Charge

[kazzachi 0]

... I tell my clients that I am l'Oreal...... I charge more than most of the djs in my area .... because I am worth it!!

Seriously, location will have an effect on what you charge - but never think you have to compete with a competitor on fees - you pay peanuts.... etc....... I charge what I believe is attainable and given the fact that I am never at home over the weekend, I reckon it is fair. When you decide you want to increase your fee, your clients will let you know if you have gone too far . I never get the reaction "oh that is too expensive" because all my clients have either been to my functions or I have been recommended to them

[FrankieJ 0]

So what about Christmas and New year what do you charge ?? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

I don't penalise clients for December bookings, in fact I offer a discount if I can get a series of bookings at the same venue. It makes sense, it's great to leave the equipment set up for several nights in a row (Minus CD's & Radio Mic) and just turn up in the car night after night without worrying about setting up and a 1AM packing away http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Christmas Eve, I don't charge any Extra, Neither do I charge more for a Boxing day set at the club.

 

I do charge more for New Years, although not excessively High compared to other area's I am one of the most expensive (for this area) to book at £400.

[The Spindoctor 0]

I agree with Chris on this one, block bookings get a cheaper rate for December and no packing up.... lovely. Christmas Eve is a normal working day for most people and as such in my eyes is a normal price depending what night of the week it falls on.

New Year is the one night where people expect to pay and I have not altered my price for the last 2 years £500.

 

Millenium well thats a story in itself £1000 on the banks of the Thames for the Daily Express!! What a Night!!

[mikeee 0]

I think the idea is to set a price and that is it, with the exception of Xmas eve, Boxing day and NYE

 

My price - Norm - £350, Xmas Eve - £400, B Day - £400, NYE - £600 (ish)

Av for the area - Norm - £260, X Eve - £325, B Day - £295, NYE - £450.

 

[kazzachi 0]

Chris, Im glad you dont hike your prices at christmas either - all of us know that in december the work comes in by the bucket load and we are all going to earn more by doing more jobs in december - my view is that if you are greedy enough to put up your prices in december just because there are more customers out there, then you really should put your prices down in January when bookings arent quite so many...... My prices do not change whether it is a mid week date or a weekend - my prices are fixed - I am not going to offer less of a service on a wednesday than I am on a saturday after all.

The only time my prices rise are for after midnight and if they want one of our bigger rigs which is usually for university sized crowds and above and that warrants charging more because it takes so much longer to put up, and we have to use more staff etc etc

[Guest ian]

Like most of you lot, when I first started, I started out cheap (£80 a night) and then fell into the deep deep hole of a free disco for family, not much good when you have a family as big as mine.

 

I've lived up in the North West in Rochdale and the average night is about £140 for pretty much anything, and around £80 for pubs. It's a low income area really.

 

I think it was Mikee who said nearer the beginning of this thread (forgive me if i'm wrong) that your price is averaged on whatever the weekly wage is in the area you are working.

 

Now, I live in Brighton where the average weekly wage is hugely inflated. I can quite easily charge £200+ and frequently do. There's a guy down here who runs 'Cheap Disco's and he pushes guys out at £90 and those cowboys are killing the market, but I don't let it bother me anymore now. If people want to pay the premium for a premium DJ then they'll listen to my advice not to go with the bottom feeders, they will regret it later.

 

Plus i've always got the added bonus of PLI and PAT testing (often overlooked by DJ's) which again sets your clients mind at rest. A bit of sales spiel and the gig is in the bag.

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (mikeee @ Apr 16 2003, 05:26 PM)

Birmingham I know guy's (a lot of them) that tell me they can't get more than £150, Then I talk to other guys around the home counties,

I have worked at place like the NEC and received £250-350 for mid week gigs.

 

and I ahve had to travel from Essex for these.

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (Chris_Pointon @ Apr 16 2003, 07:07 PM)

Only last night I got turned down for an 18th Birthday in October because my quote of £110 was "Too Expensive",

If you quoted that here you probably would not get the gig for being too cheap

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (FrankieJ @ Apr 29 2003, 04:04 PM)

So what about Christmas and New year what do you charge ?? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

For me after a lonf Christmas, I work in my local (i've known the manager years) just PA, no lights needed.

