First two weddings in the books with honor system pricing

It's good that people who know you are willing to be supportive.

Commercially however, you want to be honorable but, that is a far cry from making your income dependent on someone else's honor. I'm a firm proponent of asking people what their budget limits are, and trying to work within them. We do however, decide on a number and there is no ambiguity about what is to be paid.

In an ideal world... all dj's would charge a nominal fee...and the lack of bottom feeders would only strengthen our worth to even the cheapest of customers... but given that that particular utopia will never come to fruition ...and your prices (high or low) will never really effect my business... i think that an experiment like this has its merits....and as a referral based dj service myself...who doesnt rely on dj'ing for main income...i can certainly see the thrill in it....sort of like playing the stock market...or gambling...it will no doubt pay off at times and bottom out at times... but living on that edge will be a wild ride.

keep us informed if the method implodes at any point

cc

At the very least, it's a confirmation of your appeal.
If people suddenly start to offer you no more than $300....
then maybe this "experiment" was not a good idea.
Either that, or it means that you suck and it's time to retire.

Also, a thought.......
You are on to something.
If you and a client negotiate a price...then everyone agrees, and the gig is booked.

But, leaving the amount COMPLETELY in their hands leaves you out of it....
and they will have to come up with a price that doesn't make them feel cheap.
It's a major guilt trip!

I'm not sure I would get involved with a vendor who would not or could not come up with a number for their own perceived value.

I'm certainly not going to "guilt myself" into paying $1600 to someone who would have quoted their own rate at $1200. I don't think a lot of professional clients would have any respect for this practice. No one likes to play guessing games with finance.

Panera tried something similar with Panera Cares. It was a "Pay what you can" system that encouraged people that could pay a bit more to do so. And in exchange, those that couldn't were able to eat cheap or free.

It worked briefly, but long term failed and they all operated at a loss and closed.

Knowing the people in this situation is critical, there is an inherent trust. I am doing a wedding for an old college friend in the off-season next year. I would offer her a similar deal. But as a practice of regular business, it would be a very uncomfortable way to operate for me.