Pick your price

[Party of one]

I would like to hear any stories of haggling over money before you book a party.
I always get people saying "can you cut me a deal" What I have been doing is I used to charge $150 for a show.
I raised it to $200 in case someone what to haggle so I give them $50 off. I still get my price. If no haggle I get $200.
So what do ya think.

[PastMember]

I think you're not charging enough for your parties. Most of us do the bar scene because it pays the monthly bills... it certainly won't allow you to retire on the income it generates.

Our private party rates are basically triple what we charge in a club and here's why:

[A] You're usually expected to be a fully skilled disc jockey as well as a karaoke host. (how much would it cost them to hire a disc jockey seperately?)

[b] You have a substantially greater investment in your gear and music than a regular DJ.

[C] Private parties can be MUCH more difficult than a club... (sometimes they're easier, but not often) and most often than not you have to "be the entertainment" for good portion of the evening.

As far as negotiating a price, we have a set price for standard parties as well as corporate, weddings... etc. We keep those as standards and analyze them once a year. We will often run up against the "Monty Halls" that want to "make a deal" on price and we don't budge on the basic rate of $475.00. Do we lose some of these? You bet. But those are jobs we will leave to the discounters without much worry. We have 4 units that we use for private parties and this year we will top the 200 mark.

We make every attempt at soliciting the accounts that aren't as much concerned over price as they are about entertainment. Since this is for the most part, a "referral business", generating referrals from these accounts only works to our advantage.

When we get a "deal maker wannabe" we explain to them that it's the same amount of set up and tear down wherther we're there for 1 hour or 4 hours. We refuse to run a karaoke like a taxi meter.

[kjzone]

I do karaoke in the Washington, DC area.......I only do Private and Corporte Parties. I do it as a Hobby and not to pay the monthly bills. I charege $475 for Home parties and $575 for Corporate for a three hours.

For these three hours I have at least 7 hours of time invested.

Loading Equipment
Driving to Location
Unloading Equipment and setup
KARAOKE PARTY OF 3 HOURS
Tear Down and Loading Equipment
Driving back Home
Unloading Equipment

ALL CLIENTS MUST PAY TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE, I TELL THE CLIENT THAT I CAN'T GUARANTEE A BOOKING DATE UNLESS IT IS PAID. 50% OF THE CLIENTS WILL BE OVER WITH PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY THE OTHER 50% WILL PUT THE PAYMENT IN THE MAIL AND I WILL HAVE IN 2-3 DAYS.

I ONLY TAKE CASH, COMPANY CHECK OR U.S. POSTAL MONEY ORDERS. NO PERSONAL CHECKS......BURNED TOO MANY TIMES.

FOR CORPORATE PARTIES.....THERE MUST BE RESERVED PARKING FOR ME NO GREATER THAN 100 FEET FROM THE ENTRACE OR THERE IS ADDITIONAL CHARGE....ALSO I HAVE AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR THE NUMBER OF STEPS (IF ANY) I HAVE TO GO UP.

ALSO FOR CORPORATE PARTIES AT HOTELS, VALET PARKING FOR ME IS TO BE PAID FOR BY THE CLIENT AND IF THE HOTEL HAS DOORMEN THE CLIENT MUST PAY FOR THEM TO TAKE THE EQUIPMENT TO THE BANQUET ROOM (AS MOST OF THE TIME THIS MAY BE ON THE SECOND OR THIRD FLOOR OF THE HOTEL)

[Wayne White]

With such a high price & so many demands, you must be either really, really good, or have no competition.

Wayne

[Cid_cat]

Although I won't disclose exactly, I'm on the upper end of that scale and there's more competition here in Houston than you can count! The truth of the matter, charge what you're worth. Take into account your equipment, your song selection, your references, your professional attitude and appearance.

Like the above post, I don't haggle price. More often than not, the client WILL call you again in the future because they went for price and got burned. Speaking of, I've never been burned on a bad check, knock on wood.

Just keep doing GOOD karaoke. The word will spread and you'll be able to write your own ticket.
Cid_cat

[Misschiff]

Our company has been providing karaoke services for about 12 years. We have been told we are the best in the city / area and from our research with the competition it appears that we are. (We think we are )

I'm wondering about a couple of things:

First of all we haven't raised our prices much within the past few years. My partner seems to think he knows exactly what our market can bear, but I honestly think we are undercharging and that it is doing ourselves and other companies a disservice by not charging enough. However, most all of our gigs are regular bars and have been lasting for years (our longest was 9 years)!

For example (now keep in mind that we are in Toronto, Canada); an average price for karaoke in a bar mid to end week nights is about $200.00 - $250.00 (Cdn$) -- at least that's what we're charging. Private parties haven't been much more than that ($50-$100 more as long as DJ services aren't added -- which is also part of our business).

Secondly, how is it that the cost of living and everything else goes up, but entertainers and entertainment companies aren't getting a raise? Also, our hosts get paid $100 for setup, hosting and teardown. That doesn't leave much left over, considering our expenses.

