Travel Fees?

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Watch a wealthy father taking his daughter out to buy her a car for her birthday. See how much the undercoating price holds him back from giving her that special gift

lol... we arent talking about shopping for toilet paper...

u guys really have to learn to think of yourself as a luxury
Who are you to assume "they" are not equivalent to toilet paper?

 
Watch a wealthy father taking his daughter out to buy her a car for her birthday. See how much the undercoating price holds him back from giving her that special gift

Sorry, "wealthy fathers" who can afford to buy their kids a car...
don't live anywhere near here.

Most of the weddings I do, are paid for by the bride and groom.
 
how do you adjust your base price after the fact...do u first find out location and date before u send pricing? have a seperate package sheet for those?

I recently modified my package pricing sheet with a little extra bump for events that are just outside that 100 mile radius that i dont want to charge a huge hotel fee for.. so i have two package sheets....one specifically for that range...and one with standard package fees and standard travel fees

cc
Venue is required in my contact form on my site. If a phone call I get that info up front. It’s also on my pricing sheet that travel fees may apply to events outside of NJ. I can’t have two pricing sheets because some clients live very close to the philly/nj border and sometimes don’t have venues set... so one price sheet with info for both circumstances is provided. They know all info up front and can make decisions for themselves as to which venue location they choose and how it will affect things.
 
I try to keep it very simple and make it less apt to open avenues for dickering.

Once the location is determined, the hours, the enhancements, etc, an all-encompassing price is given. If the event is outside my ordinary range of action, I figure (in my head ONLY) $75/hour travel labor and $1/mile, plus any meal costs and lodging expenses.

When the fee is quoted, they are told that the fee does include all travel expenses, all of them. They don't need to know what they are or how I calculated them. I will not accept any customer providing me with lodging. Burned twice being lodged in a fleabag bug infested dump and another 40 miles from the venue.

Providing customers with line-item billing and explanations leads to nothing but grief.
 
$1.50/mile round trip per mapping software such as google or mapquest.
Our cost to drive the truck comes out to just under $1 per mile (licensing, maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc); the extra $.50 goes towards per diem and lodging. We stay overnight typically at 200 miles (one way). We do not add in any other travel charges.
 
$2.00 per mile for distanced over 90 miles according to Google Maps directions. I have the DJ Event Planner Quote Generator set to 80 miles because it generates quotes "As the Crow Flies" via Google Maps...It does not use actual directions so it is off. I should probably decrease the quote generator to 65 or 70 miles before it starts charging for travel, but I'll take a bit of a hit if any Virginia venues happen to book that is like 95 to 100 miles out.

The only area I seldom get asked to drive out to for a wedding that requires a Hotel is the Ocean City, MD area. ...and I can usually stay at my parents house if I do a job out there. But if I happen to book one, if they are over 130 miles away, I'm charging for the hotel room for 1 night plus the mileage.
 
Do you spring this on the client and tell them about the fee? or just hide it in the paperwork?

cc

Lol... We put it in the quote as travel fees. If they all for a break down of it we would supply it. We dont have to charge travel fees often and very few of those have asked for a break down
 
Travel expenses, load-in/out fees are included in the fee quoted. Normally, I don't charge a mileage fee but I do calculate the time it takes to drive one-way fee. I use a $50/hr. driving time. I generally do not stay overnight unless it is more than 4 hour driving time. I know the distance and time before I offer a final quote. I always need to know the exact physical location of the event. If I have never performed at said venue, I won't provide quote until I have visited and done a site survey. I prefer to find my own lodging, but will ask them about their block room rate at the hotel where guests will be staying.
 
I try to keep it very simple and make it less apt to open avenues for dickering.

Once the location is determined, the hours, the enhancements, etc, an all-encompassing price is given. If the event is outside my ordinary range of action, I figure (in my head ONLY) $75/hour travel labor and $1/mile, plus any meal costs and lodging expenses.

When the fee is quoted, they are told that the fee does include all travel expenses, all of them. They don't need to know what they are or how I calculated them. I will not accept any customer providing me with lodging. Burned twice being lodged in a fleabag bug infested dump and another 40 miles from the venue.

Providing customers with line-item billing and explanations leads to nothing but grief.

As with Cap I don't line item it it's just in the quote.
 
Gigs within Maricopa County I will more than likely not get charge a travel fee, any county outside of Maricopa County gets a travel fee.

*INB4 , but you are "AZ Deejay", not Maricopa County DJ 😄
 
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Recently, there was a quote generated through DJ Event Planner for a wedding out in Delaware.

