rant and laff at this.

[sleah]

"She won't pay that as it is far too much for a couple of hours work"

But won't question paying over £140 for a couple of hours for getting her car fixed:mad:

[ross@rds]

People think we must have been born yesterday they pay £200+ for someone to come out look at the heating then say you need a new part but would not pay that for a pro disco for the night its crazy.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Unfortunately, a lot of people do see it as 'only a couple of hours work', plus don't think that you've got overheads.... they think at £40 you're getting £20 an hour

[mb3]

As an (ex) electrician I came across the same thing regularly.

When customers wanted an outdoor socket for the mower it was always "how much?"

When the lights had gone bang it was never "how much?"... just "how quick can you get here to fix it?"

[ross@rds]

"how much?"...

Sadly 95% of my enquirys start with looking for a disco how much, Never do they say tell me a bit about the company , do you have PLI , PAT etc always "How Much" ?.

[PropellerHeadCase]

In part because price is important to them and in part because they have no clue what to ask and if they did they probably wouldn't know what to listen for in a good answer anyway.

Yes, it always surprises me that people don't realise that, just like any other business, there are certain expenses you need to cover at each gig, and that set-up and pack down combined in many ways represent more work than the 2-3 hours DJing.

[Barclay's Beats]

I don't think many people think of the cost of a Disco by the hour, I just think they sometimes undervalue the whole package. And like any other service the costs vary greatly so they'll phone one guy who charges 'x' and the next guy charge three or four times 'x' which only adds to the confusion!

I was once told 'you're better out earning than spending' which is true to a point, but if you feel you are not being suitably rewarded for your efforts politely decline the offer because if other folks find out you were out for sweeties you only undervalue your business and may find it hard to command top dollar in the future.

Set a minimum fee which applies to short notice bookings or 'mates rates' and stick to it......

[PropellerHeadCase]

I was once told 'you're better out earning than spending' which is true to a point

The point being if you're effectively spending by being out for too little and not actually making a profit after expenses and paying yousrself for your time.



Set a minimum fee which applies to short notice bookings or 'mates rates' and stick to it......

Agreed.

[rob1963]

i said £90 is the cheapest i will go out for reply "She won't pay that as it is far too much for a couple of hours work"

As you say, It's not £90 for a couple of hours work.

I take about an hour to set up, at least 30 minutes to pack away, and then there's travelling time & the time taken to load the van before driving to the gig & unloading it again afterwards.

Therefore, if I was doing a 2 hour gig say 15 minutes up the road, the mimimum time it would take me in total would be four and a half hours.

That would equate £20 per hour...hardly expensive!!!

:bang:

[ross@rds]

Made me laff when the dj said "I did it for £40 last year as i got a cancellation and was just sitting about the house doing nothing" well now the client thinks everyone will do it for £40 and if they dont then they charge way too much sometimes its dj's who make the clients think they cheap disco is better than the dear one and that most of us just play a couple of tunes for a couple of hours then go home to bed with easy money.

[Have a disco]

Hate to say this but on all major events like birthdays, weddings etc etc. We disco's are the last too be thought of hense tight budgets suddenly come into play. I had a chat with a bride too be last night whom wanted my card and couldn't understand how I can justify my rates, I reminded her how much a painter and mechanic or plumber would charge for the same amount of work and she soon silenced and realized my rates were very fair considering the amount of work that is entailed

[Larry B Entertainment]

Sadly 95% of my enquirys start with looking for a disco how much, Never do they say tell me a bit about the company , do you have PLI , PAT etc always "How Much" ?.

If only i had a quid for everytime i hear "How much for a disco ?"...............

[wensleydale]

there always has been and there always will be the "how much" discussion.
you just need to focus on why you are more expensive and let people make their own decision.

no point in moaning about it- its not new and aint going away

[Penfold42]

there always has been and there always will be the "how much" discussion.
you just need to focus on why you are more expensive and let people make their own decision.

no point in moaning about it- its not new and aint going away

:agree:

[ross@rds]

no point in moaning about it

Sadly nothing els to moan about just now. :rolleyes:

[PropellerHeadCase]

no point in moaning about it- its not new and aint going away

I thought pointless moaning was the English national sport? :confused:

[ross@rds]

I thought pointless moaning was the English national sport? :confused:

My Mum is world chap dont you know lol. :D

[Corabar Entertainment]

My Mum is world chap dont you know lol. :D
:eek: :eek: :eek: :zip: :zip: :zip:

[ross@rds]

"Champion" i ment just couldnt be botherd writting it all sorry text talk :)

[Jiggles]

Angela how could you think that :D:D

[Corabar Entertainment]

I know what you meant, and it would have been fine if you hadn't missed the 'm' out.... instead, you gave your mother a sex change! - hence my :eek: :eek: :eek: :zip: :zip: :zip:

:D :D

[ross@rds]

Well she may look better as a he... im gonna shut up now if she sees this im dead if im not on tomorrow you know why lol.

[Corabar Entertainment]

:lol:

[Jiggles]

Hmm whats Ross' house number :D

[ross@rds]

Location: DESTINATION UNKNOWN

:D

[Penfold42]

My Mum is world chap dont you know lol. :D


:eek: :eek: :eek: :zip: :zip: :zip:
LMAO....:D

Well she may look better as a he... im gonna shut up now if she sees this im dead if im not on tomorrow you know why lol.

Wise move.......:D

[Jiggles]

I shall hunt you down Ross :D :p

[Key2]

Sadly 95% of my enquirys start with looking for a disco how much, Never do they say tell me a bit about the company , do you have PLI , PAT etc always "How Much" ?.

