Another craigslist laugher!

I was going on craigslist to post a better picture of the Pioneer EFX 500 I'm looking to sell and just decided to look at the events section. I came across an ad for a person getting married in Wayne, NJ in Feb. They are looking for an amature DJ to do the wedding. They need the DJ to perform from 1:30-5:30. They want to meet with the DJ before the day of the wedding. Now here's the funny part! They want to pay the DJ $25.00 an hour. That's only $100.00 for a DJ to come do their wedding.

First off how are they looking for an amature if they are willing to pay the DJ money? I know what they mean when they say such things. That means they are looking for a desperate DJ that doesn't have a lot of exposure and experience looking to get both. To me that is an insult to any DJ. Here they are willing to spend more on the decorations for the reception then the DJ. Plus they want to first meet the DJ that obviously doesn't have much experience. What will they get from that meeting? Find out how much an amature they are and that they don't know a whole lot about DJing a wedding.

You can go DJ in a bar and get paid more then that. They can do what they want but I pity what they will get for $100.00. It will probably be some kid just starting out and will come dressed with a white tee shirt with baggy pants on showing their nasty dirty underwear. Play songs where every other word is a curse. Leaving guest with nothing to dance to, wondering why did they book this DJ and wishing they were somewhere else.

I know I've been told to stay away from craigslist which for the most part I do even though I posted an ad up there a while ago. I was just looking to do something else and just decided to see what jobs might be listed where someone is looking for a DJ. Every now and then someone will be looking for a DJ on there and willing to pay some decent money for a DJ to do an event. I've seen some ads where they are willing to pay a DJ $500.00 or more. Not a lot but every now and then you can come across one of those.

Kirby Ball said:

There's a client and vendor for about every possible price level. Why worry so much about what someone else is doing?

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Not worried. I just feel the DJ that does this wedding slaps DJ's in the face everywhere regardless of what level they are at.

Kirby Ball said:

Then why did you post the thread then?

Read the first sentence of my post:

There's a client and vendor for about every possible price level.

It makes no difference to me what someone else is willing to pay or what someone else is willing to work for.

Whoever does this wedding doesn't affect me in the least because the person who's wanting to hire a DJ "isn't my customer base," because I'm not charging $25-$30 per hour. It shouldn't even affect you, unless you're charging about the same amount.

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I get your point and it's very well taken. I guess if we had more DJ's out here today who knew what it took to become a DJ when I first got started would appreciate this thing more. When I first got started you couldn't download an mp3 and put it on an external HD. Not that it's a
totally bad thing. When I first got started we had to go to the store to buy records and you certainly couldn't get it for 99 cents or less like you can now. I know some sights charge more but on an average that's what most will pay to get a song. What DJ's spend today to get music off the internet is peanuts compared to when you had to buy records or you couldn't be a DJ.

We've just become as a whole a lazy society. We want things quick and easy. Modern technology is great but it also has become a curse for the DJ business at the same time. That's exactly why some can afford to a wedding for that price. Hell depending on where the wedding was to be and in this case Wayne, NJ it could cost at least $50.00 in gas alone to go do the wedding. The sad part is that some will spend all this money on a fancy hall, food, decorations and other such things. And then when it comes to book a DJ want to find someone to do it for peanuts. I say for that rate of pay you might as well do it for free and make that the couples wedding present from you.

I say if you're that desperate to do a wedding for $100.00 then why bother being a DJ? I know that's what some here think of me but I never have and never will do a wedding for $100.00 Such a thing would only be reserved for my family and since it's family they would get me to do it for nothing.

Dennis aren't you the one that said I don't know much about computers? If I knew how to post the link I would have. You can go to craigslistnewjersey.com and then go to North Jersey. Then go to the events section to look it up. The wedding is to be in Wayne, NJ.

Now this got me to thinking about something serious. If I did decide to do such a wedding at that amount of pay it would cost me more then $100.00 to do the wedding. Now with that said how do you decide on what to charge a potential client to do an event that will net you a big enough profit to survive in this business?

I was asked how much do I feel I'm worth? With just only limited details about this wedding at least $500.00 to start and go from there. Now don't get the wrong Idea and think that's the price I would do that wedding for. That's just price range without any real details about their wedding.

I answered the question of what do I think I'm worth to do this wedding and yet I haven't gotten an answer to my question. How much would you charge to do this 4 hour wedding to make enough profit to make it worth your while and for you to be able to stay in business? Then how do you come up with a price quote for a potential client that will net you enough money to stay a float?

DJCC said:

That question can not be answered by most of here. Not enough information to give a quote.

If that were the only wedding I was doing this year, about $65,000. To stay a float that is.

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That's what I was thinking too. I just threw a figure out there. With such limited info I couldn't give an accurate quote either. All I do know us doing this $100.00 wedding would cost us in 2 ways. The price they want to pay is not enough that we would make a profit. We would lose money. The next thing I've had happen is me being a nice guy has cost me dearly. I'll do a favor for someone that doesn't have a big budget to book a DJ feeling sorry for them and it has back fired time and time again. Besides it leaving you basically broke and not being able to buy other pieces of gear we would like to buy. It also sets people up to believe that you're a cheap DJ. No matter how much you insist that they don't tell people how much they spent on the DJ, most never do.