Priced out of work...?

Just like actors, you can't expect to get great money until you are established.
How quickly you can rise out of the gutter and start making real money is up to you.
(and dependent on a few factors)
The area I live seems to be well balanced.
The few DJ's who are well established earn a pretty penny for their services, and are quite busy.
Guys who charge an average, or less than average price...get plenty of work, too.
You have to be willing to accept lower payments to get started.
But as others have said, don't raise your rates too much or too fast.

Ausumm said:

Just like actors, you can't expect to get great money until you are established.
How quickly you can rise out of the gutter and start making real money is up to you.
(and dependent on a few factors)
The area I live seems to be well balanced.
The few DJ's who are well established earn a pretty penny for their services, and are quite busy.
Guys who charge an average, or less than average price...get plenty of work, too.
You have to be willing to accept lower payments to get started.
But as others have said, don't raise your rates too much or too fast.

Click to expand...

....and don't go looking to thumbtack to get work................

Never heard of him, but checked out his website.
Front page has a picture from an event 16 years ago, followed by a tv actor from 30 years ago (still a busy actor).
OK, so I better get some celeb selifies! LOL

His list of upsells for weddings is large and deep. I"m sure much of his avg price comes from all the addons or perhaps they're in packages? I have some..not nearly as many!

Lots of testimonials - good thing to have.

Did you see the pictures of his setup? I thought big huge logo's on the front of the booth was tacky. Apparently not in the high price range.

Lots of lighting and how he does it? And the monogram...can't see a projector unless it's on the far side of the ballroom. Impressive.

I know a couple of DJs that get the big bucks. LOTS of video and blogging.

But remember - i'm not complaining about 'i can can't get $1500'.

Makes me want to redo my website though. LOL

djtaso said:

Have you seen a dj somewhat local to you... Finest Events. He is a "pittsburgh area" based dj... but if you follow what he does, he goes all over the western pa area, ohio, and even west virginia in towns such as wheeling... with an avg household income of just over 40k. His dj prices... it starts at $2000. Check him out... I was very impressed.

It's kinda like mix... if you want to work in a small area, you may find yourself limited. This guy serves city area weddings and small town locations equally and charges over $2k per event starting.... and providing him enough work during the year to be a full time dj.

Click to expand...

First thing to do that is to have Jews in your market. There are probably some here but only 1 synagog left, since 82 when the other one closed.
And I had to google to find that one as I've never heard of one here.

Scott Hanna said:

There's a DJ company here that their average mitzvah package is $10k plus

Click to expand...

My Ex grew up in perry hall - not a wealthy area at all. It's grown in the past 20 years, but she graduated in a class of 600 in 1988. Among her friends (cheer leaders, football players) she was the only one to go on to college.

djtaso said:

I just booked a $4000+ Sweet 16 from a family in Perry hall, MD (I say "plus"... bc that's where the package is at rn, and other things may be added later). Port deposit is 30 min away... if you are servicing port deposit... but want more money... you can certainly work events in Perry hall if they supposedly pay better. At same time... this mom told me she's been to 3 sweet 16's this year already and she's in shock at how terrible the dj's are... no beatmixing... songs playing too long... songs meant for adults that the kids don't know... and just overall very tacky. She didn't want her daughter to have that experience... saw me at an event around 4 yrs ago in PA and never forgot me. Now it's her turn to host an event and wants to make sure it's done right.

Click to expand...

IceBurghDJ said:

Never heard of him, but checked out his website.
Front page has a picture from an event 16 years ago, followed by a tv actor from 30 years ago (still a busy actor).
OK, so I better get some celeb selifies! LOL

His list of upsells for weddings is large and deep. I"m sure much of his avg price comes from all the addons or perhaps they're in packages? I have some..not nearly as many!

Lots of testimonials - good thing to have.

Did you see the pictures of his setup? I thought big huge logo's on the front of the booth was tacky. Apparently not in the high price range.

Lots of lighting and how he does it? And the monogram...can't see a projector unless it's on the far side of the ballroom. Impressive.

I know a couple of DJs that get the big bucks. LOTS of video and blogging.

But remember - i'm not complaining about 'i can can't get $1500'.

Makes me want to redo my website though. LOL

Click to expand...

Are we looking at the same site? His home page has a photo w 6 sparklers (5 visible) shooting during the first dance with clouds, a video, another sparkler shot, an uplit ballroom w/ monogram, and other relatively current photos (I suspect none are more than 2 years old).

