Weddings Pricing on your web site?

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yorofl:

This BS is cracking me up! Perhaps I should drive around town and take pictures of all the empty lots that were once full of cars from people who were working at all the different plants that have had lay-offs or just plain shut down!

Wabash National, Subaru, CAT, Alcoa, Lilly (closing within the next year or so)...just in Lafayette alone! Also, a Chrysler transmission plant in Kokomo, a forgotten soybean processing plant in Reynolds (was pushed by Mitch Daniels for bio-diesel processing in the middle of nowhere), other plants in Delphi...the list goes on!

Even Purdue University, another MAJOR employer in the area had somewhat of a hiring freeze. All jobs were re-evaluated by the Board of Trustees...many postings were removed or not allowed to be added. Secretarial jobs were decreased in rating (job/pay level) and/or set as part-time positions only! Unless folks are faculty there, they did not get raises this past June and they won't be getting raises in June 2010 either.

Don't try to tell me what my market can and cannot bear. :sqmad:

We charge $450 for most weddings and $350 for other parties. For many, even that's pushing it. You're complaining about people undercutting you at $595? Try $175 for 8 hours!!
 
AlbanyAMS said:
You guys??? Always specify. Thanks. I'm not bitching at all :sqbiggrin:

Ok, I'm annoyed at the guys charging $595 just to undercut the more experienced.
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"you guys" specific to those who are doing the patting. I am not indicating that things are tough in most places, but running around telling ourselves that things cannot be done only leads to becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Prices that are just like everyone elses only adds to the public perception that we ARE all alike and that we all do the same thing - therefor making us (all of us) a commodity and all worth exactly the same amount. This leads to a price war where the cheapest will both win and LOSE at the same time.

BTW, I have no real idea what other DJs in my area charge as I am not selling them, I am selling me. I am not a commodity, I am a unique individual with unique strengths and weaknesses.
 
Once again, marketing will only take you so far...reality hits at some point and will dictate what a potential client can afford and what they can't.
 
Ducky, Indiana and Michigan seem to be two of the hardest hit areas in the country (along with others in this region). How much have you had to decrease your rates to stay competitive?
 
AlbanyAMS said:
I somewhat agree. BS or not, I don't believe it's market related. It's how you market yourself, your business.
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Fine then....you come out here and try to sell your business for $2000/event. I'm not talking about the nicer suburbs of Indianapolis or Chicago. I'm talking about the greater Lafayette area. If you can come out here and make a full year's worth of gigs at $2000 for 2010, I'll stand corrected.

Are there DJs here who charge $1000+ for events? Yup! One company does it to lower the amount of weddings that they get and the other does it because they prefer the rich crowd - and even they have started offering packages for $500/event to stay in business.
 
DJ Ducky, I agree with you all the way. You charge what your market will bare. Nobody here charges more than $500 for four hours. Those that have are out of business and long gone. There is only one full time DJ around here and he's finding it hard.
 
We didn't decrease our rates at all because we looked long and hard at what our market was doing and where it looked like it was going. Thanks to that, we actually raised our rates for 2009 to the current $450. However, we also knew there isn't much room to raise it any further because of the current economic conditions in our market.

Marketing is only a sales tool, it doesn't make or break anything around here. The majority of our market wants to know the following in this order...

- how much do you charge?
- what do i get for that amonut?
- are you available for "x" date?

Folks around here don't want fluff, they want the bottom line up front from the start.
 
Anyone ever notice that these threads about pricing are all the same???

Someone who charges more that most tries to encourage others and help them make more money, while those who charge less fight desperately to justify why they can't charge more in their market. The rest of it is just filler. The sentence above summarizes every thread that has ever been created and commented upon on every board, ever. I was charging 400.00/event 20 years ago. It seems in 20 years the average hasn't changed much. Self oppression is a new concept that I have just realized.
 
jabo said:
Anyone ever notice that these threads about pricing are all the same???

Someone who charges more that most tries to encourage others and help them make more money, while those who charge less fight desperately to justify why they can't charge more in their market. The rest of it is just filler. The sentence above summarizes every thread that has ever been created and commented upon on every board, ever. I was charging 400.00/event 20 years ago. It seems in 20 years the average hasn't changed much. Self oppression is a new concept that I have just realized.
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Yeah, funny how they all end up the same way...people not realizing that markets are different.