My partner makes some very good points about the market, etc., but I still feel we should be making more money. I've noticed some people in this forum talking about price and considering the US/CDN exchange, some of you are doing very, very well!

We pride ourselves in having new and current music (new songs every month), the biggest song selection in the city (about 6,000 + songs) and a professional sound system with experienced hosts who have been trained by a musician / sound engineer. We have a great following of karaoke regulars and My partner always makes sure the bar is making money. Quite frankly, it doen't matter how good the show is, the bar has to make money to make it worth their while. My partner is very good about communicating with bar owners about their sales for the night or customer issues --that sort of thing, because knowing the "bottom line" is important in any business, and as a business man he wants to make sure bar owners are prospering too!

I guess I just want to get a feel for what people in this forum think and if there are any ideas how we can get more money for what we do or if our prices sound about right (which may be hard to judge, being in Canada might be a very different market). Some people don't care how good you are as long as they get the most for the least money. For that reason, in fact there are a lot of bars we won't do. Some karaoke companies are charging only $100 or $150 a night!

Any feedback?

[SteveWalker]

Misschiff,

You said it all. Maybe you need to find larger clubs like in a tourist spot where there's more money to go around. Of course, private and corporate parties will pay you far more especially during the holidays.

Good Luck,
Steve

[louieoke2]

I do one show every Friday night where the club takes a cover charge of $5, this is what I work for. At first I made 60-70 bucks a night (for the first month or 2) as word spread, I made more. I usually get at least $250, but often $300-$450 a night. It might not be an option where you are (especially if everyone is used to getting in free already, but if it's possible to talk club owners into it can prove very lucrative to you and be less of a hassle for the owners of cutting checks, etc. But you have to be worth it, because you'll only get great rewards if you earn them, by advertising a little, putting on a great show, and investing (as you already know) in new music...etc.

So hire a trustworthy door person for $40, and tell the clubs you'll work for free (under the above conditions)

Worth a shot??? Maybe. Food for thought.

[SteveWalker]

There are several karaoke shows only minutes from us in both directions that are all free. I'm sure this can work out in the desert somewhere.

[bobcox- with the Lord]

I have been a KJ for five yrs, we charge $285 for clubs & bars 4hrs . priv partys $125 hr. steps xtra $50 I cut my price for nobody. we have others in the area that work 7 nights a week for believe it or not $50 to $150 a nite. people always say so an so is all over town, I say let him be all over. i make more in 3 nites than he does in 7. by the way we have 4 syst. only use 2 at present. hard to find comp help. main sys has 24000+ songs. thats my wifes. the one i use has 15000. songs, we update as soon as new disc are out. we are told we are the best. I know our sound & selection is. so charge what you can get stay up to date with disc and equit, be pleasent and have fun. Bob PS Unless Your working the mirage in Vegas never work for the door..

[bdayton]

Originally posted by bobcox
I have been a KJ for five yrs, we charge $285 for clubs & bars 4hrs . priv partys $125 hr. steps xtra $50 I cut my price for nobody. we have others in the area that work 7 nights a week for believe it or not $50 to $150 a nite.

I do shows in the Charlotte NC, area. There are so many 'Fly By Nights" here that you either work for $150.00 or less, or you just don't work. :(

Been trying to break in at Myrtle Beach SC. Can't even get the time of day down there, much less a gig. :(

[swany]

Originally Posted by Party of one

I would like to hear any stories of haggling over money before you book a party.
I always get people saying "can you cut me a deal" What I have been doing is I used to charge $150 for a show.
I raised it to $200 in case someone what to haggle so I give them $50 off. I still get my price. If no haggle I get $200.
So what do ya think.

I just tell them $50 and hour with a 4 hr minimum, I might cut them a 50 percent break, if I run over seeing I am set up anyway. I find that most 4hr parties are 6 hrs, the last one I did. I cut them the fifty percent for the last hour, and they gave me a $50 tip. Bars are different, in my area you'll do 5hrs for $150 or someone else will. I am trying not to do bars, but they do pay the bills when you have nothing else to do.

[bjswaim]

I have been a KJ/DJ for the past 15 years and have seen the club scene prices fluctuate tremendously. I'm in the Los Angeles, CA area and the going rate is $100 - $150 for a 4-hour bar gig. However, I am worth more and will not settle for less than $250. I do less bar gigs than others but the ones I do are more high end and have a higher class clientele who actually give tips!. My largest portion of business is in private and corporate parties which is the most lucrative. I charge $500 for a 4-hour minimum gig with $125 per hour overtime charge. I also am listed with several entertainment agents in my area which generates much of my corporate parties. However, when you are the entertainment under an agent generated gig, you are not allowed to promote "your" business but must hand out the agents cards. If you're good you will get a lot of business through the agent so it somewhat offsets not being able to promote yourself.

[gotrich]

I live in NW Indiana and get 300$ plus tips for a show from 6pm till 2 am.

I get 200$ for a show from 8pm till 12 (4 hrs) plus tips. But my competition from what I can see or hear so far is GARBAGE!!

Rich

"I know, that it's only karaoke, but I like it, like it, yes I do!"