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of his logo on the booth, but that is one really nice booth, and at least the logo is classy... if he was smart, he'd make that removable and create a custom design for each couple as an upcharge (a few djs here have somehting similar).

His inquiry page has a budget range question... and it starts at $2000, so I presume you can't get him for less than $2000... and with package options ranging in the $5000+ range... it's a relatively safe bet his starting price is in fact the $2000 mark.

Idk how it is elsewhere, but the high end here up until precovid started at right under $2000, with most high end companies having dj's starting at $1850 or $1950... now the high end mark seems to have crossed into the $2250 and up range. I don't make mention of the exact numbers as a "look at us" type of thing... but rather how a surge in demand for weddings and costs of labor/materials has pushed the price up 10% for most dj's here (whatever that number is). Another more mid range dj that I refer smaller events to just jumped from $1450 to $1650.

I also don't know about others out there... but despite 2022 being a record year for me in terms of how fast I got booked up, and the avg price per party (it seems that stimulus money helped many couples save up more, who knows... 2023 is booking even faster (price per party is too early to tell since most add on later) with over 50% of my availability filled up already... For 2022 that didn't happen until may of 2021, so essentially 2 months ahead of schedule. A dj I network with in Boston already filled up 2/3 of his schedule (he only does 40 weddings a year since he's got a day job). The demand is definitely there... just gotta get yourself out there (not you directly... just in general to everyone)!

DJ Ricky B said:

That's awesome!

What she told you is true though. It is because the parents of these Sweet 16s that her daughter attended don't want to fork out money, and cheap out on the DJ service in most cases. They will go to thumb tack or Craigslist, and find a $250 to $500 DJ. The parents don't think about mixing style. They generally believe any DJ will do. A light show is a light show so as long as the DJ has lights and will include them in the price they are good to go. They aren't thinking about spending $4,000 on an amazing DJ Experience for their daughter's sweet 16 party. The DJs that they book don't even have any videos to show them...and if they do have videos it is a quick phone clip of kids dancing at an event they did in the past. That mother has the money, and is willing to spend it to make sure it's an awesome party.

The "talent" Agency I use to work with doesn't even try to sell high end DJs on Sweet 16s any more. They just quote a low price, and put any DJ on it most of the time, and pay that DJ 50% of what they booked the event at. They called up my sister a few weeks ago asking her if she wanted a Sweet 16 party out of the blue. NET pay on the event was $250 take the gig now, or they will call up another DJ! The event was at a tough load in venue to boot! They don't want to lose the client to cheaper DJs who book direct so they just quote $500 to $600 to get the booking, and get a DJ to do it on the cheap now. They gave up on actually selling a higher quality DJ unless that specific DJ is requested by the client from the get go.

Click to expand...

But clearly there is an appreciation by some to do something more. Just a shame that no one local is putting in the effort to attract these clients, especially when there are such few options for this level. I mean I have another one in Ocean city Maryland... a wedding this time... and that package too appears to be in the $4-5k range with 4 moving heads, uplighting, and significant interest in sparklers, dancing on clouds, and potentially snow (it's a november wedding, so it's borderline appropriate... they'll be deciding later). How'd I get this one... well the couple grew up in MD, but live in Arizona for work purposes. When it came to planning a wedding, they were researching online and literally found nothing that impressed them other than cheesy looking websites, or dj's that offered nothing that impressed them. She happened to have a relative in jersey that she's close to who attended a wedding of mine, and said just call me and don't bother looking elsewhere. After she saw my site and everything I offered, as well as the videos... she contacted me saying how impressed she was by just the site alone... but unfortunately I wasn't available... she moved the whole wedding a year later to be able to work with my schedule. I even gave her referrals for other dj's, but she didn't have the same excitement about them.

I know this is super repetitive from me, and it's probably getting old by now... but I'm telling you, people want more, and they're willing to spend more to do it. They just need to find someone that impresses them enough to spend the money (whether they financially should or shouldnt). This has nothing to do with the wealth of people... it has to do with how they value entertainment. People that have no business buying $1400 iphones still buy it... and not one... but 3 4 or 5 for the entire family... why, because it's vital to them. Some view their wedding entertainment the same.

djtaso said:

But clearly there is an appreciation by some to do something more. Just a shame that no one local is putting in the effort to attract these clients, especially when there are such few options for this level. I mean I have another one in Ocean city Maryland... a wedding this time... and that package too appears to be in the $4-5k range with 4 moving heads, uplighting, and significant interest in sparklers, dancing on clouds, and potentially snow (it's a november wedding, so it's borderline appropriate... they'll be deciding later). How'd I get this one... well the couple grew up in MD, but live in Arizona for work purposes. When it came to planning a wedding, they were researching online and literally found nothing that impressed them other than cheesy looking websites, or dj's that offered nothing that impressed them. She happened to have a relative in jersey that she's close to who attended a wedding of mine, and said just call me and don't bother looking elsewhere. After she saw my site and everything I offered, as well as the videos... she contacted me saying how impressed she was by just the site alone... but unfortunately I wasn't available... she moved the whole wedding a year later to be able to work with my schedule. I even gave her referrals for other dj's, but she didn't have the same excitement about them.