Now, I don't know what the market is like on the resort island of Hilton Head, but I think it's safe to gather it's quite a bit different from where I'm currently sitting.

When nearly 10,000 good paying factory jobs don't exist anymore, people can't afford luxuries and out here, that's what a DJ is a luxury.

It's foolish to think that DJs can charge whatever prices in a given market without taking into account the prevailing economic conditions within that market. 20 years ago you charged $400 per gig, and that's fine, some markets can't bear much more than that, others can.

Just don't mistake "self oppression" for understanding the reality of a situation.
 
and vice-versa my friend. The grass is always greener. To the best of my knowledge the average price here for a DJ for a wedding (that is all I do) is about 750.00. Three years ago it was 500.00 and then someone came along and showed us that we were able to charge more than 500.00.

I have already conceded hard times in the areas hardest hit by this economy. My only market is weddings. No matter the market, or the economic times we should all make sure that we are not our own limiting factor.

How much have you dropped your rates in order to stay competitive?
 
I live in a state that most people would describe as poor and lagging BEHIND the rest of the country regarding this recession. We will come out of it, but well after most other areas.
Our number one business is tourism. BTW, I don't get many destination weddings, a couple a year from out of state coming here to be married. The rest are natives.

With that being said, I'm at my highest rates ever.....over $1200 for a 4 hour wedding. My high water mark next year is already at $1,700. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I'm making it in a down trend state in a down market.

Best,

Dave
 
jabo said:
How much have you dropped your rates in order to stay competitive?
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He already answered that....

DJ J Mac said:
We didn't decrease our rates at all because we looked long and hard at what our market was doing and where it looked like it was going. Thanks to that, we actually raised our rates for 2009 to the current $450. However, we also knew there isn't much room to raise it any further because of the current economic conditions in our market.

Marketing is only a sales tool, it doesn't make or break anything around here. The majority of our market wants to know the following in this order...

- how much do you charge?
- what do i get for that amonut?
- are you available for "x" date?

Folks around here don't want fluff, they want the bottom line up front from the start.
Click to expand...
 
Dave Winsor said:
I live in a state that most people would describe as poor and lagging BEHIND the rest of the country regarding this recession. We will come out of it, but well after most other areas.
Our number one business is tourism. BTW, I don't get many destination weddings, a couple a year from out of state coming here to be married. The rest are natives.

With that being said, I'm at my highest rates ever.....over $1200 for a 4 hour wedding. My high water mark next year is already at $1,700. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I'm making it in a down trend state in a down market.

Best,

Dave
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Sorry, I've never considered Maine to be a "down trend state," especially after I moved to Indiana. Maybe that's just a Bay-Stater's perspective. ;)
 
DJ Ducky said:
He already answered that....
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So in other words the horrible economic times have not caused either of you to charge less than you were when things were doing well???? Just asking. Your reasoning has been that you charge less because things are so bad, but charge the same amount as when they were good. The reasoning confuses me.

I have already stated that the average here is more than some places. If you lived here you would charge more than what you charge now, I don't doubt that a bit.
 
jabo said:
So in other words the horrible economic times have not caused either of you to charge less than you were when things were doing well???? Just asking. Your reasoning has been that you charge less because things are so bad, but charge the same amount as when they were good. The reasoning confuses me.

I have already stated that the average here is more than some places. If you lived here you would charge more than what you charge now, I don't doubt that a bit.
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We just started this business in 2007, in the middle of a recession. We might increase our prices for 2011 if things get better here. If I lived in the resort community of Hilton Head, SC and DJed in the touristy coastal towns that you do, I would certainly charge more than I do in my current location.

The same goes for Orlando, FL, Cape Cod, and parts of HI. They are different markets. What's your point?
 
Yes, you would charge whatever is average for my market. That is my point. You allow your market and not your skills to establish your price point. You don't have to do that. Being new to the business you are probably right where you need to be, just don't allow the market to be your only measuring stick of what you are worth as you gain experience and get better and better at what you do. That is exactly my point. You take it as a slam on you personally, it's not.

BTW, my website is not listed on here, at least my current one so in fairness www.myhiltonheadwedding.com

Best,
 
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