Event Date: 10/10/2020
Event Type: Wedding
Start Time: 6:00 PM
End Time: 11:00 PM
Venue: Light House Cove - 1301 Coastal Hwy - Dewey Beach, DE, 19971
Venue Distance: 146
Venue Travel Fee: 132


It charged $132 travel fee. It basically deducted the 80 free miles in the system from the total, and charged them $2.00 per mile. I would say that came up about right for what I would have charged prior to using this system. The venue is actually about 164 miles away so the auto generator is a bit off on the actual mileage. This wedding client actually saw me do a wedding last year down in Virginia. Hopefully, they will book. Their venue is brand new, and not even open yet, so they are waiting a bit before they book. I did not tell him I needed a hotel room for the night. I can stay at my parent's house for the night. They live about 20 miles from this venue.

I look at charging $2.00 per mile over 90 miles one way "enough" to cover the time to travel back and fourth. $2.00 per mile seems excessive when you say it, but it really isn't. It's like charging $50/hr for my time during travel outside of 2 hours each way travel time. I should be able to drive up to 90 miles in about 2 hours or a bit less than that without traffic in my area.
 
I don't do travel fees.
There's a line on my documents for it but, I only use it B-2-B and never for consumers.

The whole key to selling in this business is simplicity. People want to know everything will be perfect and exactly what that will cost.

If it takes 20 minutes for a DJ to explain his bottom line, or the prospect needs a calculator for the long list of add-ons - that DJ is going to lose the sale to the first guy who says: "Yes, I can do all of that for $ ________."

This is why I don't use DJ helper sites to book gigs. My clients are not buying groceries. There's no shopping cart, no weekly specials, and no clearance sales. Every event is top shelf. You tell me what's involved and what you want accomplished - I'll ask you some questions, investigate a few possibilities - and when we agree on how it should be - I tell you how much it will cost. Your event = Your price.

Selling online is great if you want to be the cheapest option available. That's what Amazon and eBay are for. If you're not talking with people on the phone at the IDEA stage, then you're just driving your business downward to the least common denominator. Online quote generators will kill your business in the long run, because they do nothing to establish trust or confidence. You can only do that in person.

A quote generator will never share with a prospect unique more cost effective ways to achieve something they originally thought was beyond their budget. It won't suggest great ideas that they have overlooked, nor will it spot the pitfalls they aren't experienced enough to avoid.

I don't do gigs far enough away to require a hotel, It's not worth it an any price. I'd rather do multiple gigs in my own city and generate referrals locally. When I've done gigs far away it generates more far away inquiries - so, I price myself out of that region. The only time I'm in a hotel is when the job runs multiple days, in which case the clients provides the accommodations onsite or right nearby. These too, are generally local clients who also happen to have a second home or destination event - so, the guest list and referrals again tend to be local.
 
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I quote with the price with travel included. The client provides the hotel, additional Labor for load in/load out if required depending on the size of the event. My service area takes in about 5-7 hr radius. If a event is over 7 hrs away that would require a travel day or a additional event if out of my regular area. Pretty much I drive from point to point. I hate flying so I’m not actively pursuing events in that direction. I did have one case where client screwed up dates and had to fly me up to Ithaca for evening semi-formal after I did a afternoon Wedding. Well, the prop plane flew around the mountains not over them. That and the stress of getting from A from to B dealing with airports was no fun
 
The company I work for charges a travel fee, but I'm not sure what it is off the top of my head. Most of my gigs are anywhere from 30 to 130 miles one way. I have gotten a hotel room exactly three times since I've been doing this in 2012 and only twice because of distance.
 
I don't do travel fees.
There's a line on my documents for it but, I only use it B-2-B and never for consumers.

The whole key to selling in this business is simplicity. People want to know everything will be perfect and exactly what that will cost.

If it takes 20 minutes for a DJ to explain his bottom line, or the prospect needs a calculator for the long list of add-ons - that DJ is going to lose the sale to the first guy who says: "Yes, I can do all of that for $ ________."

.......

You're confusing items....I quote all-inclusive...."that will be $4075" includes transportation, and tax if it applies. The contract lists the system price, transportation, and sales tax and the total equals the amount I've quoted. When providing them the quote they seldom care or need to know how I came up with the figure. I, however, need to know at the end of the year how much I've collected for those expenses vs how much I've spent, to make sure we are on track and charging appropriately. One does not specifically need tell the customer the details of the equation that determines that end price. (In my experience, it's rare they ask). IMO it's wise to itemize those factors loosely on the contract, because it's an obvious then why different events might have different bottom lines for similar services provided.
 
Seems like a lot of my upcoming gigs are 2 states away... so im charging enough to cover 2 nights hotel ...gas...and a tad extra for unforseen travel costs.

If there are that many fools in the world, then stay home and double your rates.
 
...I, however, need to know at the end of the year how much I've collected for those expenses vs how much I've spent, to make sure we are on track and charging appropriately.
[SARCASM]There you go again, with your oppressive, exaggerated, unwarranted, unnecessary, and judgemental legitimate professional business practices."[/SARCASM]