I know this is super repetitive from me, and it's probably getting old by now... but I'm telling you, people want more, and they're willing to spend more to do it. They just need to find someone that impresses them enough to spend the money (whether they financially should or shouldnt). This has nothing to do with the wealth of people... it has to do with how they value entertainment. People that have no business buying $1400 iphones still buy it... and not one... but 3 4 or 5 for the entire family... why, because it's vital to them. Some view their wedding entertainment the same.

Click to expand...

Taso you mentioned something interesting and that is about the Iphone that cost $1,400 and people who can't afford it but want it anyway. What companies do is get people to sign a contract locking them in for say 2 years so they use them as their carrier. They give the customer an option to pay off the phone in the 2 years. So it's like a payment plan that gets the phone paid off by the 2 years. By that time the latest phone will come out and they will have a thing that if you like you can upgrade. That puts them back to another 2 year plan to get the phone paid off. Some have the money to pay for the phone out right and some don't. That's the same thing with clients. Some have money to pay the DJ upfront and some will pay over time. You are right because some will do the 2nd option even if they really can't afford it. That comes down to people paying for things they feel is worth it. I'll say it again. Nobody pays for something they don't feel is worth it.

rickryan.com said:

....and don't go looking to thumbtack to get work................

Click to expand...

Why not? I understand that you won't because Thumbtacks is generally where people look for a low priced DJ compared to others who charge way more. Some simply can't afford to spend $1,000 or more for a DJ.

MIXMASTERMACHOM said:

Taso you mentioned something interesting and that is about the Iphone that cost $1,400 and people who can't afford it but want it anyway. What companies do is get people to sign a contract locking them in for say 2 years so they use them as their carrier. They give the customer an option to pay off the phone in the 2 years. So it's like a payment plan that gets the phone paid off by the 2 years. By that time the latest phone will come out and they will have a thing that if you like you can upgrade. That puts them back to another 2 year plan to get the phone paid off. Some have the money to pay for the phone out right and some don't. That's the same thing with clients. Some have money to pay the DJ upfront and some will pay over time. You are right because some will do the 2nd option even if they really can't afford it. That comes down to people paying for things they feel is worth it. I'll say it again. Nobody pays for something they don't feel is worth it.

Click to expand...

No carriers don’t do that if you don’t want that. I bought my phone outright… no contract. My wife’s family all buy phones outright so they can freely sell them when the new one comes out. Regardless you’re missing the point. It doesn’t matter if it’s $140 due at once or $1400 over 2 years… it’s $1400 period.

djtaso said:

No carriers don’t do that if you don’t want that. I bought my phone outright… no contract. My wife’s family all buy phones outright so they can freely sell them when the new one comes out. Regardless you’re missing the point. It doesn’t matter if it’s $140 due at once or $1400 over 2 years… it’s $1400 period.

Click to expand...

You missed what I said. You're right though. Some can pay for it upfront and some can't. Some have money upfront to pay for a brand new vehicle off the showroom floor and others will have to take the option of paying for it over years to satisfy the agreement.

djtaso said:

People want more, and they're willing to spend more to do it. They just need to find someone that impresses them enough to spend the money.

Click to expand...

Mantra moment. Just be the one....

And speaking of pricing on gigs, I just took a $400, sub-contracting thru a multi-op in Birmingham. It's a wall-flower gig at a country club for their members (non-wedding) and just making noise for a few hours. I talked with the contractor for a bit and he's staying busy and pays his sub $800 on weddings. Should be good for some fill-in dates when the venue's not working. He especially loved finding out that I have a son who can also DJ and that we have our own gear. Time to expand the network in Alabama.

Find the customer you want, and set your price at the edge of the level that best attracts them.

It doesn't matter at all what any other DJ is doing, if you're "established," the gear you use, etc. Just figure out who you want to work for and make a deal that leaves both of you happy. When your calendar starts to show frequent conflicts - that's when you raise your price.