That’s the 60,000$ question, isn’t it.
In this thread: http://www.digitaldjtips.com/topic/on-the-pcdj-blog-how-to-price-your-mobile-dj-serivces/ I point to an article on the PCDJ Blog which is about pricing your mobile services. It’s a good thought exercise in my opinion as it gives you a good idea of what your costs actually are. It’s easy to say, well I have the controller already and it’s paid for, I’ve got the car and gas already and I don’t have much else to do on friday/saturday night, so everything I make is profit.
If you do the match as suggested in the article you will see (and probably be surprised) at what cost you actually incur. If you become resident for two nights a week, it will be a commitment, meaning for a longer period of time you will not be available for other (higher profile) gigs on the two best nights of the week. And you are effectively giving up your weekend nights for other social events (which is fine and what we DJs do, just saying).
That is all from your end.
Now from the other end, the alley owner. He apparently wants a DJ, why build a booth otherwise, right. Question is, does he want the same DJ in there two nights in a row, every week? Or is he more interested in a rotating schedule. If the latter, perhaps you can be helpful by being his head of DJs, for which you can charge a little money too.
The DJ needs to add value. Value is people coming in, bowling, drinking and having a good time.
Depending on his wishes and yours, suggesting a slightly different themed thursday night for example could be an interesting option. Bring in a different crowd and making things more busy on thursdays than they are now. That is actual extra profit in his pocket. And thus easier for you to come up with a fixed fee, but with an added bonus of x $ per head that comes in over a certain number (his average crowd size now for example).
Figures vary wildy as far as fees go. The number 100 as in $ per hour seems to surface quite a lot. If I were to use my controller twice a week I’d expect some rental fee in return for it as well. The alternative for him would be to go out and buy a 5k Pioneer lay-out with maintenance after all. And factoring in potential traveltime and travel expenses, 250 a night might be at the low end.
Hopefully others will chime in to provide you with their thoughts and experiences on the subject.
Let us know what part of the world you are in, it may have a direct bearing on the fee issue.
Greetinx.
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