And they don't care whether you use Martins or Soundlabs. In fact 95% of clients have never heard of Martin, so you end up competing against people who run a Home-Mix system on a camping table behind a black sheet from his mums airing cupboard. I get the same thing in my 'day job' as a driving instructor. I hold a professional qualification that is only held by 5% of all the instructors in the country but when people phone around, they don't care about qualifications, and they don'y care what car you use, just how much per hour. BUT...I find that the ones who want it cheap are the biggest pains, so I let them go to the others. Thanfully, not all clients enquiries are price-driven!

[rob1963]

there always has been and there always will be the "how much" discussion.
you just need to focus on why you are more expensive and let people make their own decision.

no point in moaning about it- its not new and aint going away

While that's true, there IS something you can do to avoid most of the "How much for a disco" brigade...and it's worked well for me.

Put prices on your website...and if you don't have set prices, then put on guide prices or average prices.

At least 75% of my enquiries start "Are you available on..." rather than "How much..." because they've already seen my prices on the site & are obviously happy with them...or they wouldn't be asking about my availability!

[Vectis]

While that's true, there IS something you can do to avoid most of the "How much for a disco" brigade...and it's worked well for me.

Put prices on your website...and if you don't have set prices, then put on guide prices or average prices.

At least 75% of my enquiries start "Are you available on..." rather than "How much..." because they've already seen my prices on the site & are obviously happy with them...or they wouldn't be asking about my availability!

100% agree with Rob :eek:

Ever since I put prices up on the website, the number of 'How Much?' calls have dropped through the floor. LOTS of folks now use the quote tool. So by the time they phone or email they've already made the decision.

And since I put the diary up, I regularly get 'We'd like to book you on....' type calls now, which is cool :-) I'm now booking weddings for next year at MORE THAN DOUBLE last year's prices at certain times of the year :cool: Based on the amount I turned away last year because I was already booked, if this strategy backfires I know I can take a few cheaper gigs nearer the time.

[wensleydale]

100% agree with Rob :eek:

Ever since I put prices up on the website, the number of 'How Much?' calls have dropped through the floor. LOTS of folks now use the quote tool. So by the time they phone or email they've already made the decision.

And since I put the diary up, I regularly get 'We'd like to book you on....' type calls now, which is cool :-) I'm now booking weddings for next year at MORE THAN DOUBLE last year's prices at certain times of the year :cool: Based on the amount I turned away last year because I was already booked, if this strategy backfires I know I can take a few cheaper gigs nearer the time.


i still think by doing this you are reducing the amount of queries you get where you can sell yourself on the phone, and also i cannot see how you can have a set price for a disco that could be 2 mins away from your flat and one that could be an hour away- 2 hours potential differecne before you take into account of differences in venue, event etc.

it also suggests a one size fits all approach and limits what extra you can offer.

[Vectis]

i cannot see how you can have a set price for a disco that could be 2 mins away from your flat and one that could be an hour away- 2 hours potential differecne before you take into account of differences in venue, event etc.




Your attention is drawn to the Scale... ;)

[wensleydale]

Your attention is drawn to the Scale... ;)

OK, so that couunts for less than 1% of people on the forum.

[Vectis]

OK, so that couunts for less than 1% of people on the forum.

Yeah, maybe, but it was my example you cited :confused:

[Have a disco]

As I live in East Anglia everything is within a 2Hr drive so vectis is spot on

[PropellerHeadCase]

i still think by doing this you are reducing the amount of queries you get where you can sell yourself on the phone, and also i cannot see how you can have a set price for a disco that could be 2 mins away from your flat and one that could be an hour away- 2 hours potential differecne before you take into account of differences in venue, event etc.

it also suggests a one size fits all approach and limits what extra you can offer.

I know we've done this before, but I disagree...

First, if Martin (Vectis) is booking further ahead at a higher price then the vague possibility of less enquiries (yet to be proven one way or the other) is low, and less likely to affect overall income. If he's charging more than double for some dates he can afford to do half the gigs and still come out ahead. Wouldn't we all rather do less gigs for the same (or better) money?

I have set prices for gigs within my mileage area, within my time-limits (four, seven or nine hours duration), and for no more than 150 people. I've found that a lot of the "drive here" "do this" give-and-take of most gigs tends to cancel itself out. Which is to say that it's rare that within the description of my services that one gig will require all of the most expensive options in order to be fulfilled.

For example, gigs at the very furthest reaches of my mileage area tend to be smaller more convivial settings, so whilst I'm driving for 45 minutes to get there I don't need to take a sub or additional lighting (which improves fuel consumption on my lesser-laden vehicle and reduces my set-up and pack-down times by as much as 15 minutes at either end of the night). Also open motorway driving (what we call a motorway you lot would laugh at, but let's just say 'M', 'A', and some 'B' roads), which most of the far-flung gigs require is more economical on fuel than the same distance on city streets.

Some people may effectively end up paying for a little bit of my time that I'm not using, or for a part of my service that they're not really reaping the benefit of, but the simplicity saves them 30 minutes of umming and ahhing as to whether or not they want extra lights or a sub - this has value to them. If you make the decision easy for them they don't even notice that maybe you've effectively over-charged them by £15 had you been charging for the components separately - which is no different from someone buying a McD's combo even though they only really want the burger and drink, they get the fries whether they consume some, all, or none.

You'll note that on my web-site (www.djalanduval.com) I set out the maximum extent of mileage, equipment and time the charge covers - beyond that I quote, so I'm not limiting the service I offer just supplying what most people require, all in, at one price.

[rob1963]

i still think by doing this you are reducing the amount of queries you get where you can sell yourself on the phone.

In my case, it would make no difference whether I had prices on my website or not.

Either way, I get virtually no chance to sell myself on the phone...as 90% of my bookings are taken online...without me even speaking to the client!