 

But he pays me £900 for Xmas & News Years Eve (total for the 2)

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (The Spindoctor @ Apr 29 2003, 04:52 PM)

Millenium well thats a story in itself £1000 on the banks of the Thames for the Daily Express!! What a Night!!

got cancelled and still got a £1500 fee

[Ian Stewart 0]

The one thing that I have learnt, the fee depends on who is paying,

 

i.e. for some people £150 is far too much and others £1,000 is too cheap. The secret is to find out as much as you can before you quote.

 

for me a party in a local village hall is one price and a corporate gig in the city for a blue chip company is another.

 

I also get booked as a guest DJ on soul events and very rarely do I get more that £120 for those, but I only DJ for an hour.

 

and yes my diary is always full.

[jeff wood 0]

i live in the north west and charge £150, sometimes £170, although i'm doing a christening party in june, a sunday, from 2 pm til 1am for £250, i dont reduce my fee for fridays or sundays.

i think that decent disco's should get more than we do, but the problem is of course is that the cowboys with crap gear can still sound convincing on the phone, so if i was to quote say £300, the client could say, "well ive just spoke to xyz disco's and he said hes got all the top gear and will do it for £120 " . i think that for a quality disco , it should be about £200 ~ £300. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/188.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

If you quoted that here you probably would not get the gig for being too cheap

 

Charging more would suit me - however if you've ever worked this area then you would know the going rate is less than that. Mrs Smith Wanting a disco for her daughters 21st, and who has never ever booked a disco before & wouldn't be able to tell a good disco from a cowboy with both hands and a torch http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif all that she knows is that she has had several quotes from other D.J's all ranging from £65 - £90 so it must be me who is to expensive http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/wacko.gif . Of course I warn her about the pit falls of paying to little - she thinks that its just sour grapes on my part because i've lost the gig.

 

Result = She books a guy with a lava lamp and a bush stereo who plays Rap all night - Do I derive any pleasure from knowing this?, no!, I sit at home watching tele whilst £10k of gear sits getting dusty there are no winners is this tale! At the moment the show is out 70% of the week - two shows are out each night over the weekend - it works for me.

 

The only bookings that are worth more are our bookings for Astra-Zeneca although these include entertaining between 600 - 1800 on site staff from 2 sites / corporate guests so we do earn every penny - it also needs a lot in the way of P.A and lighting = set up time, and lets face it - they can afford it http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif .

 

I also cover Greater Machester where the going rate is far more (Like most city centres) - interesting to see that the going rate almost doubles for" trip up the road". I'm also close (about 7 miles) from Alderley Edge and Wilmslow (Beckham Towers!) and A colleague based in that area charges £300 a night. Purely because its a more affulent area.

 

This has already been pointed out, and I would tend to agree - you charge to suit the area - what the local economy will stand. If you don't believe this then try charging £400 per gig. or even £200! in Tyne & Wear and see how often you are out!.

 

The Local competition includes cowboys like any area - however it also includes one guy. He charges £65 a night and I have to admit he's damn good. His lightshow is very professional as is his Audio Gear (all supplied by me!), why does he do this?, well it gets hm out of the house and tops up his pension. is he any good? -Yes, he's worked cruise ships and been in the business longer than even Mikeee. A Professional, reliable, good show for £65!.

[Eskie 0]

QUOTE

If you quoted that here you probably would not get the gig for being too cheap

 

That reminds me of something i heard last year. I had done a birthday party for a bloke in my area (NW London), and about 10 months later he called me and asked me to do his wedding, but that it was in the Isle of Wight. I wasn't able to do his wedding as I was already booked, but told him the price I would have charged (£400), and told him that I'd guess that the local dj's in the Isle of Wight would be a fair bit cheaper.

