We put a bid on a wedding which was over 2.5K and the couple went with us. They said 3 out of 4 DJ’s were between 3.8K to 5.5K for exactly what we are offering. Then they spoke to another DJ who was at $600 they said they would never take the chance with a $600 DJ.
I charged $600 for ceremony, cocktail, and reception. This was my first wedding and was for a family friend. They asked me to do it and I wanted to get one under my belt for the experience. My price for anyone else goes up from here and if I never do one again, so be it.
@@djstretchtone9851 I’m in St. Louis. We have a DJ on every block. The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes tops, but this included a live singer with her own backing track I played. She used my wireless mic. The efficient used the mic provided by the venue. Cocktail ran longer than expected, which was an hour and a half, due to the couples 2 yr old baby having an episode. This cut into my reception/dinner set so I really only got to play for maximum of two hours before people started hitting the door. This was also on a Sunday. Again, all in all, I just wanted the experience. They had me booked from 4pm to 9:30pm.
It’s even worse here in the UK, I live in southern Scotland and the average wedding dj only earns around £250 $400 max in my area. It was the main reason I decided that mobile djing in my area wasn’t for me. Had I went ahead with it, I would of had to drastically reduce the quality of the equipment and cut a lot of corners.
This is the problem with the DJ industry as there's no standard pricing ballpark set by a local market. Because anyone can declare as a DJ nowadays. Unlike other professions where you have the education, credentials, legit references and experience that can prove you're worthy of your asking price.
I had a friend from high school complaining about this on Facebook the other day. He's a licensed construction contractor, runs a construction LLC, and apparently a lot of people would rather hire some jabroni for cheap and hope it turns out well
Many years ago I did something similar and called it discount discos. One local DJ always looked down on me but it worked really well, I got the calls ECT and then upsold all my services and I know I was earning more per gig than the DJ with the posh name...
@@DJSolstice I stopped using Bark as many of their "leads" turned out to be fraudulent - like bogus emails and or phone numbers. I've been using Zola - seems to be more ligit and not as expensive as Wedding Wire or The Knot.
I hear the thought process.. My wife is a travel agent - you see cruises advertised for $399 - this is interior, bottom of the ship, does not include port charges, taxes or gratuities.. yadda yadaa.. she fights this "cheap" mentality all the time... Now, take this ad... I subscribed to Bark for a year (or so.. ) whatever they give you in credits. They are terrible leads and very budget minded leads - coming from experience. I think many are bull cookies as well... I started quoting under the offering prices.. (yes I quoted $600 - $700) for full day weddings... - never booked a gig with Bark.. :) I am using a few other lead gen sites.. and I will quote my price regardless of what the client states their budget is... Have booked a few.. :) People need to do what's right for them.. Peace!
In my market the wedding pages are getting complaints from clients say nobody shows pricing. So I post an ad shows two different lighting setups and it reads No Frills Pak from $500! It gets responses. I didn't say weddings. So we can chat or talk and I explain what you get for $500. It's just dance music for 5 hours no wedding shit. Then it's upsell from there
Average wedding is € 600 to 700 in the Netherlands. If it is run through a booking company the revenue is 300 to 400 for the DJ. For a 4 to 5 hour party in the evening.
That's just good marketing in my opinion. If you look at the ad it says "from just $600". Most people react versus respond. Reacting is the immediate action to take without thinking about it. What is funny is carefully thinking about the situation before taking action. Besides I'm pretty sure most of us do that kind of advertisement on a lot of business propaganda. Starting at just $9.99, or how about showing the base price but a photo of the premium item. That it was clearly designed to start a conversation with a client. Probably build rapport I love to close the deal. Just another way to get it done in my opinion. I put my price on my website and call it a day because that's what works for me and my market. I do understand there are other markets that have different price points for a reason. Good stuff though Bryan.
Brian, I need you to make video about my situation please. I have a customer that she wants me to be her DJ for a housewarming pool party she's throwing, she agreed to everything but I told her that I need a deposit from her so that way I can be sure that she'll go with me but no response back. What should I do, should I cancel her in this situation? I've never had a situation like this and I've been doing this for 22 years now. Please help...
