I only have a basic PA setup that I rent out standard (not per hour, but per gig though). And I can offer a VERY most lighting add-on. Beyond that it is all made-to-measure and charged like that.
Or the other way around, someone asks for a full job of DJ, PA and lighting gear and we settle on a fixed fee budget. Then I go shop around and work in the needed stuff. With 40 years of experience this year I know pretty much all prices, so don’t have to investigate much anymore.
I agree with your assessment though that packages as you described like bronze, silver and gold tend to bring out the worst in negotiations for some people.
So, my “pricelist” contains three items:
1) DJ Only. Clearly states what it includes (among other things travel expense) and it is based on a 4-hour set. It also states the price of each additional hour. Can only be booked for the 4 hour minimum (even if you only want me to play for 2 1/2 hours) and extra hours are per hour. I won’t charge you for going “over” time for 5 or 10 minutes, but beyond that (on the customers express request of course) I’ll add the extra time in blocks of 1 hour. So no “can you do 30 minutes more”? I can, but you just pay for the full hour.
2) DJ & PA. Like 1, but with the addition of extra expense (as it requires more travel and setup/breakdown time and a bigger vehicle) and a pro-quality PA suited for a minimum of 150 people (1x 18″ sub, 2x 12″ top).
3) Full show = DJ, PA & Light. As 2 but with a modest light setup. All the extra expenses and cost of the lighting gear. Especially setup/breakdown time when you bring light seems to exponentially grow, so I always have that in my calculations.
Anything additional is on a case-by-case basis.
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