 

He told me that he'd been to a wedding fair there, and was chatting with a mobile dj. He asked him for a quote and the dj said £70! The bloke exclaimed "£70" in surprise that it was so cheap, but the dj thought he was saying it was too expensive and quickly said, "OK, £60"! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/laugh.gif

 

My pricing is based on 3 factors: 1. Location of Venue, 2. Start/end times, 3. Number of guests (which dictates how much sound & lighting eqpt I'll need). Weddings start from £350 and the actual price depends on the above 3 factors. Private parties start from £250.

It's extremely rare that anyone quibbles about price with me, and I'm told that I'm too expensive about twice a year!

 

... although from some of the above posts I now know why the £500 quote I gave to a recent enquiry I received for a wedding in Ipswich for the summer of 2004, wasn't confirmed http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

Edited April 30, 2003 by Eskie

[mikeee 0]

Ian, how much for the NEC, I think you could have got a little more for that.

One of my guys, was travelling to brum, 4hr wedding in a hotel, £550, and I thought with the three hour drive he was to cheap.

 

I would like to quote from a posting on another forum:

 

"The biggest problem with our industry, concerning prices, is that most DJ's set their prices based on what everybody else is charging!

 

Not based on what it will take for them to make a living...

 

Not based on a business plan that takes into account business expences........

 

Some base their prices on how much extra they need aside from their day job to help pay the bills!

 

Some set their so that they have a little extra beer money!

 

And, I've seen some HUGE sound and light systems set up, only to find out that the DJ was charging what we have come to know and love as "bottem feeder" prices! "

 

 

Makes you think dosn't it, I believe that all people going into business regardless of type should sit down and work out a business plan, then they would know the real value of what they are charging.

 

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (mikeee @ May 1 2003, 02:07 AM)

Ian, how much for the NEC, I think you could have got a little more for that. One of my guys, was travelling to brum, 4hr wedding in a hotel, £550, and I thought with the three hour drive he was to cheap.

it was 5 years ago

[The Spindoctor 0]

I hear what you say Mikeee, trouble is even if you could get every DJ to agree a minimum wage for 4 hrs, there would still be the part time beer money merchants who would take all the bookings we'd priced ourselves out of. At the end of the day most customers (general public) could'nt give a to$$ if we have PLI or PAT or indeed if we downloaded the whole set or whatever................ they SHOULD care but they won't all the time somebody will do it cheaper!

[mikeee 0]

Hi Spin, yes agreed, but they have probably a sec / hd, ICE clubman (white covering lol), some beat up squekers, and not portraing a professional image. Yes they will get work, pubs, clubs etc. As professionals we should be looking at Hotels, and Black tie functions. As I see it, and please correct me if I'm wrong, most DJ's tend to peg there prices to the lowest denominator, hence we're all broke.

[DJ Spinko 0]

It is of great credit that we are all talking here openly about what we charge and would like to but can't, would go out of business if we did and if we admit it to ourselves a little envious of some of the big money that appears to be made out there.

 

Can we just put some of it into focus as Chris has pointed out before.

 

The guy who charges £65 to top up his pension - can we compete - no !

 

The cowboys who undercut just to get the business - no !

 

The corporate event which requires loads of lights, big sound etc and is willing to pay the earth - more than half of us haven't got that amount of gearlet alone having a vehicle big enough to cart it about in and the labour to put it up.

 

But what we can do as I have stated before is try to encourage the main hirers of the mobiles to look for the qualities that we believe all mj's/kj's should posses. ie, PLI, PAT, reliability, quality, appearance, professionalism.

I have another job which pays the mortgage, feeds Mrs Spinks and Brat Spinks but I still believe in providing a professional service when I am out dj-ing

 

I know of 2 agents in Norwich for whom I was asked to do work for and neither asked if I had PLI, PAT, equipment etc...

 

I am certain that one big organisation for us all would be of real benefit.

[mikeee 0]

One word - "EDUCATION"

 

Clients, Venues and DJ's alike

[Ian Stewart 0]

QUOTE (DJ Spinko @ May 1 2003, 03:53 PM)

The corporate event which requires loads of lights, big sound etc and is willing to pay the earth - more than half of us haven't got that amount of gearlet alone having a vehicle big enough to cart it about in and the labour to put it up.