Make $600 or spend time dusting off your gear. By the time they upsell the good stuff I’m sure it’s more. That page just gets the clicks. Actually $600 is a lot of money for some people. I’ve done 3 hr reception for $300. I got to eat and fill the tank that week.
That’s only half of what I charge locally. I’m lucky to book $1200 Weddings in my small town. Anything out of town is $1500+ in a really small town I’m comfortable with it. $500 deposit or no DJ 🤷🏻♂️
In the UK the djing market is dead. Dj agents are paying £150 for four hours, killing the whole industry. Dj's are basically paying to play at events. You get what you pay for.
I was reading this very interesting book that talks about that phenomenon. Taking skilled professionals and turning them into hourly wage slaves to benefit a weathy class who has no real talent or skill. We see that a lot now with private equity firms buying businesses. The book, if you're wondering, was written by Karl Marx, you should read some of his work. Get it straight from the horse's mouth, not remnants of McCarthyism red scare propaganda.
For me the key word is 'Book', to me it's saying you can book the wedding from $600, the wedding and everything in it will be more, But as you said, it got DJ's and potential clientele talking, so job done. Hope you are all well 👍🏻
The thing with social media is, any interaction sets the algorithms in motion; it doesn't matter if the interactions are good, bad or indifferent, it gets them going. Then, if someone feels really aggrieved by it, or if they really like it; they share it with their pals... So the hits mount up, and the story continues. Something I have noted with pricing (I'm in England) is that the market varies hugely in terms of what people can charge on the basis of location. In one part of the country you may get a DJ with a very basic setup for £600, and to have all the bells and whistles, you can spend well into four figures... In other areas, you can have the DJ with all the trimmings for £500! Of course, wherever you go, you get the "sixty-quid-Sid"... I guess Stateside he would be "Sixty-buck-Chuck"...
Brian in Edinburgh Scotland just for djing a wedding you would not get over 350 max unless you were supplying dance floor up lights and Photo Booth could Mabe get 90-1000 so for a normal wedding we are lucky to get 350 max and I’ve done it 22 year good reputation but people don’t pay what DJs in America make
I'm sorry, did you just say a 10'x10' was $45?????? Those go for $200+ here easily. I pay $299 for my 10x25' which was a lucky find as they're typically $350+ here
Well, with insurance, it's 60 per month. It's a great deal in a great area here in Milwaukee. Indoor, climate controlled, code access from like 7 AM to 10 PM
@@briansredd that’s a steal! If it’s Extra Space just beware as they hike up the rate by $40 after the fourth month. As long as you pre-pay in advance before that notice is sent you’re locked in at that rate as long as your prepayment is for
You blurred out the company name? Check the upper left hand corner. Brian the website sells leads to DJ's and the DJ's set the price not that website. Their maybe a few DJs on that site that advertise a wedding's for just $600. In the long run you get what you pay for. I don't think they are going to get much for $600.
I charge $650 full package and still have no competition and fully booked year round but I get with you you are 20+ year experience and you are in huge city market with tons of djs I live in a small town
here in el paso tx you got cheap djs picking up cheap quotes at 50 hr? those are your rookies starting , your average experienced dj is charging 600-700 reception or 900-1200 both ceremony and reception
I can see if a DJ Is just starting out with no to little experience. But once you have that have experience you should charge more. This is another impact from COVID, people purchased some equipment and Boom they are a DJ with 0 experience. I know DJ’s still charge $600 for a wedding, but then charge more for a School Dance.
Yeah I also felt that 600 price wouldn't be what you end up with. Starting is never realistic. Starting at 600 for just a DJ for an hour on the house speakers. 😅
Start up a dj wedding union and have the minimum wage at $1200, anything charging lower will be the scabs of the industry. Your union dues will help include some sort of medical benefit plan. Yeah, I'm a forward thinker.
@@briansredd not really. When i worked in tv news, I was in IATSE a union for tv technicians, cameramen, sound people, etc. The minimum was $47.00 an hour. Also the union for kitchen workers at major hotels and restaurants is $27.00 an hour. It all depends on the industry. If you have whiners like in the mobile dj industry, create a union or shut up. I always pondered why there isn't a union after all these years. I mean if you are talking about price fixing, then report the teamsters who work at all convention halls. Cheers man!
Just like your storage unit price you won't get what you want for the advertised price. It's deceptive. That's a bad place to start from. And everyone who just scrolls through on social media will get the impression that professional wedding DJ services are cheap. Then you will get entitled clients feeling cheated when you actually quote them a decent price.
haha, here in Russia we could only dream about this money... top event dj's in Moscow earn like ~500 euros, the toppest ones earn 1000 euro per event. I earn like 200-300
try being a UK DJ! thinking on this i think its fine and no issues, this dj is trying to create his brand and build a reputation. the "youtube" celeb djs etc all hitting on this and this dj is obvs trying to work and build is business up, not everyone is in the business of being like yourself, rick webb, dj rachel, nick spinnelli etc... obvs these djs are no way near this price but what about the djs busting there ass to trying to build a business. they have to charge this to get the events to them out working. Not all djs and can demand 1000s. Dont hate on others working to build a business and reputations. At some point you all started like this.
We put a bid on a wedding which was over 2.5K and the couple went with us. They said 3 out of 4 DJ’s were between 3.8K to 5.5K for exactly what we are offering. Then they spoke to another DJ who was at $600 they said they would never take the chance with a $600 DJ.
I charged $600 for ceremony, cocktail, and reception. This was my first wedding and was for a family friend. They asked me to do it and I wanted to get one under my belt for the experience. My price for anyone else goes up from here and if I never do one again, so be it.
What market are you in and how long was the total of the wedding DJ portion?
@@djstretchtone9851 I’m in St. Louis. We have a DJ on every block. The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes tops, but this included a live singer with her own backing track I played. She used my wireless mic. The efficient used the mic provided by the venue. Cocktail ran longer than expected, which was an hour and a half, due to the couples 2 yr old baby having an episode. This cut into my reception/dinner set so I really only got to play for maximum of two hours before people started hitting the door. This was also on a Sunday. Again, all in all, I just wanted the experience. They had me booked from 4pm to 9:30pm.
Well-spoken..most people make judgments without all the information
It’s even worse here in the UK, I live in southern Scotland and the average wedding dj only earns around £250 $400 max in my area.
It was the main reason I decided that mobile djing in my area wasn’t for me.
Had I went ahead with it, I would of had to drastically reduce the quality of the equipment and cut a lot of corners.
a client told ME 500 was told expensive for her daughter sweet 16 , i had told her call some else , and yet my gear still sit here.
This is the problem with the DJ industry as there's no standard pricing ballpark set by a local market. Because anyone can declare as a DJ nowadays. Unlike other professions where you have the education, credentials, legit references and experience that can prove you're worthy of your asking price.
I had a friend from high school complaining about this on Facebook the other day. He's a licensed construction contractor, runs a construction LLC, and apparently a lot of people would rather hire some jabroni for cheap and hope it turns out well
I was charging that in the 60s and I was born in the 70s haha
😅😃
"from"
Brilliant analysis
Hit the like folks!! Very level headed and calm reaction to this post I also looked at. Great job BSR
Example of what happens when we don't slow our brains down..."from just"
FROM is the key word!
and then....aaaaand then....aaaaand.theeeen....
Many years ago I did something similar and called it discount discos. One local DJ always looked down on me but it worked really well, I got the calls ECT and then upsold all my services and I know I was earning more per gig than the DJ with the posh name...
6:11 this is an ad for Bark which is a service like thumbtack or wedding wire not for an actual DJ.
I saw this ad on BARK and almost lost my mind!
I use Bark and have landed multiple $3k+ weddings there. Mostly it's cheap leads but not always
@@DJSolstice I stopped using Bark as many of their "leads" turned out to be fraudulent - like bogus emails and or phone numbers. I've been using Zola - seems to be more ligit and not as expensive as Wedding Wire or The Knot.
I hear the thought process.. My wife is a travel agent - you see cruises advertised for $399 - this is interior, bottom of the ship, does not include port charges, taxes or gratuities.. yadda yadaa.. she fights this "cheap" mentality all the time...