I don't have a huge amount of gear etc, but I have found that most corporate clients I deal with etc don't want that. So I got rid of a lot of it.

 

As long as it's clean, presentable and reliable and can be set up and dismantled very quickly thats all they are interested in, and of course the quality of presentation.

 

I get most of my work Under the "No Naff Music" ie no party dance type tunes, my diary is always full with quality work at good prices, most of which comes from reccomendations.

 

Most people in the UK are more interested in quality and service (I think the figures are 97%) price is way down the list.

 

It's how you sell it if your competators are £250, and you want £300 sell it on the diffearance ie £50.

[Paul Smith 0]

There's some interesting comment here & I'd like to add my bit.

 

First of all a 5 hour disco is much more than that: there's travel, setting up & dismantling, allowing time between setting up & starting etc. This makes it at least 9 hours & if there's two of you 18 man hours.

 

At the minimum wage this amounts to £75, then there's the 'hire' of your gear by them for their party, even for a small set-up say £50 (I'm being very conservative here) and your overheads (travel, maintenance, insurance, tax etc) say £20 So an absolute minimum is £145. Anyone doing a 5 hour gig for less are not doing themselves any favours. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/sad.gif

 

Case A I recently met a DJ who charges £35 per night 'Until I get myself established'. "Have you got any gigs?" I asked. 'Yes one in about 8 weeks time'.

Case B A few days later a good friend who charges between £300 - £500 a night told me that he already had 60 confirmed bookings for this year. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

 

I totally agree with Mickee about a business plan because until you know how much the business is costing you in terms of capital investment, maintenance etc how do you know if you are making enough money to keep it viable. Certainly it might seem good to pocket £100 at the end of the night & consider it all profit but I'll bet if you calculate it out you've probably earnt less than £5 per hour.

 

Your business plan doesn't have to be elaborate (unless you're going to the bank for a loan to start it). Consider: How much investment will you need to start, what your overheads will be (Insurance CD's, Vehicle, Maintenance, Advertising, Interest on loans, Tax & NI), How much do you want to earn per hour & finally what your competition charge (this has to be considered but not used in isolation). http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/043.gif

 

Don't compete on price alone because there will always be someone who can beat you, instead use quality & service to get the edge on competitors. Offer something they don't (10 free Glow Sticks with every booking! - no forget that & sell them at £1 each) but you get the idea.

 

How much do I charge - well it's no secret I have all my prices on my web site so feel free to check it out at 5stardisco.co.uk.

You will notice that I offer a discount for early payment. The reason for this is that there's nothing worse than on the night chasing someone for money. A lot of my gigs are at 5 Star hotels (Hence the name) and in general I find people with money are the hardest to part with it but offer them a few pounds off for early payment & they jump at it.

 

I started by saying I'll add my 'bit' but this seems more like a 'byte' Anyway hope it helps someone out there.

Paul S http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/042.gif

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

Offer something they don't

 

This is a good idea, and not as corny as it sounds, after all most larger companies use gimmicks and freebies in order to boost sales, and nobody can resist a bargain or something for nothing.

 

During quiet periods, I used to use the old "Free Bottle of Bubbly" for every Wedding Reception booked before "**/**/2003" (Fill in your end of offer date!), it works, this is good to run just before the Summer Wedding Season gets underway and don't forget that most people do book Wedding Receptions well in advance, so be prepared to make a note of the offer and that they are entitled to it!. This idea doesn't have to cost that much, All D.J's can get an account at your Local Makro, or talk to your friendly local bargain booze - They do offer some really good bulk buying deals for as little as a case of 6 bottles.

 

Another idea is the "Loyalty Bonus" - If I get a booking for an engagement for example, I offer a small discount if they also book me for their Stag Night / Wedding Reception http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif . Okay, so if you are good they'll book you anyway, but they may decide to hold the reception at a venue that insists on providing their own resident D.J for functions - A Loyalty Discount usually means that the Bride / Groom will insist that the Venue allows you to do the disco in order to claim their discount!, and after all, you are better than the resident aren't you!!!?? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif .

 

 

[The Spindoctor 0]

Some great ideas coming out here, plenty of food for thought!