Now, take this ad... I subscribed to Bark for a year (or so.. ) whatever they give you in credits.
They are terrible leads and very budget minded leads - coming from experience. I think many are bull cookies as well... I started quoting under the offering prices.. (yes I quoted $600 - $700) for full day weddings... - never booked a gig with Bark.. :)
I am using a few other lead gen sites.. and I will quote my price regardless of what the client states their budget is... Have booked a few.. :)
People need to do what's right for them..
Peace!
In my market the wedding pages are getting complaints from clients say nobody shows pricing.
So I post an ad shows two different lighting setups and it reads No Frills Pak from $500! It gets responses. I didn't say weddings. So we can chat or talk and I explain what you get for $500. It's just dance music for 5 hours no wedding shit. Then it's upsell from there
Average wedding is € 600 to 700 in the Netherlands. If it is run through a booking company the revenue is 300 to 400 for the DJ. For a 4 to 5 hour party in the evening.
At least hit the "Learn More" button and find out where the price goes from there. Don't leave us hanging.
That's just good marketing in my opinion. If you look at the ad it says "from just $600". Most people react versus respond. Reacting is the immediate action to take without thinking about it. What is funny is carefully thinking about the situation before taking action. Besides I'm pretty sure most of us do that kind of advertisement on a lot of business propaganda. Starting at just $9.99, or how about showing the base price but a photo of the premium item. That it was clearly designed to start a conversation with a client. Probably build rapport I love to close the deal. Just another way to get it done in my opinion. I put my price on my website and call it a day because that's what works for me and my market. I do understand there are other markets that have different price points for a reason. Good stuff though Bryan.
Can you make a video on a simple budget wedding format? Nothing elaborate? Like what new DJ’s can expect and prepare for?
This is like when you see a car ad for $25,000 then in small print (as shown $46,000.
Its more likely a bate and switch....anyone mad about that lol?
Brian, I need you to make video about my situation please.
I have a customer that she wants me to be her DJ for a housewarming pool party she's throwing, she agreed to everything but I told her that I need a deposit from her so that way I can be sure that she'll go with me but no response back. What should I do, should I cancel her in this situation? I've never had a situation like this and I've been doing this for 22 years now. Please help...
Make $600 or spend time dusting off your gear. By the time they upsell the good stuff I’m sure it’s more. That page just gets the clicks. Actually $600 is a lot of money for some people. I’ve done 3 hr reception for $300. I got to eat and fill the tank that week.
I’m just going to say this…You get what you pay for. If they want to book a $600 DJ that’s not me…🤷🏻♂️
That’s only half of what I charge locally. I’m lucky to book $1200 Weddings in my small town. Anything out of town is $1500+ in a really small town I’m comfortable with it. $500 deposit or no DJ 🤷🏻♂️
In the UK the djing market is dead. Dj agents are paying £150 for four hours, killing the whole industry. Dj's are basically paying to play at events. You get what you pay for.
I did a two hour kids disco for £60. It's really bad now no one has any money now.
I was reading this very interesting book that talks about that phenomenon. Taking skilled professionals and turning them into hourly wage slaves to benefit a weathy class who has no real talent or skill. We see that a lot now with private equity firms buying businesses.
The book, if you're wondering, was written by Karl Marx, you should read some of his work. Get it straight from the horse's mouth, not remnants of McCarthyism red scare propaganda.
For me the key word is 'Book', to me it's saying you can book the wedding from $600, the wedding and everything in it will be more,
But as you said, it got DJ's and potential clientele talking, so job done.
Hope you are all well 👍🏻
I hate bark so much. Services like this dominate in the uk.
This is a Bark ad right? Bark is a pay per lead site
The thing with social media is, any interaction sets the algorithms in motion; it doesn't matter if the interactions are good, bad or indifferent, it gets them going. Then, if someone feels really aggrieved by it, or if they really like it; they share it with their pals... So the hits mount up, and the story continues.
Something I have noted with pricing (I'm in England) is that the market varies hugely in terms of what people can charge on the basis of location. In one part of the country you may get a DJ with a very basic setup for £600, and to have all the bells and whistles, you can spend well into four figures... In other areas, you can have the DJ with all the trimmings for £500!
Of course, wherever you go, you get the "sixty-quid-Sid"... I guess Stateside he would be "Sixty-buck-Chuck"...
Brian in Edinburgh Scotland just for djing a wedding you would not get over 350 max unless you were supplying dance floor up lights and Photo Booth could Mabe get 90-1000 so for a normal wedding we are lucky to get 350 max and I’ve done it 22 year good reputation but people don’t pay what DJs in America make
I'm sorry, did you just say a 10'x10' was $45??????
Those go for $200+ here easily. I pay $299 for my 10x25' which was a lucky find as they're typically $350+ here
Here too Palm Spring is high and I need one for some time
Well, with insurance, it's 60 per month. It's a great deal in a great area here in Milwaukee. Indoor, climate controlled, code access from like 7 AM to 10 PM
I thought $90 was a good deal and that wasn't insured or climate controlled.
@@briansredd that’s a steal! If it’s Extra Space just beware as they hike up the rate by $40 after the fourth month. As long as you pre-pay in advance before that notice is sent you’re locked in at that rate as long as your prepayment is for
@@flyrobin2544 that is. Anything less than $100 for a 10x10 is a great deal. Heck even UHaul does $169 for a 10x10 here
You blurred out the company name? Check the upper left hand corner. Brian the website sells leads to DJ's and the DJ's set the price not that website. Their maybe a few DJs on that site that advertise a wedding's for just $600. In the long run you get what you pay for. I don't think they are going to get much for $600.
I charge $650 full package and still have no competition and fully booked year round but I get with you you are 20+ year experience and you are in huge city market with tons of djs I live in a small town
here in el paso tx you got cheap djs picking up cheap quotes at 50 hr? those are your rookies starting , your average experienced dj is charging 600-700 reception or 900-1200 both ceremony and reception
I can see if a DJ Is just starting out with no to little experience. But once you have that have experience you should charge more.
This is another impact from COVID, people purchased some equipment and Boom they are a DJ with 0 experience. I know DJ’s still charge $600 for a wedding, but then charge more for a School Dance.
Yeah I also felt that 600 price wouldn't be what you end up with. Starting is never realistic.
Starting at 600 for just a DJ for an hour on the house speakers. 😅
They are not innocent.
Start up a dj wedding union and have the minimum wage at $1200, anything charging lower will be the scabs of the industry. Your union dues will help include some sort of medical benefit plan. Yeah, I'm a forward thinker.
I'm not a lawyer, but that might be considered "Price fixing"
@@briansredd not really. When i worked in tv news, I was in IATSE a union for tv technicians, cameramen, sound people, etc. The minimum was $47.00 an hour. Also the union for kitchen workers at major hotels and restaurants is $27.00 an hour. It all depends on the industry. If you have whiners like in the mobile dj industry, create a union or shut up. I always pondered why there isn't a union after all these years. I mean if you are talking about price fixing, then report the teamsters who work at all convention halls. Cheers man!
Just like your storage unit price you won't get what you want for the advertised price. It's deceptive. That's a bad place to start from. And everyone who just scrolls through on social media will get the impression that professional wedding DJ services are cheap. Then you will get entitled clients feeling cheated when you actually quote them a decent price.
I agree. I wouldn't personally do it, but it's possible that this is what is happening here.
haha, here in Russia we could only dream about this money... top event dj's in Moscow earn like ~500 euros, the toppest ones earn 1000 euro per event. I earn like 200-300
😊 😊
😮😮
What you're describing is called bait and switch.
try being a UK DJ! thinking on this i think its fine and no issues, this dj is trying to create his brand and build a reputation. the "youtube" celeb djs etc all hitting on this and this dj is obvs trying to work and build is business up, not everyone is in the business of being like yourself, rick webb, dj rachel, nick spinnelli etc... obvs these djs are no way near this price but what about the djs busting there ass to trying to build a business. they have to charge this to get the events to them out working. Not all djs and can demand 1000s. Dont hate on others working to build a business and reputations. At some point you all started like this.